An Important Lesson

...And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

This year, I learned to NEVER SHOP on erev-erev-erev Pesach. That's right, in preparation for Pesach, which started on Shabbat this year, I went to do my final grocery shop (or so I thought) on Wednesday. To get a quick feel for what this means, imagine grocery shopping in America on Erev Thankgiving. Multiply that by two. Squish up your face and bobble your head from side to side a few times, then judiciously add another 25% or so. There you have it: shopping in the Jerusalem area three days before Pesach. Need I say more?

Of course I do! That's why I have a blog!

I swung by my local Rami Levy first, but they were out of soft matza. (I had refused to buy it earlier, insisting that Husbinator talk to his rebbe before we buy this crazy flexible matza he wanted so badly.) Well, I wasn't completely shocked, though I was a little dazed by the crowds, so I headed out to the Rami Levy in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem (25 minutes without traffic). Waze predicted a 90-minute ride by my regular route, so I went the long way around, via Ma'aleh Efraim. That trip took a heart-stoppingly gorgeous hour. So pretty. The hills. The curves hiding panoramic views. The grass and flowers and stones and streams. The poor little BSM who vomited three times before he fell asleep :(

In the end, after multiple parking adventures, I found soft matza in the 3rd store I visited. Having parked about two blocks away, I couldn't buy their nearly-free seltzer or unbelievably cheap Kededm grape juice, but I did get the last of the meat and maror and karpas. I am so glad we finished the bulk of shopping last week. Checkout took forever, and I will not repeat this little adventure next year, but it was a nice break. And a stunning drive.