Cravings

It's 2:00 a.m., post Tisha B'av fast, and I'm tired but too wired to go to sleep. I probably should just shut down and call it a day, but I figured I would try to update the blog before heading off to sleep. Well, I've spent the past 2 days basically in bed, and I'm so wiped from doing nothing but just laying here. 

I have no idea what I did Thursday, but it probably wasn't that exciting or else I would recall. Friday morning, I woke up early and basically did a ton of cooking. Because of the fast on Saturday night, I have to cook both Shabbos lunch and pre-fast Shalosh Seudot. The beauty of Tisha B'av falling out on a Saturday night is that you can have meat before the fast. Since we were eating by Pidgeon's parents for Friday night, though, I was hoping to not have to do as much cooking. I forgot that I had to cook for the fast too, so I ended up basically cooking as if we were eating all of Shabbat at home. I ended up making a crock pot vegetable soup, roasted chicken, macaroni and meat with marinara sauce, a cauliflower kugel, white rice and steamed string beans. I also baked a zucchini bread, which was great, as Pidgeon and I basically ate a ton of it over the weekend. I managed to cook efficiently, so I spent 2 hours pre-Shabbos on Friday just relaxing and watching the opening of the Olympic games. Pidgeon's brother came to pick us up with 5 minutes to spare and I lit candles at my in-laws.

I decided to join the men at shul on Friday night, and so I went with them to Chovevei. It was very quiet in shul, but the AC was on full blast, and I was in heaven. My body temperature these days has been pretty high, so I'm loving when it's nice and air conditioned. After shul, I opted not to go with Pidgeon to see his Grandparents and went back to his folks place. Dinner was pretty uneventful, I allowed myself a small shot glass of Ketel One vodka for a Lechayim, and then after my shot and dinner we walked home. It was a beautiful night and the walk really did me some good, I was nice and tired when we crashed.

Shabbos day came and went and I spent most of it in bed, drinking water or eating. We consulted with both my Dr. and Rabbi about fasting and they said the same thing. Basically, I could fast as long as I don't get too dehydrated. As soon as I felt any cramping or contractions, I was to break my fast immediately. Those were the parameters and I figured I could definitely live with that.

So, Saturday night, we had our Seudat HaMafseket (the last meal before the fast) and then, after Shabbos came out, we changed into our canvas footwear and walked to shul. For some reason, Pelech decided not to put on the AC, and it was freaking hot. I sat in the back next to the window, but the women next to me decided to close my side so they could open their side wider. Whatever, I tried my best to stay cool and not ask them to be considerate. Also, sitting on the floor in my condition is definitely not the best thing. My legs kept on cramping up and I spent more time rubbing the circulation back into my feet instead of listening to Eicha. The good thing was that it was over fairly quickly. We got back to the apartment, watched this whole thing about Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Temples on the History channel, and went to bed.

Now, what I didn't realize, was that all that sweating I did during Eicha really dehydrated me. I was tossing and turning all night, and was severly parched. At 3:30 a.m., I couldn't take it anymore, and I broke my fast on a small bottle of water. I was able to go to sleep pretty soon after that and felt much better. When I woke up this morning, I was really disappointed that I broke the fast, so I told Pidgeon to just forget about what he saw at 3:30 a.m. He was trying to get me to eat and drink all day, but I really wanted to hold out as much as possible.

I spent the day in bed, on my computer or watching TV, and at some point I just got hit with a massive Pringles craving. It was so unlike me, I'm actually not the biggest Pringles fan, but I just really wanted a big tub of Pringles. I mentioned to Pidgeon that I wanted him to go out after the fast was over and buy me some, but deep down I figured I wouldn't be craving that anymore and so I didn't expect him to go out and buy me some.

Around 5:30 p.m., I thought I was really going to make it. But, that's when the contractions and cramping started. It was not pleasant at all and, since the Dr. said I had to break the fast as soon as I felt them, I did. I took a glass of water and warmed up some leftover vegetable soup. I ate just enough to feel comfortable and then put my feet up and waited for the pains to go over. Thank g-d, after about an hour, I started feeling much better. It was good too, because I had the energy to cook dinner for Pidgeon.

By the time 8:00 p.m. rolled around, I was ready for my next meal, and I joined Pidgeon in a quick dinner of pasta, eggs and some home made brownies. Yummy! He left shortly after the meal to meet up with his Uncle and I mentioned the Pringles as he walked out the door. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised when he came back a couple hours later with some regular and sour cream and onion for me. YUMMY!

Cravings, satisfied!

Well, I'm off to try to get some sleep and hopefully my body will be back to normal tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a morning or thesis writing and an afternoon or apartment cleaning!

Wishing everyone still fasting a very easy and meaningful fast!

Layla Tov from Baka!