Some R2BC And The Crisis To Come

First day of 7th Grade. This is all I got.

I only blogged once in August because there was little to say. We watched Netflix and You Tube, we had dinner a couple of times with friends, DD went to one Bat Mitzva party (a picnic in the Botanical Gardens), she had a friend over a couple of times, and we got fat. That was our summer. Reason 2B Cheerful - we didn't get corona. 

Today is my birthday. I'm nearer 50 than 40 (and always will be). So that's one Reason 2B Cheerful. And another is that we're invited out to dinner tonight. 

DD is back at school for four days a week for half days. This week she was in the second shift - 10.50 am till 2.20 pm. Next week she'll be in the 8 am till 10.20 group. The second shift isn't so good. They have more school hours but there's a lot of hanging around in the morning waiting to leave. It's only a 12 minute walk to her school. 

Only on Fridays it's different because the school closes at 12.30 pm for the weekend. I thought she had a 10.20 start this morning so I didn't hassle her about the time. Suddenly she flies into a panic at 9.40 because that was when her first lesson started. I had no idea. She ran out of the house crying to run up the hill (it's a mountain) in 35 deg C heat. She'll be ok but I felt for her. It's not nice to have to walk in late in the first week of a new school. 

On Sunday and Monday she has distance learning from home for the full 6 hours. It's a R2BC that DD has some sort of schedule again, even if it requires keeping on the ball to know where she should be and when. 

Israel has gone from being among the best coping countries during the first wave, to being the worst as of this week. We are now the top country for the number of new cases in relation to population. R2BC - I did an online supermarket shop and we have enough food in the apartment to see us through the threatened lockdown in the coming weeks. 

Did I mention that my salary a my college has been reduced by 60% for the same amount of work? I'm prepared to take one for the team during this crisis but the great terms of employment we had BC (Before Corona) will never be reinstated AD (After Disaster). What we have now is what most colleges do and have done for years. I enjoyed extremely generous terms for 10 years and now it's over forever. R2BC - thanks for the great first 10 years. 

I'm not panicking about the salary situation because there are about 3 million people in this country who are worse off than me. People in service industries, tourism and all 'non-essentials' related jobs. All these people have either lost their jobs or are on greatly reduced income. People who rent and have a number of children to feed. People in the early years of a large mortgage. Older people who might never find work again. This is not a R2BC but the government will not allow half the country to be homeless and starving so solutions will be found. This is a Reason 2B Hopeful.

I read that the real economic crisis won't hit until next spring when we'll have the beginnings of people using up all their savings and redundancy money, and unemployment payments stop (you only get a year of dole money here). 

My nephew tried to explain to me that he heard from an economist (his brother) that because it's a world wide phenomenon, governments will be allowed to print more money without devaluing their currencies as long as all countries print the same amount of money. This money can be used for stimulus projects and income support. So R2BC - we will cope and we will survive. 

The sad thing is that these drastic stimulus measures will only be implemented when most people have used up all their savings. They will survive but all dreams of a better future (buying a better property or even just getting on the property ladder, opening a business, a comfortable retirement, etc...) will have been dashed and we will have to start from scratch. Or maybe a more modest world will be good for all of us. R2BC? I'm not sure. 

So amongst the doom, about eight or nine Reasons 2B cheerful or at least grateful and hopeful. And this is why I've not blogged for the past few weeks.

A last R2BC is that the R2BC linky is back on Becky's blog - Lakes Single Mum. Check her out for beautiful photos of Kendal and The Lakes. 

Tomatoes But No Abundance - R2BC

A few weeks ago I cut up a tomato and planted it in soil.
Now I have three tomatoes growing. 

This week was productive. Who was it who said, "when you look back on days you were proud, they won't be days when you did nothing."? 

The Linky is with Becky on Lakes Single Mum and here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful this week. 

1
The End
I wrapped up three college courses and submitted the final grades to two of them. (The 3rd course has a retake exam at the end of August for those who need it (failed or absent).

2
Cleanliness is next to Godliness
Wrapping up those courses freed my mind to start cleaning my apartment which has been neglected for a few weeks. It feels good to restore some order and DD appreciates it too.

1
Abundance - Ha!
I walked away from Deepak Chopra's Abundance course. I still believe in the power of the mind but on the third session the task was to start your own course and invite your own friends to join it. In other words it was a scam to get more hits on DC's You Tube channel - where the sessions are located.

My friend who invited me was only doing it as part of her course. I thought she'd chosen me among her friends as a spiritually open person and I believed she had a calling to guide such a course among her friends. I'm cheerful because I had the sense to just walk away when my instincts told me to. It was abundance for Deepak Chopra that's who. My abundance will come and meanwhile, it freed up some much needed time in the mornings. Actually, I'm over-abunded with work atm.

4
Refund
I got a refund from DD's school in lieu of the class trips and other activities that didn't happen last semester. At least that.

5
Bureaucracy
Lots of bank and bureaucracy to deal with this week. Yes it's a hassle but I'll feel great when it's done.

6
Summer Course
My summer course starts in one week. I'm actually looking forward to setting it up on the website. It's something new this summer. I'm using more of the website's wigdets and gadgets for quizzes and forums, rather than just asking students to submit work.

7
Stairway to Heaven
The building committee in my block has sprung to life over the past couple of months. Suddenly things are getting fixed. This week our stairwell is being painted. I've set up a Paybox account to collect money from all the apartments. (Did I mention that I was coerced onto the building committee?). Let's see how much of a hassle this becomes. So far I'm only one who has paid up.

That's it for now. Have a good week.

R2BC In Isolation

The pink flowers are radishes and the yellow flowers are lettuce.
Grown from Kibbutz Alumim vegetables received at the beginning of April
Birds have eaten most of the lettuce leaves...
...I didn't have the heart to scare them away. 

There are, surprisingly, a lot of Reasons 2B Cheerful whilst stuck in quarantine, so here are some of them. Then if you fancy you can visit the linky on Becky's Lakes Single Mum for more R2BC posts.

1.10 days after DD's exposure to a covid positive pupil at school we are both still asymptomatic.

2. DD hasn't actually missed any school because although only 6 pupils from her class (but 83 pupils and 13 staff in the whole school) are in enforced quarantine, the Parents Association shut down the whole school. Well, it's open but only about four kids show up each day. I love it that when the government didn't close the schools because of the economy, the parents took matters into their own hands and closed the school for the health and safety of our children and families.

3. There's no online learning going on but DD's teacher has been holding a daily Zoom-in with the whole class, just to keep in touch and make sure everyone is doing ok. This is so important in case someone is struggling but also because not all kids have friends that they can call and chat with if it's not organised for them.

4. As soon as I let it be known that we're in isolation, loads of people sent messages asking if we needed anything. Three of my neighbours messaged me again today to say they are going shopping and please send a list if we need anything for the weekend. I know people are kind, but it's heartwarming to be on the receiving end once in a while - even though we didn't need anything. And lovely to be reminded of what lovely friends and neighbours we have.

5. I registered DD's quarantine on the Ministry of Health website on Sunday night and first thing Monday morning our healthcare provider called to give me instructions about isolation and testing. I was impressed by that.

6. I've not been able to do an online shop with my supermarket of choice for almost a year. When my credit card was renewed last year, the number was the same but the expiry date was obviously different. The online website couldn't deal with this wildly bizarre event. I called customer service a couple of times but kept being told that it was a problem with my credit card and I should call my bank. Bollocks to that because they accepted my card every week in the store. In the end I gave up trying to shop online.

This week I didn't have a choice. So I did the shop, my card was rejected because they already have the same number registered to another card (mine), and I called customer service. This time I had the inspired idea to go directly to technical support. I explained the problem, I suggested that all my card information needs to be deleted so that I can start again, and I emphasised that we are in quarantine so we need this shop or we will starve to death.

It took less than two minutes for the woman to make it all go away. She put the order through for me, gave me the order reference number, and sent confirmation to my email. Sorted. And the delivery came on time the next day. It was so easy I'm going back to online shopping big time. I think this R2BC ties for top reason with neither of us having coronavirus symptoms.

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy weekend. xxx

So-So Sushi - R2BC

Here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful for this week. The linky link-up is with Becky on Lakes Single Mum. 

1
We made sushi
DD loves the sushi from the very expensive sushi place near us. It's the equivalent of £10 for six little sushi rolls. So we decided to make it ourselves.

I bought the rolling mat, the nori sheets, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. We have rice and we have cucumbers. I'm nervous about using raw fish from the supermarket frozen section so I didn't defrost the salmon we have in the freezer. Nor did a buy very expensive fresh salmon or tuna for this experiment. Instead I bought the mock-crab sticks that one of the sushi-making videos on You Tube used.

I cooked the rice. DD was offended by the smell of the rice vinegar that you're supposed to add to it. Honestly, I only added a bit. She refused to even taste the mock-crab let alone put it in her sushi. I made mine first with the mock-crab. I took a nice photo and ate it. It was ok.

Then DD made hers with just cucumber and rice inside. First she rejected the soy sauce. Then she rejected her sushi rolls. She ate the leftover cucumber, took a packet of crisps, and that was lunch.

I ate my sushi, DD's sushi except for one roll, some of the leftover rice, and a couple more mock-crab sticks. Then I threw away all the leftovers including the rest of the mock-crab sticks which have the texture of the cheapest vegetarian hot-dogs with a slight fishy taste. Ugh.

You might wonder why I'm so cheerful about all this? Well, we tried making shushi and we can do it. It's easy. I now have the equipment and most of the ingredients. I'll try making it again with more vegetables inside including avocado when they're back in season. Or not.

DD has crossed this expensive (when bought ready made) item off her limited menu of acceptable meals. I think I've gone off it a bit too.

2
Meals with friends
It was the festival of Shavuot (Weeks, Pentecost, The Giving of the Torah) on Thursday night and Friday. Thursday night was dinner with friends. It was a small gathering as a nod to the restricted socializing guidelines. This was the first time I'd been anywhere besides the mini supermarket around the corner for 2.5 months. I am now so unfit that after walking home and up the three flights of stairs to my apartment I was totally puffed. This was probably also due to the amount of delicious food consumed and alcohol for the first time since March.

Yesterday we went to another friend for lunch. More good company and more delicious food.

After today's sushi, that's it. I'm not eating until Rosh Hashana (New Year) in September.

3
Catan
We love the game Catan. My nephews in London play it every Friday night after dinner with the whole family including Grandma. I wanted to get it for us here in Israel. I hesitated because to bring the English version back with us might limit the enjoyment for DD's Israeli friends. Even though the reading is minimal - just the knight cards and the development cards and you can get away with not even using them. Otoh, I'm not comfortable with the Hebrew version. Unless we don't bother with the knights or the development cards, but that limits the depth of the game.

Yesterday after lunch we played Catan at our friends' house. It was the Hebrew version and I was delighted to see that it has both English and Hebrew on all the cards and instructions. We are so getting Catan.

VE Day (Victory and Vegetables) - R2BC

Potatoes, tomatoes, oranges and lemons! Thanks Esther!

The biggest Reason 2B Cheerful today is that it's VE Day - Victory in Europe. If VE had not been won our lives would have been very different. And as a Jew, I might not have even been born. I'm sorry that all the street parties and public celebrations in the UK were canceled, although rightly so. No nation does street parties like the British!

A few weeks ago I ordered a vegetable box delivery  from Kibbutz Alumim, where my friends live. It was fabulous and very reasonably priced. Since then they've been continuing the box deliveries but as a family of two, we really didn't need a whole box of vegetables every week. Yesterday there was a knock on the door and my friend Esther, who lives on the kibbutz, was standing there, in a mask,  with a box of fruit and veg.

They are discontinuing the service now that the schools are going back (the surplus was from the dormant school lunch contracts) but they had some produce left over in Jerusalem. Esther took a box, divided it up between some of her Jerusalem friends, and made personal deliveries. Thanks Esther! (Note to self: Don't think you can not clean the bathroom because no one is coming to visit.)

In other news. I really enjoyed the enormous storm we had on Wednesday. Sheets of rain, thunder and lightning and heavy winds into the night. It might have been the last big storm of the year and was certainly very unusual for May. But what is usual these days? (Update: I just looked at the weather app and scattered thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow. Here's hoping.)

Another of my daily app checks is the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). It's only 11 cm below the upper red line. So exciting when you live in a desert.

Last but not least. Having put on loads of weight during the first six weeks of lockdown, I finally brought myself under control and went back to Intermittent Fasting. So fast so good.

Have a good week yourself and check out the linky on Becky's Lakes Single Mum for more cheerful blog posts.

Israel Indepencence Day - R2BC

Here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful for this week. I missed last week as I had so many students' papers to grade. So even though very little has changed since two weeks ago, I don't want to miss another week. The Linky is with Becky on Lakes Single Mum (and I promise to go back and read all the posts from last week too.)

1
Independence Day
We're 72 years old! We celebrated on our balconies instead of in the national parks and on the beaches. The road outside my building has become the local synagogue as it was our neighbours who started the regular prayers.

On the eve of Independence Day a couple of guys came out with a harmonica, a guitar, and a microphone. We sang all the prayers together, then we sang some Israeli favourites, and we finished with Hatikva, the national anthem. It was much nicer than when we all troop up to the promenade for a rock concert and outrageously priced food and souvenirs.

We did miss the fireworks though.

2
Distance Learning
DD is really into her distance learning from school now that her friend's mum is there to help her. She's much more relaxed and she doesn't worry if she misses an assignment or two because she's getting most of it done. It's actually fantastic because she's occupied for the whole morning.

There's a lot of Zoom and video calling going on. Every so often she calls out from her bedroom: "Mummy! Don't come in, I'm in a meeting!"

3
The Wonders of Boredom
It took a whole month of nothing to do and nowhere to go but slowly slowly, DD has been tidying out her bedroom. Drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf. Every few days a couple of bags of clutter appear by the front door ready to be taken down to the bins.

And she's developed a love of the Windolene squirty bottle. So far the balcony doors, the kitchen window, her bedroom window and the mirrors in the bathroom have been cleaned.

I'm being as encouraging as I can whilst trying not to seem too happy about it or I know it will stop as suddenly as it started.

Have a good week y'all. Take care, stay safe and keep well.

R2BC - Back With A Linky

Planter meadows on my blacony

Reasons 2B Cheerful is back with a linky so we are a community small group again. Hooray! Here is the R2BC Linky  on Becky's Lakes Single Mum, and here are my reasons for this week of lockdown. 

1 
Meadow Garden
After so much rain this winter and even into the spring, my planters on the balcony are looking like tiny meadows. I should do some gardening and plant some vegetables, herbs, etc... but in the Middle East, any greenery is welcome so I don't want to dig up my tiny meadows.

2
A Long View
I live on the side of a mountain, facing down into the valley. Opposite my building is a school two storeys lower than my apartment and further down the slope. This gives us a long vista over Jerusalem and the mountains beyond. However beautiful your garden might be, I think it's much easier to be in lockdown if you have a long view from your window. You don't feel so shut in.

3
The Kinneret
As of today the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is only 44 cm from the upper red line. I.e. almost totally full to capacity. They will almost certainly have to open the Degania Dam and let water flow down the Jordan to the Dead Sea. This is hugely exciting in a region used to droughts. It hasn's happened in 28 years, since April 1992.

4
Being Home
I actually like being at home. I love my home. I like not having to jump to the alarm clock in the morning and being able to guiltlessly stay up as late I want. I like pottering about, cooking, organising, watching tv, reading.... I could be happy with this for another couple of weeks.

5
Sleep
We, and that's a global we, are no longer sleep deprived.

6
Community
Lots of helping initiatives have sprung up and are being shared on facebook. From shopping for those in enforced isolation to listening ears and emergency information and advice.

7
Videos Of Love
Our school music teacher, Na'ama Berlowitz, has been putting together short presentations and videos that are sent to all the children in our school via the class whatsApp groups. The latest is the school choir singing Yoter (More) with pictures sent in by the staff of them illustrating each line.

The song tells us that we have everything we need already, just ask for more of the good things: more love, more hope, more peace, more trust, more respect, more thought, more understanding, more faith, more God, more happiness, more soul, more prayer, more purpose, more life, and more togetherness. (Not necessarily in that order.)



8
Seder Night
The link above gives a brief explanation of seder night as well as the story of the last time it turned out very different than planned for us.

We went from planning to go to London to be with our family for Pesach (Passover) and specifically the first night for the seder, to arranging to go to friends in Jerusalem, to realizing that it would be just us two on our own, to hearing that one of the chief rabbis in Israel has allowed families to do the seder with Zoom. Ordinarily we'd not use any electrical devices as it's a holy day like Shabbat. So maybe we won't be so alone after all.

When the youngest present sings the refrain, "why is this night different from all other nights?" the full answer won't be written in the order of service this year.

9
Humour
Lots of hilarious jokes and memes. Not to make light of a very serious and for some, tragic, situation, but you need to laugh to save your sanity. My favourite from today was: Starbucks is closed so I made myself coffee, called my name out incorrectly, set fire to a $5 note, and then walked around the house looking for a place to sit.

From yesterday: I got so drunk last night I don't even know how I got home from the kitchen.

10
Clean Air
All this has been a plus for clean air and global warming. Pollution is down, greenhouse gases are down, less fossil fuel being used up, fewer trees being cut down, less building. Some have suggested that it's Mother Earth fighting back. Who knows? Whatever you believe. However, there's no denying that the natural world is benefiting from this pandemic.

Feel free to add your R2BC in the comments.
I wish you health and sanity, xxx

Reasons 2B Cheerful And Grateful

Some Chihuli for serenity

After yesterdays's meltdown post it's time for a Reasons 2B Cheerful and Grateful, Here are some of my reasons in no particular order:

1. The internet makes us feel connected. During the 1991 Gulf War we could only talk to one person at a time by landline, if they were home. News was passed one person at a time and from the hourly news on the radio. Back then we felt informed but thinking about it now, it was a joke.

2. I have one child who is old enough to entertain herself. We are two people in a not big but certainly spacious enough apartment with a balcony big enough to sit out on. And even though DD spilled water on her laptop a few weeks ago, so we are one computer down, we still have two more laptops, two phones, and a smart tv with Netflix. Oh yes, and books to last the duration.

3. My next door neighbour who is in quarantine got her corona test results back this week and she tested negative. Also, of the 60 boys (two classes) from my school who are in quarantine until tomorrow evening after a visiting teacher came down with corona, none of them have tested positive so far.

4. Home school starts at 09.00 which is far more civilized than the normal 08.00, especially as we don't have to allow time to get there looking presentable. Call me British, but I'm British and we're programmed to start at 9.

5. After screaming and shouting at me yesterday, and reducing me to tears, DD came to give me a big hug and apologize. Hearing her say, "I'm sorry Mummy," made me grateful that she knows how to say sorry. It's so important to be able to say sorry when you messed up or lost it.

6. The message is going around and sinking in that three assignments per day per child is overwhelming for many families with lots of children, parents working from home, and limited tech devices.

7. DD's teacher asked them all to write on the class whatsapp what they learned today. The first child wrote that it's possible to learn at home and it's actually fun. Then 28 students all said the same thing. So DD wrote that too. Me: "What? After all the hysterics today?"
DD: "Mummy, you don't understand, you have to be more laid back."
ME: "You mean you have to lie?"
DD: "Sort of, but it's called laid back."

8. I won the internet today but I cheated. I saw a meme on Whatsapp in Hebrew (thank you Yana) and I translated into English for the English corona in Israel facebook group..... The truth is that it's not so boring to be stuck at home. However, it is interesting that one sack of rice contains 7,885 grains of rice and another sack - 8,143. Nearing 200 haha emojis as I write.

9. Lots of blogging fodder and the time to blog. If I don't get back into the TOTS100 top 500 by next month I'll be extremely miffed.

10. We, and all our family are still healthy.

I wish you good health and sanity for the duration. xxx

Beautiful Numbers - R2BC

02022020

Here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful for this week. The linky seems to have died but then again, linkies were so last decade. 

1
Palindrome Day
The following announcement is for your enjoyment and because I don't want you to miss it.

Today, 02/02/2020, the date is a perfect palindrome using the full eight digits. The last time this happened was in 11/11/1111 over 909 years ago! How cool is that? Very.

From now on there will be a full palindrome in February for anyone outside of the USA, for the next 2 years: 12/02/2021 and 22/02/2022. After that we'll have to wait until 2030 for 03/02/2030 and every 10 ten years for 04/02/2040, etc... until 09/02/2090.

Americans will have to work out their own and actually, they've already had a few this century that don't apply to the rest of the world.

The special thing about today is that it's Full Palindrome Day for everyone, whichever system of Gregorian calendar dates you use. This will not happen for another 100 years on 12/12/2121.

(Thank you to Alina Theodor for correcting me and to Jill Yonassi for pointing out that there are quite a few more full palindrome dates in our lifetimes to look forward to, for non-Americans at least.)

2
Income Tax
Every January you have to fill in an income tax form for your employer. I work for three employers so I have to do it three times. It's not a big deal but ironically, it was less of a deal when you just got the paper and could fill it in. Now you have to have a password, find the form online, download it because you can't fill in a pdf file, and when you've filled it in it's not accepted because your particular circumstances aren't recognised by the computer, and finally you have to sign it. I don't know how to sign on the computer. So I end up printing it out and faxing copies to the various offices instead.

Because I work in three places I also have to get a Tax Coordination form for each employer. Until now I've always taken the bus ride to the tax office and got the forms in my hand there and then. Until recently online applications would still need to be processed and the Tax coordination Forms sent to you by snail mail, taking up to two weeks of anxiety about whether you're actually going to get them.

This year my neighbour told me that it's now an instant an online calculator, You fill in the form (just one form), click on submit and you instantly get all the forms you meed for each employer. And what's really amazing is that you can just email them on. Whilst this news was exhilarating and liberating, it was also giving me butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Remember that I have to do all this in not my native language, a language with a different alphabet and it doesn't even use vowels! For example, stp could be step, stoop, stop, setup situp, shutup, stiff, stuff, staff, setoff, shutoff, shotup, etc... (because s and sh are the same letter and so are p and f). While I was dithering I received all three Tax Coordination forms from the tax office with the notice that if nothing has changed since last year, they will continue with the same agreement.

So that's all the January tax forms done and dusted.

3
End of semester
It's the end of the first semester. I finished writing all my reports and sent them in on time. I wrote my semester summaries for each class. I wrote the mid-year exams for my students and they're ready to give out on Tuesday. I'm up to date with all my grading. We now have four weeks of no teaching at college for mid-semester exam period and break. (I get five weeks because the festival of Purim falls on my college day.) I still have meetings on College days but no teaching. Although I will still be teaching at school.

4
The Tweenager
I wrote a sentence about DD's report. No details, just a general comment. But then I deleted it because.... ya know, she's entitled to her privacy. Like most things, there's no set age by which things have to change. Everyone is different and you know when it's time to make changes. It's a feeling not a number.

DD 11 - R2BC

We kept a copy for ourselves without the sunglasses.

If you understand the title of this blog then you've been here before. Anyway DD turned 11 last week. Scarily grown up but also still a little girl in many ways. And nothing of the baby years left.

We're usually in London for Hanuka which is on or around the time of DD's birthday, so I (or Grandma) take her to a show or a pantomime, Grandma has a birthday cake and a birthday tea with the family, and there are lots of presents. The birthday is sort of swallowed up among all the seasonal festivities.

This year we went to London in September for my brother's wedding so we're not going for Hanuka. And anyway, Hanuka is late this year, falling over Christmas week. DD felt she needed to give me instructions about how to do her birthday. "I don't need a cake," she informed me, "but you need to get me a present."
"Fine, got it, thanks."

Of course I was going to get her a present anyway. She needed a new backpack just the right size for school outings. Her regular school bag is too big and the front bit that unzips to form a small backpack for outings, is too small. (What a waste of money that idea was.) Off I went into town like Goldilocks, looking for a backpack that was just right.

Not being much of a present, I set about buying other gifts to fill it with. I bought a new watch; an alarm clock (because I want the phones out of the bedrooms at night - I got a smaller alarm clock for myself as well); a small over the shoulder bag for when she goes out and just needs her keys, phone, and some money; two books in Hebrew because she needs to start reading more in Hebrew; a back scrubber for the shower; a big bottle of moisturiser for her bedroom and a smaller tube of moisturiser for her bag; a hair accessory; and some orange Tic-tacs to take the number of gifts to 11.

Reader, she was pleased. But not so pleased to move the gifts into her bedroom and they are all still sitting on the coffee table in the living room. *sighs*

I wanted her to celebrate but she wouldn't commit to what the celebration would be. I suggested either we do like last year - lunch and a [Netflix] movie at our place after school on early Friday, or I take a few friends out for lunch and fancy doughnuts - like we did the year before, and the year before that. In the end it was DD who thought of bowling.

So after school on Friday we took four friends for bowling and pizza (and chips actually, because they were there and why not?). It was exceptionally successful. The score pads of old are long gone so all you you have to do is toss the bowling ball and the machines to the rest. I just watched as they got on with it and had lots of fun. I was also useful for ordering the pizza and chips of course, and paying for it all, obviously.

One of the girls had to leave early so I took over from her in the second game. I didn't embarrass myself. However, whereas we all clocked up scores in the 80s, there was a group of little boys playing next to us who, seemingly without any style or strategy, all managed to get scores over 100. We left the bowling centre happy but humbled.

Because We Need R2BC Today

I'm totally out of sync with the newly revived Reasons 2B Cheerful linky over at Becky's Lakes Single Mum, but today we need some R2BC.

Over 150 Rockets have been fired at Israel from the Gaza strip since last night. Today all schools and non-urgent work was cancelled from Tel Aviv in the centre of the country down the coast to Beer Sheba in the south. (Incidently, each rocket costs between $10K and $100K apparently. Just saying.)

So here are my R2BC...

1
The Iron Dome
We have the iron dome which intercepts most of the rocket and explodes them in the sky before they hit land. There have been a few injuries today when people running to the bomb shelters have fallen, but thankfully no serious injuries. One very scary video clip showed a rocket that the iron dome missed, exploding on the motorway just behind two travelling cars. Jerusalem has been quiet so far and we are praying for a better night for those in the security areas.

2
I Subscribed
The Times of Israel is the online newspaper that I read regularly and rely on for good quality analyses of news about Israel and the Middle East. The other day they sent an email announcing a new Times of Israel Community. Basically it was a request to pay a nominal and discretionary amount for the subscription. It's voluntary. The content will not be behind a pay-wall and I could have continued receiving all the articles and features in my inbox without paying a shekel. However, I also read The Guardian and The Telegraph (both UK papers) online and don't pay a penny for them. I feel that there comes a time when you have to contribute for some of the services you enjoy or they will cease. So I was happy to sign up for a mere $6 a month.

3
Team leader
DD is taking her job as one of the team leaders for the school crossing guard very seriously. She has a team who all have back-up substitutes in case they can't make it (half an hour before school starts and for half an hour at the end of school). On her days she's on the phone the night before whatsapping her team to remind them to be on time and check that they are coming. A couple of time another team leader couldn't come so she rushed out at 7.30 am to take her place.

We live right by one of the crossings and if I know the child on duty I take a photo and send it to his or her mother. I'm the secret Mother's Pride Patrol. LOL.

Work Reasons 2B Cheerful

I've been watching the [refelcted] sunrise.

Reasons 2B Cheerful is back with a proper linky and everything. The linky is at Becky's Lakes Single Mum. Us cheerful bloggers got a bit behind over the summer and then with all the back to school stuff going on the linky lapsed for a while. But a lapsed linky isn't a dead linky and I'm happy to have it back as it encourages us to post something upbeat at least once a week.

My R2BC for this week are about work.

1. Straight Exchange
A colleague from college phoned and asked me to stand in for her one week just as I was worrying about having messed up by scheduling an exam for one set of students while I was supposed to be teaching another class. We did a straight swap. She proctored my exam and I'll take her lesson later in the month.

2. Paid
I got paid for the summer online course I facilitated. It all goes to pay for DD's annual school payment (it's a state school but the parents have to pay a sum towards extra costs), her birthday party in a few weeks, and my yearly building dues. But it means I don't have to worry about these Autumn expenses.

3. Perfect Hours
I wanted to teach fewer hours in school this year and so have an extra day to run my home - i.e. clean, shop, make appointments, and run other errands during office hours. I had 22 hours, they cut it to 12 hours and I requested 15. I got 15 teaching hours spread over three days. Perfect.

4. Free Sundays
 My free day is Sunday. Oh how I love having my Sundays back. One of the hardest things to get used to in Israel is no Sundays. We still have a two-day weekend over Friday and Saturday (just the grown-ups, most children have school six days a week 😢), but Saturday is Shabbat and it's not the same.

Shabbat is a very busy and often over scheduled day with synagogue services (if you go) and big meals with guests, friends or family. Often people stay overnight with friends if they don't travel on Shabbat. It's soul destroying to have to cut the day off when the sun sets and suddenly get all busy clearing up and preparing for work the next day. So this year I shall enjoy my Sundays.

5. Early To Bed
DD and I have been going to bed very early. 9 pm for her and around 10 pm for me. It makes getting up in the morning very much easier. We are so not morning people, but we've both enjoyed waking up refreshed at 6 or 6.30 at the latest for DD and I've even been waking up at a time with a 5 at the beginning. It's hard for us to make ourselves go to bed at a reasonable time because we're not naturally tired in the evening. But it's so worth it for everything that gets done before work.

OK, that's it. 8.45 and I'm off to bed.

The Wedding - R2BC

DD was a bridesmaid.

In my last post I explained how in Israel the summer holidays segue into the autumn Jewish festivals and no one takes real life absolutely seriously until after all the festivals, particularly people in academia and/or with children in academia. Tertiary education doesn't even start until after the festivals. This year the festivals were very late - probably the latest possible as we had a leap month back in March. Add to this that I work according to university semesters and we were away for most of September, it's been a helluva long break from real life and routines. But now I'm back on the blog.

So here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful...

1
London in September
Two of my favourite things in one time and place - London and September. we went for my brother's wedding. The celebrations lasted three weeks! The weekend before is the Groom's Shabbat when he celebrates with his community. We all went to my brother's synagogue and enjoyed a celebratory lunch after the  morning services. It was trebly great for me as I sat with cousins I don't see very often and we got to meet my future s-i-l's family for the first time. And, more importantly, we liked them.

The banqueting hall at The Old Palace, Hatfield House

2
My Brother's Wedding
The wedding itself was a week later on the following Sunday. It was at the Old Palace at Hatfield House. It was a lovely wedding but for me an added enchantment lay in the fact that we were eating dinner in the same banqueting hall as Elizabeth l once ate. It's the place she was living when they came to tell her that she was the Queen of England. 486 years later Rachel Selby (and some others) is dining in the same hall. Legend has it that she was sitting under an oak tree when they told her but I'm sure they had some sort of celebratory dinner later.

3
Sheva Brachot
This is a tradition whereby the wedding celebrations are drawn out for another week as each night different friends or relatives host a dinner for the couple and include friends who were not at the wedding. Sheva Brachot means 'seven blessings'. It refers to the seven blessings that are added to the end of the grace after meals in the presence of a newly married couple during the week after their wedding.

It was a small wedding so my mother hosted the first of the Sheva Brachot to which she invited all her friends and a wider circle of cousins. I got to see all the cousins and 'aunties and uncles' of my childhood. It was in a local restaurant so no clearing up afterwards either.

A week later my sister hosted the final of the seven Sheva Brachot in her house. It was the perfect ending to all the celebrations. I caught up with all my sister's friends whom I've got to know a bit over the years. I sat  and caught up with with another cousin who'd not been at the previous events. Lots of clearing up but I actually love that 'all hands on deck' effort at the end of a successful party.

The day finished with a short walk to see my brother and s-i-l's new house followed by several rounds of the game of Catan back at my sister's.

That's enough for now. I have sufficient blog fodder from our trip to last several posts so I intend to be back on the blog more regularly from now on. I'm not sure if there is a R2BC linky atm as we all flaked out over the summer. I'm checking it out.

R2BC - Actual Colouring

On Friday I wrote about clearing out DD's bedroom and how one pile of art supplies, artwork, and school books was left to do. Today we tackled it together. And then we went through the list of things she needs for school. Read on, it was a very pleasant experience all round and definitely worthy of Reasons 2B Cheerful.

The linky is with Mich on Mummy from the Heart for the whole of August.

1

School Supplies

Amazingly, from the long list, we only need to buy a geometry set (compass, two set squares, and a protractor) and a pack of 10 A4 ring bound notebooks. Everything else we have left over from previous years - even school t-shirts that still fit and sticky labels. We agreed that we'd forgo a new school bag and pencil case this year as she'll want to have new ones for Secondary School next year. We also already paid for the full set of textbooks and workbooks that will be given out at school in a couple of weeks. Sorted. 

2

Down to the last pencil

Reader, we organized DD's room down to the last pencil. Everything now has a home and all the rubbish has been thrown out. She hasn't said it, but I can see that DD is enjoying being in her room now. I caught her just sitting on the bed and looking around appreciatively. Later she came and asked if she could have a rug. It was very sweet. 

3

Colouring

We also dealt with all the pens, pencils, highlighters, and felt tips that were in a hundred different pencil cases and boxes. They're still in several cases and boxes but are now more consolidated. We also found a book of cards and envelopes to colour. DD got it as a present and used it once. It's lots of fun. You colour the card and the corresponding envelope (which you fold yourself ) and there is a matching sticker to seal each one. 

I'm going to a birthday dinner and a wedding this week. At the wedding I'll see my friend's daughter who has just had a baby. And in January I did a Paying it Forward game on Facebook. The first five people to reply to the announcement could expect a surprise at some time during the year. Well it's pay-forward time and three of my recipients will be getting their surprise within the next two weeks. So that's six cards and envelopes to colour and make. I did three of them today. It kept me out of the fridge so win-win. (Incidently, it happens to be a fast day in the Jewish calendar today. It's a full 24 hours, sunset to sunset, when we remember the destruction of the Temples and the beginning of the exile from Jerusalem. I started late but I'm going to finish late too so all's good.)

Have a good week y'all.  

A Day At The Pool In 1982 - R2BC

This week's reasons 2B cheerful comes to you from 1976 - 1987, a swimming pool just outside Jerusalem, I was in Seventh Heaven, and we missed the final week of July R2BC linky so this one is with the August linky on Mich's Mummy from the Heart. So traversing time and space, lets go...

On Wednesday we went to the pool at Messilat Tzion, a village just outside Jerusalem. We went with friends who are early risers and movers so we left at 8.30 in the morning. Arriving as the place opens allows you a prime spot near the pool, but not too near. Our children can swim so we want to be able to see them but we don't have to be actually at the poolside. Also, at that time of the morning there are only a few children in the pool and two lifeguards on duty.

We found a shady spot on the grass under a tree and made ourselves at home. Then the music started. Blaring. It could have been a disaster. But as luck would have it they were playing my own personal favourite playlist. A medley of pop from the 1970s and 1980s.

It was all I could do to stop myself getting up and dancing. I did sing out loud though. Every song held a memory for me from 40 years ago.

Summer 1976 - the longest and hottest drought in the UK in my lifetime, so far (I was 14). The grass was yellow, some rural areas had standpipes for water at the end of the streets, washing your car and watering your garden was banned. We sang, "skyrockets in flight, afternoon delight." It's just as good now as it was then.

Summer 1978 the movie Grease came out and my sister and I and the girls next door, sat with our heads almost inside the cassette player singing "You're the one that I want," over and over again until we knew the words by heart.

There was the winter camp 1979, where my friend Mandy and I were the cooks. Ohoh ayay, I love you more than I can say. We changed the next lyric to "and if our food is hard to swallow, oh oh, we'll give you twice as much tomorrow."

Summer 1980, camping in Lanarkshire, Scotland. My baby takes the morning train, he works from 9 till 5 and then, he takes another home again... What they lacked in sophisticated lyrics they made up for with sing-along potential.

Come on Eileen, was the wet weekend in July that I spent with Sharon in Liverpool. It was 1982 and we'd just returned from our gap year on a Kibbutz in Israel.

They just kept on coming. I gazed out across the pool and the palm trees, towards the Jerusalem hills. The scenery and the music carried me back to the summer of 1987 spent in California. La Isla Bonita, and Yeh, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me.

The kids (what kids? Oh yes, we had three kids with us) frolicked in the pool. They had ice-creams and later hot dogs and chips for lunch. We left at 2.30 pm just before the heat of the day and the afternoon crowds arrived.

It was the best pool day ever. Except for maybe the pool days back in the real 1970s and 80s.

The New Year For Diaries And Planners - R2BC

Last year's Diary is still in use until Sept 1st.
I don't know why I still have the year before -
it's being chucked out now.
The new one tempts me. I can look and even caress...
but not write in it. 

Here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful for this week. It was hard to think of anything specific as I've already posted about DD's school prize and the Sound and Light Show on Jerusalem. There is a general cheeriness around here due to the relaxed summer, reduced schedule, and no stress time of year. So here are a few little things. 

1
New Diary Time
I've bought mine. I just have to be patient through the summer until D-day on September 1st.

I was going to write a whole explanation but I've covered this subject before. Bottom line is that everyone only gets one New Year for Diaries, and ours is in the summer. Here's what I wrote about it a few years ago. Nothing has changed.

I followed my own links and found this other post I wrote about the year I created my own bullet journal. I'm a little bit tempted but it's just too much work and the bought diaries work just as well. Especially as they are 15 month diaries. So even though they start on September 1st, they go through till the end of the following December. This leaves loads of superfluous pages on which to paste in collections, lists, and plans.

As we're already on the subject. Here is my love letter to Filofax. It was unrequited.

2
Clear Table
You may have noticed the clear table background on the photo of the diary. This is the first time our dining table has been cleared since stuff started coming home from our combined schools and it becoming our dumping surface. I'm finally getting organized again!

3
A Light Supper
My nephew was in Israel for a short trip and came for supper one evening. I was prepared with a pile of lightbulbs for him to change and we are now bathed in light after sunset once more. Of course I can change a lightbulb myself but I don't like climbing.

This was actually a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to check that the lightbulbs were working properly before mentioning it. 😜

After the light fixture renovations and a light supper (pun intended), we sat down for a card game - a match actually. Kalooky up to 150 points and you can come in once. We were just wrapping up the game and my nephew was getting ready to leave, when he got a phone call. His friends were leaving their hostel and going into town. He went off to start his evening and we went to bed.

Have a great week. The Reasons 2B Cheerful linky is back with Becky on Lakes Single Mum.

R2BC - Congeniality?

Yes this is how we dress for school. Israel is very casual. 

I'm so late with this post but I deliberately waited until Sunday to blog as I knew I'd have a lovely reason 2B cheerful. However, Sunday was the final final deadline for my online English course and I was suddenly inundated with over 20 papers to grade - some corrections and some just late. I needed to get them done as the students have to complete their end of course meetings this week. So no time yesterday.

Today I was still grading and have just finished - bar the papers from students with special circumstances. It never ends. Anyway, I want to get this published tonight so I can begin July on a good blog footing. Remember I wanted to blog every day in June? Well I managed 12 posts. Reach for the stars and you may get to the moon.

Back on topic. My R2BC is that DD won the congeniality prize for her class at school. I hate calling it that as it sounds like an American beauty pageant prize. But actually that's what it is. I videoed the part of the ceremony where DD was presented with her certificate and sent it to our family whatsapp group. My sister wrote back that she didn't quite catch the Hebrew so what was the prize for?

I explained that each class awards three prizes - for academic achievement, chevratiyut, and the biggest positive change (progress or behaviour). I defined chevratiyut as a combination of being a good friend, helpful, congenial, community minded, and of generous spirit. I can't think of another word for all of that in English except congeniality.

DD's been trying to get this prize for years. It's a bit sad that she didn't even consider hoping for the academic achievement prize but, as I explained to her, she has an immigrant parent who doesn't know what's flying half the time and that prize usually goes to someone who does their homework without waiting for the panic monster to get involved. (Yes I showed her that Ted talk and she identified with all of it, as do I.)

The big tease was that her class teacher phoned to invite me to the ceremony but it was a secret - DD had no idea. Once or twice over the weekend she lamented that she's never won a class prize and she tries so hard to be a good friend. If I hadn't known what was coming my heart would have broken for her.

On Sunday morning I made an excuse to come into school - I had a small gift for her teacher, Hanna, whom we love and unfortunately for us, is leaving. Luckily for me, DD was too embarrassed to give the gift herself. "Mummy! We don't do that. The class gives one big present together." She's right but I wanted to show my appreciation for the over and above.

I mentioned to DD that seeing as I'm there already, I might come to the assembly because I've never been to an end of year assembly and I want to see what it's like. I added, "I'm only telling you because I don't want you to see me there and think you're getting a prize and then you''ll be disappointed." Teeheehee.

DD told me afterwards that she had one moment of doubt when Hanna went up and I started filming. But she quashed that thought.

DD was thrilled. I was thrilled. And we went out for tea to celebrate with a slice of caramel cheesecake at Rolladin. (Do you know that one small slice of cake when you're sitting down, costs more than half of buying the whole cake to take home? I was shocked!). And the biggest compliment of all: "You're such a good liar mummy."

The R2BC linky is with Mich this week on Mummy from the Heart.

R2BC - The DD Edition

Stretching by the pond at the top of my Mum's road. 

Lots of milestone events for DD this week and these are my Reasons 2B Cheerful. The linky is back with Mich on Mummy from the Heart. 

1
Competition Squad
DD's biggest dream this year has been to be in the Competition Squad (henceforth known as CS) at gymnastics. She was mortally offended when one of the other girls was invited to join last winter as DD felt she was just as good.

On Monday she was given the official letter inviting her to join CS in September. To say she was thrilled and proud of herself wouldn't do it justice. She's been on cloud nine and mentioning it every few hours since.

Turns out CS for her age group meets two neighbourhoods away. We already take a taxi one neighbourhood away for gymnastics and then I sit waiting for an hour until we walk home afterwards. (Home is downhill so we walk it.) CS is two hours twice a week. With the added fee, the added taxi fare, and three hours out of my evening twice a week - this was not so amazing for me.

So we looked into the gymnastics class in our neighbourhood. The class is around the corner, three minutes walk from home, in a fantastic, purpose built high school sports hall. The only reason we didn't go there from September was because it clashed with orchestra and that's no longer relevant.

Turns out the same teachers from DD's class also teach at our local class - which is why the days are different. They invited her to join the new class in July so that she can settle in before September, August being holiday. And as we've already paid for July in the other place - there'll be gymnastics four times a week for a month. DD is overjoyed.

And I'm overjoyed as from September, she'll be going there by herself so I'll have two more free evenings and what we won't be paying in taxis covers the extra cost of CS. Win-win.

2
Shopping With A Friend
DD's friend wanted to go clothes shopping after school on Tuesday, in Malcha Mall - the biggest mall in Jerusalem. Her mother was going to come from work and meet them there. I had an appointment so I couldn't take them. The only solution was for the two girls to go on the bus by themselves.

In Israel, 10 years old is plenty old enough to go on the bus alone. Kids who travel to school do it all the time from 2nd or 3rd grade (and from 1st grade with older siblings).

DD was nervous. I downloaded Moovit onto her phone so she could follow the route and the app would tell them where to get off the bus. It even shows you which way to walk from the bus stop. But her friend knew the route anyway so she didn't really need it.

I waited at the bus stop with them and saw they got onto the right bus. DD's friend's mum called to tell me to tell them to ask the driver where to get off but apparently they didn't. Friend was confident that she knew.

I must admit I was nervous as I watched the bus drive off with my little girl unaccompanied by an adult. I called her when they'd disembarked but were still walking to the mall. I called 10 minutes later to make sure they'd got to the mall. I called 15 minutes after that to make sure they'd met up with Friend's mother. No reply.

I called Friend's mother. "Yes they're already trying on clothes. I'm beginning to regret this."

DD called me a couple of times to tell me that she was buying a gift for another friend's birthday at the weekend and then to ask if she could buy short leggings for gymnastics. She called to tell me she'd left her water bottle in a changing room and they couldn't find it. But while we were on the phone they found it in a drawer in the changing room. And every time I could hear the pride and satisfaction in her voice that she was out shopping with a friend. I schepped naches.*

* Notes. The phrase "shep nachas" / "shepp naches" / "schep naches" - to derive pride and joy. From Yiddish שעפּן נחת shepn nakhes - 'derive pride'.

3
Camping
DD's friend had an overnight camping party in her garden, complete with the new standing pool they've got for the summer. It started with a birthday tea/supper at 5 pm Friday night and finished at 2 pm the next afternoon after lunch.

Just as I was wondering what to do with my free Shabbat, the universe stepped in and I was invited to lunch with friends where there would be no other children. It's the kind of lunch I have to bribe DD into attending and I often just decline the invitation because it's easier not to go.

On Friday evening I got into my pyjamas at 5.30 pm and hung out with myself, a good book, and a cheese sandwich. I should have had some wine but I didn't think far enough ahead. Still, it was bliss. Although I did miss DD, a bit.

And today I went to lunch with my adult friends, had a great time, and on the way back I swung by the party to pick up DD. She came home very happy and very exhausted, fell asleep for three hours, and then we watched Journey to the Centre of the Earth together on Netflix. The perfect end to a perfect day.

R2BC - End Of Year Events

DD's Monsters. Everyone liked them except DD.
DD's story is on the left but it's in Hebrew.

Here are my reasons to be cheerful for last week. The linky is back with Becky on Lakes Single Mum this week as Mich is busy with guests and family.

1
No End Of Year Parties
End of year parties are a big thing in Israel. Some teachers have an end of year party for every class they teach. I spared my students and pupils yet another party and more sugar overload. For my last week of teaching we had relaxed lessons, I wished the students good luck in their exam next week and my young pupils a wonderful summer.

DD's original drawing.

Of course I'll be seeing them all again this coming week for the exam in college and I have to wrap up the library and attend a training session in school. Remember how I was laughing as I finished teaching on Wednesday? Well I did finish teaching but I have teaching related work to do for at least another week - if not more. My laughing has been reduced to a wry smile as I don't have to get both me and DD out of the house by 7.30 am. Small gains.

2
New Beds
My mattress was 30 years old, it had come through half a decade of children using it as a trampoline - it was that type of old fashioned, fully sprung, bouncy mattress - and it was sagging in all sorts of places. More importantly, it was no longer comfortable. So I went to buy a new one.

Ready for children's television. 

I know things are more expensive in Israel but I was shocked when the man in the bed shop told me the prices. I could probably have got something cheaper in IKEA, however, this is my local bed shop. They made my bed frame and a few years later they added a headboard to it when I realized that no headboard is not at all sophisticated. They provided a new mattress for the child's bed that used to be DD's but then got moved to the spudy. It originally came with a thin sponge mattress and needed upgrading for guests.

The price of the simple mattress (not sponge obviously but nothing amazing) was the price I wanted to pay for something in the middle range. The man told me to lie on the most expensive mattress and feel the difference. Then he offered me the most expensive mattress that had been on a bed in the shop for six months, for less than the simple mattress. Sold.

While I was at it I bought a new bed for DD too. Her 1.2 m. wide box bed took up too much space in the bedroom, we don't need the storage in the box, and I wanted to make her room lighter and airier.

The beds came on Thursday. Mine is amazing. I am now about 20 cm higher up, I can't sit on my bed anymore as it's too high, and I have slept through the night since it arrived.

Here's one by Natan that everyone loved. 

3
Finale
We enjoyed the Artists' Class Finale at the museum on Thursday evening.

4 
Monster Exhibition
DD's year at school all drew monsters and wrote stories about them. They were then paired up with Art Students from The Hebrew University Bezalel Art School. The students produced professional drawings or models of the monsters as if they were to be made into cartoons or books. On Friday all the students came in to school and we had an exhibition of the finished works alongside the original drawings and stories. It was very good.

(Aside: I must confess that DD didn't have such a great experience. Her name plate fell of the wall so at first we couldn't find her work. Eventually we found it on the floor and managed to stick it back up for the photo. Her illustrator couldn't come so she didn't get that experience. But turns out maybe that was a good thing. DD took one look the way her monsters had been interpreted and burst into tears because she didn't like it. We slipped away and came home were she was inconsolable until she accidently dropped a glass dish and cut her foot. That took her mind off the monster at least. We were both glad that it was Friday afternoon.)

5
3/7
That's my blogging score for this week. Not quite the bogging every day that I was aiming for but at least this month has the most posts so far this year. Today starts another week...

Have a great weekend! xxx

Election Relief With Gesher - R2BC

Because we also want to enjoy
picnics in the park.

April 6th and only my first blog post this month. Things suddenly got hectic with the second round of college exams to grade, practice meitsav (SATs) exams to grade for school, preparing reports for parents' meetings and a making a start on the spring cleaning (in theory 😊). Whatever the weather, I do try not to miss Reasons 2B Cheerful at the end of each week. This week we're back being hosted by Mich on Mummy from the Heart.

We have a general election on Tuesday and I was in a bind. Along with many many others, I didn't know who to vote for.

The way it works is that there are 120 seats in the Knesset and the ruling party must have at least 61 of them. The bigger parties usually only get between 30 and 40 seats, so they then have to form a coalition made up of their party and up to 30 other seats held by other smaller parties. They have six weeks to do this during which time there are usually big compromises that have to be made in the pre-election promises. We all know this. Obviously it's most useful to get the big 3rd and 4th parties in the coalition so there's not much change in policy from election to election.

I usually go by the principal that voting for one of the small parties is a wasted vote because we know that one of the big two will win the elections. Better to give the winning party a bigger mandate and more clout so that they don't have to form so many coalitions with demanding parties on the fringe. But this election, neither one of the big two parties sparked joy. Neither Bibi Netanyahu's Likud nor Benny Gantz et al's Blue and White.

Both parties have their good points. I have no truck with the "anyone but Bibi" movement, especially from Jews in America and the UK, as their agenda is different from mine. We also have our Bibi haters and it annoys me when they forget that we have lived in relative stability and safety in most of the country during the past 11 years. However, it's probably time for Bibi to go. Otoh, the B&W brigade include top army generals but they have no experience running a country.

Then I discovered Gesher. At the top is Orly Levy. A former model whom no one took seriously until she won a seat in the Knesset and started to make changes for social justice. She refuses to be dragged into the Left versus Right debate. Gesher is only concerned with social issues.

In the last general election the fight was between national security on the Right and social justice on the Left. Netanyahu won because the majority decided that we had to be alive over and above any other issues - as important as they are. I remember a friend who lives near the border with Gaza saying, "I wish I could vote for the left and everything they believe in, but I have to vote for our safety at this point." This time both sides are about national security and there's no such dilemma.

There is a 3.25% of the vote threshold that you have to cross in order to get in. Votes for parties under the threshold are distributed proportionately among the other parties. With 42 parties running, this can be a lot of wasted votes.

Levy is on the cusp of the threshold according to the polls but she has made it into the previous two governments. This year they are hoping to gain more seats as the voice of social justice. This is what I wrote on Facebook yesterday:

Election bottom line: Either Likud or B&W will win the most mandates. Both parties have national security at the top of their agenda and experienced military men at the helm. Both parties will ultimately make a coalition with the same other parties. Whoever wins, we will not see much change in actual policy. So, let's get Gesher in the government to deal with the pressing social issues that we all care deeply about. Finally a party that isn't concerned with Left or Right but is concerned about health, education and the cost of living. Left or Right, this concerns you. Please share.

A political post may seem like a strange topic for Reasons 2B Cheerful but I was in such a bind about who to vote for that I even considered not voting. I never don't vote. Finding Gesher and making the decision to vote for Orly Levy was a big relief. I also usually keep my ballot secret. However, I'm so happy with choosing Gesher that I'm willing to put myself out there in the hope of reaching a few more voters.