Took my little one today for an outpatient surgical procedure at the hospital. It was planned, not an emergency. He has had this knot/bump on his knee for a few months and it has been bothering him. All professionals involved agreed that it should come out.
Just had to share the pure essence of fear that I felt as they put him under. I insisted that I be present when they put him under, and I'm glad I was the last one he saw/last voice he heard, etc, but it was freaky. He wasn't just asleep, didn't just have his eyes closed, ya know? As a mother, my worst fears surfaced, and the 45 minutes that we waited for the doctor to come and tell us he was ok were just excruciating.
My heart goes out to all parents who have ever had to go through major medical stuff with their children, or g-d forbid parents who have lost what we all hold so dear. I felt as if I was looking in on that world, thank goodness it was through a locked window, if you know what I mean.
He's doing fine now, just limping around a bit here and there, and wondering where his brother is (he went with his cousins, aunt, and Saba who are all visiting...they went to the zoo, shhh...don't tell the little guy!)
Anyway, thanks for listening, I feel much better now!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Made in China???
Can you believe it..........our Chanukah candles are Made in China!!! What isn't these days?? Too funny.
Just had to share, even if it feels like I'm the only one reading this thing.
To quote Trepenwitz.......... ".....is this thing on?"
(am I allowed to do that, just quote someone?) hmmmm.....will have to look into that. Sorry if I've committed a blog-faux-pa.
fyi.........we went to the Aliyah office yesterday, met with the shaliach, our papers our in, our Aliyah TIK is OPENED!!! It's getting more real. hubby has been working on his resume, more talk of him doing a pilot trip in May, and the butterflies are beginning for talking about this more in the coming months with friends and family.
*gulp* As long as I keep thinking about the MADE IN CHINA chanukah candles it keeps my nerves down and makes me laugh.....oh, and this one too:
While in the shaliach's office, my 4 and 3/4 year old (he insists now on keeping that straight), found some sort of santa looking thing on the floor in a corner.......... "HEY!" he shouts, "THAT'S NOT A JEWISH TOY!!" as if the authorities needed to be alerted and the troops should have been called in!!!
I guess the subtle infusion we're doing trying to get this kid interested in joining us on the Aliyah might be working! :)
Just had to share, even if it feels like I'm the only one reading this thing.
To quote Trepenwitz.......... ".....is this thing on?"
(am I allowed to do that, just quote someone?) hmmmm.....will have to look into that. Sorry if I've committed a blog-faux-pa.
fyi.........we went to the Aliyah office yesterday, met with the shaliach, our papers our in, our Aliyah TIK is OPENED!!! It's getting more real. hubby has been working on his resume, more talk of him doing a pilot trip in May, and the butterflies are beginning for talking about this more in the coming months with friends and family.
*gulp* As long as I keep thinking about the MADE IN CHINA chanukah candles it keeps my nerves down and makes me laugh.....oh, and this one too:
While in the shaliach's office, my 4 and 3/4 year old (he insists now on keeping that straight), found some sort of santa looking thing on the floor in a corner.......... "HEY!" he shouts, "THAT'S NOT A JEWISH TOY!!" as if the authorities needed to be alerted and the troops should have been called in!!!
I guess the subtle infusion we're doing trying to get this kid interested in joining us on the Aliyah might be working! :)
Friday, December 23, 2005
Never a dull moment.....bugs and UFOs.....
Been a while, as we took a little vacation down south to the "Keys". We're a camping family. We truly enjoy it...pitching the tent, hanging out in our camping chairs while the boys get completely filthy dirty and play until they collapse from exhaustion.
This trip was to be a gem of all camping trips. We went to our favorite place called Long Key State Park, where each campsite is feet away from the beach, the ocean, the rush of the water, the feeling of soft sand between your toes. Unfortunately, this time there were also some intense SAND BUGS, and "No-see-ums", the little annoying creatures that are the size of a pin head but when they bite you, you itch for days!!! So of course, my big guy, my 4 and THREE QUARTERS year old, was eaten alive!!! All of us got bitten, but his bites swell up three times the size, and he cannot control his scratching. It's awful.
So, our fabulous vacation was cut short, and we moved to the next stage of our planned trip............a 3 night condo stay! Hey, we may love camping, but we also love cleaning up and being in a clean place AFTER camping!!!
We spent 3 glorious nights also overlooking the ocean, although not as close, and in the comfort of sand-free beds! We un-wound, relaxed, and enjoyed each other. We played legos, candyland, chutes and ladders, rescue heroes, we made forts and playdough sculptures, and we laughed and tickled lots. The kids had fun too, just joking. :)
Anyway, we started on our way home yesterday, with our minivan packed to the gills (we need to work on packing LESS, tons less! ) We had put our suitcases on the roof of the van, zipped up in one of those special cloth roof packs that zips around your stuff. Well, as we were driving, the zipper broke free, the wind ripped it open, and our suitcases went flying...........in the middle of traffic on the Florida Turnpike!!! It was just wild, and thank g-d, nobody was hit with our suitcase, and nobody hit each other as a result of this UFO (un-imaginable flying object). I called 911, hoping to get a trooper to come stop traffic so that we could get our stuff (mine and the boys actually, hubby's suitcase survived and landed on the back of the van on our bikes). Anyway, he took a little walk to see where it actually landed, maybe we could have retrieved it........then he saw a woman plow into it, as it busted open and all of our things went flying! ugh. *gulp*
Oh well...........never a dull moment!!!
ps. the troopers never came, and when hubby saw the stuff go flying, we knew that was it, the end, no chance of getting any of it back. Oh well, just stuff. We'll buy more spiderman underwear, and another Bob the builder beach towel.
This trip was to be a gem of all camping trips. We went to our favorite place called Long Key State Park, where each campsite is feet away from the beach, the ocean, the rush of the water, the feeling of soft sand between your toes. Unfortunately, this time there were also some intense SAND BUGS, and "No-see-ums", the little annoying creatures that are the size of a pin head but when they bite you, you itch for days!!! So of course, my big guy, my 4 and THREE QUARTERS year old, was eaten alive!!! All of us got bitten, but his bites swell up three times the size, and he cannot control his scratching. It's awful.
So, our fabulous vacation was cut short, and we moved to the next stage of our planned trip............a 3 night condo stay! Hey, we may love camping, but we also love cleaning up and being in a clean place AFTER camping!!!
We spent 3 glorious nights also overlooking the ocean, although not as close, and in the comfort of sand-free beds! We un-wound, relaxed, and enjoyed each other. We played legos, candyland, chutes and ladders, rescue heroes, we made forts and playdough sculptures, and we laughed and tickled lots. The kids had fun too, just joking. :)
Anyway, we started on our way home yesterday, with our minivan packed to the gills (we need to work on packing LESS, tons less! ) We had put our suitcases on the roof of the van, zipped up in one of those special cloth roof packs that zips around your stuff. Well, as we were driving, the zipper broke free, the wind ripped it open, and our suitcases went flying...........in the middle of traffic on the Florida Turnpike!!! It was just wild, and thank g-d, nobody was hit with our suitcase, and nobody hit each other as a result of this UFO (un-imaginable flying object). I called 911, hoping to get a trooper to come stop traffic so that we could get our stuff (mine and the boys actually, hubby's suitcase survived and landed on the back of the van on our bikes). Anyway, he took a little walk to see where it actually landed, maybe we could have retrieved it........then he saw a woman plow into it, as it busted open and all of our things went flying! ugh. *gulp*
Oh well...........never a dull moment!!!
ps. the troopers never came, and when hubby saw the stuff go flying, we knew that was it, the end, no chance of getting any of it back. Oh well, just stuff. We'll buy more spiderman underwear, and another Bob the builder beach towel.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Cleaning up...
We've begun the "clean up" in our heads....the daily use of something and the passing comment of "we won't bring this with us, will we?" Or on the contrary, "this is coming in our lift for sure, don't you agree?"
It all kind of makes you think about the stuff I've saved in my lifetime. Why in the world to I have letters written by a friend in the 8th grade? Or a jar filled with ticket stubs? Or worse yet, journals professing my ever changing love for my slew of 9th grade crushes. I don't NEED this stuff, really I don't. So why haven't I thrown it away yet? And really, do I want someone finding this stuff if I mysteriously fall off the planet tomorrow?
I think after New Year's, my big goal is going to be going room by room and physically getting rid of stuff. It's something that I know will not be done in a day, so I need to plan for it. It all reminds me of an old George Carlin skit where he talks about the stuff we have. He says something about how we need things to put our stuff in so that we can make room for more stuff, and how we're defined by our stuff, etc. etc.
I think this is different, it's not you're usual time for a garage sale type of thing. Plus, I'm still in that fuzzy haze feeling of "wow, we're really doing this, aren't we?" Not sure where I was heading with this, but what's new, right? :)
It all kind of makes you think about the stuff I've saved in my lifetime. Why in the world to I have letters written by a friend in the 8th grade? Or a jar filled with ticket stubs? Or worse yet, journals professing my ever changing love for my slew of 9th grade crushes. I don't NEED this stuff, really I don't. So why haven't I thrown it away yet? And really, do I want someone finding this stuff if I mysteriously fall off the planet tomorrow?
I think after New Year's, my big goal is going to be going room by room and physically getting rid of stuff. It's something that I know will not be done in a day, so I need to plan for it. It all reminds me of an old George Carlin skit where he talks about the stuff we have. He says something about how we need things to put our stuff in so that we can make room for more stuff, and how we're defined by our stuff, etc. etc.
I think this is different, it's not you're usual time for a garage sale type of thing. Plus, I'm still in that fuzzy haze feeling of "wow, we're really doing this, aren't we?" Not sure where I was heading with this, but what's new, right? :)
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Abbah is an M...
Another funny story about my guys....hubby was taking a nap yesterday afternoon, and the boys and I went in to wake him. He had slept an hour already and they were dying to play with him!
We gently told him it was 5pm and he should get up. "mmmmmm...." he replied. So again, I said, "C. please!" (I needed to finish dinner and wanted his help diverting their attention)
Again, "MMMMM......"
To which, A. replied, "Abbah is pretending to be an M!"
Not sure if this is funny to the rest of the world, but it made me laugh. I like the simple things in life that make me smile.
We gently told him it was 5pm and he should get up. "mmmmmm...." he replied. So again, I said, "C. please!" (I needed to finish dinner and wanted his help diverting their attention)
Again, "MMMMM......"
To which, A. replied, "Abbah is pretending to be an M!"
Not sure if this is funny to the rest of the world, but it made me laugh. I like the simple things in life that make me smile.
Friday, December 09, 2005
The boys love Israel too....
My son A. was talking to a friend the other day during a play date. Keep in mind they are 4. Well, he'll tell you 4 and a HALF, but you get the picture. Anyway, somehow the topic of LAUNDRY was brought up. Here's the conversation:
A: Did you ever hang up your laundry to dry?
friend: no
A: well I do that sometimes, when I'm in Israel with my safta. We hang up laundry. Isn't that cool?
friend: no response, not quite sure what the heck he was talking about!
It was cute!
Another day, my little one I. came in the room with one of the Israeli car flags that my in-laws sent one Yom Haatzmaut. I. handed the flag to A. and A. said, "That's an Israel Flag, I. I love it, do you?" To which I., only 2, replied, "I love it, it's bootieful" And the best ending of the whole thing........A. sat on the floor waving that flag as high as he could without standing up and sang, "Kol od baleyla pme, emah. Nefesh yeludi, no, emah." It was the sweetest butchering of the Hatikvah that I had ever heard!!! Pat on the back for their synagogue preschool!!!
A: Did you ever hang up your laundry to dry?
friend: no
A: well I do that sometimes, when I'm in Israel with my safta. We hang up laundry. Isn't that cool?
friend: no response, not quite sure what the heck he was talking about!
It was cute!
Another day, my little one I. came in the room with one of the Israeli car flags that my in-laws sent one Yom Haatzmaut. I. handed the flag to A. and A. said, "That's an Israel Flag, I. I love it, do you?" To which I., only 2, replied, "I love it, it's bootieful" And the best ending of the whole thing........A. sat on the floor waving that flag as high as he could without standing up and sang, "Kol od baleyla pme, emah. Nefesh yeludi, no, emah." It was the sweetest butchering of the Hatikvah that I had ever heard!!! Pat on the back for their synagogue preschool!!!
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Update...
Working on our applications....getting all of our "ducks in a row" as my mom says. Went to a Pre-aliyah seminar last night, informative, REAL. Appointment with shaliach all set up, and boys' birth certificates on their way to get Apostilles to apply for their Israeli passports (they get theirs automatically due to hubby being Israeli). Thought I'd post a bit from the essay I wrote for NBN. Going to go search blogs to see if others have written much about their nbn experience. Feels good doing the 'busy work.'
...It just "FEELS RIGHT"...exerpt from our essay for Nefesh b' Nefesh application
Israel has played an important role in our lives as a family. Making Aliyah is something that we have talked about for years. “One day…” we’ve always said. Each visit to Israel over the past 8 years has brought us closer to this decision. This past summer, we spent a month living with my in-laws in Israel. It took about 3 or 4 days for us to both realize that this was where we needed to be. It just “felt right.”
In the past, when we’ve spoken about the possibility of moving our family to Israel, tears would appear, and I would get that sinking feeling in my stomach. This summer, I didn’t feel that at all. It was as if I suddenly knew that NOW was the time, it just felt right.
How will we manage? Where will we live? How will the kids adjust? These of course are the questions at the forefront of my mind. Interestingly enough, the answers that I give myself are all the same, “We’ll manage. We’ll live where we find a place, and the kids, they’ll be fine.” Like I said, it just feels right.
In the past, when we’ve spoken about the possibility of moving our family to Israel, tears would appear, and I would get that sinking feeling in my stomach. This summer, I didn’t feel that at all. It was as if I suddenly knew that NOW was the time, it just felt right.
How will we manage? Where will we live? How will the kids adjust? These of course are the questions at the forefront of my mind. Interestingly enough, the answers that I give myself are all the same, “We’ll manage. We’ll live where we find a place, and the kids, they’ll be fine.” Like I said, it just feels right.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Random thoughts...
Netanya. Don't know what to say. Sending of course the sympathy thoughts, the compassion, then the frustration stirs up.
Wierd thing is that nobody is talking about it here yet. It takes so long for this stuff to reach the states. And even then, it seems to be much more important to report on the news that some old lady and her 26 cats were found in filth or that some jerk has molested some kids, or something like that. It might be in the newspaper tomorrow, but not likely on the front page, or even in the first 5 pages, just bizarre to me.
The big talk around here is where people are shopping or what Kindergarten they're sending their kids to next year. We haven't told anyone yet about our plans for Aliyah except for our parents.
Hubby's parents are thrilled of course, as they have been living in Israel since their aliyah in the 70's. My mom, although supportive, just wants us to make sure we're getting "all of our ducks in a row" before we go. We're working on it....it's just so surreal, living day to day with this "secret", knowing that so many things that matter to everyone else just don't matter to us. I feel stronger since having made the decision to make aliyah. I can't explain it, it just 'feels right'.
Wierd thing is that nobody is talking about it here yet. It takes so long for this stuff to reach the states. And even then, it seems to be much more important to report on the news that some old lady and her 26 cats were found in filth or that some jerk has molested some kids, or something like that. It might be in the newspaper tomorrow, but not likely on the front page, or even in the first 5 pages, just bizarre to me.
The big talk around here is where people are shopping or what Kindergarten they're sending their kids to next year. We haven't told anyone yet about our plans for Aliyah except for our parents.
Hubby's parents are thrilled of course, as they have been living in Israel since their aliyah in the 70's. My mom, although supportive, just wants us to make sure we're getting "all of our ducks in a row" before we go. We're working on it....it's just so surreal, living day to day with this "secret", knowing that so many things that matter to everyone else just don't matter to us. I feel stronger since having made the decision to make aliyah. I can't explain it, it just 'feels right'.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Is Anybody out there?
I'm wondering tonight how I'm supposed to go about 'breaking into the circle' of the Blogworld? On one hand, it's appealing that this site will only ever been seen by me, and on the other hand, I feel like the new kid at school not being noticed. I've walked in the door, put my nametag on, and am wondering if anyone is going to come to say hello? I guess I should go around and introduce myself to everyone, I've commented on a few people's posts, and I guess in time....
So this brings me to wonder and of course worry about our aliyah. I at least know hebrew, ok I'm not fully fluent, but I can communicate. My stomach turns when I think of my older son and the rough road that he will have ahead of him. Will he forever be the new kid in the corner waiting for someone to come over and say hello? I know it's not going to be easy....
So this brings me to wonder and of course worry about our aliyah. I at least know hebrew, ok I'm not fully fluent, but I can communicate. My stomach turns when I think of my older son and the rough road that he will have ahead of him. Will he forever be the new kid in the corner waiting for someone to come over and say hello? I know it's not going to be easy....
Friday, December 02, 2005
Are you really becoming Israeli? Will I???
Hi there Blogworld! I hope you'll welcome me to the land of bloggers. I am not a journalist, not a writer, but I have been known to have the family "gift of the gab!" I've been reading other blogs for a while now, and I'm finally taking the plunge.
So why blog? I'm not exactly sure myself, I just know that I have enjoyed reading other people's experiences as they've taken the big plunge themselves and are acclamating into Israeli society. Or are you?
So this leads me to my first real thought, question, pondering issue: Do those of us who leave everything behind to follow the dream of making aliyah EVER become truly acclamated into Israeli society? How long does that take, and if it doesn't happen, is that so horrible? What sorts of things help you to feel more Israeli on a day to day basis, and what sort of things make you really feel out of place?
My kids will be 5 and almost 3 when we make aliyah. I know they will grow up as Israelis. My husband himself is Israeli, made aliyah with his family when he was a boy (yes, the laws are still living in EY..eretz yisrael), so he will only strengthen his "Israeliness."
But what about me? Will I always be the "American" on the block, the "American mom", the "American wife," the "American co-worker"etc. ?
My head is filled with these kinds of thoughts these days. We go to a Nefesh b Nefesh pre-aliyah seminar next week, then meet with our shaliach 2 weeks after that. I look forward to sharing with you, and look forward to hearing your comments as well! Thanks in advance for welcoming me into Blogworld!
So why blog? I'm not exactly sure myself, I just know that I have enjoyed reading other people's experiences as they've taken the big plunge themselves and are acclamating into Israeli society. Or are you?
So this leads me to my first real thought, question, pondering issue: Do those of us who leave everything behind to follow the dream of making aliyah EVER become truly acclamated into Israeli society? How long does that take, and if it doesn't happen, is that so horrible? What sorts of things help you to feel more Israeli on a day to day basis, and what sort of things make you really feel out of place?
My kids will be 5 and almost 3 when we make aliyah. I know they will grow up as Israelis. My husband himself is Israeli, made aliyah with his family when he was a boy (yes, the laws are still living in EY..eretz yisrael), so he will only strengthen his "Israeliness."
But what about me? Will I always be the "American" on the block, the "American mom", the "American wife," the "American co-worker"etc. ?
My head is filled with these kinds of thoughts these days. We go to a Nefesh b Nefesh pre-aliyah seminar next week, then meet with our shaliach 2 weeks after that. I look forward to sharing with you, and look forward to hearing your comments as well! Thanks in advance for welcoming me into Blogworld!
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