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!

Driving Exam!

Its been a few days since I've updated the blog and there's lots to talk about! First of all, Happy Xmas to all of my friends celebrating today and tomorrow. Right now, on the East Coast, Midnight Mass should just about be finishing and all the kids scurrying home to wait for Santa.

Santa visited me last night, in the form of Pidgeon, and he brought me a keychain flashlight. G-d bless him, it's the perfect gift for me! Not only could I use it during one of our unfortunately many blackouts in the apartment,  but it's good to ward off would be attackers. He also brought me cake, since I didn't bake any cookies yet, and I enjoyed a piece of cinnamon crumb cake. It was good, a bit dry for my taste, but still it hit the spot. I need to teach pidgeon the art of selecting cake. I need cream on my cake. I had a hankering for 7-layer last night, but poor pidgeon had no idea where to go to get me some cake. So, I've decided to make it my mission to find good cake places so in my next cake emergency, pidgeon can find the perfect piece!

Friday was extremely mellow as I cooked for Shabbos. We ate out lunch by pidgeon's 2nd cousins, so all I had to do was make Friday night dinner. And, I decided to go ALL out and bake Challot for the first time! Here are some pictures:

Unfortunately, we discovered on Friday night that the big one wasn't cooked through. Pidgeon loved it, telling me it was like eating a donut, but I wasn't happy. We ended up eating around the center and then, after Shabbos, pidgeon threw it out so we wouldn't eat the raw dough. I guess it's a case of live and learn, and I'm just going to keep on trying with the Challah!

Shabbos day we went to Pelech and it was really, really nice. Somehow, we managed to go when there was another Kiddush and a Bat Mitzvah. The shul was packed with people, it was standing room only, and since I didn't show up until Anem Z'miros, I didn't manage to snag a chair. We saw a couple of people we met the last time, and then we joined his cousins for lunch. They are very nice people and we had a great time at their house, and then we raced home to us the facilities. I don't know why we didn't go before we left the house. Either way, we both just made it in time. Phew! And I thought those days were long over.

I decided I didn't want to go out to our usual movie on Saturday night, so we stayed home and pidgeon worked while I watched TV. I'm addicted to SideReel and now that I know they have episodes of Dead Like Me, I've been spending all of my free time on the site. We ended up going to bed fairly early and got up really late on Sunday.

I made us oatmeal raisin pancakes for breakfast on Sunday morning and they were really, really delicious. It took me a while to get into the whole groove of the pancake thing, but by the 5th one, they were coming out picture perfect. It was nice. Pidgeon spent the day doing work and running errands, and I began cleaning the apartment in preparation for my family's visit. My brother should be leaving today (yea!) and so I had to get that room all ready for him. We had so much junk lying around that I'm just trying to get things in order so no one things we live in a pig sty. 

I also decided pidgeon and I need to start doing some exercise. Not to be too graphic but there are things jiggling here that have never jiggled before, so I had to get my butt back in gear. Already, we've gone on a nice walk for 2 nights in a row and we both really, really like. And, as long as the weather holds out, I think we're going to continue with the walking. At some point, I'd like to try to walk around the neighborhood in the sunlight, but for now we walk at night because it fits into pidgeon's schedule.

But, the biggest news of the week is that they have finally scheduled my driving exam. Granted, I've been driving on my American license with pidgeon in the car for some time now, but I finally have a test. I won't reveal when it's going to be because I'm scared of an Ayin Harah, but I'm hoping I'll pass. My friend Lisa told me to make sure the instructor sees me constantly looking into my mirrors, and Pidgeon told me that I should really try not to be too aggressive a driver on the exam. I just hope I'll be able to drive like I did when I was 17 and not give him reason to fail me. Think it will help if I bring him home baked cookies?

I was supposed to go to Bar Ilan today but it didn't happen. On Tuesdays, Pidgeon gets up really early and needs to be out of the house by 7:30 for an 8:00 a.m. class. I need to concentrate on getting him out the door and so I didn't really think about getting myself ready too. That, and I was in the midst of a good catch up session with my Cousin Neil, so I didn't want to pull myself away from the call. Either way, I think it works out better, as I still have to finish getting ready for my brother's visit. Today, I have to make the bed in his room and make sure all "girly" items are out of his bathroom. He gets pretty pissed off if I leave anything too ladylike around. Oh well, I'll see what I can do! I also have to figure out where to put one of my wigs. Right now, his room is the only place for Wiggy 1 (I have wiggy 1 and wiggy 2, as named by pidgeon) and Wiggy 2 is stored neatly away in the carry case. Think I can get away with leaving the wig in that room? Hopefully he'll be kind...

Well, I've been up since 6:15 a.m. so I'm ready for my morning nap. Hope everyone whose off today is enjoying the vacation and I wish all of my non-Jewish friends and very Merry and Happy Holiday!

Airport Bound

For the life of me, I have absolutely no idea what happened on Thursday so I can't even recap for you what I did. Chances are, it involved errands and loads of TV. Friday, pidgeon headed out early to the office and I got cooking for Shabbos. We were invited out for lunch, so I just had to made dinner and I had a plan all figured out. That is, until the chopped meat that I had defrosted from the freezer turned out to be a brisket. I still have no clue how I made that mistake but I tried to roll with the punched. So, I was forced to pot it and prayed that it turned out okay. Fortunately, it was delicious and pidgeon loved it! Anyway, I also made artichoke's and asked pidgeon to show me how to eat one.  A few months back, right after we were engaged, pidgeon and I were at his parents for lunch and the appetizer was artichoke. Well, I had never eaten one like that before (I get my artichokes from the jar people) and so I mimicked their movements as best I could until I get to the heart. I had no clue what to do, so I handed it to pidgeon and told him I didn't want it. So, this Friday night, I asked him to finally teach me the proper way to eat one so I wouldn't have to embarress myself if we ever were in that predicament again. And, would you believe it, but the people we went to for Shabbos lunch served artichoke for first course? I kid you not - I told them the story and we all got a good chuckle.

So, pidgeon and I decided to keep shul hopping in Baka and we tried this new shul in Pelech, which is a high school for girls. Interestingly enough, pidgeon's cousin is a student there and it's also literally 2 blocks from the apartment. Friday night was nice and uneventful, but I somehow managed to get myself there for Shabbos day and the davening was very nice. The best part of the shul was what happened at the kiddush. Normally, when we shul hop, we don't go to the kiddush because we feel bad and don't want people to think we're freeloaders who just come for the free food. Anyway, it turns out that pidgeon's cousins daven in the shul as does his Uncle's brother, so we knew a bunch of people. His cousin insisted we come up to the kiddush so we joined them and immediately three strangers came over to introduce themselves to us. That is exactly what I've been looking for in a congregation and I was so happy that they did that. Pidgeon really liked the shul and so, for now, we've decided that we're going to start davening there. They also gave pidgeon an Aliyah, which was really nice, so I think this is going to be our home for a while. It's exciting, especially since there are a number of Anglos, and I'm looking forward to hopefully meeting lots of new people.

Jtownunderground pick for a great shul that gives you a warm welcome and that small-town feeling: Pelech. You heard it here first - at the underground.

Anyway, Shabbos lunch was great; we ate at our neighbors house and they are lovely people with a gorgeous home. The food was good too, as our host was a vegan, and pidgeon and I really didn't miss the meat too much. We slept the rest of the weekend away and then Saturday night we saw The Golden Compass. Well, that's two and a half hours we're both never going to get back, but it was nice to just get out of the house and relax at a movie. Because of the Chanukah vacation, the theatre was packed, and people were a bit unruly. But, you gotta love the seats at Rav Chen theatre. It's worth the mob.

Sunday, pidgeon spent the day out of the house working and doing errands and I too had loads to do. My blow dryer literally blew while I was drying my hair for Shabbos and I silently thanked g-d for my two wigs so I didn't look like a complete moron over the weekend. So, I went to buy a blow dryer and, while I was at it, I picked up an iron. See, dry cleaning in this country is unbelievably expensive! In fact, my dry cleaning bills are more than my food bills, and that says a lot. So, we decided to invest in an iron to cut down on our cleaning bills. Hopefully it will work, although I'm not sure as I've never ironed before. I decided to finish my errands and then get home and try it out on some of pidgeon's shirts. There's also a great ID Design in Talpiot and they have some really nice stuff. Unfortunately, they didn't have the furniture I really need so I left empty handed. A quick trip to the drugstore at the Hadar Mall for some sport socks for pidgeon and I headed back home. I was so sweaty from exercion when I got back to the apartment that I literally peeled myself out of my clothing. I decided not to be lazy in the afternoon and tackled our junk room, trying to throw things out and organize the mess. I think I made a pretty decent dent actually, and you can see some of the bed in the room. That's good as my folks are coming in a few weeks and I don't want them complaining that we live in a pig sty.

Last night, pidgeon and I did a low key night at home and just had left overs for dinner and watched some TV. We were just about to go to sleep when his Mum SMSed us from London to ask us to pick pidgeon's brother up at the airport this morning. His flight was landing at 5:15 and he had no luggage with him, so we SMSed back that it would be our pleasure and set the alarms for 4:30 a.m. That was an hour I was really hoping never to see in a long time - but his brother is one of the nicest guys I know and he deserved to be picked up at the airport. So, pidgeon and I called it a day and we tried to go to sleep early. Hopefully, getting up before dawn won't totally mess up our body clocks.

Uh-oh, pidgeon just told me that he feels like he's coming down with something. Crap, I hate when he gets sick! Hopefully it's not really anything and he'll be fine in the morning. I'm really praying people!