Adventure!

Hope Purim was fantastic! [And that you all join me, on the Dark Side, and we will rule the galaxy together!] Dr. Luchins' seuda was great- I got to play with his son's camera- the same Nikon D80 that I eventually want for professional use! And, needless to say, we were quite a sight on the subway: me in my Vader outfit, complete with helmet (of course the man sounds like that...no one can breathe in that helmet!), the roomie in pigtails, pacifier, and baby bottle full of wine...just another normal group of girls on the 2 train...

Then Sunday was Dovid and Becki's vort...so I stayed up through Motzaei Shabbos to bake the cookies...and realized after the party that I could have made half as many...oops! I was nervous there wouldn't be enough...vort was nice, though; good to see the whole family; had fun (even though Ruchie wouldn't let me near the scotch...). Continued the party at home later on, cleaning up and putting stuff away and watching them open presents...some of which were really quite...imaginative?

Then, of course, there was the flu-y thing that hit me on Tuesday. Bleh.

And Bex's birthday, which never seems to end (it started two weeks ago...).

Thursday night was Sarah Hinda's wedding- gorgeous wedding, beautiful kallah, insane dancing, and, as if nothing exciting enough happened all week, I wound up going for a little field trip at the end of the first dance set-
-to Maimonides Medical Center ER.

Still not sure exactly what it was- one opinion was anxiety attack, which just doesn't make sense- the other hypothesis is that it was a really nasty combination of dehydration, overexertion, and an asthma attack. But since I don't have a diagnosis of asthma because I haven't seen a doctor since high school, they wouldn't treat it as such. 'Course, when they put in the IV...that was a real anxiety attack. It certainly didn't help that the nurse couldn't find my veins, and I was showing her exactly where they are, and telling her to use a butterfly needle, and she wouldn't. Once I made her get a smaller needle, I told her she'd need someone from pediatrics to do the stick. Instead I got this Pakistani guy who wouldn't put on gloves until Chavie and I both yelled at him.
Oh, and I didn't mention that Chavie was also almost admitted?...She saw the blood.
Funny thing is, she's going to nursing school, too!
Oh, and my cousin threatened to call and tell Ima if I tried to go home by myself that night.

Shabbos was fun- yay, Tziv coming to visit!- Aish groups were pretty ok, I guess. And Malkie gave me five pounds of whole wheat flour! Yippee!

Yup, that seems to be all the interesting stuff.
Now I can go study.

-SA

Bexism of the Day #2

[On showing off a cake I baked for her in honor of donating blood, decorated with syringes obtained from the nice pharmacist at CVS]

Bex: My roommate's on crack!
Me: Well, how do you think I got the hypodermics?

Bexism of the Day #1

"I have a lot of favorite aunts, but Aunt Jemima is by far the best..."

Poll and Stuff...

I'm taking a poll...if anyone's still out here reading:

What flavor hamentashen do I bake this week? Shayna suggested prune...Dana wants chocolate spread.

I've been in SUCH a good mood since I quit my job! Yes, I finally did it! I'm out! (Well, after this Sunday.) What to do with all those free Sundays now? Besides studying my tuchis off, I plan on actually seeing some of NYC, or not having to run away from wherever I stay for Shabbos right away...who's coming to a Broadway show with me?

Oh, and my terminally ill computer is soon to be replaced. Yay! I should probably check and make sure everything is backed up...

Babysat last night- the kid fell asleep on me and wouldn't let me put him down- woke up every time I put him in the crib. But he's beyond adorable, so it was fine. And I sang him to sleep- one moment he was screaming his head off for Mommy, the next he just stopped and stared at me to listen, and was asleep five minutes later!

I want my baby to come visit me- Yoface, take a vacation and come to NY to see your sister!

I'm thinking I should go find a snack for nutrition class besides the giant Hersheys' Kiss in my locker.

L'hitraot!
-SA

Florida!!!

Yay!, I'm here!

Though I haven't really had time to bask in the sun yet- today was catch up on sleep and cook for Shabbos day- I had to go pick Abba up from the airport at 3 AM last night because his plane was diverted to Charlotte, they sat on the ground for a couple of hours, and then finally got to Atlanta and all connecting flights were canceled or delayed...

Excited to see Tova!!! And for Yerachmiel to go back to school so I can have friends over for a pool party!

Oh, and I wanted to make a Yerushalmi kugel, but I ran out of time- so I'll have to make it in the dorm sometime...

Shabbat Shalom l'Kulam!
-SA

Back in the Game!

Ok, I've cleaned this thing up and only left some of the more interesting posts up...

I have been inspired to begin updating again; I'm not sure why, but then again, why not?

Finals are over, the dorm is almost empty, and quite lonely...I have to pack, do laundry, etc., because I'm leaving on Wednesday for FLORIDA to see my parents!

In the meantime, those of you who were not in the dorm this morning missed quite a party...apparently the wiring in a light on the fourth floor got fried, so we were all woken up by the fire alarm (or the girls who actually heard the fire alarm) at a quarter to nine on Shabbos morning, and spent the next hour either gawking at the (four trucks worth of) firefighters who came to check it out, or laughing at the girls checking out the firefighters...
Yes, the dorm is still standing. It's just dark, because they turned off all the hallway lights so it doesn't start anything else.

Signing off now; Rena told me she'd Rena-ify my hair.

Gush Katif

So Ima made me officially promise her that I won't do anything illegal next year- no roadblocks, no chaining myself to houses in Gush Katif, no getting arrested. However, I am permitted to wear orange and hand out leaflets.

In the meantime, this is one of my friends' current away messages:
Auto response from Lightenup***: “Shum tapooz lo yazooz b’Tamooz!” - "Not even one orange will be moved in the current month of Tammuz" - Dr. Sodi Namir from Gush Katif

-SA

Some people still actually rely on Spellcheck...

I first read this poem in sixth grade, and I've absolutely loved it ever since.

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee four two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong

Eye have run this poem threw it
am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

-SA

Soup

I just got back from the farm (Golden Acres), where I got to roast marshmallows over a bonfire- in broad daylight- but didn't get to eat them because Ima stole them off my stick, and I got to hold the baby bunnies, and I walked outside one morning and freaked out because I thought the horses had gotten out...(there was a wire fence that I couldn't see from where I was standing).

The rest of the mishpacha is still there, but I decided to return to civilization- if I stayed, Ima would have made me ride a horse again, and I'm just too sore for that. So I'm home alone, trying to figure out if it looks like I'm going to get a JOB this summer (possibly, I'll get back to that tomorrow or the next day) and what to have for dinner, and I realized that this is my chance to finally experiment in the kitchen without people peering over my shoulder waiting to snarf it all down...ahem, ahem, little brother...cough, cough...or telling me not to use this vegetable or that base, or G-d forbid, mix those two spices together....(Abba)...or fussing about the mess I'm making and restricting my usage of onions...(Ima). So I made beef vegetable soup!

Approximated Recipe- because I made it all up and I don't measure anything!- for Beef Vegetable Soup:
-1 pkg. boneless cholent meat
-5-7 small onions (I'm toning it down for you)
-abt. 3/4 lb. diced baby carrots
-1/2 stalk celery
-1 zucchini, shredded
-1 yellow squash, shredded
-4 cups chopped broccoli
-1 pkg. prechecked fresh dill
-generous heapings of basil and black pepper
-3 tablespoons crushed garlic
-a few bay leaves

*Just chuck it all in the pot, cover, and let it boil. To heck with complicated "put this in first, then this, mix these two separately" kinda junk. Although I did put in the onions and meat first because they take the longest to cook.

-SA

Ah, Jewish Geography...

I love how the Jewish world works...

So I'm talking to a friend (who is also going to MIDRESHET TEHILLAH!), and she tells me that she found out where a few other girls are coming from- London, South Africa, and Texas. Very nice, can't wait to meet 'em. WAIT- Texas? Where in Texas?? She tells me Dallas, and here's where it gets fun. She tells me two first names, and I immediately shoot back two last names at her. So she says, "either you know them, or you're incredibly psychic". Hee, hee, hee.

"Did I ever mention that I lived in Dallas...?" Oops. Forgot to tell her that little detail.

Yup, I'll be going to seminary with two girls who were in my class in second grade, who I haven't spoken to in about seven years. "It's a world of laughter, a world of tears; it's a world of hopes, it's a world of fears; there's so much that we share that it's time we're aware: IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL!" Gotta love Disney, they know everything.

-SA

Picture this...

It's dark outside, and the house is still. All you hear is the steady rush of rain hitting the pavement outside, creating splashing lakes in the sidewalk, sheets of water dripping as they pour down the windowpanes...Every couple of minutes, as if to make sure you're not too lonely in the black, quiet night, booming thunder rends the silence- once, twice, and then dies away as the sky lights up, a fleeting bolt of lightening off in the distance. As the night passes, the thunder and lightening become closer, comforting, soothing. The thunderstorm a peaceful companion as you read, lulling you to sleep, washing away today's worries and grievances...



Now don't you all want a thunderstorm, too?

-SA