Day 107 (mostly focused)

Yay, mostly focused! I spent the morning washing dishes, cleaning up, and doing sponja. I also intermittently made sad faces at my neighbors, who spent their day getting their stuff in a truck and far away :-(

It wasn't immediately relevant for Shabbos, but I reserved a rental car for Shavuot+Shabbos, scheduled our next driving lesson, and started to schedule when I'll actually get my tush over to Afula to hang out with my cousin, Ninjah.

Other than that, it was mostly baby-playing, because I had the time!

Day 106 (people, et al)

My day started smoothly: during breakfast, I coordinated with three different families that our neighbors will indeed be eating their last Friday night dinner on the kibbutz with us. Tear, tear. I really don't want them to move, but I get lots of points for social coordination, even if that coordination was born of all three people sitting with me at breakfast, and the conversation turning to Shabbat plans. I still get points! Lots of points! I will also take an extra point or two for telling a guy at lunch that my husband was sitting in the seat the guy was about to sit in. So lots of points plus, let us say, two. That is indeed a staggering amount of points. See me avoid the fact that my neighbors are leaving me!

Today's Baby Bragᵀᴹ is two-fold. More impressively, The Tiniest of Spidermen signed "all done" while he was (so I thought) in the middle of nursing. Turns out he actually was done nursing. Well communicated, sir! This is doubly impressive since I've only signed "all done" when he's sitting in his high-chair. We'll see to what other situations he decides to extrapolate this most useful sign. In the second part of today's Baby Bragᵀᴹ, my nearly-11-month-old son has his second tooth. (Bottom left, for those who want full details.)

Day 105 (vroom)

This morning, I took a much-needed nap, followed by a less-needed driving lesson. These continue to be generally dull, though today had a moment of less-boring. I was creeping along at the speed limit, and the driving instructor told me to go faster. When I responded that I was doing 80kph (50mph), he sighed, paused, and burst out, "You can go 85!" Nice to know he's human.

This evening was too hot for a walk, so I alternated job-searching and playing minesweeper, instead. The thrill! As the evening draws to a close, I realize I should have hemmed my skirt that I've been working on for months now. Ah, well, there's always tomorrow!

Day 104 (bubbles and dates)

I bought bubbles the other day, hoping BSM would be amused. Today I discovered that yes, he is amused by bubbles. Seems like equal parts wonderment and amusement, and I'm thinking that as we keep playing with bubbles, they'll get more and more commonplace, and the wonder will make way for incessant laughter. That's the hope, anyway.

This evening, I went walking in the date-grove. It was so calm and so peaceful that I totally forgot to take pictures. Maybe I'll go walking again tonight: I can't photograph the clacking rustling of the palm fronds, but I might be able to get a nice shot of the Jordanian mountains at sunset.

Day 103 (slow)

Watched Frozen. Looked up how Gallium-Arsenide laser-diodes work. Avoided making some phone calls. Same-old, same-old.

Thank G-d, BSM is feeling much, much better today. There was an adorable half-hour or so in the afternoon when he and Nosie-Boy played together outside. Really together, not just near each other. They touched hands and waved at each other and clapped and shook the gate together and stole each other's clothespins (and once or twice gave each other clothespins). Much cuteness, but no video. Sorry, folks.

Day 102 (no clear parenthetical theme)

Today's excitement was brought to you by a feverish baby. Poor kiddo: he's been sick a lot since we've arrived. New set of germs, I guess. According to the health clinic, his lungs and ears look fine. Just keep him hydrated and his fever reasonably low, and wait for it all to blow over. Sigh. Poor kid.

I had my next driving lesson today, and Husbinator had his first. Still dull, but I don't think they'll stretch on for too long, so that's encouraging

On the more mundane side, I washed a bunch of dishes and tagged more laundry. I remember when I thought I'd tag a few more things over the next few weeks and be done. Ha ha. I just know I'm gonig to be sewing a label on something the last time we throw something in the laundry here. Oh, man, my life is so hard. Having to sew labels on stuff so when other people wash it, I get it back. Poor me, right?

I also got a mystery caller today! I felt awkward asking him what his name was, so I settled for asking what company he was with. If he responded, I didn't catch it. He told me to read up on photovoltacis for satellites, though, because I might be getting some calls about that in the near future. Thanks? Cool? It is cool. And yes, thanks. It's just a little surreal, that's all.

Day 101 (no dalmations)

Before Shabbos I got to play fetch with BSM for 20 minutes, because we were totally ready. It was glorious. (Though it seems that with my laser-beam focus on Shabbos prep, I forgot to click "publish" on yesterday's post.)

We had guests both Friday night and Shabbat day, which was also really nice. Nothing too exciting :-)

Day 100 (nothing special)

I guess it might have been nice to do something for our 100th day here, but I didn't think of it until today. Anyway, it's Erev Shabbos, so I cooked and cleaned and played with El Babo.

I also fixed my patchwork Shabbos skirt that's coming apart at the seams. I feel that every time it comes out of the laundry, there's another seam coming apart, but I did buy it for $5 on the sidewalks of Washington Heights, so I can't complain too much. For years now, I've been saying I should just run every single one of the zillion seams through a sewing machine, but that will take a long time, and I don't enjoy machine-sewing the way I enjoy a nice half-hour or so of hand sewing. And a nice half-hour or so of hand-sewing is exactly what this skirt gives me every time it goes through the laundry, so, hey! It's a good thing I don't have a sewing machine in Israel. Nice excuse to keep doing like I do.

I also managed to stay completely focused today, so by the time 3pm rolled around, the house was ready; just waiting to heat up the food. Which is what I shall now go to do. Good Shabbos!

Day 99 (getting stuff done)

I had my first driving lesson today, as the next step in converting my American license to an Israeli one. It was soooo duuuulll. Two hands on the wheel. Full stop. Check your mirrors before you go into a lane that just started. Check your mirrors before you slow down. Use your blinkers every time you drift away from a parked car and back toward the curb. Blah. And fantastically, it's the driving instructor (who is paid by the lesson) who decides when I can take the test.

In less dull news, I got a call from someone with a laser-diode lab in Jerusalem. We had a good conversation, and I'll head over there after Shavuot to have a look around. Oolala!

I was debating whether or not to bathe the baby: it's much easier to bathe him Thursday night than Friday afternoon, but I had just bathed him on Wednesday, and the counter was full of stuff anyway, so I decided to bathe him on Erev Shabbos. Then a certain someone, who shall remain nameless, cried so hard and so long that he vomited all over his crib. Well, not all over. Just where his head and shoulders would rub in it. So, completely coincidentally, I decided to bathe BSM on Thursday night, after all.

Day 98 (guess)

Today contained more job searching, though it was more like "inbox maintenance-lite."

In other news, BSM continues to demonstrate a fine grasp of the nose-beeping concept, and I scheduled a driving lesson (which is the next step in converting my US driving license to an Israeli one).

I am also trying to start going to bed around 10:15 or 10:30, so I am actually ready to fall asleep before 11:30, instead of being all hopped-up on computer-light when midnight rolls around.

Day 97 (more of the same)

This morning started out the same way last night left off: trying to beat back the embarrassment of riches pouring into my inbox. After hours of frantic job-search management, I desperately needed a break, so I picked up the apartment and swept and sewed on laundry tags, and then I felt much better. Weird.

The funniest thing I'm seeing so far in the response to my "email blast" is how many people apologize for helping me. No, no! Do not say sorry that a stranger offered me great advice because you know them and sent them my CV! I say thank you for that; you don't say sorry. Oy, people are so good.

In other cute news, BSM has finally gotten the hang of noses that go "beep." You know, you push the baby's nose and say, "Beep!" and the baby is supposed to giggle. Until now, BSM would look confused or start to cry (depending the beeper and the volume of the beep). Today, Husbinator beeped BSM's nose, and BSM responded by pushing Husbinator's nose. Naturally, we said, "Beep!" when BSM did that, and there immediately ensued a whole lot of nose-beeps, with the occassional, "Bee" from BSM. Awwww...

Day 96 (so it begins)

I finished Cyrano de Bergerac this morning. As advertised (by Patrick Rothfuss), it is Quite Good. I mean, I thought the ending was pretty predictable and kind of silly, but two out of five acts have really moving bits, even for a person Reading rather than Watching the play. Applause!

After that, I listened to some financial webinars from NBN. Nothing really fascinating, but it seems that Israel just passed legislation that will cause your credit report to follow you (good: I was not looking forward to building credit from scratch). Much more interestingly, unless you specifically write otherwise, any check you write in this country is fully transferable, even if you write a name in the "pay to the order of" line. Good thing we don't have an Israeli checkbook. Yet?

In other financial news, I finally figured out how to view our itemized insurance bills. Until now, the nurse would tell me, for example, to give BSM vitamins, so I would 'buy' the vitamins at the health clinic. By this, I mean that I would hand the nurse BSM's insurance card, she'd swipe it, and then she'd hand me vitamins. Was I charged? If so, how much? Did my bank account pay this, as I think I set it up to do? Until today, I couldn't really answer those questions. Now I can. That feels slightly more responsible.

I also went to the kibbutz library this afternoon and\took out some board books. I brought five board books with me, and after three months, I am bored of them. Even though I've only been reading to BSM about once a week. Especially since one of the books is Goodnight, Moon and I don't read to him before bed. This leaves me with four board books, none of which are Jamberry. (No, I can't read Goodnight, Moon if it isn't bedtime. Don't be crazy!) So yeah, a change in pace will be nice.

Speaking of board books, I read what Roz tells me is a classic Israeli kids' book at her house last Shabbos. Endearingly titled A Story of Five Balloons מעשה בחמשה בלונים and clearly illustrated in the heart of the '70s, this book in no way prepared me for the tragedy within. I told Roz that, while sweet, it was kind of sad (seriously? Four balloons pop [one while being lovingly hugged to protect it from all harm] and the last flies away?). I failed spectactularly to convince her that it was sad at all. In her [translated] words, "Why is it sad? That's what happens. Sometimes in life there are situations, and you just have to deal with them." Granted, she was firmly within the text when she said that: the book's refrain is, "Don't be upset, that is the end of every balloon," but, but, but-- It's a board book! With cute little rhymes! For the very young! It might not be as tragic as Cyrano de Bergerac (like the callback?), but it is "a little sad." Come on!

Today's real news, however, is that I finally sent out the email blast I've known I'd have to send out eventually. G-d bless my friends and acquaintances. I am still overwhelmed by the sheer number of emails I got in response, each of which had to be properly and promptly acknowledged. This is going to be a long next few days. Good!

Day 95 (Lag BaOmer)

Like Yom HaZikaron/Yom HaAtzmaut, the Rabbanut decided this year that if Lag BaOmer falls on Sunday, they'll move it to Monday in order to remove issues of preparing on Shabbat. For some reason, this grates against me a little more, but it doesn't really make a difference. Just something odd.

Husbinator and Shoshi took off from their respective Ulpanim, and we all went to Gan Garoo. Gan Garoo is essentially a small Australian-themed zoo. Their claim to fame is they have a small kangaroo herd (?) that visitors can pet and feed. We did that part, and it was definitely fun (we saw a joey climb into it's mother's pouch! so cute!), but then we got to the aviary. Aviaries sound nice, but less cool than kangaroos.

And then... They announced feeding time over the PA system... We ended up at the aviary... We got bits of apple on sticks... AND THE PARAKEETS WERE SO HAPPY-MAKING!!! Colorful birdies... Cheerful birdies... Colorful cheerful birdies on shoulders and hands and chasing shoes... AGH! SO AWESOME!

Day 94 (Shabbos)

On Friday night, we had a friend of the Husbinator and his brother over for dinner. It was super-enjoyable, not only because Husbinator's friend grilled chicken (yum yum yum), but because it's been a long time since we just hung out with old friends. Even if, technically, I didn't meet this guy until we arrived at kibbutz, Husbiator has known him for years, so he still counts. Very chilled.

Day 93 (Erev Shabbos)

I actually stayed focused this Erev Shabbos, cooking and cleaning with minimal internet-time. As a result, it's an hour and a half before Shabbos, and I'm feeling pretty calm. Thank G-d.

BSM is currently putting things into other things. This makes me happy. He seems to have temporarily concluded that his blocks do not fit through the vents in our bedroom door. However, I fully expect him to run the experiment many more times before drawing any permanent conclusions. Hey, cardboard boxes can be bent to accommodate strangely-shaped items; maybe the vents in our door, can, too! (I hope not.)

This morning, I made "The Best Chocolate Sauce" for the third time, and this time I got all of the ingredients right. I did not underestimate the volume of 1oz of chocolate (first time) nor did I goof up the corn syrup to simple syrup conversion and find myself adding more of everything else to try to compensate (second time). I followed the directions, and let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, David Lebovitz is not kidding. This isn't just slightly better than chocolate syrup, this is indeed The Best Chocolate Sauce.

***

The Best Chocolate Sauce
About 2 1/2 cups

• 1 cup (250 ml) water
• 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (160 g) light corn syrup, agave nectar, or glucose [I use 1/2c sugar and 2t water]
• 3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)
• 2 ounces (55 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, corn syrup (or agave or glucose), and cocoa powder.

2. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it’s just begun to simmer and boil, remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until melted.

Serving: You should let the Chocolate Sauce stand for a few hours before serving, which will give it time to thicken a bit. [Really.]

Storage: Store the chocolate sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Rewarm before serving. [Again, really. After 10 days, it starts to grow white fuzz. This is Very Sad.]

Day 92 (Scheduled Productivity)

As promised in yesterday's entry, today was a productive sort of a day, scheduled in advance.

I went to the dentist, who told me I have at least one cavity (I know: I didn't have time to finish my dental work before we left America), but the x-rays only show the back molars: he needs to see the molars that are a little more in front. So come back tomorrow for another set of x-rays. Super. Heck, I've put off this work for so long another week certainly doesn't make a difference, but I'm not overly impressed thus far.

After the somewhat-productive dentist visit, I set a batch of challah dough to rise, and then I had my tutoring lesson with Keturah. I learned words and phrases, but most importantly, I learned that in Israel, a person cannot be forced to testify against himself. I don't expect to need to know that I have the right to remain silent, but I'm glad I know that nonetheless.

The other bit of scheduled productivity was ramping up my job search. I went through the most useful part of a database someone sent me, and I applied to another job. Pats on the head all around!

Day 91 (almost)

Since today was my first free day in many days (since last Thursday, I think), I decided I would not while it away frivolously: rather, I would be Immensely Productive. I started out okay, dropping off El Babo (and a new change of clothes), bringing back some coffee from breakfast for the Husbinator, dropping off 18-month baby pants to get laundry tagged (Babo gets his pants dirty almost faster than the laundry cleans them, and I'm still holding fast to my refusal to pay $5 for a new pair of baby pants, and 18-month stuff fits him well enough for emergencies), washing some dishes, and pinning up the hem of my skirt that I've been working on for the past couple of months (second-to-last and hands-down worst step).

I was steeling myself for the endless iterations of adjusting the height of various bits of over 4 yards of hemline when I got a call from daycare. BSM has a fever and is very, very sad. So the rest of my day was a playing-with-Baby sort of a day, which was nice for me, actually. I kinda like that kid. He seems to be feeling better now, and I hope he's cheerful enough for daycare tomorrow, because tomorrow is Scheduled Productivity again.

Day 90 (is it only Tuesday?)

Today continued my Week of New and Busy Happenings: I filled the rental car with gas before returning it. Well, perhaps I had the car filled with gas would be slightly more accurate.

I pulled into the gas station, which has both full- and self-serve options, and an employee came over right away. "You know that you are in front of the solar, right?" I countered with a confident and friendly, "I am a new immigrant. What's solar?" Turns out "solar" means "diesel" as in "not the sort of fuel you put in a little car." After that, I didn't have the chutzpah to insist on pumping my own gas. Not that it would have saved me any money: I just figured that as long as I'm getting gas in Israel, I may as well learn how to get gas in Israel.

Oh, well. There's always next time. Though since gas costs 7.40 NIS per liter, I don't know how much I want to use the stuff! (I'll save you the googling: that works out to $8.10/gal. Seriously.)

I also experienced today, for the second time in my life, the feeling of a "sense of direction." I knew where I wanted to go, but I wasn't 100% sure where I was. I took a few steps, and suddenly felt pulled in a certain direction. It was weird, but I decided I may as well go with it, and bizarrely enough, I ended up where I wanted to be without any doubling back.

As Husbinator said in a different context, "So this 'sense of direction' sounds like the lamest super-power ever." I wouldn't say it's all that lame but it certainly feels up there in the super-power realm.

Getting back to the title of my post, I've been doing so many different, all-consuming things this week, it feels considerably later than Tuesday. I checked before I posted, though: it really is Tuesday.

Day 89 (not winning)

Today I drove to Migdal HaEmek and did not win the group interview. I am, of course, very disappointed, because the role sounded like something I actually wanted to do, not just something I wouldn't mind doing to gain piles of filthy lucre. Taking myself somewhat by surprise, I had fun during the 4.5 hours I was there. Doubly surprised, since--as advertised--it was entirely "group exercises." I think I just enjoy hanging out with scientists/engineers. Since I am oh-too-rarely in groups that consist entirely of these categories, I assume I don't like hanging out in groups at all.

Anyway, for the curious, the "group exercises" were (a) sitting in a circle and introducing ourselves and getting grilled by the HR people for 10 minutes each [a little over an hour and a half], (b) deciding unanimously as a group which two of 10 fictitious applicants to hire and which two to reject [10 minutes personal decisions, 12 minutes group discussion, 15 minutes or so group analysis of how it all went], and (c) building a tall, sturdy, aesthetically-pleasing bridge from Duplo [5 minutes planning, about 10 minutes building, 15 minutes analyzing how it all went].

As I said, I had a surprisingly good time, but after the group exercises, everyone was given a note from the HR people. I thought this was surprisingly tactful for a country not known for its tact; no, "you, you, and you: leave," no awkward reading of notes and slinking out of the room. We got our notes, wandered into the lobby, and either came back for computerized exams or left. Still a bummer, but not a humiliating bummer.

On the bright side, I got back in time for the end of burritos-lunch, and I was there for BSM in the afternoon. Also on the bright side, I have officially more than just dipped a toe in the frigid waters of job-searching! Good start, and all that. Yeah, I'm bummed. I'll get over it.

Day 88 (DMV/freedom)

We rented a car this morning, so we could drive an hour to Haifa to get our forms stamped, so we can move on to step 5 of 9 of getting our US drivers' licenses transferred to Israeli drivers' licenses. Sounds terrible, no? Well, it wasn't. I mean, the process is more than slightly ridiculous, and finding the DMV was a little convoluted, and we had to turn around right after we got our forms stamped, because I had to nurse El Babo, but it was really nice. Having a car means that we can go where we want when we want with minimal trouble. I'd forgotten that, and it's lovely.

We had lunch in Beit Shean, and then just for giggles and kicks, we went back to Beit Shean for dinner. This meant that we got to explore not one, but TWO grocery stores. We also got to buy whatever we wanted, because we could PUT IT IN OUR CAR to bring it back. Hitchhiking with a huge pack of diapers and glass bottles is, let us say, less than ideal.

Tomorrow I'll use the car to go to my job fair thingy (all day), and then I'll return it to Beit Shean Tuesday morning and walk to my (rescheduled) doctor's appointment. So convenient. So, so convenient. I'm going to miss you, car!

Speaking of being gone All Day tomorrow, this afternoon I told Daphna that since I wouldn't be back until the evening, I wouldn't be able to nurse BSM tomorrow,  and Husbinator would be picking him up after daycare. She asked what we'd do after daycare, and, assuming my Hebrew sentence didn't actually say that Husbinator would take baby home at 4pm,  I rephrased it. Turns out I had said it right the first time: Daphna was asking how they'd manage. "I dunno, they'll figure it out," I answered. Daphna, loving BSM, then gave me some suggestions on making the Long Day Without Ema easier for said BSM. Thank you, Daphna. Thank you for caring about my kid even when he's not your problem.

***

P.S.: I just read the title of this blogpost. Wow, that's a weird juxtaposition!

Day 87 (Shabbos)

We spent an absolutely glorious Shabbos with Aunt Ruby and Ari and their kids. It really felt like coming back home, and that always feels good. I love 'em, that's all there is to it.

Also, Husbinator noted that I picked up a few of Aunt Ruby's mannerisms somewhere along the way, most notably using "Tatty" as a term of endearment for little boys. He claims that she is the only other person who does that, and she totally did not help me out by claiming everybody else calls boys "tatteleh," too.

So yeah. Lots of talking, lots of laughing, lots of just being relaxed and surrounded by real adopted family. Good times.

Day 86 (Erev Shabbos)

This morning, I did sponja. Yay, clean floors! I also washed tons of dishes, both meat and dairy.

We're going to Aunt Ruby's for Shabbos! She lives about 20 minutes away, and she's picking us up about an hour before Shabbos. This is the way to travel with a baby: everybody is going clean and dressed, so we don't need to bring nearly as much stuff. Ah, traveling light again. It's lovely.

Day 85 (slow rain)

No, the rain wasn't slow; the day was. I got a bunch of laundry over to the laundry room, and reserved a car for early next week so we can move forward in getting Israeli driving licenses on Sunday (requires driving to Haifa) and I can get to my interview thingy on Monday.

The rain was very steady, as were the comments on how odd it was.

Day 84 (baby bragging)

At some point, I'll need to address if this is more a blog about "moving to Israel" or "bragging on my baby." Aw, heck, he moved to Israel, too: celebration of his accomplishments falls squarely into the rubric of this blog. (Now all I need is a mission statement, so I can prove it.)

Now that you are all excited to hear about my child's brilliance, I shall bore you with theory. [If taught sign language,] most babies can sign well before they can speak. Many bilingual children start speaking later than their monolingual peers. Inability to communicate can lead to more temper tantrums. So a few weeks ago, we started a little signing with BSM. I generally remember to sign "eat" and "drink" during mealtimes, and I almost always sign "all done" before taking him out of his booster seat.

Yesterday, after an hour or so of steady eating which was quickly devolving into exuberant food play, I signed "all done." Babe-o immediately dropped the banana onto his tray and lifted his hands out of the way. So smart! So clever! So possibly coincidental! He demonstrated his understanding of "all done" again today. Woo-hoo! Two data points!

In much cuter baby news, his teachers tell me he was blowing kisses all day today. This, naturally, melts my little heart, especially since I tried all day yesterday to get him to give kisses. To be frank, I tried all afternoon today, also. So far, he has given lots and lots of kisses to Leah and one kiss to Rinat (daycare ladies that he's bribing to let him stay awake). Soon he will show me how he can give kisses, too, and at some point after that I might even remember to take a picture of that cuteness.

In other interesting news, we had a thunderstorm here tonight. A lot of lightning, a little thunder, and a considerable amount of rain. This is noteworthy since we are pretty firmly in the dry season at this point. I hope not too many people have moved their non-waterproof stuff outside, yet.

Oh, and speaking of "all done," I finished Words of Radiance tonight, so I'm free again.

Day 83 (Yom Ha'Atzmaut)

No daycare for Babe-O today, being a national holiday and all. So I napped with Baby and played with Baby and fed Baby and had barbecue for lunch, Husbinator-prepared, (Baby likes sauteed onions and grilled chicken wings), went for a walk with Baby, waved flags with Baby, video-chatted with both Emas, and read my book (Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance) until waaaay too late. It was a glorious day.

Day 82 (Yom HaZikaron/Ha'Atzmaut)

Last night/today was Memorial day in Israel. The kibbutz had a ceremony last night (which I missed, due to baby) and had tables set up in the lobby of the dining hall with pictures and stories of kibbutz members. It's not an easy thing.

On another note, kibbutz life doesn't seem to be helping my oh-so-mild (undiagnosed) OCD. Since tonight was Independence day, complete with festive meat meal, lunch today was dairy. Dairy? But-- But-- But lunch is always meat! How could they just-- But--??? Then I saw they were serving "corn shnitzel" for lunch and realized I haven't eaten one of those since my last week in Israel almost 10 years ago, and decided I could relax. Yum yum yum.

Also, since we had dairy for lunch, we stopped by the mini-mart and bought ice-cream bars. Now there's a treat we haven't had in a long time! Ice-cream for the adults, while the baby played joyfully with the flag he was given by his daycare. Baby loves flags.

This afternoon, baby also loves eating. I mean, he's generally always down for a nosh, but he did nothing but nurse or eat solids from 4:30-7:00. Seriously. He spent a good hour and half eating a tomato and challah (and feeding me said tomato and challah, with some gentle reminders that feeding Ema food off of your tray is adorable, but feeding Ema food out of your mouth is totally gross, yo), then wanted to nurse, then found the food he dropped on the floor and munched on that. Growth spurt?

This evening, I actually made it to the 7:15 ceremony transitioning between Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day). Husbinator davened the celebratory (40 minute!) maariv, and BSM sat nicely in his stroller, though he did not fall asleep. At 8:30, baby had a meltdown, so I took him home and put him to bed, and we grabbed food and ate at home, rather than on the grass with everyone else. Nu, nu, we made it longer than I thought we would.

In an odd twist, we got a letter from the Georgia Department of Labor inviting us to take an identity quiz! Not a big deal, it took about 5 minutes for us to confirm our ID, and we should receive our refund within 7-10 business days. But the way the letter was worded, I jokingly wondered if we'd have to fill out one of those BuzzFeed quizzes: WHICH DISNEY PRINCESS ARE YOU? But no, we're just us. Thank G-d. :-)

Day 81 (sleep!)

Last night was, shall we say, not filled with sleep. So I took BSM to the health clinic this morning, not expecting much, but if he did have an ear infection, I darn well wanted to know about it before we tried sleeping again. Luck of the draw, we saw the non-interventionist nurse, the one who told me to treat likely pink eye with breast milk. Not shockingly, he does not have an ear infection. He is teething. The nurse, however, shocked me beyond words: "If tonight it seems like it's going to be bad again, give him Tylenol from the get-go," she told me. Wow. That's how bad teething is: the "let nature run its course" nurse told me to medicate preemptively.

Since last night's sleep was so elusive, I napped between breakfast and lunch. All of it. Ahhhhhhh.

Of course, that meant that I woke up and was blasted with heat on my way to lunch. The new way to walk involves dodging from shade to shade, from air-conditioned building to air-conditioned building. Wow. When I got back, I had to check the weather. Turns out it was 100°F this May 4. Huh, boy. Those who warned us about the heat here were in no way exaggerating.

Blessed are tile floors, for they are heat sinks. Doubly blessed is air conditioning, for I know not how I could manage without it. Triply blessed is the kibbutz for charging me a flat utilities fee as part of my rent, so I can crank down the a/c from a reasonable 22 to a luxurious 21 without paying for my choice.

Speaking of counting blessings, BSM voluntarily spat out a piece of bark this afternoon, without any prompting at all. Good puppy!

Day 80 (sleep?)

It was a Shabbos of weird sleep patterns. Dreaming of ordering coffee because I'm just so tired is less than cool, if slightly funny. Speaking of which, goodnight!

P.S. We discovered BSM loves corn salad with tons of fresh dill.

Day 79 (Erev Shabbos)

Y'know, the usual running around. Dishes, laundry, baby, cooking.

I also lucked out and walked into the kibbutz dental clinic during the one hour a week that they take x-rays. They'll develop them and call me when the dentist can see me. (Long story involving a dentist visit three months before we left the US, and still only managing to complete 3/4 of the work I needed, so I'm finally getting around to finishing that up.)

I also was lent a pair of wire strippers today, and I'm fairly certain I wired a temperature controller for our crock pot. No time to test it out now, though: I'll have to finish playing with it after Shabbos.

Day 78 (quite the pleasant surprise)

Well, I ended up not having ulpan this morning, because Keturah was subbing for the Husbinator's ulpan class. That's good, though, because I spent the morning washing dishes and baking instead, which allowed me to spontaneously substitute at the daycare in the afternoon. (The head of the daycare called me at 11 and asked if I could maybe possibly perhaps do her a huge favor and step in for a staff member who got sick. Turns out, I could.)

I had such a good time. As Sister is so fond of reminding me, I really do love teaching preschool. These kids were rather younger than preschoolers (3-18 mo.), but they were still a barrel of fun. Yup, that's right, I substituted for my son's group. Shockingly, he didn't put up too much of a fuss. For the first two minutes or so, BSM insisted on sitting on my lap, but for the rest of the afternoon he was fine as long as (a) I  was in the same room as he was and (b) I sat on the floor, rather than on a chair. I, and the other daycare workers, were duly impressed.

I do not see this becoming a regular event--I really do need to focus on getting a permanent position in the electrical engineering field--but I had one of the nicest afternoons I've had in a while. I really do enjoy playing with kids.

The other great side effect of subbing all afternoon was that my challah rose all afternoon; I used four cups of flour in the dough, and by the time I was ready to shape it, the dough filled an entire 6-quart pot. I ate a roll with dinner, so I can say with confidence that not only did the challahs grow beautifully in the oven, but they are also the fluffiest challot I've made since moving. That together with the super-moist chocolate-date cake (thanks, Aunty Em!) make me feel like quite the accomplished bakeress.

And playing with babies!