After that highly eventful first days of chag...
So Tuesday we were supposed to go to Parrot Jungle- which is this giant wildlife reserve with PENGUINS!, and tropical birds of all sorts- apparently the whole place was trashed after one gargantuan hurricane a few years ago, and all these birds escaped into the wild, and of course now they've reproduced, so now you just randomly see these pretty colored birds flying around Miami...- but then we ended up babysitting while the mommies went to a funeral. These kids think I'm their aunt...they call their parents Mommy and Tatty, and my parents are Abba and "Avowa Mowah"- or "Morah Devorah"...then in the afternoon we went to the beach and bought a kite!- it's also a PENGUIN!- and flew that...or tried to...for a while. We got laughed at by a bunch of six-year-olds, but we did eventually get the hang of it. Lots of good footage for Rachel's video diary.
Wednesday was concert day- Ima dropped us off at the beach early on, and the place was so deserted we had about 30 yards of beach all to ourselves !- then we went back and left for the Shwekey concert...which didn't start until 6:30 or so, but Ima decided we should get there at 4 so we could find parking. The kiddie programming was already running, but Ima wouldn't let me ride a pony. 'Course, the ponies were about my size, possibly even a bit smaller. Abba and Yerachmiel were working the hashgacha, so we at least got to see them on and off. And then we ran into Chana Berns and Little Berns! I was sitting near the entrance and people-watching, and all of a sudden I'm like, hey, that looks like Rochel's hair from the back- oh wait, it is her- maybe she came with a friend or something...(because I'd just spoken to Chana and thought she'd said she was going to Hollywood that evening). So yeah, that was nice. The star of the concert was definitely the two-year-old son of one of the auxiliary singers, who came up on stage with his Abba and jammed with his own little guitar.
Thursday we took Leah out bowling! Ima was going completely the other direction to meet some friends, so she made me take the car. Now let us just say- I do not live in Miami- I do not know where anything is- well, besides my house, the shul across the street, Yerachmiel's yeshiva, and the neighbors' house.
"Lost" is beyond understated. "Hopelessly, pathetically lost" might be a bit warmer. We spent about an hour circling the neighborhood without finding the bowling alley, managing to find every random "turn-only" lane in the vicinity- so we eventually pulled over and called Esther for help. Finally found the place, parked, bowled...Leah's really good! We should have gotten the bumpers only for the rest of us! Then went back to the Cohens' (aforementioned neighbors) and had a barbeque while watching the kids splash around in the pool and makeshift waterslide. [Instructions: Deposit Fisher-Price playset into pool. Hook hose onto ladder. Slide down and splash.] Rented Enchanted- and I barely sang along the whole movie! Possibly because Ima kept elbowing me to shush.
Friday was get-ready-for-chag-again day, so we went back to the house and I cleaned the pool, then we went back to the hotel and I straightened my hair because Ima had her heart set on it...
Out of all these families that had the caterer for the first days, only one was getting meals for the last days- and there was no where in that building for us to eat. (Oops.) So Abba and Yerachmiel packed up all sorts of stuff (score on that cholent, baby brother!) and we ate in the hotel- kinda cute; we had a tablecloth and all the fixings and just shlepped it out to the lounge area on a luggage cart at each meal. Went to shul (found a different shul a teeny bit closer- as in, a mile away instead of a mile and a half- but also a really pretty walk. Second day about the same; didn't take any long meandering walks around the entire perimeter of the mall this time...This time had remembered to borrow books from the Cohens, because Ima doesn't have a library card and I ran out of things to read on the first day of yom tov...
And then it was all over. And we went to Publix. And I got chocolate pudding to bring back to NY with me. And the security man at the airport took it away.
Monday tried to clean the pool; we discovered it was beyond normal cleaning; Yerachmiel spent the day blasting the filter with a hose and dumping can after can of chlorine into the pool...so no swimming. =(
Packing, and all that other fun stuff- like finding out that the spring clothes I put away over Sukkos when they didn't fit- fit me now! So I brought back all that. And raiding the pantry for the good stuff to bring to NY. And, of course, Wal-Mart.
Tuesday morning packing, then Yerachmiel drove us to school to see Ima and meet her class. She's been promising them for months that they'll get to meet the famous Sara Adina and Yerachmiel whose books are all over the classroom, and this was her chance. Cute kids. Whatever.
Got to the airport, second suitcase was a bit underweight, so I thought I'd take the giant Microbio textbook out of my backpack [incidentally, said textbook was ordered no less than five times over the course of the semester- the first one came and was the study guide, the second and fourth were canceled orders, the third just never showed up, and I ordered this one again a week before Pesach to be shipped to Florida- it came as we were heading out the door to the hotel, yay!] and put it in my suitcase. Voila! A 45.5 lb. suitcase was suddenly 52 pounds and the agent wouldn't let it through. Back into the backpack, then...
Then the security man took my chocolate pudding. But let through all kinds of makeup, hand creams, Benadryl, and a foil-wrapped package that a nuclear bomb couldn't have gotten into [it was veal chops that Abba sent me home with so I wouldn't have to shop/cook the rest of the week. These caterers throw out everything, so he just took it home].
Flew into Atlanta, flight was delayed- yay!, longer stopover- but still not long enough to leave the airport. We tried to get bumped onto the next flight, and I really wanted that compensatory free ticket to go visit Tamar...but then we got on the plane. As we're sitting and waiting, Rachel notices "that really tall Jewish guy"- I don't even look up from my book, and say "yeah, I went to middle school with him"- turns out that half the Atlanta YU contingent were on the next flight out, leaving from the gate next door.
Oddly enough, our flight was delayed about two hours, but we only landed 45 minutes late...got home, unpacked, and it's back to the grindstone!
Hope everyone's chag was great!
-SA
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Lessons From a Caterer
This week, I have learned how not to be a Pesach caterer. This would have made a great comedy show, if only it wasn't so pathetic...and chag, so I couldn't film anything.
1) When making arrangements for the rabbi and his family, make the reservation sooner than an hour and a half before Shabbos. And preferably less than a mile and a half away.
2) Lock the truck. Always lock the truck. 'Cuz you can't blame the mashgiach for making you throw out a truck-full of food when your idiot drove off with it.
3) 6 PM does not equal 12:00 noon on anyone's watch. So when you have to be out of the commissary at noon, get out at noon. Especially erev Shabbos.
4) How dumb do you think the rabbi is? He's not going to fall for the "but, Rabbi, it's kosher, it's from Annie's Bakery- it's kosher for Passover!", regarding that open, unlabeled loaf of what looks (and smells) just like honey-whole-wheat bread. And it is not wise to try to shove past him with it. Yay, Abba!
5) If you're bringing in a mashgiach with a family for a week...it might be a good idea to remember to feed them. "Oh, you mean you were supposed to eat here?" (We literally raided one group's second seder as soon as they left the room, because the kitchen forgot to save stuff for us.)
6) Bring a site manager. Just because the mashgiach is the only one wearing a jacket and tie does not mean he's going to take the fall for all your ineptitude.
7) In that vein...when you order supplies- bring them with you! Don't leave 'em in the commissary ten miles away and then complain you don't have enough! And again, don't blame the rabbi when he won't let you go to Publix and buy more yom tov afternoon...
We got to see all kinds of shenanigans this week...my personal favorite was the steak-plate frisbee.
More later!
-SA
1) When making arrangements for the rabbi and his family, make the reservation sooner than an hour and a half before Shabbos. And preferably less than a mile and a half away.
2) Lock the truck. Always lock the truck. 'Cuz you can't blame the mashgiach for making you throw out a truck-full of food when your idiot drove off with it.
3) 6 PM does not equal 12:00 noon on anyone's watch. So when you have to be out of the commissary at noon, get out at noon. Especially erev Shabbos.
4) How dumb do you think the rabbi is? He's not going to fall for the "but, Rabbi, it's kosher, it's from Annie's Bakery- it's kosher for Passover!", regarding that open, unlabeled loaf of what looks (and smells) just like honey-whole-wheat bread. And it is not wise to try to shove past him with it. Yay, Abba!
5) If you're bringing in a mashgiach with a family for a week...it might be a good idea to remember to feed them. "Oh, you mean you were supposed to eat here?" (We literally raided one group's second seder as soon as they left the room, because the kitchen forgot to save stuff for us.)
6) Bring a site manager. Just because the mashgiach is the only one wearing a jacket and tie does not mean he's going to take the fall for all your ineptitude.
7) In that vein...when you order supplies- bring them with you! Don't leave 'em in the commissary ten miles away and then complain you don't have enough! And again, don't blame the rabbi when he won't let you go to Publix and buy more yom tov afternoon...
We got to see all kinds of shenanigans this week...my personal favorite was the steak-plate frisbee.
More later!
-SA
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Musings of a Florida-Bound Traveler
Here I am at the airport! Home, sweet, LaGuardia...
Why is it that when you leave home three hours before your flight, you end up sitting in the terminal for two of those hours; but if you leave two hours before the flight, you make it with seconds to spare?
Honestly- the last time I went through security so quickly I was in Albany...where there are only three terminals, one consisting of exactly three gates, another of eight.
I think I remembered to pack everything this time- including my list of everything I packed. I probably ought to start putting a copy of that into each suitcase...
TV time! Film Rachel for her videography class.
Sitting, waiting...enter first pack of Pesach travelers. Note bug-eyed lady with cool shirt (Dear Dorothy: Hate Oz, Took the Shoes: Find Your Own *&%$ Way Home. -Love Toto)- at other end of room, starting first sandwich.
Call Brussels and Kagans- got homesick for the Holy Land.
Second wave of Pesach travelers. I go to check out the spread at the newsstand; cave and buy the new Jodi Picoult book; somehow find the fortitude to save it for the flight.
Look over at barefoot man. Nice shoes- those old-fashioned looking brown brogans. There's a portrait forming in my head- a little kid, just learning to walk, in overalls- wearing those shoes and looking down at his foot with one foot slightly lifted in curiosity.
Realize that I can't take that picture without the kid, overalls, lights and background, permission to use the shoes...oh, yeah- and a working camera.
Bug-eyed lady is on sandwich #2.
Third wave of Pesach travelers.
Frum family sits at next bank of chairs. Cute blonde two-year-old moseys on over and promptly makes friends with them...and the lady across from us, and me, and the flight crew...shows off her Nemo and Dory fruit snacks.
Bug-eyed lafy on sandwich #3.
Announcement: "Attention, all passengers for flight 377 to Atlanta: Look out the window! That is your plane! We'll try for a really quick servicing and get you on there as soon as possible."
10:03 flight now scheduled for 10:23 AM...we're assured that we'll still arrive on time, but keep in mind our 31-minute stopover in Atlanta (the largest and second busiest airport in the world). Hopefully we'll be in the same terminal. Please, G-d...please.
Bug-eyed lady finished breakfast. Now staring vacantly at the wall. Looks oddly complacent. Drugs?
Boarding the plane!!!
On the plane...ask the flight attendant if we'll be landing on time, or close to, as I have a connection. Her reply? "Sorry!"...and laughs. Find my seat- all the way in the back, window. Tov.
If that kid in front of me lowers her seat back, I'll kick it back into position. She and her two sisters are blasting the plane radio, belting out some tuneless Miley Cyrus song.
Yay! Empty seat next to me!
Yay! Leaving the gate!
Hm...maybe we can manage to drop a couple of these little girls off at 40,000 feet. And their parents are totally spacing out.
Waiting to take off. Wondering why the plane is, literally, moving backwards.
Remember that 31-minute stopover?
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are currently on line for takeoff, approximately number 30-40 in line. We expect to get into the air in another half hour or so.
Grrrr.
Maybe we'll be on Tova's connecting flight.
Take off 11:20. How I managed to fall asleep with those pint-sized preadolescent screechy buggers hollering, ("OOOH, we're moving! No, we're not! Can you close the window? Uh, uh! Look, here we go! I'm nauseous! What if we don't make the plane? We'll have to stay in Geoorgiaaa! Roll down the window shade! Life's what you make it...tune to number twenny, there's a really good song! No!!! Go to 31! I see the Statue of Liberty- Aaahhhhh!!! Eeeek!)- is completely beyond me.
Yeah. I think we'll be aiming for Tova's flight.
And we're exactly one half-hour late. Oops. Get off plane, immediately are handed new tickets for the next connecting flight- yay, Airtran!
Hang out at terminal for a zillion years...realize that Tova's on Delta- whoops, guess we won't be on her flight.
Finally home!
Yay, Florida!
Epic Saga of The Three-Day Chag to follow...
-SA
Why is it that when you leave home three hours before your flight, you end up sitting in the terminal for two of those hours; but if you leave two hours before the flight, you make it with seconds to spare?
Honestly- the last time I went through security so quickly I was in Albany...where there are only three terminals, one consisting of exactly three gates, another of eight.
I think I remembered to pack everything this time- including my list of everything I packed. I probably ought to start putting a copy of that into each suitcase...
TV time! Film Rachel for her videography class.
Sitting, waiting...enter first pack of Pesach travelers. Note bug-eyed lady with cool shirt (Dear Dorothy: Hate Oz, Took the Shoes: Find Your Own *&%$ Way Home. -Love Toto)- at other end of room, starting first sandwich.
Call Brussels and Kagans- got homesick for the Holy Land.
Second wave of Pesach travelers. I go to check out the spread at the newsstand; cave and buy the new Jodi Picoult book; somehow find the fortitude to save it for the flight.
Look over at barefoot man. Nice shoes- those old-fashioned looking brown brogans. There's a portrait forming in my head- a little kid, just learning to walk, in overalls- wearing those shoes and looking down at his foot with one foot slightly lifted in curiosity.
Realize that I can't take that picture without the kid, overalls, lights and background, permission to use the shoes...oh, yeah- and a working camera.
Bug-eyed lady is on sandwich #2.
Third wave of Pesach travelers.
Frum family sits at next bank of chairs. Cute blonde two-year-old moseys on over and promptly makes friends with them...and the lady across from us, and me, and the flight crew...shows off her Nemo and Dory fruit snacks.
Bug-eyed lafy on sandwich #3.
Announcement: "Attention, all passengers for flight 377 to Atlanta: Look out the window! That is your plane! We'll try for a really quick servicing and get you on there as soon as possible."
10:03 flight now scheduled for 10:23 AM...we're assured that we'll still arrive on time, but keep in mind our 31-minute stopover in Atlanta (the largest and second busiest airport in the world). Hopefully we'll be in the same terminal. Please, G-d...please.
Bug-eyed lady finished breakfast. Now staring vacantly at the wall. Looks oddly complacent. Drugs?
Boarding the plane!!!
On the plane...ask the flight attendant if we'll be landing on time, or close to, as I have a connection. Her reply? "Sorry!"...and laughs. Find my seat- all the way in the back, window. Tov.
If that kid in front of me lowers her seat back, I'll kick it back into position. She and her two sisters are blasting the plane radio, belting out some tuneless Miley Cyrus song.
Yay! Empty seat next to me!
Yay! Leaving the gate!
Hm...maybe we can manage to drop a couple of these little girls off at 40,000 feet. And their parents are totally spacing out.
Waiting to take off. Wondering why the plane is, literally, moving backwards.
Remember that 31-minute stopover?
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are currently on line for takeoff, approximately number 30-40 in line. We expect to get into the air in another half hour or so.
Grrrr.
Maybe we'll be on Tova's connecting flight.
Take off 11:20. How I managed to fall asleep with those pint-sized preadolescent screechy buggers hollering, ("OOOH, we're moving! No, we're not! Can you close the window? Uh, uh! Look, here we go! I'm nauseous! What if we don't make the plane? We'll have to stay in Geoorgiaaa! Roll down the window shade! Life's what you make it...tune to number twenny, there's a really good song! No!!! Go to 31! I see the Statue of Liberty- Aaahhhhh!!! Eeeek!)- is completely beyond me.
Yeah. I think we'll be aiming for Tova's flight.
And we're exactly one half-hour late. Oops. Get off plane, immediately are handed new tickets for the next connecting flight- yay, Airtran!
Hang out at terminal for a zillion years...realize that Tova's on Delta- whoops, guess we won't be on her flight.
Finally home!
Yay, Florida!
Epic Saga of The Three-Day Chag to follow...
-SA
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
You Ever Get That Feeling?
Like you've just entered the Twilight Zone?
So I'm babysitting yesterday, and taking advantage of the gorgeous weather to take the kid for a stroll in Central Park, and I'm pushing the stroller along the rim of the Great Lawn, and all of a sudden- zoooom! Cue that scene from Enchanted, except with about two dozen mommies running while racing their thousand-dollar strollers... I think my head was spinning, and I most definitely did a double take... Weird.
Leaving for Florida tomorrow!
Really in the mood for chocolate pudding. Going to get soy milk!
-SA
So I'm babysitting yesterday, and taking advantage of the gorgeous weather to take the kid for a stroll in Central Park, and I'm pushing the stroller along the rim of the Great Lawn, and all of a sudden- zoooom! Cue that scene from Enchanted, except with about two dozen mommies running while racing their thousand-dollar strollers... I think my head was spinning, and I most definitely did a double take... Weird.
Leaving for Florida tomorrow!
Really in the mood for chocolate pudding. Going to get soy milk!
-SA
Sunday, March 30, 2008
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
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
Monday, March 17, 2008
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?
Bex: My roommate's on crack!
Me: Well, how do you think I got the hypodermics?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
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
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
Friday, January 18, 2008
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
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
Saturday, January 12, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
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
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
Sunday, July 10, 2005
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
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
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
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
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
Sunday, March 20, 2005
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
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
Monday, March 14, 2005
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
Now don't you all want a thunderstorm, too?
-SA
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