New Years Eve Countdown!

I'm getting so exciting about New Years Eve! If I were back on the Upper West Side, I would join my buddies over at BangitOut and drink in the New Year at Heartland Brewery. I'm actually a huge fan of Heartland Brewery because they make the most amazing pumpkin beer! I highly recommend on your next New York City trip during Autumn, to check out one of these great locations for pumpkin beer. It's yummy!

But, since pidgeon and I are going to be here in Jerusalem for New Years Eve, we decided to host a little shindig of our very own in the apartment.  We've already heard of some parties in Tel Aviv at Mike's Place and other's at people's apartments, but we're going to stay home and keep things nice and relaxed. I actually feel like a teenager since my parents are coming in on December 30th and will be in Tel Aviv toasting the New Year with my brother. It's the one night they'll be in town but won't be in Jerusalem. So, pidgeon and I decided to have a house party and hopefully clean up before the folks come our way on New Years day.

We invited a few people already and hopefully we'll round out the crew at a couple more. It should be fun, and hopefully not too un-Jewish of us :)

On to something a bit more interesting, like the fact that I've been fighting tooth and nail to get a driving test in this country. My incompetent driving instructor claims that 1) it takes 3 months before they can schedule you an exam (this is crap, as when I gave him my forms to submit to the Misrad Rishui, I was given a date during my trip to London that I ended up missing because my incompetent driving instructor never informed me that I had a date) 2) People need to take exams in groups of 2's and 3's and he doesn't have anyone else who is learning how to drive on an automatic vehicle (again, I think that's absolute garbage. You can't tell me that every single one of his students is learning shift. He just isn't interested in giving me a date because he's an asshole)

The problem at this point is that I can't find another driving instructor to take care of me because this one already submitting my paperwork. It's annoying because, had I known he was such a jerk, I would have found myself a different driving instructor and driving school to take care of me.

Either way, I'm still driving around town with pidgeon just getting familiar with the roads. I've had a driver's license for more than 13 years at this point, it's just a ridiculous formality the government is putting me through. I'll be happy once it's over and done with, so I can move on to the next government crisis that I'm sure will be coming down the pike. 

I started smoking again, which is really, really bad but seems to be the only thing I do these days that can relax me. The good thing is that I've moved from the more expensive brand (Marlboro) to the cheaper version (Camels) and that's making a bit of a difference on my pocketbook. Since we're still on the we-have-no-money-for-food kick, I'm trying to do my bit to keep our expenses low. The good thing is that nicotine is a natural appetite supressant so I won't need to eat as much. (Although, in truth, the last time I smoked in earnest I really didn't lose any weight, just maintained).  I have to take a picture of our fridge, I've never had a fruit and vegetable bin this empty before. We have one eggplant in it - that's it - nothing else. Pidgeon and I shared the last grapefruit for breakfast this morning. He promised to take me to Rami Levi today in Talpiot for some provisions, but we have dinner with his parents tonight so I doubt that will really come to fruition.

Pidgeon and I are playing name that Christmas caroler and he's doing an AMAZING job! He guessed WHAM! for my Last Christmas, Alvin and the Chipmunks for The Christmas Song and now Bruce Springsteen for Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Not to worry, I'm going to play him the Otis Redding version of White Christmas and we'll see if he'll be able to get that one! I'll  be shocked and impressed if he does as he knows that I absolutely adore Otis Redding.

Yes people, we are Jewish (Modern Orthodox too!) but I just love Christmas songs! What can I say, I'm THAT girl! We're doing Chinese and a movie on December 25th, as tradition with me and will hopefully continue with this new family of ours that we're slowly building.

It's 2:00 p.m. and I'm still in PJ's. I think I'm going to go and take a shower and get dressed and get ready to greet the world today. Here's hoping everyone is enjoying the fantastic SNOW that has blasted the Northeast and Northwest! We hope all the kids home from school are making snow angels, snowmen and having great big snowball fights! I, for one, am truly jealous!