Tooling Around JTown

It was a complete nightmare driving in Jerusalem yesterday but I did it, I drove during the day and into town and around the neighborhood. It was absolutely amazing, refreshing and so free! Pidgeon, of course, was with me as we were running his errands all day, but it was just incredible. It helps that pidgeon has a nice car too, and slowly but surely I'm getting used to driving a French car. Personally, I would trade in his care for a Toyota, but he loves it so we're not there yet. Since it's still just the two of us, we decided to keep his car for a while longer.

Our 4:30 a.m. wake up call yesterday was jarring and I wasn't as pleasant as usual in the morning so I bit the pidgeon's head off a bit while trying to get dressed. The drive to Ben Gurion was very nice, the roads were empty and we practically flew there. It was all worth it when we saw his brother's face; he was exhausted and just seemed so happy to see us that I felt good we went to get him. We dropped him off at home and then came back to the apartment to catch up on some more sleep.

Since pidgeon was ill, I had to help him get ready for his class assignment today and drove him around the neighborhood. He was starting to feel better in the afternoon, but with all the terrible traffic because of Chanukah, we ended up not getting back to the apartment to change before his Grandparent's Chanukah party. I was a bit embarressed that I showed up wearing my dirty jeans and a Better Than Ezra sweatshirt but no one really said anything. Of course, the mini sufganiot beckoned to me and I avoided eating one by smoking outside. I'm a social smoker and an uncomfortable social situations smoker, so I ended up sneaking outside with his Aunt and Uncles and bumming a cigarette. It relaxed me a bit, especially since I'm so new to the family that being around them still makes me a little uncomfortable. We didn't pig out at the party, so we got back to the apartment and ate some of the pea soup I made in the morning. I have such a great recipe from Alton Brown over at the The Food Network for Curried Split Pea soup that I've made it numerous times this "winter" and it's delicious. If you're looking for a good, easy and fast split pea soup, this is the way to go!

We lit candles, ate some soup and then just relaxed. We were so tired from the early morning that we fell into bed as soon as CSI: New York was over. 

Today, pidgeon stayed home cause of his bad cold and so he's going to spend the day in bed with my laptop watching episodes of Heroes while I make some more soup. We're on the we have no money diet which means we're eating more soup. I have a whole bunch of broccoli in the fridge, so I'm going to make it into a soup. The good thing about soup is that it fills us up and is cheap and affordable to make.

Tune back tomorrow, I plan on posting about marriage and my new theory on how to survive your first year with HIS relatives.

Chanukah - Day Two

I love this new blogger, it offers me so much more in terms of formatting options than my last blog. I feel a lot of freedom now that I can blog with complete and total anonymity. Anyone who knew me on my last blog was not given the new URL, and it's refreshing to know that I can write whatever I want, without any consequences.

So, let me begin. I'm newly married. Thankfully, I've been married for almost 4 months and we're having a great time together. Granted, life isn't without their ups and downs, but for the most part things are really fun. Now, I made Aliyah in 2006 and came to this Country without any family. Meanwhile, my husband (who will from now on be referred to as pidgeon) is a Sabra. Born and bred Jerusalamite to Anglo parents. His family, in this Country, is quite sizeable. It's lovely that he grew up with such a huge, involved, family. I, myself, come from a very small family and for the most part, we give each other space and get together during family celebrations and maybe Thanksgiving. It actually worked for me.

The other night, we all got together with one size of pidgeon's family to celebrate Chanukah. It was much better than my experience with them last year, as I'm a bit more comfortable interacting with his family now that we're married. But here's the thing, I'm having a lot of problems with pidgeon's sister. She's just not a nice person and, she's mean to him, and for some reason she feels like she can treat me the way she treats her brother.

First of all, I take issue with her because both pidgeon and myself are older. I grew up in a very strict family, where I was taught that no matter what you respect your elders. That doesn't just mean the old people in your life. That also means your older siblings. No matter how much I might fight with my older sister, I always respect her because she's older. I know, that thinking is extremely antiquated but sometimes it's not such a bad thing to revert to. Nevertheless, pidgeon is quite nice to her and yet she just continues to be a bitch. What I find interested and, ever since pidgeon brought me home to meet the family, she has gone out of the way to be nice and make friends. At first, I was more than happy with the attention and I reciprocated in kind. And then, well, then it got to be too much and now I have no idea what to do or how to interact with her.

I had invited her over this evening, with her daughter (her husband is out of town for a few days) to light candles. But, she was just so rude to us at the Chanukah party the other night that I am no longer interested in catering to her. So, I cancelled the other day and blamed it on some apartment problems. She SMSed early this morning to say how disappointed she was and if we could light candles together at their parents. I'm not even going to consult with pidgeon about this, I'm just going to say no. I need a break and, if I see her tonight, chances are that I'll say something I will regret. Space is a fantastic healer.

In honor of Chanukah, I baked oatmeal raisin cookies and - of course - helped myself to a handful. This morning, I'm 3 1/2 pounds heavier and am sending pidgeon to the office with all the leftover cookies. It's time this gal gets herself on a diet, marriage is not an excuse to let myself go! We're hopefully going to the gym today, which should be good and will get me out of the house and get me moving. I just can't believe that a handful of oatmeal raisin cookies could add so much extra weight to my body! Oy!

I think those will be the last cookies I bake in a while!