Celebrating Ilan's 3rd birthday tomorrow, moving our stuff into our apartment tomorrow, and visiting the Gan tomorrow. Big load for one day. Sunday all of the appliances get hooked up, the aronot are being delivered and put together, and Sunday night will be our first night in our own place. YAY.

We are getting to that point where tensions are rising here at the 'laws' house, but it's to be expected.

No word yet on our stuff.........

GREECE.......

yup, that's right, GREECE. We think our stuff may be re-routed to Greece, Cypress to be exact. ugh. Isn't that what happened to the Jews on the EXODUS many years ago when they were trying to make it to Israel???

Backtrack...........rewind...........let me explain myself.................

On June 19th, before we left the states, we had all of our belongings including beds, dining room furniture, our bicycles, the kids' toys, books, clothing, kitchen stuff, a new bbq grill, some bookshelves, a new patio furniture set, oh wait, new pots and pans, a crock pot, (aargh, stop me, it's too painful!) etc. all loaded up on a big truck.

This truck took our stuff to the port, I assume in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, where it was reloaded onto a container with someone else's stuff (separated by plywood between our shipments). [This is what is called shipping LCL, or less than a container load.] I think our container left the port in the US around the 22nd or 23rd of June, and we had an estimated date of arrival to the port of HAIFA (yes, good ole haifa) today, the 21st of July.

"But wait," you say, "isn't Haifa a bad spot these days due to the situation??"

And yes my friends, you are correct............the situation has put a damper on so much.........

[here is where I put in a disclaimer............I do not want this post to sound selfish, like who am I to complain about my stuff when people in Haifa and around the north are living in their miklatim (hebrew for bomb shelters)?..........and really, I don't want to sound like that. But in reality, I have heard over and over, and I agree, that if we let this stop us, then they will have gotten the better of us, and we do not want that. What we want most, for us, and for all of the region, is for the normal people to get on with our normal lives]

Anyway, back to the whole Haifa situation.........as it turns out, as I mentioned, our oceanliner was scheduled to arrive in Israel today, the 21st, into Haifa. Apparantly, since the Haifa port is closed (go figure), many of the ships are being re-routed a bit further south to Ashdod. But, since Ashdod is a smaller port and is not used to handling such a heavy load, things are getting backlogged. As a result, and even to completely avoid this and being in any part of the 'situation', many oceanliners are bypassing Israel completely and dropping stuff off in Greece.

The problem is that we have no clue at the moment whether or not our stuff is on one of the Souvlaki ships, or on a ship with loyalty to felafel!

So we wait while our stuff takes the Medditeranean cruise we've all dreamed of..........

>>>update, or addition............hubby just called, he's out (went to meet his friend S., they've been friends since they were like 9; they also went to high school together). Anyway, it turns out S. has a connection with the owner of the shipping company that it just so happened that we used. small world. S. is going to call motzei shabbat for us to see what he can find out.....aizeh olam katan! (what a small world...)

LIFE goes on.....

Just a quick hello to let you know my dear readers that I haven't posted only because we've been busy!

Did I tell you about Friday night? We went out with friends' to celebrate our arrival and also both of our wedding anniversaries. This friend S. and hubby have been friends since childhood. Now we are all friends and we get together with our children. It's wild.

Anyway, we went to Ireland. Well, not REALLY Ireland, but DUBLIN, a new hot Irish pub in Jerusalem. This bar is a prime example of Israel's investment in her future...........someone has put mega bucks into this place, and it's awesome! The website that I've linked to is for what I'm seeing is the same pub in Herzeliya, so now I'm DUBly impressed!!! Thank you, to whomever thinks enough of Israel to build such a place, it's truly awesome.

And it was PACKED last Friday night (yes, on shabbat, in Jerusalem!) And we had a great time, drank too much beer, and just enjoyed the songs the dj played, and the buzz of the people....all trying to get away from the news and the broadcasts. For one short (or not so short) night, we all went to Dublin!!! I'm sure we'll be back there again!

Wierd Weather....and an update

What's up with the weather??? It's a July morning, which ok, isn't going to be as hot in the mountains outside of Jerusalem as it is in Florida, but it feels like it's in the 60's!!! Cool breeze, sitting on the mirpeset (patio), with short sleeves and long pj pants, and I'm freezing!!! I know my blood is still thin from living in Florida for so many years, but this is ridiculous!!!

I'm wondering if this chill, and the clouds above have anything to do with the 'situation' in the north??? I don't know anything about that kind of stuff, but it makes me wonder. Anyone have any insight???

Anyway.........the UPDATE is solely about what we've been up to, nothing to do with what's going on the country. We are, as everyone else is, glued to the tv, but if you're looking for opinions as to what is happening and what we should/shouldn't do, then you've come to the wrong place, sorry.

So, what have we been up to the past week????

Well, we have..........
*received our teudat zehut (hubby even got his name changed in 4 days from the processing on the flight after trying with the consulate in fla. and being told it would take a year!)
*signed up for health insurance (for me and the boys, hubby needs to wait 10 months because he is a returning resident)
*shopped for and purchased aronot (closets---israeli apartments come with either square rooms or rooms with a cut out space to put the built-in closets that you purchase separately)
*shopped for and purchased appliances (israeli apartments also do not come with any appliances). We purchased a fridge, dishwasher, oven, microwave, toaster oven, blender (with a spout to really use it), oh, and a vacuum cleaner.
*spent an afternoon at IKEA---holy cow! That place is a city in itself. It was overwhelming, confusing, and just well, wow. Glad we didn't buy our closets there in the end, as we purchased 3 closets for just about $75 more than IKEA wanted for just one. I would say that IKEA is good for some people, but it felt so huge and generic to us.........so much of what we wanted to get away from by moving to Israel. I would recommend checking out the Talpiot area first if one is coming and needs to get it all. There are awesome furniture stores there, and then for the little stuff, there is ACE and the HOME CENTER.

Let's see, what else have we been doing................

We've been trying to be out and about every day; and the "laws" (hubby's parents, the in-laws) have been awesome about being with the kids day in and day out. We've done some visiting here and there. Last sunday in fact, we went to visit some of the laws closest friends who live in Yemin Moshe a beautiful neighborhood. Anyway, imagine my surprise when in walked this guy and his wife!!! Took me a while to realize how I knew him, but I figured it out. It's so wild what a small world we live in!!!
Anyway, shout out, it was nice meeting you both!

And that's that in a nutshell. I'm sure there's more, but it's FREEZING out here!!!!

Hope everyone is doing well out there in blogland............thank you all for all of your wonderful comments and good wishes for our success. I truly appreciate it, just have been too busy to get on here and reply to each comment. Know that I have read each of them and that I appreciate all of the warm fuzzies and smiles!!!

In the famous words of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.........TTFN.......

MAZAL TOV!!!

MAZAL TOV to Mia and Danny.........today is their wedding day!!! Wishing you only good things in your life together!!!

A few pictures...............

You ask, you shall receive.............here are a few pictures..........still need to upload more from our camera and from saba/safta's camera.


Picture 1: Hubby is towards the top, grey shirt/jeans helping Ilan in the red shirt; Aviv is on his left with black tshirt/sweats walking holding on. I am behind them with hat and black shirt.


Picture 2: This one and the next were on Jacob Richman's group of pictures. This is SABA hugging Ilan....a fabulous shot!

Picture 3: Saba with Ilan.........hubby is behind him again in the grey shirt.
There are more of course...........still need to find our SanDisk thing to upload the pics without draining the batteries in the camera. when I do, you'll be privvy!

HUGS to all, and thank you for all the good wishes, you guys are awesome!

WE'RE HERE!!!!!

Hi Everyone..................well, we made it!!! Not sure how many hours, a terminal transfer in the rain at JFK, an energetic 2 year old, a tired 5 year old, and only one pee pee accident later, and we made it! (and no, the pee pee accident wasn't mine!)

I just don't know where to begin, so I'll go for the chronological description....................waking up at 4:30 on Wed. morning we were ready..........hubby had put all of the suitcases into my brother's Expedition truck the night before, and all we needed to do was get up, dressed, and finish the food bag.

Aviv sang his little heart out from the moment we left Ft. Lauderdale airport, "I'm leaving on Jetblue and elal...." he was too cute. Ilan slept on the jetblue flight, and Aviv was glued to his personal tv. amazing how good they can be with the tv IN THEIR FACE!

We arrived in JFK without much to report, only it was POURING DOWN RAIN!!! Our bags came out quickly, and the porter got them all on the flatbed. He showed me where to get on the Airtrain with the boys while he and hubby proceeded to WALK to the terminal where ELAL would leave from.....in the rain!!!

The boys were thrilled to meet other kids at the elal terminal, and were telling them "we're moving to Israel!" Imagine their faces of shock when the other kids said, "US TOO!" I guess Aviv really didn't believe me all along!

The flight was wild...........just before it we met a family we will hopefully keep in touch with....she's israeli, he's american, 2 kids, secular like us. And I was looking everywhere for someone who might be Veev and Air It wasn't until we were on the plane and they were passing us going to their seats that Veev said hello! How exciting to meet someone after going through all of this together this year via our blogs! YAY! Glad to hear you guys finally made it out of the airport!!! Go check out their blog people...............

Anyway..........sitting around us was an interesting mix of people. The plane was divided into seats of 3 on each side and 3 in the middle. We had the 3 in the middle and one of the aisle seats next to it. I sat with the boys most of the time because of my little shadow, but it worked out. Hubby had two nice single people on his side, one a secular guy going to Ulpan Etzion (Hi Mike, don't know if you read blogs), and the other a gal from Montreal who is a former French teacher. They were both very nice and we enjoyed getting to know them. In front of us and behind us were families with 4 kids each, and my hubby was impressed with how the mom never stopped moving..........she was always doing something for someone! (guess it takes 4 kids for a hubby to recognize the perpetual motion that I live with day in and day out?)

But let me tell you..............the coolest part about the flight...............ya know how in a normal flight, when you get up to go to the bathroom, people maybe smile at you, but turn their heads away before you make any eye contact??? Well on THIS FLIGHT, it was waaaay different. Everyone tried to catch your eye, and wanted to talk if you had even a slight pause in your movement! I went to the bathroom one time and didn't come back for like 45 minutes! granted, I got stuck by the drink cart in the aisle, but it was just a good excuse.

So, holy shit, I'm Israeli!

And now it's the 'morning after' and wow, ow, etc. I ache from head to toe, and sleep, well, that wasn't exactly on the kids' agendas last night. They were up at midnight. Aviv first, and I layed with him on his bed, then Ilan woke up and I went to his bed. 3 hours of this later, and I called in the back-up. Luckily, my mother-in-law (MIL) had put a third mattress on the floor between the boys' beds as a safety precaution, and this am, hubby is sleeping there. It's 9:30, I think I'll wake them all at 10. Geez, these kids have never slept beyond 7:30 in their lives!!!

I'm sure there will be more to tell, but for now, this is the basic synopsis. The flight ceremonies and all were wild, it's amazing being a part of something so great..........a part of true history!!!

So now, my fellow readers, I'm off to wake up this house, open some treesim (the window shade things that you pull up from the inside of a window).

hugs to all, and wow, holy cow............I'm Israeli!!!