Painting

It's day three of construction and, once again, I'm under siege and trapped in my bedroom. The fumes are getting to me, and I don't feel so great since it's hot and I've shut off the AC. There is no way I'm running the AC with them painting, I have all windows open and am hoping when it cools down later it will air out the place. Last night, we breathed in so much crap that we both woke up this morning with sore throats. 

Yesterday started off slow. We let in the workers and tried to get back to sleep, but they spent hours drilling holes out of the walls. They drilled a huge hole behind the front door for the new electric panel they're putting in. This panel will include the Shabbos clock for the AC unit, so we don't have to run it 24/7 over Shabbos. That left about a 2 inch coating of dust and crushed up wall all over the kitchen, living room and dining room. They had covered the living room furniture, the wall unit and the coffee table but I guess they removed the covering before they finished with the work because everything is just covered in white powder. Forget my kitchen or dining room tables. And, the dishes I left in the sink yesterday was full of both food residue and wall, so it took me an extra long time to wash up last night. I tried to keep a level head and remind myself that this is to be expected with construction, but it still got my blood boiling. They also carved out another huge hole in the wall next to the bathroom for the new electricity panel that will have to go in there too. It's a mess, and it's frustrating, but at least they're making some progress.

We had an insane afternoon/evening and I vowed to never book so many back-t0-back appointments like that again. It's too much. First, I kicked Pidgeon out of the house around Noonish when I realized he was getting some terrible cabin fever from being locked in our bedroom. He ran an errand and picked us up some lunch, which lifted his spirits a bit. We had a 1:30 p.m. appointment with our new OBGYN but she was running 2 hours behind and we didn't leave the house until 2:30 p.m. She saw us an hour later and we both stumbled over each other trying to fill her in on our situation. I purposely didn't point fingers to say that I was unhappy with my current OBGYN. There is no reason to bad mouth any Dr. to another one, I just told her we needed someone who was going to take a more active interest in our care. She was absolutely wonderful, until she said that she had made a decision to no longer deliver any new patients.

I literally started crying right then and there and Pidgeon pleaded our case. I guess our "plight" broke her, because she said we would be the absolute LAST couple she would take on as a new case for delivery. I could have kissed this woman, I was so happy. So, she had me hop on the table and did an ultrasound to take a look at our little babes. And, for the first time in ALL of the ultrasounds we've had, we got a clear picture our the baby's face. Beautiful. I started crying again just looking at this gorgeous little baby growing inside of me.

Pidgeon had a hard time making out the picture, but with some coaching from the Dr., he finally got it. And he screamed in shock! He thinks the baby looks like me. Then he told the Dr. that the baby has my nose - which the Dr. actually agreed - and we all just watched the baby sleep. It was so special. I have the print out and have to glue it into the ultrasound album I've been keeping.  We just started the third trimester and the next 3 months are going to be so hard - I think I'm just so excited and ready for the baby to be here already! 

So, after such a wonderful meeting with our new Dr., I made another appointment and then Pidgeon drove me to my next Dr. appointment. We parted ways for an hour while Pidgeon did some work and I filled my shrink in on the latest. She was pleased and admitted that she was really concerned about our previous Dr. It was nice to know she was on board with our decision, and I had a pretty good session with her. It was over about as fast as it began and I was exhausted but hauled myself to the corner to wait for Pidgeon to pick me up. I literally stood on the corner for 5 minutes when 4 separate cabs stopped and honked to see if I needed a ride.

Typical. When you don't need a cab, there are 4 just waiting for you. When you need a cab, you can't find one anywhere!

So, Pidgeon picked me and we drove back to the apartment for a quick dinner. We literally had just enough time to boil water, throw in a package of whole wheat pasta, wait 11 minutes until it was cooked, mix with tomato sauce and some red kidney beans and scarf it down before we had to get out of the door for our next appointment. I just wanted to crawl into bed and go to sleep but it wasn't not going to happen, we had our first 3 hour pre-natal childbirth preparation course. Fortunately, the course wasn't far from our apartment, although we did arrive a bit late.

And, since I hadn't listened to our instructors direction on how to get to her apartment, we went the long way and ended up hoofing up four flights instead of taking the steps. I was puffing when we walked into the room but we found seats and relaxed while she started the class.

The course is extremely diverse with 7 couples (including us) almost all due in November. There were two "Charedi" couples from Har Nof, both anglos, and one "Charedi" couple also anglo but living in San Simon. The rest of the group wasn't "dati" and all the women were anglo while the men were all Israeli. And then there was us. I loved the mix and thought it was very refreshing, and the class was pretty interesting and very open. We were able to ask all of our questions - and boy did we all have so many - in a very comfortable setting. The worst part of the whole night was that we got stuck on the lawn chairs and my ass was asleep by the time we got a break. That wasn't very fun. I had also sweat through my pants and was drenched from my waist down to my ankles. It was gross, but unfortunately it's my norm these days.

We left there around 10ish and managed to drag ourselves back home. I was so tired, I just ignored all the mess in the house and crawled into bed. Pidgeon brought me my shot and I did it from bed. Somehow though, we still managed to stay up until 1ish and I'm so shocked since I thought it would be an early night for us. Well, I guess the Midnight phone call from my sister in Cleveland didn't help. But, I was so happy to hear from her that I didn't care about the time difference. The kids ALL go back to school today in the States and I'm just thrilled that the summer is over!

I love September people. I love the Fall. It just makes me a happy person. Now, all I need is for the Jerusalem weather to cool off enough for me to comfortably walk around in sweats and a long sleeve t-shirt, and I'll be a very happy lady.

Well, I'm off to see how the painting is coming along. 

Yom Tov from Baka!

Chocolate and Chili's

It's 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, the last day of August, and I'm still in bed. The workers have begun their assault on our apartment and I'm trying to stay in bed as long as possible. They're doing a good job getting me out of bed though, what with the drilling and the singing in Arabic. Moving will be inevitable for me, I just hope I can keep my serenity for a few more moments.

Thursday was extremely busy for us. I spent all morning cooking for our neighbors, with absolute pleasure, and when we brought over the food around dinner time they were very appreciative. Sometimes it's not such a bad thing to go overboard a bit when helping out a friend - they really appreciated it and it made all those hours of me on my feet chopping and stirring and sauteing completely worth it! 

Unfortunately, one of the dishes I made called for a serrano chili pepper. And, not really cooking much with hot peppers, I just treated it like any other pepper in the house. I washed, cut, took out the insides, diced and threw it into the dish. A few hours after I had moved on from that dish, my fingers on my left hand started to burn. And, as the time went by, it just got worse and worse. I thought perhaps it was in my head, so I went online and looked up chili "burns" and sure enough, I had "burnt" my fingertips with the hot chilis.

And, nothing I seemed to do was working! First, I soaked my fingers in cold water. Next, I took some ice from the freezer and wrapped it in a towel around my hand. That still didn't work. Pidgeon got involved and called his Mom for suggestions and she had no idea what to tell me. I looked online and saw people referring to pastes of baking soda and water. Someone else mentioned toothpaste. I saw a milk option and pounced. While soaking my fingers in a bowl of cold milk, Pidgeon's Mom called and asked us if we wouldn't mind picking Pidgeon's brother and nephew up from the airport.

It was absolutely our pleasure! Especially since Pidgeon's brother was hauling a huge Fisher Price baby bathtub for us from London. Now, we made a decision not to purchase anything for the baby in advance because of Ayin Harah, but there are certain things I can't find here that I need to get here before the baby comes. So, I made the exception to my rule and purchased the bathtub online and shipped it to Pidgeon's brothers house. It was big and bulky, but it's a fraction of the size of the baby basins they sell here. Plus, this one fits into the bathtub nicely or I could put it on my kitchen counter next to the kitchen sink when the baby is small. The best part is that it has a plug, so drainage will be easy. Now, all I have to do is get over my phobia of washing a baby. That's something I've never done - not even with my nieces or nephews - even though I've pretty much done everything else (feeding but not breast feeding included).

Well, we had only an hour before his plane touched done, so dinner was forgotten in the fridge and I washed the milk off my hand and we got on our way. It was stinking HOT in Tel Aviv at the airport. I had forgotten how hot and humid Tel Aviv is in the summer, it's gross. Unfortunately, Jerusalem wasn't any cooler when we got back with our passengers. Plus, we were almost and hour past my shot time, so we really had to haul ass back to the apartment to go that done.

We got home around Midnight and I immediately iced up while Pidgeon tried to figure out what's for dinner. In the end, we ordered from Joy Express since I was too tired to do any more cooking. I haven't eaten dinner at 1:30 a.m. in a long time, but it didn't stop me from passing out at 2:00 a.m.

Friday was manageable. I was able to cook the chicken, kugel and saute the shwarma within a few hours. Because I wasn't laden down with cooking I was able to get some writing done and even managed to finish the first draft of one of my thesis stories. It's a good thing, since that story is also part of my final paper for my last class, which is due at the end of September. I felt pretty accomplished, but absolutely exhausted, and the thought of going to Pidgeon's family for Shabbos dinner was not encouraging.

I ended up going to shul with Pidgeon and his brothers/Father because there was - once again - no air conditioning in the house. It was stinking, stinking hot in there with 2 ovens and a plata going full blast and not all the windows open. Pidgeon's Mom is not a fan of AC, she really hates it, even though it was a million degrees. I sat in shul as long as I could, soaking up with AC and just relaxing. Dinner was pretty challenging. Pidgeon's sister and brother-in-law continue to be really nasty to us. And, no matter how hard I try or make an effort, it's completely futile.

She makes me feel so bad about myself sometimes. I had complemented her on her new haircut/color as soon as we walked in from shul. She blew me off. Then, literally two seconds later, she asked everyone else what they thought about her hair and when they showered her with complements, she was gracious and happy. 

WTF?

Plus, I'm still insulted that she has never once asked me or Pidgeon if we want to hold her baby. It's one thing if she was the kind of Mother who was really anal about who holds the baby, but she passes that baby around like it's a UPS parcel! For some reason, we're the only ones who don't "merit" to hold the baby.

I tried not to let it get to me while we were at dinner,  but it was hot and I was exhausted. At 10:30, I asked Pidgeon if we could just do our shot early and go home. He was more than happy to oblige as he too was hot and tired. We did the shot as quick at possible, benched and then walked home. It was the first time, since I've been pregnant, that I needed to rest in the middle of the walk. It's getting harder and harder to move these days, folks, and by the time we crossed Emek Refaim, my back was killing me. I think this is it in terms of long Shabbos walks, I just don't have the strength.

We got home around Midnight and, we were just really wired, so we stayed up talking and winding down before going to sleep. I guess we were really, really exhausted because we slept until 1:00 p.m. Shabbos day! I guess that meant no shul for us :)

Shabbos was absolutely relaxing and just what we needed to recharge out batteries. Because, as soon as Havdala was over, we had a ton of work to do! We spent three hours cleaning, rearranging and getting the rooms ready for the workers. We cleared everything out of the second bathroom, the second bedroom and the Mamad. Our bedroom is cramped and cluttered, with a portable closet with Pidgeon's hanging clothing next to my bed and our hamper next to Pidgeon's. I had to do a color load of laundry since the laundry machines in the second bathroom will be off limits until they finish the work. The dryer took forever to complete! I thought all that work would make me exhausted, but at 3:00 a.m. I was still tossing and turning and not able to settle down.

And that's when the home sickness hit. It came out of the blue, but because I couldn't sleep, I just get ruminating on Pidgeon's sister and how mean she is to me. And it just made me miss my family so much. So, I started crying, and hoped that I would just cry myself to sleep. Unfortunately, Pidgeon was having a hard time sleeping too, and he heard me crying and it just jolted him awake. He calmed me down and we talked a little, I explained what was upsetting me, and he was really wonderful about everything. After a while, I let him go back to sleep and then logged in to see which family members/friends were online. My friend Melissa was just getting her Saturday night going in Manhattan, and I told her what was going on, and she was so helpful. It made me miss everyone so much more, but at least her advice made me feel a bit better.  I'm actually ready to deal with Pidgeon's sister tonight at the family dinner.

Here's hoping all will work out!

Yom Tov from Baka!

Under Construction

No worries - the site isn't under construction - just our apartment. Tomorrow morning, the AC/Heating unit guy will be coming to P"G finally fix our unit! I'm so excited, even though the place will be a huge mess, because this should at least provide us much needed AC during the extreme heat of an Israel summer. I just hope they don't make too much of a mess, cause I'm not ready for a heavy duty cleaning on top of a Pesach cleaning!

This afternoon, one of Pidgeon's best friends hosted the bris for his new son. The bris was at the Park Plaza hotel in Jerusalem, and we got all decked out and headed over right on time. When we got to the hotel, we were faced with a line of cars all trying to get into non existent parking spaces. Pidgeon drove up to the front of the hotel and left me off before he went looking for a parking space. I waited for him outside and listened as angry bris-goers yelled at the hotel security for lack of parking spaces. One woman looked like she was going to have a throw-down with them because she drove all the way from Tel Aviv and didn't want to be late for the main event. Fortunately, Pidgeon found a spot not that far from the hotel, and we made it in time for the cutting. I can't stand when the baby cries at a bris, it really just gets to me. Pidgeon is like me, so we opted to stand in the back and let the other guests watch when the cutting took place. After the bris part, I waited in line to speak with the Grandfather of the baby, who had held him during the bris. I know there is a Jewish, technical term for what role that is during the bris, but having no children and never actively planning a bris, I'm not sure what it as. Anyway, he was giving out Brachot to people, so I decided to wait in line and get one too. Since Pidgeon and I started to date, I've met his numerous times when we went to visit his friends Chanan and Naama. He is a lovely little Yemenite man with the more pleasant of dispositions and this aura of spirituality. I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass by and, when I reminded him of who I was, he was very happy to see me at the bris. The bracha was extremely thoughtful, very powerful and almost made me cry. Pidgeon opted out of the bracha process - it's really just not his thing - but sometimes I think these types of opportunities shouldn't be passed by. Hey - you never know - right?

So, I used to blog under a different name, and sometimes I go back to the old blog to see if people are leaving me any comments. Today, I discovered a comment from a woman who was absolutely offended that I bad mouthed an extremely popular hair stylist from Tel Aviv. She accused me of having "difficult hair" and that is the reason why I got the worst haircut of my entire life. I deleted the comment as it really had no relevance, and because I don't post comments from anonymous writers. Had she left her name, I would have been more than happy to get in touch and explain the story. So folks, if you're reading my blog, drop me a comment once in a while! I'd love to hear what y'all think!

Meanwhile, Pidgeon and I had the best treat today! We went to Aldo and had milkshakes. I've been craving a milkshake now for 2 weeks and we called around and found out that Aldo makes 21 shekel milkshakes. Pidgeon was still meaty from the bris and I was just dairy so I decided to go for it and get myself an Oreo milkshake with skim milk. Pidgeon had an interesting concoction with soy milk. It was bliss people. I highly recommend that, if you need a milkshake in Jerusalem, go to Aldo on Emek Refaim and enjoy!

Well, I'm off to finish working on a press release for one of my clients! Till next time!

Erev Tom from Baka!