I'm grateful for: not having to go anywhere or do anything today; having made a yummy fondue; a recipe for Indian chicken that looks *so* good. I hope it is.

So, last night after frantically grocery shopping, I dashed home w/D3 and S2, to greet our guests (four of whom were already there), and get the groceries in and put away and to put supper on the table. TH made falafel, which was a huge success (he makes good falafel, and it gets better, too). Our next-door neighbour stopped by bring sufganiyot that he made himself using a recipe we provided him. He altered the recipe so that they tasted just like any other Israeli doughnuts. *sigh* But, he tasted the falafel and pronounced it good. High praise from a Moroccan Israeli.

Then we made the fondue. D3 and I, with a little help from TH. We cheated and bought fruit cocktail, fruit already cubed for dipping. We also bought bananas and apples and pears and strawberries. Yum, the strawberries. Dipped in chocolate fondue that came out just about perfectly. Mmmm-mmmm.

So that was good.

We were visited as well by three volunteers on the moshav, two young men who have just come to work for BZ, as well as another young man who came here to work for BZ, but got the heck away from her and is now staying with another family and working for several different people on the moshav, mostly farmers.

While the company was there, but (barukh Hashem) not during any of the cooking, there were a couple of tzevah adom warnings. We all managed to squeeze, so very tightly, into the hallway where I usually go while the kids run under the house. There was no getting the company under the house after dark quickly enough, but clearly we all survived so it's okay.

It was a great party. The fondue was a huge success, there was basically none left. The last person left sometimes after nine, which was way late for the three kids (ages 14mos, 3 and 5 I think), but well worth it for all of us. I am really glad to have people to visit with in a casual way.

I'm tired of the booms. The lastest news that won't hit your newspapers is that apparently Hamas has a weapons cache, quite possibly it's largest, under a hospital. The military minds are trying to figure out how to deal with this. Obviously they have to think about the best way to actually capture and/or destroy the weapons, but there is no possibility that the IDF will wantonly or deliberately bomb a hospital, at least while it is operational. So, what to do? One suggestion was to send the hospital a message to get the heck out of there, give them some number of hours to evacuate the hospital and then go in. Another consideration is that right next to the hospital is an elementary school. So there are people figuring out the correct angle of attack in order that any rubble will fall away from the school.

These are not the kinds of things our enemies worry about.

Another good one - humanitarian aid is continuing to flow into Gaza, from Israel and from Egypt, while the bombing is going on. Can you think of any other country, nation, or situation in which a people have to give aid to an enemy that is sworn to annihilate them? Okay, so the point is, that in the aid packages are food, medical gear, and blood from Jordan. Why from Jordan you may wonder? Or you may not, but this is one of those questions that send up a red flag if you know what to look for. From Jordan, and also blood is being sent in from Egypt, because they won't use our 'filthy Jewish blood.' Most of the aid that is going into Gaza is paid for by our gub'ment. Distributed by the U.N. and some NGO's once it's in Gaza, but paid for by us. We're paying to send food, medical supplies, and Jordanian blood to people who, by and large (and this has happened, this isn't a hypothetical situation), would choose to die rather than receive 'filthy Jewish blood.'

You may ask what is wrong with us, why are we doing this?

On the other hand, isn't the sort of behaviour that so many of the Western 'civilized' nations claims people ought to exhibit? Are we not showing more love to those that hate us, even while we have to blow up their bombs and other weapons in order to protect our own lives?

Enquiring minds may want to ask, what is wrong with this picture?

Me, I write it out here because if I don't, I'll burst. Then I get back to worrying about D3, whose braces are in the process of literally falling apart, and there is no chance of getting her to an orthodontist until Sunday (yom Rishon, the first day of the week here). Unless we take her to an E.R. Great things to have to worry about when there are bombs dropping around us, but there it is. She's hurting and as always these sorts of things come up at the worst possible time.

S1 read aloud to me from Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo. It's hit a real cliff-hanger, and he had to stop, and we are moving on to the next book (written in three books). So tomorrow we will continue and hope to be let off the cliff in relatively quick time. TH read aloud to me from The Naked Anthropologist - a book I have been working on for months, and am within range of seeing the end of. Some of it was very good.

D3 made chocolate chip cookies which as usual are delicious. We've been warned *not* to go to shul tomorrow, we are only supposed to pray in a bomb shelter. Fortunately (?) we have a new gan (kindergarten/nursery school) which was built with reinforced roof and extra concrete and all that, so it can function as a bomb shelter for the davening and Torah reading tomorrow. I might even go, if there are few enough steps and I feel better than I did today (absolutely AWFUL).

Also none of the dogs have been able to go for a walk because of not being supposed to get more than fifteen seconds from a safe shelter. We can let them out back, they are not stuck in the house, but still. *sigh*

Also we continue to lose electricity at random times. This is normal for winter here. Normal for here period but especially in winter, so it needn't be related to the war at all. I phoned RS and D1 to tell them both that if they can't reach me, not to worry, it's probably the power being out. I'll phone them after shabbos as well, just to be on the safe side.

RS is visiting our mother right now. A glutton for punishment. The good part is she got to get together with two very good friends, celebrate her birthday, got to a really good New Year's Eve party. So it's not all bad. Just mother. Ugh.

Okay, I'm exhausted and this is more than I really expected to be writing here. I want to wash my hair. That is my big thing right now. I hope I can do it - I can't do it tonight, but maybe tomorrow? I doubt it, but can hope...

Anyway, goodnight for now.

I'm listening to TH and D3 playing Cosmic Wimpout in the salon.

:: Yesterdays : Tomorrows ::

~~~Last Five Entries~~~
Hi and goodbye - 2010-10-15
I'll be moving on - 2010-10-10
Gold membership and stuff - 2010-10-10
Decisions, decisions - 2010-10-07
Days to go - 2010-10-06