Week 40+2 - Champagne

To celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday, and the fact that we are B"H now in Week 40, I had a glass of champagne at dinner last night. And it was good. Unfortunately, kosher Champagne pales in comparison to some of the non-kosher kinds I used to drink while a working gal in the Big Apple, but the texture and sweetness really satisfied that craving. I figured I need to get in a glass before the breast feeding P"G begins and I really won't be able to have any alcohol.

So, I've T"G made it to week 40. Sometimes, I really can't believe the end (or should I say the beginning) is almost near! There were moments last week when I thought this was it, with cramps and contractions, but since Thursday night I've felt practically nothing. Last night, we had a great dinner at River on Rabbi Akiva street in town. I ordered the spiciest thing on the menu and tried to eat as much of it as possible until the flames really just got to me. I downed at least 2 bottles of water plus the champage. I was rewarded with literally 1 contraction. And then, we got home, and I enjoyed my buzz and watched some TV with Pidgeon and then passed out. That was the end of the contractions. 

We decided to spend Shabbos with Pidgeon's parents because I just didn't want to cook anymore. And, since Pidgeon's Father decided to spend Shabbat Parshat Chayei Sarah in Chevron, it was a very different vibe in the house. I enjoy spending Shabbos when both parents are around, but it was nice to walk around the house in my PJ pants and not have to worry about wearing a skirt in front of my father-in-law. 

I woke up on Friday flush with energy and thrilled that I didn't have to cook for Shabbos, that freed me up to do other important things. While Pidgeon was moving the suitcases into his parents storage room, I made up the bed in the baby's (P"G) room. Since the decor is black and white, I used black silk sheets and a lush brown comforter on top. The bed looks so inviting now and I just can't wait until the rest of the furniture is in the apartment! That will have to be delayed until P"G after the baby comes.

Once the room was complete, I tackled the refrigerator. Normally, I clean the fridge for Pesach. But, since this year we flew to the States to spend the holiday with my folks, I did minimal cleaning and literally just locked the doors and left town. The filthiness of the interior of the fridge was really getting to me, but I just kept putting it off. And then, Friday, I couldn't take it anymore. The ratatouille stains on the wall, the chocolate bits that were stuck to the sides, and the swath of cardboard from the bottom of a milk carton that somehow got stuck on some nastiness on the top shelf was just too much. I spent 3 hours cleaning out the fridge, washing down shelves and doors, and tossing anything that was past its expiration date or just didn't look good anymore. 

I was exhausted by the time I was done but boy does it look great inside! So much so, that I no longer want to put anything in it because it's so clean. The vegetable bin is my particular pride and joy. There were grapes in there that were so old that they had become raisins (I wish I was kidding). Well, I'm still very proud of my handiwork, although Pidgeon did beg me to put a fruit and vegetable order in because we literally have 3 eggs and some cheese in the house. That's pretty much it, so I acquiesced to do it today but I'm not placing an order on more stuff that will last past the week.

Anyway, after cleaning the fridge, we realized that we had 2 hours left to Shabbos so we got things moving. We rushed through showers and getting dressed, packed up but decided to leave all our hospital bags here (we figured if we needed to get them we would just drive back to pick it up) and went to Pidgeon's parents. We parked as the siren sounded and I was able to light and put on some make up with just enough time. I decided to go to shul on Shabbos since I don't know the next time I'll be able to do that. I'm glad I did, it felt nice to daven Kabbalat Shabbat with everyone. Dinner was also very, very pleasant and I was starving from all the physical excersion so I ate very well.

However, about a few minutes after dinner when we were able to relax, I realized that that baby didn't move that much on Friday. I decided to try to wake the baby up. Nothing doing. I did all the tests they say to do, and about an hour of trying, I didn't feel the baby. Well, that landed us back at Shaarei Zedek on the monitor. 

It was an awful, awful experience that I will only share if someone e-mails me offline. I don't want to write any more here since I plan on logging an official complaint with the hospital. All I know is that I'm now absolutely petrified of going into labor on a Friday night. I also learned a big big lesson. From now on, if I have any problems at all or any concerns at all, the first thing I do is call Dr. Yanai. I didn't want to call her on Shabbos to make her be Mechalel Shabbat if it turned out to be nothing, but at the end of the day she is my Dr. and I shouldn't be doing anything at this point without consulting with her. 

Lesson learned unfortunately the hard way.

By the time we got back to Pidgeon's parents house on Friday night, I was a complete and total wreck. B"H, all was fine with the baby, but what happened there just took a huge toll. I didn't sleep well at night, and Pidgeon later told me that when I did sleep I was moaning in pain. Not good. 

Anyway, since I was pretty much awake, I got up in time to wake Pidgeon for shul. His cousin was naming their baby girl at a minyan in Rechavia, so I decided to go to shul. I haven't been to shul on Shabbos day in a while, and we took the walk slowly and still got there at the beginning of Shacharit. I was exhausted but the davening made me feel a bit better. After shul, we went to Pidgeon's Aunt and Uncle's house and had a quick kiddush and a fun discussion over baby names. 

We walked slowly back to Pidgeon's parents and, after another quick Kiddush, we both fell asleep and basically slept well past lunch time. Originally, we had plans to go out to a movie on Saturday night, but I was so emotionally wrecked from Friday night's experience that we decided to just stay in. I made Pidgeon some whole wheat pancakes to take to work on Sunday and then we watched TV and relaxed. 

The phone rang at exactly 12:17 p.m. Israel time and it was my folks. When I picked up the phone to say hello, there was silence on the other end. And then, my Mom said, "you're still round?!!!" She had had a dream on Friday night that I had given birth to a "fat" baby with loads of dark hair. I told her we're going to have to wait a bit longer to see if that dream comes true, but there is a probability that the baby is gonna be chubby since the baby already weighs in a almost 8 pounds! As far as dark hair is concerned, I have no idea. Pidgeon has dark, dark hair but I was a blonde baby. So, it's up in the air. 

I just can't wait to see what our  baby P"G looks like already! I've been imagining for so long and wondering that I'm getting so excited just thinking about it. I think the Pidgeon is too, and I know he can't wait to P"G hold his child in his arms.

Well, Thanksgiving is practically upon us, and I am really hoping I don't need to break those turkey legs out of the freezer for dinner. That being said, I do plan on ordering some sweet potatoes and will make us a nice sweet potato and/or pumpkin pie is the baby decides to stay in Hotel Uterus for the holiday. Only time will tell!

I'm off to call a reflexologist for an appointment. I've been doing anything I can to help jump start these contractions. But, spicy food for dinner last night, loads of fresh pineapple for dessert on Friday night, lots of walking and resting haven't helped. I'm hoping this reflexologist will be able to do something to get things moving!

Yom Tov from Baka!

Week 39+2 Days - Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cord Blood Banking

Well, it's getting down to the wire now. I am - please g-d - 8 days away from my due date. How insane is that? I try not to think about it too much but it's impossible. Every second I'm not working, I'm thinking about the baby. And not just labor, but breastfeeding and baby clothing and baby gear, etc. 

I was watching an episode of Alias yesterday and Marshall, the quirky little computer geek, saves the World and then comes home to a wife and baby waiting for him by the living room window. It brought me to tears, literally. Just thinking that, P"G, that could be me in a few days! I told Pidgeon about the episode and he got excited too when I told him that I can't wait until P"G "we" will be waiting for him to come home from work. 

Yesterday was extremely busy. Between work and some car drama, I was literally on and off my feet nonstop. By the time the 11:00 p.m. shot rolled around, tears of exhaustion were rolling down my face and I just wanted to get under the covers and go to sleep. I don't remember the last time I passed out before 11:30 p.m. but we both really, really needed the sleep.

This morning, I got up with Pidgeon and packed his lunch and breakfast. After he left the house, I did the dishes that had accumulated overnight and tidied up a bit in the apartment. Afterwards, I decided to try to get some sleep. Unfortunately, my friend had other plans for me and she called about 45 minutes after I went to bed. That got be up and moving, as I had to cook dinner for Pidgeon's cousins. They just had their baby and I promised I would cook for them. So, I made all the fresh stuff this afternoon - spaghetti with olive oil and salt and fresh corn with olive oil margarine and salt. The joins the chicken fingers I fried last week and the batch of sweet and sour meatballs I made a few weeks ago. Since I spent the afternoon yesterday baking my Aunt Irene's (Z"L) chocolate chip cookies, I put the batch into a tin and sealed it up for them.

Feeling very accomplished, I decided to step into the shower before the folks in the States wake up and I have to get to work. As soon as I stepped out, I hear the doorbell ringing. I thought it was a mistake but I made my way to the intercom. Sure enough, it was a package for us and that's when I remembered that the stem cell company was sending us all the stuff we needed.

So, I was really on the fence about cord blood banking for stem cells. It is EXTREMELY expensive to do in Israel. And, our insurance only gives us a 700 shekel discount. Well, we discuss it at length and we fielded phone call after phone call from cord blood banks and then we sat down to talk money. In terms of shekel, we just didn't have it. We didn't have that kind of money in our checking account. We also didn't want to ask our parents, as mine as paying for Dr. Yanai and Pidgeon's parents are basically paying for all the nursery furniture and a night nurse. We felt that they are tapped out and didn't want to ask them for any more since they're already being generous.

And then we decided to invest some of our wedding money. We got a few dollars as wedding presents and, since a lot of our Israeli guests were so generous, we didn't have to invest any of it on things for the apartment. We were able to B"H bank the money in savings and had earmarked it to help us buy a home one day. But then we got to thinking that, if G-d forbid Hot Dog got ill and the cord blood could save the baby's life, we would kick ourselves for not investing the money. So, two days ago, we agreed to do it and today the kit arrived. 

I didn't open the box, as I have no idea if it's sterile or what, and would prefer just handing everything over to the Dr. when I'm in labor. I'm sure the staff at Hadassah Ein Karem are familiar with this and will know what to do. Besides, I didn't want Pidgeon to cut the cord anyway, so it's good to let the Dr. take care of it.

My Mom called this morning all excited. She feels like now everything is really "happening" and she wanted to know how I'm feeling. Well, if you would have called me at 2:30 this morning I would have told you I was in labor. But then, I went back to sleep, and haven't had a contraction since. 

Honestly, I don't know how I'm feeling. Physically, I feel okay. I have constant heartburn that's annoying and when I walk, the baby is really pressing down on my bladder so I feel like I'm going to make all over the floor. But, other than that, I feel just like I felt 2 weeks ago. 

I'm trying very hard not to fear the unknown - or the pain. Yesterday, I burnt myself when I took a batch of cookies out of the oven. I decided to sit with the pain to see how bad it was and whether or not I could withstand it. It wasn't easy but it was a mind game and - after a few minutes of blowing on it and watching the red streak get redder and redder - I decided to just go about my day. Unfortunately, I now have a mark but I was able to handle the pain. 

I'm hoping that I'll be able to use whatever will power or mind games I have at my disposal to withstand the pain of childbirth. Ideally, I'd like to try to avoid any medications they want to try to give me to dull the pain. Unless g-d forbid an emergency C-section needs to be performed, I want to try to do this the natural way. 

May the Lord have mercy on me and let me have an easy delivery!

Well, I'm off to blow dry my hair and then get back to work.

Erev Tov from Baka!

Week 39

Its been a few days since my last post and my only excuse is a good one. It seems like every time I sit down to the computer, I'm working. I've got two big projects I'm focused on right now, one pays by the hour and the other promises to pay in the long run. With baby clock ticking down,  I'm trying to get as much done as I possibly can beforehand. I'd like to think that I'm succeeding!

It's a beautiful Sunday morning and, since Pidgeon's alarm went off at 7:00 a.m., I've already put up a load of laundry, washed all the dishes I had waiting for me in the sink in the kitchen, let in the cleaning lady (who is hard at work in my bathroom!), eaten a quick breakfast, entertained my mother-in-law during a surprise pit stop after she dropped my niece off at Gan in the neighborhood, made Pidgeon his lunch and caught up on overnight e-mails. I'm pretty exhausted and am in the need of a good nap, but since I'm washing all the linens in our bedroom, that ain't gonna happen. Hopefully when our cleaning lady leaves I'll have some time to take a quick cat nap.

So far, week 39 is not all that different from week 38. I was very disheartened after our last Dr. Yanai appointment because, after an internal examination, she told us that I wasn't even 1 centimeter dilated! And here I thought our baby would come early. But, it looks like the baby is really enjoying Hotel Uterus and no matter how many segulot or self-labor stimulation I try, the baby will come out when the baby is good and ready.

That being said, I still broke out the bottle of Etrog liquor for Shabbos kiddush. I figured now was as good a time as any to get my etrog in in my ninth month. The liquor is very, very strong and, since I put in so much sugar, I was surprised that it wasn't sweet. That being said, I did break into the bottle 4 weeks before the fermentation process was complete, so who knows what the end result will look like!

I've been having some on and off contractions, mostly during the days when I'm on my feet a lot. 

Like Wednesday, when we spent 2 hours food shopping at SuperSol in Talpiot. I persuaded Pidgeon to let me purchase 20 chicken bottoms, which I plan P"G on cooking and refreezing in packages of two. This way, after the baby comes, all I have to do is take a package of chicken out of the freezer and cook up a side or make a salad, and voila instant dinner! Pidgeon thinks I'm crazy since we spent over 1300 shekel on provisions, but I'd much rather have him around to enjoy and spend time with his child then to be running around Jerusalem on errands to pick up food or diapers or other stuff. I decided over Shabbos to make 15 of the chicken bottoms and save 5 so I can make chicken salt. We're a big soup family and I'd like to be able to just whip something up on Erev Shabbos without being frustrated that we don't have the right ingredients.

I was bored with my cooking this week, so I decided to try to experiment for Shabbos. I made a french onion soup in the crock pot that was delicious, especially once Pidgeon taste tested it and told me that it needed a lot more salt. I also made a new chicken, which really wasn't so difficult it was just roasted with Montreal chicken spice. And then I decided to make cauliflower mash, as opposed to roast cauliflower or cauliflower kugel. I found a recipe online and sorta followed the directions.

It was disgusting! I rarely turn down food - most of the time I turn away meat if it's not cooked well enough for my taste - but that's usually the extent of it all. This was just vile. Pidgeon couldn't eat it and, even though I tried to force myself, I realized that I couldn't do it either. When I consulted the recipe after Shabbos I realized my big mistake - mustard - and even though Pidgeon would like me to try again, I'm going to hold off a bit. I hate wasting food - especially since it's so expensive - so I'm going to stick to the tried and true for a while. I'll save food experimentation for when the economy P"G gets better.

We had a very quiet and relaxing Shabbos, which was nice. We slept a lot, which is why we both had a hard time falling asleep last night. Right after Shabbos, we got an SMS from Pidgeon's Aunt letting us know that his cousin had a baby girl on Shabbos morning. She weighed in at 3.7 kilo and she was birthed at home (on purpose). B"H, everyone is doing well! I was thrilled for many reasons. One, because Pidgeon's cousin was over a week late and I know she was ready to have the baby about a month ago. Two, because I am cooking dinner for them and I already pre-made the sweet and sour meatballs and the chicken fingers for the kids, and I could really use the freezer space! And three, because I was so nervous I would have the baby first and not be able to cook for them and I promised I would cook for them so I'm happy that I won't have to break that promise.

Pidgeon went over to wish his Aunt and Uncle a Mazal Tov while I stayed home and cleaned up after Shabbos and put up a wash. When he got back, we decided to go to the Mamilla Mall to walk around. It was such a great idea and a beautiful night too! As usual, the Mall restaurants were very crowded but since we weren't that hungry, we just walked past. We went window shopping, which is always a fun activity for me, and just walked up and down for about an hour. It was exactly what I needed to feel good, and I was hoping the gravity would just continue to move the baby down into the "starting" position. I woke up very sore this morning, so I'm hoping that the gravity helped. But, who the heck knows!

Well, I'm off to see how my chickens are defrosting. I want to cook at least 5 more chicken bottoms tonight to add to the freezer, and we have a family dinner at Pidgeon's parents house later so the more I get done early this morning the better.

Yom Tov from Baka!

 

Week 38: Segulah Time

Well, I'm thank g-d in my 38th week and it's getting down to the wire. The Dr.'s say that I can have the baby any day now, but only the Lord knows when the baby is going to decide to come. As for me, well, let's just say I'm doing my best to hurry the process along.

Last week was all about the Segulah's for an easy birth combined with "natural" ways to bring about labor. On Thursday, I decided to bake Challot as the Hafrashah on the Challah is a segulah for an easy birth. Now, I had heard that unless you're baking Challah with about 14 cups of flour, you don't make a bracha. And, since the recipe I used called for only 2 cups more than a kilo, I did the hafrashah, burnt it in the oven and didn't say a bracha. I hope that still counted as a segulah for an easy birth. On Wednesday, I finished phase two of the Esrog liquor. I have no idea how my Grandfather Z"L used to make it, but it was a very messy process with the powdered sugar and pouring the liquor out of the bottle with the esrog rind and into two whiskey bottles. It now needs 6 weeks to ferment but I'm thinking, as soon as I get any twinge of real contractions, I'm taking a shot. Figure the alcohol will help relax me while the esrog will hopefully act as a segulah for an easy birth. On Friday, before I lit candles, Pidgeon gave some Tzedakah and then last night, after we had date night and picked up some dinner at Waffle Bar, we came home and ate with Melavah Malka in mind.

Aside from going to the Mikvah, that's pretty much all the Segulot for an easy labor that I know of. As far as natural ways to get things moving, I ate fresh pineapple for dessert on Friday night, I did a lot of walking/standing on my feet and we also made sure to have at least 2 meals last week that had plenty of spice to it.

Nada is going on, I hate to admit. I honestly thought, as soon as I finished Melavah Malka last night, that I would go into labor and the baby would be here. My Dad said that I made such a nice home for the baby, that it's just not ready to interested in coming out.

I don't know about that theory. I mean, when I feel the hiccups that the baby has inside of me at like 3:00 a.m., I'm wondering if the baby really wants to be in there any longer. I mean, doesn't the baby want to be here so that Pidgeon and I can help with those hiccups?

Well, I'm just going to continue to do what I can do to help move things along. In the meantime, it's now once a week appointments with Dr. Yanai to make sure that the uterus is still a good home for the baby and that the baby is still thriving.

I can't help but wonder when it's all going to begin. I spent last night, when I couldn't fall asleep, reading the community boards on the What to Expect When You're Expecting website. I kept reading all these women's personal birth stories and they were fascinating. I realized that every single story was unique and so I have to remind myself that there is just no way to prepare for this. Elizabeth, a friend from high school, is an OBGYN resident in New York and yesterday we e-mailed back and forth on Facebook. I asked her for some advice and she basically said not to come with a birth plan because she sees all these women show up with plans and then end up with C-sections and they get very upset and disappointed.

The only "plan" I have right now is to try to go as long as I possibly can without an epidural. I am thrilled to know that the option to have one is available to me, and I'm praying that my contractions won't be so difficult as to need drugs right away, but I'd ideally like to try to go without it. It's funny, but I'm really not a martyr. I'm the first person to down 6 Advil's a day when I have very bad cramps, and I loved the laughing gas when I got all four wisdom teeth pulled, but when you experience 2 painful and complicated LP's you just don't want to run and have a big needle jabbed into your back. 

So, aside from an extremely relaxing Shabbos with Pidgeon, and a really fun date night that included a movie at Rav Chen and take out from Waffle Bar, today is all about the new cleaning lady. I am not going to say anything more because it looks like I keep jinxing myself with cleaning people. Today's will be my 5th cleaning person in 2 years, and that's just really not a normal turn over rate. I have no idea why they all keep leaving me! I pay well, I'm really nice to them, and I make sure the apartment isn't too much of a wreck. Well, I told my baby bump not to make an appearance until after the apartment is clean. I want to make sure this place is in tip top condition before we bring a baby home! Here's hoping today's cleaning person will take care of all that for me.

I'm hoping that she's so good that, when she P"G comes back next week, I can have her spend time cleaning out the fridge and the stove. I'd really like to do both of those appliances before the baby comes. That being said, if they're not done before baby,  it's not as bad as all the copulating dust bunnies I've got in the apartment.

I was just so excited about the new cleaning person, that I slept fitfully last night. Fortunately, it's Sunday, which means that I can just sit back and relax today. I'm actually hoping to work on one of the thesis stories as I still have 4 more to write and not much time to write them in! I'm ready for this Masters to be over and done with, and since I think Bar Ilan is a backwards and low tech institution, it's time for me to be finished with everything and just move on to the next phase of our lives.

Well, I'm off to go do some writing - or snoozing on the couch - whichever comes first. 

Yom Tov from Baka!

Raspberry Leaf Tea and Vitamin D

I'm tired. It's my own fault though. When I woke up at 5:15 a.m. for my usual bathroom run, I decided to log onto the computer to see how the elections in the States were going. And, of course, with all the speculation about Ohio going to or not going to Obama, it kept me awake and reading the news until 6:00 a.m. I ended up in a very restless sleep, dreaming about ants and the baby. 

Well, now we're both sick. Except, Pidgeon has the first stage of the cold and I'm at the stage where it's a cold mixed in with a secondary infection. I dragged myself to the Medical Center yesterday to see our Dr., who told me that I now have an upper respiratory infection on top of the cold. Yuck! She prescribed amoxycillan but then we discussed whether or not I should even start taking it. I have an appointment today with Dr. Yanai, so I'm going to ask her what she thinks I should do. Either way, I do not want either myself or Pidgeon to be sick when the baby decides to make its debut into this wonderful world!

I've been trying to follow my Dad's cold advice. I've kept my toothbrush next to my side of the bed, so it wouldn't infect Pidgeon's (lot of good that did, ey?), I've been drinking lots and lots of liquids. I've even had a glass of orange juice a day, and have been eating Vitamin C enriched fruits like oranges and mangos. I've been drinking the raspberry leaf tea with some honey, as opposed to sugar, to help sooth the itchy and achy throat and today, I opened up the trissim and the curtains and let the sun just flood the apartment. My Dad's answer to all illness is to sit in and soak up the Vitamin D from the sun.

Well, I'm kinda hot, so I'm not sitting directly in the sun's rays, but the brightness is really nice and I'm hoping I'm getting the benefits of the sunlight even if I'm sitting away from the mirpeset.

Pidgeon is home today and, instead of doing the work he should be doing on his project, he's running errands. First, he went to the garage to assess the damage that the Egged bus #417 did to our car on Saturday night. It's going to cost 1500 shekel for them to fix everything, and now our insurance agency needs to deal with the Egged insurance agency. Regardless, I'm going to take pictures of the damages when Pidgeon gets back home, so we have proof (with the green paint and all) that the bus hit us.

After he got the assessment, Pidgeon went to Bug to buy a birthday present for his younger brother. He's a tech guy, so we decided to get him an 8 GB disk on key. We figured it was a practical gift for him, so he doesn't always have to tot his computer around when he needs files and stuff. I think it's a good gift and I know I, personally, would like another disk on key. Both of mine are full to capacity these days.

One he finishes with Bug, he's going to be off to SuperSol to do some Shabbos food shopping. I'd like to bake Challah for Shabbos tomorrow, and also get a head start on the rest of my weekend cooking. I'm going simple though, because the thought of being in the kitchen for hours just doesn't appeal to me. Besides, I have a ton of work to do for both school and work, and so I just don't have the luxury to fuss. The chicken soup for Friday night is B"H already made and in the freezer, which is one thing off my list. Now, all I have to do is figure out the rest.

So, I've been having contractions lately, and they've varied in terms of intensity and frequency so I've basically just been ignoring them. Last night, I decided since I've been having some contractions, that it was time to pack the hospital bag. We're taking Pidgeon's rolling suitcase, so I had him unpack it and I moved it onto the chair in our Mamad. I was able to put in his shower shoes, my shower shoes, my slippers, a pair of swim trucks for him, two towels, a hot water bottle, a spray bottle, a fan, a sweatshirt, 2 pairs of sweat socks, disposable underwear, feminine hygiene products, 2 toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, eye drops, moisturizer, lip balm, mouthwash, almond oil, an outfit for the baby, a onesie for the baby, a hat for the baby, hand sanitizer, batteries and the camera, a pair of glasses, hairbands, 2 shmatas with bobby pins to cover my hair after delivery and deoderant. What I didn't pack yet is the binder with all my medical information, my cellphone and charger, my iPod and charger, a swaddling blanket, my pillow, the food (that's in a separate bag), a hair brush, an outfit for me to wear from hospital to hotel and my tehillim. It took me 2 hours to pack and, I was so preoccupied, that I forgot about my shot. Fortunately, Pidgeon remembered and I wasn't too late with the injection. 

Next up, I have to pack my bag for Hotel Baby. That bag will mostly have PJ's and toiletries and some of the stuff that I packed in my hospital bag. I also want to pack some stuff for Pidgeon too, so he doesn't have to worry about going back and forth to the apartment to get things he might need during our stay.

I wonder what I'm missing though. I have this nagging feeling that I'm just not ready yet, but I don't quite know what I still need to get done. I have lists and lists and lists all over the apartment, and yet, I feel like I'm just not checking anything off. In fact, I think I just keep adding to the list. 

The next big thing is to find a cleaning person STAT. I just have no energy to really clean anymore, and I'm so exhausted these days that all I want to do is curl up in bed and take lots of long naps.

In fact, I think that's just what I'm going to go do.

Yom Tov from Baka!

Ashkelon and Egged

What I wouldn't give for a capful of cherry flavored Nyquil right about now. I am finished up the third day of an absolutely miserable cold and, aside from my nose being all chapped (Pidgeon over Shabbos declared that I looked like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) and I'm dry as a bone, I haven't slept well at all! I hate breathing through my mouth and so, for the past two nights, I kept dozing off only to wake up because I felt like I was suffocating.  

I had planned on cooking for Shabbos Thursday afternoon but, while we were picking up some baby scissors and other toiletries at Mozezim in Talpiot, my mother-in-law called and invited us to Ashkelon for Shabbos. I jumped at the invitation and, Friday afternoon after a short morning interview for work, we were on the road.

I love going to Ashkelon in the fall/winter. It's just beautiful to be on the beach with the balmy weather and the low-humidity. The summer is just too hot to for us in Ashkelon and, while I enjoy the pool, it's much more pleasant for me to be there when it's cooler. Unfortunately, I was pretty miserable with my cold, so I couldn't really take advantage of the scenery. Had I been feeling better, I would have gone with Pidgeon for a nice, long walk on the boardwalk. I was surprised to see some people actually taking a dip in the Ocean over Shabbos, but with the sun out the weather was really nice and warm. 

Since I was feeling so gross, Pidgeon hurried us up after Shabbos so we could hit the road back to Jerusalem early. While we were near Shaar Hagay, there was an accident with two buses and the police blocked one of the three lanes. We were already in the left lane, and Pidgeon was courteous to let cars in the right lane merge into ours so that traffic could flow nicely.

Suddenly, Egged bus #417 decided to speed up and merge into our lane. Pidgeon put on the brakes to let the huge bus go through but the driver wasn't paying attention to his spacing and all of a sudden we hear this huge CRUNCH and the car starts to rock. The freaking BUS hit us! Pidgeon sat on the horn but the bus just kept going and when we drove up to the driver's side window, the driver just put the pedal to the metal and kept going. He didn't even pull over to assess the damage! 

Well, I always carry a pad and pen in my purse so I wrote down the time, bus number, license plate number and we called Egged. The woman told us what numbers to call to report damages and I was just seething.

People, this was my side of the car. This was right outside of my door. This stupid driver was in such a rush to go from Ramat Beit Shemesh to Jerusalem? Seriously, what was the big emergency that he should be so reckless with his driving? Pidgeon was furious and it wasn't until we got home that we could assess the damage. The entire paint on the right side of car, right above the tires, is scatched and almost gone. There is even green paint from the Egged bus now on our car - so calling all CSI's to come by and scrape off proof of the accident.

We are now dealing with our insurance agency and on Wednesday, Pidgeon has to take the car into the garage to see how much damage we have on the car. I am not paying one red cent. And, what's worse, is that I want the driver of bus #417 to be reprimanded and to take responsibility for what he did to our car!

I guess I should look on the bright side. B"H, neither one of us was hurt. But still, how many times do I need to write on this blog how reckless drivers in this country are? And people wonder why I haven't jumped behind the wheel of our car. It's not because I doubt my driving abilities, it's because I don't have faith in anyone elses in this Country.

We could avoid so many accidents and deaths if Israelis would just be more careful with their driving.

Come on people, so many other factors against our survival exists. Why should we do this to ourselves? 

Be careful on the roads everyone!

Layla Tov from Baka!