New Background

OK just a quickie. Since there was dissension in the ranks about my background, and you know who you are, I changed it again. Obviously. And if you look to the left side of the layout you will see why this is the perfect background for us. You can just barely see the word Jerusalem on the map. So enjoy the new background and TTFN!

My Friends, My Friends Are Good For Me.....!

This is the beginning of an old Girl Scout Camp song that probably my sister is the only who would recognize, unless anyone went to Camp Arrowhead. It so incredibly true and I realized it is the one thing I left off of my Thanksgiving list. I really cannot imagine how I would get along in life with out them. For those of us who have good families, we are truly lucky, but nonetheless, even good family becomes annoying family some days and that is why we have friends! True friends will tell you how great you are and how stupid you are and they still love you just because. No obligations, they just do. Most of my friends live across the pond, but it is nice to pick up the phone or the e-mail and still be able to talk, complain and or just explode and they know what I mean. One of my biggest regrets about being here is that I know my kids are missing out by not being able to hang with theirs.

Friends are what get through grade school embarrassment, high school trauma and nearly failed classes, ex-boyfriends and they even save us from psychopathic roommates. I am and will forever be the Sofa Queen thanks to the last one. The great thing about friends is that you can accumulate them and never have enough. I have some really dear friends that have helped me survive my formative years in Israel and I love that I have friends who I am close enough too that their kids consider us family. So to all my friends, both new and really old, THANK YOU! I would never have survived with out you.

In Honor Of Thanksgiving

Today in America it is Thanksgiving Day. The first couple of years we kept the tradition up with friends but it got to be too complicated here with kids and so on. In fact we actually gave up doing much for Thanksgiving when I got pregnant with S while we were in America still. Not because of religious reasons particularly, but logistical reasons. Thanksgiving is always on Thursday, followed by Shabbat. That means cooking two major meals in a row. Being 9 mo. pregnant does not inspire one to want to either A) cook two large meals or B) go anywhere that might require too much effort. Incidentally we met my in-laws and crew for drinks at a near by restaurant and then went home to watch movies on the DVD. Now that's Thanksgiving! My parents came for brunch the next AM.

So now here it is 7 years later and in honor of Thanksgiving I am counting my blessings and listening/ watching Operation Petticoat while I blog and then start work. And for those of you who GASP! don't know....Operation Petticoat is a 1959 movie with the suave Cary Grant and the handsome Tony Curtis. My kids have a vague idea of what Thanksgiving is, which in their case includes cards and goodies from America and the notion that is an American holiday. But they certainly are "grateful for the goodies.

As for the grown ups, I don't speak for my husband, but I have fond memories of Thanksgiving. We used to go skiing a lot. No crowds and lines, my mom had peace and quiet, she doesn't share the kitchen well.. and my sister, dad and I had an amazing dinner when we got home. I have a lot of other good memories too, but those are some of my favorites. Now I am a grown up and I understand even more that there is plenty to be grateful for. So here is my list of things to be grateful for on Thanksgiving.

First, that we have all that we need. While our budget is tight, we do have all the basic necessities and as hokey as it sounds, we are grateful that we have lights, running water, food to eat and work to do. We read about the tsunamis, earthquakes and the dire situations here and all over the world and know that we are blessed by just having the basics in life. I include my job with this as the unemployment rate world wide is a scary thing right now. But not only do I work, but it is the most ideal situation ever.

Second, I am grateful for my kids. They are a challenge, a blessing, my joy and my undoing as I told my aunt recently. Today M started her new school FINALLY! And although she was very nervous about a change and she did not really want to go, she was such a trooper. She jumped right in, participated in class and her teacher said she did great. Whew, what a relief. It is nice to know that even though they balk at home and can be stubborn and difficult and so on, when they are away from home they know how to behave. Grocery store moments not included........... My boys too get compliments frequently from school and friends' parents and so on. Nice to know we are doing something right.

Third, I have amazing in-laws. Most people dread visits from their in-laws and most women I know hold their breath in particular with their MILs'. I happen to adore my mother in law! She is just so thoughtful and caring and I really just enjoy talking to her. She calls nearly every night to talk to the kids and about once a week or so we catch up to find out what's what on the other side of the pond. My husband actually gives me a bad time (he's joking of course) about how much time I spend talking or on-line chatting with his mom.

Fourth, of course I am grateful for my own husband. We have very different ideas frequently and we have very heated debates, but I am grateful to have him in my life. With out him I would not have 3 wonderful children and I would not be where I am or what I am doing today.

Finally, I am grateful for my own family. I think my mom single handedly keeps her local post office in business with the amount of stuff she sends. Plus she is my mom and she has always been wonderful, so what more can I say? My sister and I are very lucky to have grown up in our family with our parents. We have a lot of good memories as a family,and despite my being over here away from the crew, we do keep up. In addition to fabulous parents and a lovely sister who has always been a challenge and a.... challenge, I have two wonderful Aunties and an Uncle. Between the three of them I have gotten to do some really cool things. Including living in Hawaii for 6 months. I also have an extensive knowledge of the California wine industry as well..also very handy and Yum!

So there you go, in a very long detailed blog, this is what Thanksgiving is to me. We may not be eating turkey or watching football, but I do have Cary Grant and I will be rooting for the Ducks tomorrow and I am truly thankful for all that G-d has given me and my family. So to all of you where ever you are, have a Happy Thanksgiving no matter where you are or what you are doing. And bundle up, because if you are not here, it is probably cold out there!

Just a Quickie!

I mostly blog inside my head and I have lots to say, but little time. Or maybe I don't make the time... it is all point of view. But I will get to that some other time, here is a quick glimpse into the workings of my kids. All three of the kids have inherited my love of stuffed animals and they are bound and determined to have a stuffed animal of every creature that ever lived and two if it can be arranged, because Noah and the flood is one of their all time favorite stories. Fortunately even though I have been required to thin my own herd, I have lots of material for this goal. Over the years we have acquired elephants, including 2 that are heffalumps, if you don't know what they are, you are not a Pooh Bear fan like our family. Anyhow so this morning S commented that we had 4 elephants and we needed one more, after momentary stupidity on my part I of course realized this was due to 5 people in our own family. So I commented that I had a blue one somewhere in America (very common statement in our house, because I still have stuff stored there) and S looks at me and goes, " A real one?!" Of course he realizes there are no blue elephants and after a short discussion including, "Does our zoo have blue elephants?" he realized this was not possible, but I think hope springs eternal! Because a few minutes later there was a little voice next me saying, "What about a light blue one?"

Part of that springs I believe for the desperate need to have a pet or a new baby in the house. Yes, you read correctly. Pets, babies, what's the difference?......... I have to say at this point in my life I actually agree with them. Which is why we currently have neither! In way of short explanation we live in Israel, one of the highest birth rates in the world, we live a religious neighborhood, almost everyone has at least 5 kids and a new baby.... The pet desire comes from their love of animals. We have discussed horses, dinosaurs and a myriad of other animals as pets. Fortunately dinosaurs are extinct and after a visit to the horse stables this summer the kids realized a horse was never going to fit on our mirpeset (deck) no matter how hard we tried. Whew!

Its a Small World and More!

First off, so much for the weekly blog. Life is hectic and seems determined to remain so despite my crystal ball telling me otherwise. Last month I thought I saw light at the end of the tunnel, turns out it was train coming down the track to try and run me over. But we are persevering with a little fortitude and a lot of help for a week and a half when Grammy and Grandpa came. Grammy and Grandpa belong to my husband, but I probably look forward to their visits more than he does. For nearly two weeks I get help taking kids to and from school, getting them ready, get lunches together, laundry done and so on and the kids get one on one time with the grands. It is like the extra set of hands I was supposed to get when I had twins. Plus the kids think they can get away with anything and the grands think the kids can do no wrong, so it is a winning combination.

In other news I have since turned another year older, ugghhhh, I want to be forever 25. I have an indisputable theory that 25 is the perfect age. At 25 you are an adult in every way. Bars are legal, cars can be rented with out additional insurance and nothing is off limits. Plus you get the benefit of being young enough to not have real responsibility and if you are not settled it is OK because you are still young! I have explained this theory to many and some even agree with my logic, the others, well what can I do? Guess they like being over 25.

Work continues to go well. While I am seriously grateful, I continue to be amazed by it. Getting hours out can be like pulling teeth. Between, writers block, kid appts and kids in general and a husband who seem to think they actually need to be taken care of, go figure, it is all quite challenging. However, for some strange reason the people I work with continue to like me and my writing. I am learning to let go of the nit picky points a little which is helping a lot.

The kids are doing great in school, and turns out our big one is the bell of the ball at school. We have had teachers meetings with 2 out of 3 kids and so far so good. Our big one is in a "special education" program. Meaning he just can't keep up with the rest of the kids because he has English speaking parents who are terrible at helping with homework. So he is in a program with a total of 12 boys and he has 5 different teachers. One for each subject. I like that he gets the one on one, which he responds well too, but we are trying to work the math at home as that would be the one subject that he is just really way more advanced on. But I am not pushing that issue at school. When he is ready they will integrate that part of his day into the regular class. All his teachers say the same thing, "Our kid is great, he is such a calm boy and so good!" Of course I am thrilled, which leads to the next question, "Why doesn't he do that at home?" Of course mostly he is a good kid, but we have our moments. Most of the teachers are Israeli but we have one that can speak fairly decent English and one teacher that is English, meaning British. I am surprised that S has not picked up his British accent again. He had one for a long time that would sneak out after living in Jerusalem where almost all our friends were British. And yeah for me, because now I can get by with more crappy Hebrew! Our middle angel gets help once a week from an outside tutor in reading and Hebrew, while the reading seems to be going really well, the Hebrew is questionable. My next step is to speak with the tutor and get a full report. M we are in the middle of switching schools. We are working to get her into a "special ed." program as well. She understands Hebrew great but won't talk. So we want to get her talking in school and we think have a class size that is under 33 girls will help a lot. Plus she has some speech patterns in both languages that need correcting. Same thing goes here, as she improves, we can move her back into a regular class, either this year or next. The truth is, every child should go through school with small class sizes. It is a shame that only the "problem" children have such a great opportunity. But moving on....

Our heat wave has finally broken after three very long months. We are down to the 70's during the day and we are all wondering if we need sweaters or not! I went to a lecture tonight on kids and education, and actually took a sweater with me and it actually got chilly! It is at least 68. Brrrrr........... :) Yeah, I know you NW people want to kick my.... for saying 68 is chilly, but hey, there's where you are; and there is here! However, we did get rain on Shabbat and the truth is, if we don't get more, I worry we are going to be completely out of water. 7 months of no rain is a little disturbing and comes too close to a story I read in 6th grade.....

And finally speaking of this lecture I went to...I now embark upon the topic of its a small world. I met someone from Seattle. Now to meet ONE person who actually knows WHERE Oregon is, is pretty amazing. Finding someone from the West Coast is astounding, but someone who is from the PNW is down right earth shattering! But this is where it gets really bizarre. We had a family move in earlier this year, also from Seattle, we knew about this. We did not know them personally, but knew the name and we have mutual friends. Turns out our Seattle friends also knew someone else from Seattle who lives here, not so far from us. AND the kicker is... this new person I met tonight knows all the people we know from Seattle. OK the Seattle and PDX Jewsih Communities combined are not that big, but to have 4 PNW families living in Beitar Illit, Israel all random and unplanned...just reminds me of how small our world really is. Plus there is a rumor that another family lives here that spent a couple of years in Portland and just moved back here. I am reminded that nothing is random and hey, it is just nice to have people from home. And not have every last person be from NEW YORK! Not that have a problem with that, but they don't all know where Oregon is........ Oh and for those of you who want to know all the Seattle names, I bet some of them you could guess, because you might be related and you would probably be able to guess the other names, but if you can't guess them all, you will just have to e-mail! :)

As it is after midnight here, that wraps up my weekly, daily and maybe yearly update depending on how things go. And besides now you can read this in 2 parts, since it is so long! TTFN!