Day 138 (devastation)

It's a good thing I had typed up most of today's post before 8 pm today.

So BSM woke up this morning and told me, quite firmly, "Bye." He continued to insist on "bye" while I got us both ready, and cried every time he realized we weren't going "bye" yet. He calmed down immensely when we finally walked to the front door ("Bye. Bye. Bye."), and once we were outside, I couldn't tell that he'd spent the last 10 minutes screaming furiously. We get to daycare, he happily transfers to one of the daycare ladies, and that's that. You know, as much as I love that he's happy at daycare, there is a line somewhere... I can't find it precisely, but I'm fairly certain BSM has... Le sigh.

I also took BSM into the "pishy pool" for the first time today. I have been holding him in the shallow end of regular pool, but today he just got unhappy there after about 30 minutes. I wasn't ready to leave the water, though, so we switched to the pool that has a maximum depth of 1.5 feet. Initially, I held his hands and he walked around the pool and kept trying to sit down (not cool, that). Then one of the other mothers there suggested I put him in an inner tube with leg holes that was floating around. I did, and as soon BSM's feet were on the bottom of the pool again, he took off like a little wind-up toy. On dry land, boy he can cruise, but not stand alone yet. In the inner tube, he was running all over the pool. Really, really cute. Right before I was ready to leave, BSM found the water inlet that poured into the pool: five minutes later he hadn't moved, and for the first time he emphatically shook his head no when I stretched out my hands and said, "Come up..."

And later this evening I learned that the three kidnapped boys were found dead. Not surprising, just devastating. Baruch Dayan HaEmes, and oh, Hashem, tikom damam.

Day 137 (belated)

So it took a little under half a year, but it seems I no longer crawl into bed and think, "Oh my Gosh! I forgot to blog!" Which, in my mind, is a very healthy development.

So on Day 137, whether you choose to think of it as yesterday or today, Husbinator and I continued to look at apartments near Jerusalem. We also finally--finally!--are going to buy a car. Should have done this months ago, but Husbinator thinks we can get it done in the next two weeks, so hooray! We have the name of a company that is hugely helpful in the used-car-buying department (John and Shoshi used them and were very, very happy), and Husbinator is doing whatever it is that he does when he buys a car. I am pretending to be helpful, with occasional flashes of actually being helpful. We're gonna have a car lalala. We won't be stuck anymore lalala. Makes me happy!

Day 136 (Shabbos)

Excitement of excitements: an ISRAELI couple who lives on kibbutz invited us to eat lunch with them this week! The couple in question used to live downstairs from us, but moved to a bigger place. So we and the other young-couple-with-child in our building had lunch with them, and it was very nice and friendly. Interestingly, while I understand about 90% of a Hebrew novel, I'd guess I only understood about 40% of the bouncing conversation. Except when they paused to catch me up, when I bounced back to nearly 100%. I'm gettin' there, though!

Day 135 (much less focused)

As you may have surmised from my belated posting, I was considerably less focused on Friday, leading to a mad pre-Shabbat rush and no time for blogging.

I will say, however, that BSM was horrendously clingy in the morning. I was thus understandably concerned when I dropped him off at daycare. However, the head Daycare Lady, who had been absent for the previous two days, was there on Friday, and BSM divebombed to her and snuggled contentedly. Ah, the relief! I want him to be happy; I just wanted him to cling to someone else for a little bit. Wish granted! So grateful for the wonderful daycare we have here.

The day's other excitement was that I almost fixed our timer. I took it apart and put it back together twice. I went so far as to straighten the teeth of a (plastic) cog that wasn't meshing properly. However, I didn't have time to find and fix the source of the problem: what bent the teeth in the first place? Sunday's project, I guess.

Day 134 (subtituting)

I worked in the daycare's kitchen today, fetching food and washing dishes and ferrying laundry for the little children. It was nice to be busy in a regimented sort of a way, and working with the daycare ladies is always a pleasure.

When I got home, I had to wash more dishes and ferry more laundry, but somehow it wasn't all that bad. Maybe because Husbinator cleared all of the floors and did sponja. Oh, he's so dreamy!

We also both waged more ANT WARS today. Next week we start pre-emptive caulking, I think. Maybe even tomorrow, if I have time while BSM is out of the house. (Wet caulk + curious baby < good)

Day 133 (brit)

We drove to Yerushalayim and back today, so we could go to the brit of Aunty Em and Uncle En's latest grandson. Driving four hours for a two-and-a-half hour event was a little-- well, no, it wasn't. I was going to say it was a bit much, but I'm glad we went, but I just realized that I honestly enjoy driving on Route 90. A lot. Sure, I get bored at some points, but mostly I alternate between relaxing and enjoying the stunning view. (Yes, I pay attention to the road. With its hairpin curves and its, let us say, creative drivers, paying attention is in no way optional.)

I hadn't driven in Israel an hour after sunrise before this, and the lighting is something altogether new and different from mid-afternoon. Things are hazier far away, but somehow clearer nearby. The light is as bright as it can be without making me squint, and the shadows are the long shadows of sunset, only perfectly crisp. The blades of grass, the folds in the hills... I'm glad I got to see them like that.

We got back with just enough time for Husbinator to visit the grocery store before gassing and returning the car. While he took care of that, I waged ANT WARS IV. I think it is somewhat unfair for the ants to come up from a crack in the middle of the floor, rather than a crack where the wall and floor meet.

Speaking of which, after mixing up both challah and cookie dough (I'm subbing tomorrow at daycare, so I wanted to get a jump on baking), I waged ANT WARS V which was horrifying. I swept up what felt like 15% of a nest from our kitchen, frantically dumping each dustpan load outside, then I caulked up a four-foot section of wall-floor boundary in our living room. I'm leaving the remaining 10-20 ants to wander disconsolate, so I can pounce on their next point of entry.

As I look around our living room, though, I realize I should just resign myself to caulking the entire perimeter of the room. Probably the entire perimeter of every room. Huh boy. And given what I learned in ANT WARS IV, even that might not be enough. Eventually, though, I will stand victorious! Or I'll move out. Whichever comes first.

Day 132 (of baking and reading)

Other than baking a bunch of cookies in the morning, and getting our stuff together in the evening (we're going to a bris tomorrow), I spent the vast majority of today reading. I feel guilty about not job-searching enough, but it made for a very, very nice break.

Day 131 (anniversary)

Husbinator and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary today. Yay! We didn't really do anything special, but that's okay. Anniversaries are still nice :-)

We did wage ANT WARS II today! And ANT WARS III if you count the Battle of the Morning and the Battle of the Afternoon as two discrete events. Which I think you should, since the swarms were composed of two different-sized ants. Sigh... it's gonna be a long haul.

Day 130 (off- and on-kibbutz)

I spent the morning in Beit Shean, since I had to return the car. While I was there, I also went gift-shopping for our anniversary, which Ema kindly reminded us about a few days ago. I wouldn't say that I found a great gift for Husbinator, but I definitely found some stuff that's better than the set of 4 cutting mats I bought for him when I picked up the car. You know, flexible cutting mats. The ones I bought look like slightly higher quality than the usual ones, so I don't entirely resent that they cost 15 NIS for the set of four. You see why I felt I had to find him a slightly better present.

In even more exciting news, Shoshi and Nosie-Boy are visiting the kibbutz while John is overseas! We hung out over lunch, and it was just like the good old days. Shoshi said she visited the daycare center earlier today, and BSM totally recognized Nosie-Boy and was very excited to see him. She also told me that the babies play in a sandbox (which I knew) wearing nothing but their diapers (which sounds eminently practical to me), after which they get a bath (with soap). This suddenly shed light on what should have been two puzzling mysteries, but which I treated as two convenient gifts. Firstly, even though BSM plays in a sandbox multiple times a week, he never comes home covered in sand. Secondly, an embarrassingly long time elapsed between Baths I gave Baby last week, but he never got gross. Mysteries solved!

After lunch, Shoshi and I (and Husbinaor and Nosie-Boy) hung out at our apartment while I waged the first battle of the ANT WARS. I bought caulk in Beit Shean (thank you, Husbinator for the word, caulk; I could only think of the word DAP, which is what Abba generally calls caulk) and caulked up the crack the ants were using as a portal. Then I took paper towels and went on an ant-smashing frenzy. Die, ants! And stay out!

I'm sure I'll need the caulk in a few days when the ants find a new portal. What is the appropriate method of caulk-storage to keep it from drying out? (The stuff says it can be stored for up to a year after opening, but I don't see why it wouldn't all just solidify like a bottle of school glue that someone left open.)

Day 129 (Shabbos)

We spent a very nice Shabbos with Ema II, Aunty Em, and Uncle En. BSM was on reasonably good behavior. He also demonstrated a thrilling ability to take apart and put together two mega-block pieces. The kind that are only one unit large, but still very exciting for his doting relatives. Oo, what a big boy! We drove back to the kibbutz right after Shabbos, and now we're here! Arrived to find the kitchen crawling with ants, but we also found the crack in the floor through which they're coming in. When I return the car in Beit Shean tomorrow, I'll pick up some sealant, and hopefully that will take care of the problem.

Day 128 (The Drive)

We drove up to Yerushalayim. (Yes, up. Regardless of relative elevation or compass direction, traditionally, people always travel up to Jerusalem.) Well, I drove, and it was gor-ge-ous. Again. Still. Whatever. Just getting out of the valley is always a relief, and then the hills! And the mountains! Covered in grass or stone or just bare; rounded or pointed or folded and molded into wadi upon wadi... Gorgeous, I tell you! 

Day 127 (not much)

I had been planning to go on a walk/short hike this morning, but I played phone tag with the car-rental place and put photos on our digital photo-frame keychain, instead. The phone tag was to reserve a car (we're going to Yerushalayim for Shabbos), and the keychain is for BSM, who loooves photos. I have a photo book (with actual pages) that Ema gave me, but I don't want him to bend/rip the pages. I have a cell phone with lots of photos on it, but I don't want him to break/reprogram my phone. Hopefully the photo keychain will pacify him.

It was a slow sort of a day, all in all, with lots of reading, which makes for a nice change of pace.

Day 126 (maybe, maybe not)

Since our driving instructor never called us back with our test results yesterday, I called him this morning. He told us we both failed our tests, which made me understandably upset. We plan to rent a car and (legally) drive to Yerushalayim this Friday, as we have done multiple times since arriving in this country. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with the system? Anyone? Anyone?

To calm me down, Husbinator watched a big chunk of Pleasantville with me. It is (so far) a very good movie. I hope we get to finish it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the driving instructor called me back this afternoon to tell me that I passed the test, after all. He definitely said I will have an Israeli license tomorrow, but the reception was terrible, and I didn't manage to figure out what (if anything?) I have to do to make that a reality. Or what's actually going on here, for that matter. The call left me feeling very confused, but less upset. I personally do not think I should have failed. Ha. Hopefully, I didn't. (So far, the score is at one and one in the phone call results department. I don't consider that to be conclusive.)

Also more job-searching, and taking El Babo to El PoolO, where he tricked me into complacency by wearing his sunglasses (outside!) for about two whole minutes before demonstrating that said sunglasses are not as buoyant as I expected. Luckily, I caught them before they got inconveniently deep, but after that BSM was more interested in playing with his sunglasses than wearing them. Not all that shocking, really. Who ever heard of a one-year-old wearing sunglasses nicely?

Day 125 (cuteness and frustration)

This morning, BSM grabbed my hands and pulled himself to standing, as he so often does. Then he said "ba" a few times, which was still quite usual. Then he said, "aaaaaahhhhh-BOM," plopping down on his tush on "BOM". That was less usual, and though I was tempted to assign values of brilliance and ingenuity to this apparent game, I wisely identified it as the coincidence it was. Until he repeated the phenomenon multiple times, laughing when I finally caught on and started saying "BOM" with him on the tush-plops. (cuteness)

Yesterday's wireless drama continued this morning. Not really sure if there's any way we can fix this, though we will try a new wireless router. (frustration)

While job-searching--I was hard-wired into our router for a few hours this morning--I ran across a company called "B'damayich chayii" [by your blood you shall live]. They store cord blood. (cuteness)

We took our driving test today, and we have not yet heard back with our results, but I don't expect that we passed. (frustration)

I bought BSM a pair of sunglasses today. It is, after all, very sunny where we live. I normally wouldn't expect a baby/toddler to keep sunglasses on his face, but I popped them on BSM in the store, and he just laughed and looked around until I took them off of him myself. Naturally, as soon as we were outside and I removed the tags, he took the sunglasses off immediately after I put them on him. Twice. When we got home and I put the sunglasses on BSM to show Husbinator, BSM happily kept them on again. He did take them off eventually, but he just tried to put them on again. By holding them over his head and dropping them behind him, much to his confusion. Looks like we have a kid who loves wearing sunglasses--indoors. (should be frustration, but is almost entirely cuteness)

Day 124 (what internet?)

We had wireless issues all of yesterday, and they continue today. It makes job-searching rather challenging, let me tell you. (It also makes blogging Just Not Worth the effort.)

Other than wireless drama, we had what was to be our last driving lesson before our test. However, when the instructor asked how we were getting to Beit Shean for the test, and I told him we'd hitchhike--or take a shuttle from the kibbutz, I added belatedly--he suggested he'd pick us up and we'd squeeze in one more (half) lesson for each of us. I do not want to pay 70NIS for a ride into Beit Shean, but I am convinced that the instructor can tell the tester to fail you, and if you refuse lesson/s, the instructor will tell the tester to fail you. So 15 more minutes of driving lessons for each of us, and then the test. This whole thing is ridiculous, but it is what it is.

I took the baby to the pool again, and unlike last time, when he just tolerated the experience, BSM actually enjoyed the water today. Bringing the playpen ball to fetch may have helped. Incidentally, if you hold a buoyant object underwater (if it doesn't have too much surface area), when you let go of it suddenly, it will jump above the surface. And then your baby will laugh and laugh. Speaking of laughing babies, BSM really is developing his sense of humor very well: When I read Blue Hat, Green Hat to him, he laughs at every "oops." What a great audience!

Day 123 (not sure)

I walked out to the lookout again this morning, and I walked back to the kibbutz a different way. I did not pass the spring I was looking for last week, though I did confirm its approximate location with a few people since then .

Of course, job search continued today. It would have been more productive if our internet didn't keep cutting out, but I still got some good stuff done.

I also spent a huge amount of energy today not dealing with the three boys who were kidnapped on Friday. Enough with the kidnapping as a tactic, already! Yes, it works. No, you can't keep on doing it. Understatement.

Day 122 (a really nice Shabbos)

One of our friends from the US who made aliyah a few years ago came to visit us for Shabbos. We also invited the lone soldier on the kibbutz we know from our our former city, who brought his own guest from the same city. So it was quite the reunion, which was nice. Also, Husbinator met four guys at shul and he invited them to stop by for dessert. It's nice when things work out: the quarter-recipe of Bubby's Hamentaschen Dough aka Sugar Cookies made 2 dozen cookies instead of the 10 or so that I was expecting. AND at Kibbutz Produce Day, they only had really big cantaloupes instead of the personal-sized ones they usually had, so we had lots of dessert for everyone to enjoy. So we had a surprise sing-a-thon, as I may have heard onegs called, and I, for one had a great time.

Shabbos day I took El Babo for a walk, and we had a great time watching the cockatiels I found in a random shed/cage arrangement near one of the playgrounds. Every time one of the birds flew around, BSM waved vigorously. So cute!

After that, we hung out at the playground and played with one of the girls in BSM's class (the one who waves at me every time I see her). He had a great time talking to her, going down the slide with her, and spitting out gravel with her. I had a great time chatting with her mother. Good time was had by all!

Day 121 (Erev Shabbos)

I wasn't quite as focused this Erev Shabbos as I've been in the past, but since I got so much done yesterday, I'm still on track to be ready when Shabbos comes. Assuming BSM lets me shower, that is...

Day 120 (PSA)

Public Service Announcement:

Some of you get my blog emailed to you. Please be aware that if you reply to those emails, those replies get lost in the ether of the internet. If you'd like to reply via email (and I'd love to hear what you have to say!), I'd highly recommend emailing me directly. Again, replying to the automatic email updates from my blog DOES NOT WORK. (Note that the automatic email address is "noreply@blogger.com.")

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from all my fans family!

***

In less public-service-minded news, I had a great conversation with an English-speaking kibbutz couple during breakfast this morning. Let's call them Baruch and Golda. Baruch asked me how I felt about the program so far, and I tried to weasel out of it with, "It's interesting..." Baruch, good man, was having none of that, and wanted to know interesting how. Golda then cornered me with a blessed, "Would you recommend this program to a friend?" From there, there was no going back. We had a nice, thoughtful discussion about the insularity of the kibbutz and how it views the people who come on temporary programs. My takeaway was shock that I could tell someone, "Gosh, you people don't really make your guests feel at home," and they could respond, "Nope, we don't. That's how it is." No offense taken, no possibility of change offered. It's just how things are. It's how they've always been, and how they always will be. I now realize that a big part of my resentment against the kibbutz was based on the fact that I was taking it personally that members of the kibbutz weren't trying to make friends with us. Now I know it literally has nothing to do with me, and I can actually view this as a weird cultural phenomenon with no emotional significance. Really.

I'd say that conversation wins hands-down as the main event of the day, but I did also bake challah and cookies and a kugel, and I got a surprise hour of helping out in the 3-year-old daycare. They run a tight ship over there: the kids wake up from nap, put on their shoes, bring their (full) cups to the table, and wait patiently for biscuits. One little girl spilled her water, so she got a towel and dried it up. After snack, they push in their chairs, put their cups in the sink, and go play. They are still 3-year-olds, I was relieved to see during playtime. I like working with kids.

Day 119 (finished my list!)

I finished EVERYTHING on my to-do list today, and it was not an insignificant to-do list, either. I emailed my references to the company I interviewed with after Shavuot, I did dishes, took care of laundry (folding yesterday's hanging stuff, rinsing dirty clothing, bringing dirty stuff to the laundry), found BSM's 18 mo. clothing and brought it to be stamped with our laundry number, took a driving lesson, bought ingredients for challah/dessert, got produce (there were peppers this week! so exciting!), called the head of the driving school to pressure him to schedule a driving test for us (he told me to call back on Sunday), brought more clothing to the laundry (the stuff I'd rinsed earlier today), played with BSM outside so Husbinator could work (BSM continues to thoroughly enjoy dead leaves; being generous, he gives me fistfuls of the stuff, saying, "Ga!" each time: perhaps ga is actually קח?), emptied icky food out of the fridge, did a little job-searching, and called a friend in Atlanta whom I've been meaning to call for over a week now.

Bonus activities which I completed even though they were not on the list include sweeping, sauteing onions and zucchini for BSM (since he enjoyed that so much at Aunty Em's), and sewing in a few more laundry tags (of course).

Bam! I productived the patooties out of today!

Day 118 (so much fun)

Today started really well: I was ready to leave the house with BSM at 8:20, which is an awkward time, since the other kiddies are already all on their promenade at that time, and breakfast is at 8:30. So in those 10 minutes, we played on the slide outside our apartment. The first time he went down, BSM dug his heels in the whole way, but after that, he got into the swing of things. Lots of fun introducing El Babo to the simple pleasures in life.

After my breakfast, I finally took off the footrest and tightened the nut for the stroller's front wheel. Now the wheel doesn't wobble anymore--ahhh. To be perfectly honest, I may have over-tightened it a tiny bit, judging from the slight resistance when I turn the stroller now, but I'm not worried: the nut will work its way loose once more, I'm sure.

Once that was done, I headed out to the fields in search of a spring. I was told there is one, and I wanted to find it. Sadly, I didn't find our spring, but I had a very nice hike, instead. I went back to the lookout I had visited on Pesach, and felt that freedom once more. I don't know if it's the effort it takes to walk there, or the simple pleasure of overlooking the valley instead of being stuck in it, but I love that lookout. Since I didn't have a tired baby with me this time, I took the time to explore a little. It turns out I found not one, but two springs (both fenced in with locked gates, but pretty), along with an abandoned quarry. An exciting exploring sort of hike, it was, and toward the end, a nice lady offered me a ride back to the gate.

Since I still have to be productive, I continued my job search by signing up with the Ministry of Labor, and I poked around their job listings for a while. The listings themselves aren't all that helpful, but I assume if I ask the Ministry of Labor for help in my job search, the first thing they'll tell me to do is create a profile on their website. Done!

I continued BSM's adventures after daycare: not only did I let him sit in the dirt and play with leaves and sticks for the first time (at Sister's urging), I also took him 'swimming' in the kibbutz's swimming pool! I'll be honest: he didn't hate the pool, but he seemed to enjoy messing around in the dirt and leaves a lot, lot more. Well, I like swimming better. So there.

BSM and I can agree to disagree on what is the most fun ever, but he has Got to Stop Vomiting. Full-Stop. I have spoken. (Can you tell that he threw up again tonight? I had no warning, either. No crying, no loud gulping: just nursing one minute and barfing the next. Grrrrrr... I brought him down to the stroller and walked him to sleep after that. No way am I risking dealing with vomit twice in one night. No way. Not even if Husbinator continues to clean the vomited-upon surface [tonight, our bed] so nicely. Ban Barf! End Vomit! Ack!) Well, other than that, today was tons of fun!

Day 117 (of books and sleep)

There was a book sale on the kibbutz today. Apparently, this is national book month, or something. Also apparently, there are rules about how cheaply new books may be sold, lest the author not make enough money from royalties. We bought a vowelized edition of the midrash, an illustrated guide to shmitta (the same one I started to read on Shavuot, actually), a cute board book, and a collection of 100 popular songs (with a CD). Imagine not knowing what your kid is saying when they come home from preschool humming something about a spider and the weather: hence preemptively spending a little more than I otherwise would have on a book of short kids' songs that everyone knows.

Today's other excitement was BSM deciding to stay awake until 9:30. I put him to sleep at 7:00, as I so often do, and he woke up at 7:20, as he did last night. Not wanting to repeat last night's Vomit Extravaganza, I decided to let him stay up until he seemed tired. As 8pm rolled around, I said this was getting ridiculous, so I took him into our dark bedroom and nursed him. He nursed, his eyelids drooped, and then he was sitting up and playing with me. Last night's Vomit Extravaganza was every bit as gross as it sounds, and I haven't healed yet, so I let him play some more. At 9:00, I tried nursing him again, and again a sleepy nursing session ended with a playful baby. This being Not Okay, I took him for a walk in his stroller. Thank G-d, he fell asleep, but I still think that was ridiculous. Just saying.

Day 116 (air conditioning saga)

When BSM woke me up at 4:30 this morning, it was way too hot in the apartment. I checked the thermostat, which was set to 21 and measuring 26. Not good. When I got up for real at 8, the thermostat was reading 27. I checked our fuse box outside, which ha a built-in timer, and saw that the a/c was set to run on the timer, rather than always being on. The timer was set to be on between 10pm and 1am, explaining why the apartment started to cool off when we got back, but stopped in the middle of the night. Or so I thought.

I flipped the switch to "permanently on" and went on my merry way. I dropped BSM at daycare, ate breakfast, and came back to an apartment that was still a stubborn 27°C. Bum bum bum. I asked Ozzie who to call, he got back to me, and I got in touch with them.

Gosh, that sounds like it was all the work of two minutes! Ha ha. It wasn't: it took all afternoon. But the good news is that in the end of it all, our air conditioner worked once more. Hooray!

Day 115 (backlog 2 of 2)

The main reason we spend Shabbat where we did was to see if that's somewhere we might like to live. It is. We both feel comfortable there, both religiously and socially, housing is affordable, and the view is gorgeous. It's also about a 15 minute drive from Jerusalem, so it has the small-town feel along with the convenience of a city. 

We'll see what ends up happening in terms of work, but finding somewhere we think we'd like to live is a big step, too. Because we are so (a)typically "American out-of-town frum" as I like to describe our brand of Orthodoxy, my largest concern about moving to Israel was the question, "Can we find a community where we feel comfortable religiously? Does such a community exist?" Where we spent Shabbos was in no way American, but it still felt right for us: the community is not completely religiously homogeneous (though in fairness, it's not nearly as diverse as anywhere we'd live in America), and the people are warm and welcoming. 

Again, I need to find a job before we make any decisions, but quite frankly, if we found one community that feels right for us, we can find another one. As I recall hearing from Rabbi Lawrence Keleman, natural events are not unique; if it happened once it will happen again. But hey, hopefully I will find a job near there, and we can get to the business of settling in the land, for we did not come here to dwell.

Day 114 (backlog 1 of 2)

We went from Aunty Em's to a settlement just outside of Yerushalayim on Friday. The directions our hosts gave us were amazing, and the trip was uneventful. Unfortunately, when we got there, we discovered that neither of us had any reception to speak of, and those phone calls I meant to make as soon as we were settled were simply not going to happen. Luckily, Husbinator's phone caught Abba's call, and we at least got our pre-Shabbos brachot. So that's something!

Day 113 (Le Interview)

Let's not follow chronological order, here.

Le interview went pretty well: I was offered a job, but with a sharp title and pay cut. On the other hand, it seems like a really, really great company: nice people, good product, thorough approach, opportunity for advancement. And I've heard I should expect to take a step down as I transition to Israel. But I've also heard to expect a really high salary since the government subsidizes the salaries of new/returning science-people. I said I'll think about the offer, and I am.

Getting to the interview also went well: I like riding buses in Yerushalayim. Nothing exciting on the trip, though I did get all nostalgic when we passed through the neighborhood of my seminary. Not as nostalgic as I would have if we were driving a few streets down the mountain, but it was still really nice. I must have passed what (was? is?) Sister's seminary, as well, but I saw no sign. I considered calling her, anyway, but it was still yontiff by her, so that wouldn't have worked in any event.

Getting home from the interview also went well, which is even more surprising, since I did not do any elaborate trip-planning beforehand. I kind of knew where to get off... I kind of knew how to get from the bus stop to the apartment building... I kind of knew which way to turn once I entered the apartment building... Yes, really. Stop sighing, Ema. And I was fully successful! On my first try! I did not have to call Aunty Em to start a search and rescue mission! So I'm quite proud of myself.

Before I left the neighborhood where I had my interview, I stopped by Bazaar Strauss, which basically sells clothing (especially undershirts/socks) and some other stuff you find around the house. I finally bought two summer blankets: the kibbutz is lending us three comforters, but sometimes it's nice to have something between a sheet and a winter blanket, and I knew the ones I've been seeing on the kibbutz and in Beit Shean are overpriced. Sure enough, the blankets I bought were about $10 cheaper apiece than anything I saw up north. Success!

Day 112 (Shavuos)

Pretty non-eventful Shavuos. Read a little bit about Shmitta, which was good, because this coming year is a Shmitta year, and I know very, very little about it. Unfortunately, I only read a very little bit, because it seemed easier to read a book by Jonathan Safran Foer in the afternoon. I hadn't heard of it before, and I very much enjoyed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and I thought Everything is Illuminated was also okay.

Eating Animals, on the other hand... I mean, I knew what sort of a book it was before I started. And before reading the book, I was vaguely aware of bunch of the things Foer discusses. But to actually look at animal factory-farming is, shall we say, less than pleasant.

All afternoon, Aunty Em and her daughters kept warning me that everyone who read it became vegetarian. I kept saying it won't be an issue. But now I'm wondering where I can get humanely produced eggs, because I don't know how I can bring myself to use standard ones.

Day 111 (aka day 49)

We drove to Yerushalayim today. More specifically, I drove to Yerushalayim, since Husbinator wanted to nap in the car. It turns out that I have the same problem driving through the Israeli countryside as I had driving with Sam in the front seat when were first married: I am so overwhelmed by the novel beauty that it's difficult to focus on the task at hand.

I mostly kept my eyes on the road, but every time I topped a hill or rounded a curve (which on Route 90 is pretty much constantly), that heart-wrenching, stomach-twisting beauty would hit me again, and all I'd want was what was right in front of me: my Israel.

I've read of Jews kissing the ground of Israel, and it always sounded a little contrived and kind of awkward. And I still don't want to "kneel down and kiss the earth of the Holy Land," but if I were tall enough to embrace those hills, you know I would give my Eretz Yisrael one big ol' hug. Maybe I can find a cliff to lean against and have a little snuggle.

So yes, I see where the dust-kissing may have come from: after all, I want Israel so much I can literally taste it.

Day 110 (no pithy title [because it's bedtime])

This was another confusing Monday, starting with no scrambled eggs and french toast for breakfast. Last Monday was also a regular breakfast day, instead of the usual thrill of scrambled eggs and french toast (no lie, it really is a thrill), but Yummy Breakfast showed up on Wednesday, instead, in honor of Yom Yerushalayim. Maybe we'll get Yummy Breakfast tomorrow, in honor of the 49th day of the omer? Maybe? Ah, heck, a girl can dream.

I did lots of apartment cleaning today, including secondary vomit-cleanup. Midnight is a good time for damage control, but a less-good time for a thorough cleanup.

Husbinator and I ate a super-fast lunch today, giving us time to pack before I got El Babe-o from El Daycare. -O. El Daycare-O. Don't know if I mentioned it, but we're going to Yerushalayim for Shavuot (and my interview the following day) and then visiting Adam for Shabbos. Adam being a community that we keep hearing about as a place we might like to live. So we're visiting for Shabbos. Because it's near Yerushalayim and we'll be there through Thursday, anyway.

When I did finally get Babe-O, we had a very nice wander on our way home, including talking to, um... Mrs. Mooshub? No... Mooshub's wife is in no way Mrs. Mooshub. No time to fix it! Must finish this and go to sleep! Right, anyway, we did come back home in the end, and soon thereafter it was dinner time. And for a special treat, Nosie Boy came over with his high-chair, and the boys had dinner together. This probably gets old, but yes, they were very, very cute. Lots of looking at each other and laughing. And occasionally grabbing each other's food.

I also made chocolate mousse tonight for BSM's daycare ladies. Because Shoshi happened to mention a few days ago that mothers bring in a cake for the daycare ladies when their babies turn 6 and 12 months, and so baking for them has been on my brain, and Erev Shavuos is a pretty good excuse.

Day 109 (feelings)

'Twas a day chock full o' feelings.

The day started out innocently enough, with a detached and reasonably efficient morning-long job-search. That was followed by the intense frustration and impatience of a driving lesson wherein we had a different instructor, who has a different driving style than our regular instructor. I calmed down with a nice loving nursing session, then had a great time commiserating with John and Shani. The venting-session ended with the happy anticipation of making plans to eat a fun dinner together.

Then there was the joy of picking up BSM from daycare, and the boppy happiness of our daily post-daycare meandering. During the course of said meander, a kibbutznik asked me how we like the kibbutz. Rather than give my usual half-smile and, "We're figuring it out," or "Slowly, slowly," I called it like it is. I shrugged and said, "It's hard. It's very hard to live with a group of people and not be part of the group." The feeling of release and freedom was immediate and long-lasting. I've discussed that feeling of marginalization with The Husbinator and our neighbors, among others, but telling an actual member of the kibbutz has done wonders. It doesn't change anything, but boy, do I feel better!

That high was followed by Skyping with Ema and Abba, an activity filled with the joy of seeing them and the sadness that we're so far away. The Skyping rolled right into a spontaneous playdate with Nosie-Boy, and he and BSM continue to dazzle all with their cuteness in their ability to actually play together.

Then, Aunt Ruby gave me a surprise phone call, saying she was on the kibbutz for parent-teacher conferences, and we just hung out for something like an hour-and-a-half, which was a real treat. I know that must've been crazy for her on a weeknight, but I really needed that borchering session.

Then there was the relaxed bittersweet fun of a goodbye dinner with John, Shoshie, and Nosie-Boy (BSM, G-d bless him, was already asleep) followed by the mindless fun of watching some TV with The Husbinator, followed by the one-of-a-kind adrenaline rush of grabbing El Babo after hearing him gulp some air while crying, telling him, "There, there, sweetie, we're not going to leave you in your crib to--" and then being suddenly and spectacularly covered in vomit. Shoulder-to-toe covered.

Like I said, a day chock full o' feelings.

Day 108 (so close)

Had a nice, reasonably uneventful Shabbos. Though as I was setting up havdalah, I remembered I hadn't counted the omer... for Friday night. So close! Looks like I got a little too dependent on email reminders in the home-stretch.

Applied for a bunch of jobs tonight. Actually, I think it was only 2 or 3, but it took a long time, so "a bunch" it is!