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!!!

MEN!

omg! I just had to share this one...........sitting here this morning drinking some OJ and having a treat of a bagel on the couch leisurely as the boys are starting to get themselves dressed for camp. It's a typical routine...they take off their pj's, run around nudie for a while, and eventually pick out underwear and clothes. The little one is still wearing pull-ups at night (more for my sanity than his wetness protection). Anyway, when he takes off the pj's, he takes off his own pull-up and throws it in the trash. Usually it's dry and he just puts it in the bathroom garbage. Today, it was dry again, but for some reason he came running through the living room and proceeded to throw it away in the kitchen.

At the same moment, I heard the big one going to the bathroom. I called out from my perch on the couch, "Good Job Aviv, I hear you peeing!" (positive praise encourages the action to occur again, but also encourages the younger one to copy the good behaviors). ANYWAY.......this is where I remind myself to be careful what I wish for..........

SUDDENLY.......I started to hear the sound of peeing in STEREO! It was as if it was closer than the bathroom, and it wasn't hitting water of a toilet, it was the sound of the little one PEEING ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR!!!!

huh???

I jumped up off of the couch and ran to the kitchen. Sure enough, there he was standing like a deer caught in the headlights peeing onto the kitchen floor! I grabbed the closest thing, which just happened to be a little garbage can that was waiting to be thrown out and I kept saying, "STOP, STOP, STOP!" but he couldn't stop! He just kept peeing, like a college kid at a keg party..........it was amazing! No wait, it wasn't amazing, it was gross! I was squatting there, holding a garbage bin for my kid to pee in, and there was a huge puddle of pee on the floor! wrong, wrong, it's just wrong!

So finally he finished peeing and I asked why he did that.

"b'cause my penish just wanted to."

MEN!!!

Empty house....

wow, what a feeling! The house is empty. Anything that is here is going to be packed or pitched or sold. The couches were bought by the lawnmower man....he's picking them up on the 30th; as is the guy who is buying the queen mattress, the tvs, and hopefully some other stuff like the vacum, toaster oven, iron, and answering machine. We're all sleeping on mattresses on the floor, and it's ok...my stress level is just a bit high. hubby's brother is here for a visit. it's a nice distraction for the kids, but i'm more about hanging out right now than getting into the rough play all the time, so it's good for them.

so wow, 2 more weeks. the whole thing with the movers yesterday was surreal. Watching them number and take all of our belongings into the truck was freaky. I think the hardest part was afterwards when my mom stopped by........too much for me. The roughest part of all of this is leaving her. But, she's already got her tickets to come visit us in September for a month.

anyway, just wanted to give an update...........hope all is well with everyone!

Want to greet the NBN plane??? !

Hi all................for my dear devoted readers (all 5 of you)...........Nefesh b'Nefesh has given us the link for people to sign up to meet the flights this summer. I will be arriving on Thursday morning, July 6. If you would like to come to the airport at 7:45 am that morning to be a part of history and to participate as a guest in welcoming the new olim, please email me ASAP at soozieen@bellsouth.net This email will only be good through June 29th, so please email me asap!!

Swimming in a sea of boxes......

Aviv (5) helped me write some numbers on boxes last night. Together we wrote 39 and 40. This morning he woke up, looked around the living room at the sea boxes and asked, "Emah, can you tell me........tell me where box number 1 is????"

I felt bad, but I laughed in his face and just stood there without an answer!

40 down, ran out of tape, 3 more waiting in the wings to be sealed and labeled. Still more stuff to box up though. Will it ever end? Were we stupid estimating less than a container???

CALGON, take me away!!!

Losing more than my mind...

I am not usually the one to lose things. In fact, my hubby is usually AMAZED at how I know the exact location of the most obscure things that have been put in the wildest places.

not anymore.

In the past few weeks I have lost our digital camera. Not just ugh, I forgot it after we went ............., but lost as in I can't even remember the last place I took a picture, or what I took. lost.

This morning I can't find a tote bag that I had some things in. Lost, as in all of the possible places I look come up empty. ugh. very frustrating.

figured if I put it "out there", that maybe the powers out there in blogland will help me find my stuff.

I had a former colleague that I taught with who had lost something once. She wasn't jewish, and found comfort in putting a statue of one of the saints in the FREEZER. I wonder if I could put shabbat candles in the freezer, maybe that would work?

any suggestions??? aargh.

The countdown continues...

4 weeks and 3 days...........holy cow!!! wow!!! and yes, we have been quite busy.

Hubby came home a week ago, and we have been going full throttle. We had a renter come and sign a lease. I deposited her thousand dollar check in the bank the next morning and when I returned home found an email asking me to wait till Friday to deposit. (RED FLAG) I told her I had already deposited it, and wished her good luck in getting it together so that it doesn't bounce. I didn't hear back from that email till Thursday when I got this email:

Susie, I have really horrible news. I went to my job

this morning and walked into a bad situation.

The place was being audited for fraud.

There were several government agents from HIPPA.

Apparently they were billing with incorrect

codes and with expired SS #'s. I was interrogated

and then sent home. I just may be out of a job.

They had the front door red flagged.

This is serious, this situation has put

me in a really bad position, emotionally,

mentally, personally and all of the above.
As of now I dont know if my office or the

company will remain operating. I will keep

you posted, but If I am out of a job there is

no way I can move into your home.

The situation is a total setback in my plans.

what? huh? ok, where are the candid cameras? I give up, you got me! hee hee, ha ha, very funny............but no. That check of course bounced on Friday, and we're back to pursuing more renters. AARGH!

On a good note, things are moving forward with the packing and buying. Since Hubby came home a week ago, here is a brief summary of what we have bought and done........

• a new queen pillowtop mattres/box
• new twin for one of the boys' bunks
• a new DVD camcorder b/c our old camcorder was trying to eat tapes
• a patio set still in box to take with us
• an outdoor storage bench to take
• a laptop
• an outdoor canopy type thing
• my pots/pans, new silverware, and some other misc. bed,bath,beyond stuff (with coupons of course)
• I'm up to box #22 in packing, oh, and bought more boxes.
• showed house again to potential renter, fell in love with her, and are keeping our fingers crossed...
• SOLD hubby's BIG pick-up truck that he originally had bought so that we could then buy a big camper. Then we went to Israel last summer and "saw the light..." hee hee
• cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned some more
• rented hubby a car to drive the next 4 weeks (funny seeing him go from a Toyota Tundra to a dodge Neon!) hee hee again!

And that's about it............whew! I'm tired just writing it all out. This coming week the boys start back in camp, I increase my tutoring to twice a week (which is NICE at $60 each time!); and the packing continues....

uh oh, I hear someone wandering the halls....and it's 5 am! not a good thing. Thanks for reading, I'll try a bit better to update more often!

hugs to you all.....................sus

Why NOT Aliyah, right now????

So, Westbankmama has started the ball rolling asking people to answer the question of WHY we have already or are now making ALIYAH. Here goes...

The night before I left for my 'year' in Israel, my parents made me promise that no matter what, "I'd come back to the US and finish college." It's as if they knew that once the bug hit me, that there very well could be no turning back. I listened carefully, and was really ok with my 'orders,' cuz really, it didn't feel like THE TIME to be there any longer than that year. That was 1988. I was 18.

I met my husband 2 years later at the University of Florida. We hit it off right away. In addition to the natural attraction that we felt for each other, we both felt so at home with the other's love for Israel. I have fond memories of talking for hours, sharing stories....but mostly listening to his descriptions of growing up in Israel, of his making aliyah when he was 9, and more.

We insisted that our wedding invitations be half in hebrew/ half in English, and we searched out someone who would do it for us. It was not a common thing for people in our area. We went to a local Israeli restaraunt to ask if anyone knew a good Israeli band, and didn't care about the American traditions of receiving lines, following caterers orders on my day, etc.

We named our kids Aviv and Ilan; and when you walk into our home, you know....you feel it. Israelis have told us that our home reminds them of being in Israel, the warmth, it's just there. It's just who we are, and who we have always felt comfortable being.

Over the years, we've made a few trips to Israel---some each on our own (like when hubby went for his sister's wedding, or when I went on a Hadassah trip). As for our trips together in Israel.....it was the last 2 weeks of our 6 week honeymoon (Greece, Israel, Munich to see a friend, and of course, Amsterdam); we went to Israel when i was 6 months pregnant with Aviv, and again when I was 5 months pregnant with Ilan, with Aviv. Last summer, we spent a month there......it was then that we KNEW the time was right. In each of the preceeding times, when we talked about it, the panic came, the tears came, and I couldn't really talk about it.

But last summer, we talked about maybe giving it a try, going for a year to see. Then we started to do the research. In the Fall, we realized that if we wanted to do it, and do it right, that we needed to go full force. The kicker? The changing moment?

Hubby and went out to lunch one weekend afternoon while some family members were staying with the kids. Sitting down and talking about it, hubby leaned over and asked,

"WHY NOT ALIYAH RIGHT NOW?"

I sat there for a second, and when the tears didn't come, and a smile filled my face, and I had that WOW feeling in my stomach and in my heart...........I knew............ I had no answer for him, there was NO reason why we should NOT make aliyah right now, and so many reasons why we SHOULD.

We've had many discussions about it of course since that afternoon, but it has always felt like this is just the right thing for us to do. This past week has reinforced our feelings, and as things start to 'fall into place,' I am in awe. I am calling old friends to say good-bye, and am telling people that I do not even know, of our plans. It's all very exciting. And weird things are happening............hubby's job, which is as I mentioned, above and beyond our expectations; an apt. that he thinks he's found; renters for our house that I think I've found; the perfect Gan Chova for Aviv that he thinks he's found; and just the incredible feelings we are having.............that feeling when you know you're doing what you have been PUT ON THIS EARTH TO DO.

.....and that's why we are making aliyah, we're just supposed to do it, it feels right, it's part of our plan, but not the plan we've written, more like the plan we've REALIZED.

Westbankmama....THANKS FOR SPARKING THIS!

woooo-hooooooo

this is how I feel right now...................so YES, YES, YES!!! He got the job............it is truly a dream come true, beyond our wildest dreams!!!!

More random senseless Babbling........

The suspense is killing me...........Hubby had a presentation to give today at the place where I can't tell you that he sort of had a job offer. We say sort of cuz we are not counting chickens till we get a contract on those chickens signed, sealed, and delivered (go ahead, sing....SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED!....not that I know who sings that, it is in my head now though too)

NEway, he and my FIL (father-in-law....did I need to spell that out?) were going after the presentation/group interview down to Beer Sheva for an Educational Technology conference of sorts that FIL got info on. (FIL before retirement was a big-wig in Misrad HaChinuch). Soooooo....with the paranoia on calling the US with the cellphone, nobody is calling me and the suspense is killing me!!!

UPDATE: Just got off of the phone with SIL; FIL called her to tell her about something else, and told her that Hubby called FIL at the time he was supposed to meet him to go down to Beer Sheva to tell him that he was not going to be able to make it because he was still meeting with them!!! AARGH!!! that's good, right? Just soooooooo nerve-wracking! HOLY $hit! ok, deep breaths...............remember the lamaze, right? ugh.

I woke up this am, calculated what time it was there and tried to send positive vibes......it's my own version of the power of prayer. So here I am. Just had my coffee, the boys are playing nicely (which as any of you with children 5 and under KNOW....it's a good thing, a rarity when they don't always NEED me, and just wonderful to hear them making up dinosaur stories in the other room).

So my mind is wandering around today. ...... bear with me......

OH, got CROCS for the boys last night. One of Aviv's friends has a pair, so he's been dying for them; started especially when I bought mine. I'm thinking I may need to get myself a different pair and give Hubby mine. I think I bought mine a bit too big.

I'm going to a Hadassah luncheon today. yippee. It's one with the entire region......average age of the local Hadassah woman is definitely mid-70's. should be fun. ugh.

So, did I tell you that my baby is now wearing ONLY big boy underwear during the day!?!?! He still wears pull-ups at night, but that's fine by me....hoping to also put them on him for the flight. But wow, my baby.......

Had a couple of people come by and look at the house yesterday. Keeping fingers crossed that something pans out. We are trying to rent it, hoping to hold on to the one investment in this lifetime that we have. It's such a hard thing though, having people come through, they say how lovely your home is, they love it, wow, it would be perfect for them, then you never hear from them again. ugh. The two yesterday were very interested. We'll see. One is perfect credit guy; moving his family down from up north, researched schools, knows he wants this area, wife wants to buy though, so we'll see. The other is working girl, her sister, and sister's son.....they're in a 2 bedroom now, and want something bigger. They had no idea that the middle school for this area is top notch, and were thrilled with the space. My thoughts truly are that even though perfect credit guy has perfect credit and will not be a liability at all, he may be a pain in the ass......and the working girl et al. will be so grateful to be living in such a nice place.

??? stay tuned for what happens, both of them may never even call again!

So, are you still with me? Still listening to my ranting and raving? There's more..........

Did I tell you about the paving of our street last week? Every 3 years, this little development of not even 100 houses does a seal-coating on the asphalt. We've lived here just under 3 years, so I think the last time must have been done just before we moved in. Anyway, they blocked off my cul-de-sac and the entrance to our street for like 3 blocks, and made us park an additional 3 blocks away from that in the community playground/park area last Sun night through Tues afternoon so that they could do the sealcoating. IT RAINED, poured, stormed, AFTER they got the stuff down, and now..................yup, you guessed it................they need to do it AGAIN. Now mind you, I like a good walk now and again, but I do not like having to shlepp everything I need for the day, the boys included, only to have to do it again later in the rain (which hopefully we won't get caught this time). And I'm just venting cuz it's annoying that they're doing this. ok, vent over, keep your fingers crossed that the weather stays nice, and that the thermometer doesn't get too much higher than the mid 80's we've had, not that that's cool in any way, ugh.

ok, so I'm done for now, thanks for listening, thanks for reading, and by all means, thanks in advance for commenting......don't we all blog for that anyway? the comments. :) Hope you are all having a great day! I'll keep you posted on Hubby, who by the way, comes home on Friday! yay, we miss him...............

ok, later.......

Got a call from Hubby this morning...............HE GOT A JOB OFFER!!! I can't tell you too much more right now (see bec, other people can have secrets too!) But when I can, I will! :)

Anyway, the coolest sign that this is the BEST JOB for him..........the people were all wearing jeans and CROCS!!!
If that's not a sign from above, I don't know what is!

Have a great Lag B'omer....we're off to the preschool for games (supposed to be outdoor, but big storms here), and such.

later............

...These are a few of my favorite things....

Just thought I'd share....it's Mother's Day and I wanted to share a list of the things that make me smile.

• Of course the first one has to be my boys....all 3 of them (hubby included). Hubby is on the way to Israel, and the boys and I already miss him! And as for my little boys, they're just the greatest thing since sliced bread! :) hee hee
• CROCS....do you know em? do you have em? You will LOVE em! I got a pair of navy blue ones last week and I LOVE THEM!!! Even more than I loved my simple black flip-flops. But make sure you get the real ones, pay the full $30, the fake ones are hard plastic.
• my foam pillow....we actually have 2 now, b/c when visiting with friends, I once left it there, and had to have a new one cuz I was getting pains in my neck. So we have 2. sometimes I share, but I'm a pillow queen, so it's not always. Although I miss hubby, I'm loving having the bed to myself with all my pillows!
• doing something nice for people and having them really appreciate it. I wrote a condolence note a year or two ago to an acquaintance when her father passed. I wrote how I knew what she was going through, etc. She just recently sent an email wishing me luck with our aliyah, and thanked me again for the note. She really appreciated it. I had gotten one of those kind of notes from an acquaintance when MY dad died, so it felt good to be able to PASS IT ON...
• waking up to a clean house.....even though the woman who was supposed to come over to see the place yesterday stood me up! I'm grateful that she got me to do a good cleaning again, even if she was so rude as to not show and not call. (note to self, get the phone numbers of people who are coming to see the place so I have some control)
• Clorox Bleach Pen....do you use this? I love it!
• ooooh, and Shower cap thingies to cover bowls and plates of food. Saran used to make these, but I don't see those any more--too many people just used them over and over rather than the one time use like they had hoped. I get an off brand of them from Albertson's here. (note to self again: buy a bunch of shower cap thingies before making aliyah)
• oh, and of course, can't forget chocolate! mmmm...

• HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A NICE MOTHER'S DAY! (one that includes smiles, hugs, kisses, and of course, chocolate!)

EGYPT

So, as far as EGYPT is concerned, I've only ever been to Dahab, the little resort type town in southern EGYPT where we stayed at a cool hotel, had milkshakes in the waterside resturants, and laid by the beach for a couple of days. This is my experience with EGYPT. When I was on Year Course, many of my friends were taking trips to EGYPT, riding camels near the pyramids in EGYPT that our fellow jews built in EGYPT, but I never got there. I had plans to, but the girl that I was planning to travel with to EGYPT bailed on me. {so do you think that's enough?}

...just thought I'd share this little tidbit with you. At least now I feel I've done my part. I'm not a big public activist, but I hate when things are done to people, whether here in the US, in Israel, or in EGYPT, without reason. Sad. Read more about it at On the Face and more....

g'nite!

CONFIRMATION.....

Whooo-hoooo............we received confirmation today that we will be on the JULY 5th NBN Aliyah Flight!!!

Wow, it is such a wild feeling to have the definite date....

holy shit, we're really doing this!

hee hee I'm actually VERY ok with all of this. In fact, so ok that last month when hubby was feeling rocky and so set with work and starting to question our aliyah success, I was in a sheer panic, state of shock and fear. I was so afraid that he would change his mind.

I know now that going back on this was never truly a possibility, and all along, hubby was just stressed. He leaves on Sat. night for Israel, for his "pilot trip." He's not going with any sort of group, no need to since he grew up there. He's essentially going to scope things out job wise, Gan wise, home wise, etc. Bottom line, the main objective in my mind is for him to "get the bug" again.

You know the bug, that feeling that gets under your skin when you go to Israel. That feeling of wondering..... "what if..." I love that we are moving forward, taking steps to make that what if a reality. It's truly a dream come true.

Which brings me to tell you that "COMING SOON...." will be my entry for westbankblog's NON-meme call for Aliyah Stories...... very exciting... I like participating in things like this.

For now though, time to go clean peanut butter off of one set of hands and macaroni and cheese off of the other set. Then the hand-off and I'm off to my tutoring job.

later..........