Laughing in my Sleep

Apparently, I woke Pidgeon up last night because I was laughing in my sleep. It was a cackling laugh too, so I must have been dreaming about something funny yet evil. Too bad I don't remember the dream! Dreams about our baby being half salmon/half human and potentially dinner for a group of friends I remember, funny/evil dreams you can forget about. Oh well! 

We were supposed to go on a double date last night. The plan was to meet up at the bowling alley and I was exhausted. I get pretty wiped from 5-9, then catch my second wind and am wide awake until 2:00 a.m.  So, at 8:00 p.m., I pulled myself together, got dressed, packed a pair of socks into my purse and went into the living room to wait for Pidgeon to finish getting ready. And that's when the phone rang and our date called to tell us that their babysitter cancelled last minute. From the sounds of it, they were really, really upset and angry about the last minute cancellation. They spent 30 minutes calling around and trying desperately to find a replacement babysitter. At 9:00 p.m., they called to tell us that they'd given up. I told them not to be so upset about it and that we would definitely do it another time. I guess I don't understand where they're coming from. They have two children under the age of 3 with one more on the way. I guess they really needed the night out. 

I was pretty hungry at that point and hadn't been out of the house in almost 2 days, so Pidgeon decided to take me to Emek for a quick dinner. Now, I had promised my parents I wouldn't eat out anymore because of the whole puking evening two days ago. But, I figured how bad could an Aroma tuna salad really be? Besides, I had cooked a cauliflower kugel and a meatloaf for Shabbos and just didn't have the strength to make something else for dinner. I'm really going to have to think about buying a freezer and cooking in advance of baby, otherwise Pidgeon is going to be eating a lot of Branflakes and skim milk since I doubt I'll have the strength to make us anything.

Aroma was pretty empty last night and we had a nice time. Then, we went to Super Moshava so I could do my favorite activity - walking up and down the aisles of a Supermarket. I found these packages of MealMart ready-to-eat food, you know the ones I blogged about a while ago that will be given to soldiers as rations in the event of (g-d forbid) another war. I quickly ran to show them to Pidgeon and he wanted to buy one to eat, but it's not on the diet, so I think he was pretty disappointed. I then found genuine Hershey's syrup and was soo tempted to buy the bottle so I can make myself some chocolate milk. But, it was 20 shekel and we're on a budget and a diet, so I left it back on the shelf and was just happy knowing it was there. We ended up picking up some Philadelphia cream cheese, an orange juice, some more cheese sticks for Pidgeon and 2% strawberry frozen yogurt. We had a bowl of the frozen yogurt when we got home and it was really yummy. I didn't get to sleep though until 2:00 a.m. and when Pidgeon's alarm went off this morning at 7:00 I was not pleased.

He left the apartment very quickly because we're having some problems in our new car with the gear shift. Apparently, it's SUPER sensitive mechanism, so we have to be careful when we move down gears. We're really not these heavy handed people so I don't know why it keeps breaking, but we're still under warrantee so they fixed it for free.

Afterward, Pidgeon ran my pre-Shabbos errands and brought back some whole wheat Challot from Pe'er and breakfast from Bagel Bites. We've been to Tal Bagels, Bagel Bites and the new bagel store on Emek (forgetting the name). At the end of the day, Bagel Bites has the best bagels. And, I'm not just saying that because it's closest to our apartment. They're really decent bagels. 

By the time Pidgeon returned, I had the chicken done. I roasted another whole chicken that cost us a bit more than 5 shekel (we bought it at Falcon and not SuperDeal) with balsamic vinegar, red wine, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper. It smelled amazing once it was done, and I cooked it one hour covered and one hour uncovered. The skin is now nice, brown and crackly but the meat is still very juicy. I hope it tastes as good as it looks. While it was cooling on the stove top, I made a leek and portobello mushroom soup for first course tonight. We're really going light for dinner, so I felt we needed something else as a starter. I've never made this recipe before but I found it on Epicurious and hope it's tasty!

I then grilled two steaks for tomorrow lunch. First course will be a grilled steak salad with a balsamic dijon mustard dressing. At this point, I'm wiped but have to deal with the chicken and wash all the dishes. So, I took the BEST invention ever and set to work on quartering the chicken.

I cannot stop praising these poultry shears. They are absolutely amazing, you'd think the chicken bones were fabric it just glides right through them. I also never learnt how to properly quarter a whole chicken, but I figured it out pretty well if I do say so myself. Within minutes, I had four pieces of chicken and two wings cut off. I also cooked the neck too, and left that together with the chicken. Hopefully, it will taste as good as it looks!! If you need a pair, and you live in Jerusalem, go to 4UGifts on Derech Hevron and ask Sara for the poultry shears. It will save you tons of money in the end!

Well, I was trolling the blogosphere yesterday and came across this amazing baking site called Bake or Break and the photos literally had me drooling. With Rosh Hashana coming up, I'm thinking about baking something to formally usher in a sweet New Year. Now, all I have to do is figure out which recipe I want to try first as they all look so great!

I'm off to finish tidying up before Shabbos!

Shabbat Shalom from Baka!

Bowling Birthday

TGIF!! I am so happy that it's almost Shabbos. I never thought I would ever say that, I used to dread Shabbos while single and living on the Upper West Side. By, ever since we got married and packed our weeks with work and errands and just life in general, I've learnt to appreciate Shabbos. 

It was a very busy and exhausting week. Wednesday, we were still heavily under construction and the apartment was just covered in pulvarized wall and dust. We ran some errands and then, once all the workers finally left, I got into the shower and got dressed to Pidgeon's first cousin's 11th birthday party at the bowling alley in Talpiot.

We were an hour and a half late, so we didn't make it in time to actively bowl, but it was a lot of fun. It reminded me of our birthday parties - back in the day - at Jib Lanes in Queens. Each of us had a party there, and mine was especially fun! We bowled then went to the back room where my parents had pizza and a birthday cake. I got some good presents that year and I still have some pictures of all my friends bowling and having a fun time. I think we took up about 5 lanes too, everyone we invited came! I don't remember what the goody bags were that year,  but knowing my Mom they probably had a lot of chocolate and candies in them.

After the bowling evening, we went to Anise on HaPalmach so I could buy some stuff we needed for the house and our new diet. Also, I bought that Nettle tea leaves and some Raspberry Leaf tea leaves, as recommended by our childbirth education class instructor. We also found Whey protein powder, which is a key ingredient in this non-flour "graham" cracker crust recipe I found online. I saw limes at the fruit and vegetable store on Derech Beit Lechem yesterday so I want to make pidgeon some "key lime" pie that is "kosher" for our diet. We also bought some fake sugar for baking, which I'm sure we will burn through in no time!

We got home late and I started cooking a quick egg scramble for Pidgeon and waited for my friend Slightly Mad to come over. We had a much needed girl's chat, which was great fun for me! Pidgeon enjoyed it too, and tuned us out during the appropriate times.

Yesterday wasn't as busy as Wednesday, and less crowded in the apartment as construction finally winds down. I spent 20 minutes with the contractor telling him where to hang which picture, and the apartment just looks so much nicer with some photos up! Pidgeon was out on errands in the morning, and when he got back we decided to run some errands for me. We went to pick up some fruit and vegetables to get us through the day and then we stopped by 4UGifts to try to finish off our registry. We literally have 129 shekels left and I'm waiting on the rolling pin I ordered about a month ago. We did manage to get two dairy casserole dishes that I needed desperately and this thing called Dish Wish which is incredible! It's basically thicker than a towel and functions as a drying rack for dishes. Since we are VERY limited in counter space, I only have one real drying rack but needed something else for milchig dishes. Enter Dish Wish! We bought another one yesterday since we've been really using the first one and it's getting a bit grundgy. I think I'm going to have to wash it very soon!

I ended up cooking a great dinner for us last night. I made salmon, a broccoli cheese and pizza spice "casserole" and a goat cheese salad with artichokes and endives. It was yummy! I was ready to get to bed much earlier than expected, but we decided to watch Hancock online. I was happy, once the movie was over, that we didn't shell out the dough to see it in the theatre. Now, I'm a big Will Smith fan and have been seeing his July 4th movies pretty regularly since Independence Day hit theaters way back when. But, he needs to sign up for better movies, cause this one was a stinker.

We went to sleep so late last night, that it was no surprise to me when I rolled over and saw it was Noon! After four late night pit-stops to the bathroom (damn that Nettle tea!!) I was pretty wiped. I woke Pidgeon up and decided to make us some whole wheat pancakes for breakfast since it's our Hebrew 1st anniversary. The new recipe I tried was absolutely delicious and we polished off 15 pancakes between us! It was that good. I think I'm going to make another batch early next week and leave them in the fridge. Pidgeon likes to eat them as a quick snack and it's healthy for him, so why not.

Well, I'm off to finish this new mix I'm pulling together for Pidgeon's brother. He's in from London and is a big runner, and when he told me what music was on his iPod, I was pretty shocked. The guy is listening to music for 15 years ago and not because he likes it, but because he doesn't have anything new! So, I'm pulling together a great mix with tunes from The Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, Kings of Leon, Damone, The Kaiser Chiefs, etc. I'm hoping he'll enjoy this mix as much as his old one.

Shabbat Shalom from Baka!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 1 year wedding anniversary to me! Happy 1 year wedding anniversary to Pidgeon! Happy 1 year wedding anniversary to us! 

Wow - I can't believe its actually been an entire year.  There has been some really good stuff, some bad stuff and just life in between. 

The Good

We had a fantastic honeymoon in the Dead Sea

We got pregnant (yea!!!)

We both finished school

We both passed all our school exams

We're still madly in love with each other (which is very nice)

We've grown together as a couple, which is even nicer

We've both been through medical crisis and realized that we can count on the other person to be there for us

We went to the States for Pesach and had an awesome time, despite the morning sickness

We're still each others best friend

I'm so thankful to G-d that we found each other, and I hope that we're still at the point where we don't take each other for granted yet (hopefully, that day will never come)

For once in my life, I am dreaming of a family, and it's wonderful to be able to dream a dream that P"G can come true

The Bad

We both put on some serious post-wedding weight, although now I just call my weight gain baby weight. We need New Year's resolutions to lose weight STAT!

I don't feel any closer to Pidgeon's family, in fact, I feel as awkward as ever

Life in Between

We went to London together, which was one of the best trips I've ever taken in my life! I miss my Starbucks here in Israel.

I still get that awed feeling when I light candles on Friday night and Pidgeon comes home from shul, sings, makes Kiddush and we have Shabbos dinner. When I was single, and during the depressed single years, I used to fantasize about that moment and what it could be like. And, having it come to fruition for me is truly amazing. It's like when you want something so bad and you dream about it and then it happens, it takes a while for you to actually realize it's real. I still get that feeling, even when it's just the two of us and I come to the Shabbos table in my scrubs. It's pretty incredible.

So, let the celebrations continue!

We had a lovely Shabbos in Ashkelon and then, on Sunday, we drove to Cinema City in Herzliya. We made it there in time for the 2:45 p.m. showing of The Dark Knight which was extremely dark and disturbing. I, of course, compare each and every new Batman movie to the original Michael Keaton version and it was basically no comparison this time. They were so vastly different. It wasn't exactly a pick me up kind of flick, but it was very entertaining nevertheless. We were starving by intermission, but we had some heavy duty dinner plans, so we both sucked it up and chewed some gum to keep our appetites for dinner.

And, it was a very good thing we did, because we ended up at the Herzliya Marina at the kosher Papagayo's. For people unfamiliar with the Papagayo concept, it's basically an all you can eat set menu. For 145 shekel a plate, we went with the meat menu. We tried to be strategic though, about the eating, since you don't want to fill up on crap before all the good stuff comes out. But, we were starving, so we had to start with something. We passed on the bread, but we both got fruit smoothies for drinks. That, in hindsight, was a bad idea since it was just air and fruit and water and it was a waste of stomach space. We then digged into the salatim which were very good, and a plate of sweet and sour sauces battered chicken wings. I usually am not a wing person, I never was really into wings, but I was hungry so I ate two. And then, the meat came out in the following order:

1 sausage (spicy and delicious)

1 strip of skirt steak (done well and also delicious)

1 chunk of marinated chicken breast

1 chunk of marinated steak fillet

goose hearts (I passed on this one, I'm not a fan of organ meat)

1 grilled and battered chicken drumstick

chicken livers (I passed on this too)

lamb kabob (I took a bite and passed it over to Pidgeon. It was too rare for me)

Sliced steak entrecote WELL done (which was actually for once, too well done for me. Tasted a bit like shoe leather)

At this point, Pidgeon and I were BURSTING with all the food and we contemplated turning the green sign to red (which signals to the wait staff that you are done and that they shouldn't bring you any more food) but I insisted we continue. I mean, for 145 shekel a plate, I wanted to make sure I got all the food I was paying for. Not the smartest thing I've ever done, but, I'm a New York Jew and I wanted to get my money's worth. So, we asked the waiter what was left to come. He said there was Asado on and off the bone and that we must at least try one. He was also very surprised that we made it this far, but there was no way I was passing up on that Asado. So, they brought the Asado without the bone to the table and carved us pieces right then and there. I got the smallest piece I could get, as did Pidgeon, and then we just caved and turned the green to red.

Now, I was really not feeling so great at this moment. I've been on all protein diets before, but never consumed this much meat (only) in such a short period of time. Even the 5 potatoes they brought us with the salatim went untouched practically, because we were holding out for the beef. So, I told Pidgeon I wasn't feeling so great, and I headed towards the ladies room where I prayed to the porcelin god. 

What a waste of 145 shekels! Pidgeon felt bad that I got sick so quickly and, instead of walking around by the water and through the marina mall, we just packed it in and headed home. It was a good idea because by the time we got home, I was just wiped. I managed to unpack our stuff though, before crashing pretty quickly. 

The worst part was that my parents paid for our Papagayo dinner and, so when they asked me how it went, I lied and told them how great it was. I mean, it was a wonderful dining experience, I just pigged out and paid the price. That's one secret I think I'm going to keep from them, I know my Father well, and I could do without the pigging out lecture. Next time, I think we're going to just pass on the whole Papagayo experience. I do much better when I can order what I want, and just leave what I can't on my plate and then wrap it up and take it home. That's the problem with Papagayo's - no doggie bags.

Yesterday, we basically spent the day a part. Pidgeon went to the office to continue working on his project, and I stayed home to be the little housewife. I did a huge load of laundry, washed dishes and cleaned up around the house. We stopped by Pidgeon's parents later at night, before dinner, so I could pick up my blood test results. The GREAT news is that my sugar test came back normal! Thank G-d! I was so worried about gestational diabetes, on top of everything else I'm dealing with, that I'm just so thankful it came out ok. The abnormal results were with my blood and Pidgeon's Mom said that it means I'm anemic. I have to call my hematologist to see if the results are because  I'm just iron deficient or if it's the Clexane. But, I'm not worrying. My sugar is good people and that means I can eat CAKE again!

Nice!

So, Pidgeon's Mom asked us what we're doing today to celebrate and we just looked at her blankly. We don't have plans. We have a 5:00 p.m. heart echo test for the baby and, depending on the results, we figured we go from there. Although, we somehow managed to pack our day today with errands. Already this morning, before 9:30 a.m., we had Mei Eden delivering our monthly allotment of water, the cleaner guy came back to refund our money and pick up an outfit they accidentally gave us that wasn't ours (love when that happens) and the cabinet builder here to measure the alarm system in the room so he can build a cabinet that will cover the system (so that, P"G, the baby won't be able to get to all the wiring) along with 2 shelves on top for baby books. We're hoping the price will be decent and he promised we'll get it by the Chagim, which is basically in two months time.  

Our other plans include going to the post office to pick up Pidgeon's anniversary present, heading over to 4UGifts to finish off our registry. We still have almost 2,000 shekel that we need to spend and I'm looking forward to replenishing the dishes we both shattered in the past year. After that, we have a 300 shekel credit for a wedding gift we returned in town that we're going to redeem and maybe, just maybe, we'll go check out some baby furniture stores in Talpiot.

Not exactly a romantic anniversary in bed, but just being together is all I really need today.

Yom Tov from Baka!