Don't Have A Cow, Man

We ate at the most amazing restaurant tonight. The children were brought shots of orange juice when the adults were brought little shots of wine. Yet the waitress didn't think we'd be needing the kids' menu. Go figure...

We had a side of beef and the children's fries, and lip-smackin' marinated chicken wings.

Thanks, Mom and Dad. You can visit anytime.

P.S. In case you were wondering, it was El Gaucho's in Ramat Gan/Bnei Brak.

The Flight

Let me start by saying that our ELAL plane was the coolest thing 37,000 feet up. It had seats that, when the seat backs leaned back, the seats shifted forward. There were also footrests that were adjustable. The luggage is stored in the overhead compartment doors which come down for easier access. The food trays were half the width (front to back) and adjustable.

The bathrooms were brand-new, the galleys were properly laid-out, and the premium sections were AMAZING!

The communal TV screens are hi-def wide-screens. The individual screens are also wide-screen and feature 12 movies that begin on demand. They can be paused, rewound, fast forwarded, and stopped mid-scene. The movies can be watched in at least 2 languages, and a few were child-appropriate. There are hundreds of song choices in every genre, including Jewish music. These can also be paused, rewound, fast forwarded, and stopped. There are a dozen games to play onscreen including backgammon, freecell, chess, tetris, and tennis. You can make world-wide phone calls for $2/minute (much like we used to from our home phones 20 years ago). You can call from seat to seat for free or play games with another passenger (although F and I had trouble getting this feature to work). In the corner of every screen, you can see the time at your destination and how much time until landing. Most of the time the pull-out phone/computer is used, but to get to the feature you want, it is a touch-screen.

Kept the kids (and me) busy for hours. Which is probably why we didn't sleep.

We're Finally Home

Jet-lag notwithstanding, our homecoming was uneventful and a relief. We ate Friday night dinner cooked by Air, and looked through some inherited old photgraphs. We all slipped into sleep early and woke up at our regular Shabbos times; I went back to sleep until 11. After a very noisy lunch at a close friend's house, the children had playdates and Air and I both napped. When I woke up at Mincha time, both boys were sleeping on the couch and could not be awakened. When Air came home for Seudah Shlishit, he walked them upstairs where they slept until 4 and five the next morning. Our five year old came home after Shabbat and went to sleep right away. She also woke up at 5.

I was up the whole night and fell asleep at 7 am when Air woke up. I slept until 1 PM. We all went to bed at normal times last night and woke up at decent times this morning. I still feel like I've been run over by a tractor-trailer, but I think the end of jet-lag is in sight.

Oops...

When we got back the Tefillin, we found out that the Shel Rosh which was Pasul was actually Air's, and not my fathers.

It was cool while it lasted.

Happy Wedding to Moshe

Coincidence?

All the Mezuzot were checked this week; in addition, all the Tefillin in the family were checked. The only Klafim that are Pasul are my younger sister's Mezuzah and one from my father's Tefillin...






Wait for it...






Shel Rosh.

My Father is Doing Better

Yesterday I needed directions to Cedarhurst, and I asked my Abba to provide them for me. He did great!! I got all the way there on his directions, and every time I saw the sign for the next highway that was written on the post-it note, I smiled ear to ear.

Baruch Hashem.

Happy Birthday to Me

I turned double-threes today.

I actually remember my third birthday party. I was at camp Massad in the Poconos with my family. My father was the director then; my mother was the camp mother and was expecting a baby soon. We were outside at a picnic table and when they brought out the cake that Bilha had made for me, they sang Happy Birthday to me. I remember being very embarassed and shy at that moment. I hid under the table.

I'm sure that morning I got to sing Birkat Hamazon on the microphone for all 300 people in the Chadar Ochel, and wasn't embarassed in the least. I liked (and still like) to be in control of when and how I get attention.

The funny thing is I don't remember my sister's birth, three days later, at all. But legend has it that I got so upset I ran up a fever of 104 with no other symptoms. See? Attention....my way.

What the Hell?...

This is not turning out the way we had planned our month in Chu"l. My Abba had a small (not mini) stroke. And we're in Michigan. The truth is that Hashem, in His infinite greatness, wisdom, and sensitivity, has always created a situation for me where I don't have to see people at their worst.

When my mother fell down 13 stairs at work, I couldn't get to New Jersey.
When my grandpa had 4 heart attacks in 2 weeks, I couldn't get to Florida.
When my Bubby had triple-bypass, I couldn't get to New York.
When the same Bubby was dying a painful death, I had already made Aliyah, and was on my way for a visit, but missed seeing her by a week.

And now my strong, brilliant Abba couldn't remember the word "fingers" today. When I spoke to him, he sounded like he was drunk. Not that I've ever seen him drunk.

And when I get there on Friday, he better be pissed that I posted our private family stuff on the blog.

Shout Out 2

I was standing in line with my "sistas" and N.R. walked into Dunkin Donuts. I haven't seen him in a year and was delighted he came in. He asked me how things were going and I asked him when he and his family would be joining us in Israel. Then he said that he saw the picture of the accident. I asked how he saw it.

"I read your blog." Oh, lord. Another one.