R2BC - Festival of Weeks

Anticipating the wheat harvest.
Or perhaps just thinking about the pizza we ordered for them.

For all my excitement last week about coming to the end of the academic year and having more time on my hands... turns out it was a bit premature and it has been another busy week. Here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful. There's a linky over at Mich's Mummy from the Heart, where us cheerful bloggers hang out.

1
Wedding
On Thursday night I went to a wedding of the son of old friends from my teenage years. The parents and I had loads of adventures together in England in the 1970s - early 80s, from camping in the Wye Valley to campaigning for the freedom of Jews in Soviet Russia. We moved to Israel around the same time. We spent Shabbatot (pl. of Shabbat) together, I celebrated with them the births and Bar/Bat Mitzvas of each of their four children, I worked with the wife for a few years in educational publishing where we wrote maths textbooks together, and they offered me their garden for a baby blessing party for DD.

More about weddings in Israel in another post, but suffice to say this one was lots of fun. Lots of old friends from those early years, lots of catching up and lots of great dancing to music from our era. Perhaps belting out the words to 'I Will Survive!' which aren't the most appropriate lyrics for a wedding, was a bit strange but we went with the flow.

3
Sleepover
Going to a wedding requires extensive pre-planning on my part. I have to rush home from work, shower and change, if it's a day that DD has gymnastics - take DD to gymnastics, arrange for her to get from Gymnastics to my friend Sarit who graciously has her to stay for the night*, organize how DD will get from Sarit's to school in the morning**, find my way to the agreed meeting point to get a ride to the wedding, make sure my ride is also willing to bring me home again afterwards, and only then relax and enjoy.

*Think about it. If I get home some time after midnight, apart from the enormous cost of a babysitter, what would I then do with the babysitter? I wouldn't expect someone to walk home at that time of night and I don't have a car to take her, nor would I put a teenage girl in a taxi on her own at that time of night.

**On this occasion I let DD miss Stupid Friday at school - stupid because it finishes at 11.45 - and Sarit dropped her off here on her way out.

This is actually the second wedding I've been to in two weeks. It's wedding season. Sarit had DD both times so big big thank you. xxx

2
63 Up
There was much talk about the long awaited 63 Up which was screened in the UK over three nights this week. Again, I want to write a whole post about it, but I found all the amazing episodes, even 63 Up, on You Tube and binge-watched the whole lot. Coupled with the wedding I went to, the program makes you assess your own life as well as watching the lives of the Up 'children'. The series is charming and alarming and I can see why the participants dread it coming around every seven years. Anyway, more about that in a different blog.

3
Blogging Along
Last week I committed to blogging every day in June. I managed four days out of seven this week. This was largely due to binge-watching Up on Wednesday, work and the wedding on Thursday and a final push to finish report writing on Friday followed by conking out in the early evening. But hey, I'm fine with 4/7. It's better than 4/31 which is about what I managed last month - not even four I think. I'm still up for it and hope to do better from now on.

4
Shavuot
Tonight and tomorrow is the festival of Shavuot (lit. Weeks). Traditionally we're celebrating the end of the seven-week grain harvest that started with the barley harvest on Pesach (Passover) and continued with the wheat harvest. Later they tagged celebrating the giving of the Torah on Mt Sinai, onto this harvest festival. Lots of eating, especially cheesecake. Again, more about this in its own blog post.

Have a good week y'all.

Shop, Colour, Catch Up - R2BC

Here are my reasons 2B Cheerful for this week. The laid-back linky is on Michelle's Mummy from the Heart for the month of February, with more R2BC posts from around the world. 

1
A Morning In Town
On Tuesday morning I was free so DD missed school to go and get her passport renewed. That took an hour and then we went shopping. New shoes and a top for me and we both came away with new leather-look covers for our previously naked phones. We feel very sophisticated. Then we went out for coffee. DD had three scoops of ice-cream with whipped cream and sprinkles. I had some aubergine pate and toast. We also tracked down a tapestry pattern for my cousin in London. This involved lots of photos and chatting via Whatsapp so she got exactly what she wanted. Then we came home. DD has half day on Tuesdays and a friend came over after school for lunch, which I provided before going off to teach my afternoon classes. A thoroughly satisfactory morning.

2
Colouring
With some help from two 6th Grade girls, I spent my breaks at work this week colouring little posters for the English library. I got all enthusiastic to spruce it up and organise as I'd ordered 40 new books which arrived this week. Next week I'll be covering them all in protective sticky-back plastic. I find this quite a relaxing job and it keeps me away from the biscuits in the staff room.

3
Dinner For Two
A friend from NYC was in town and I invited her for Friday night dinner. She arrived at about 7 pm. DD said hello and then decided to go and lie down for a bit because her eyes hurt. She didn't make the connection with having been up since 3.30 in the morning to watch the space launch. I did and wasn't surprised that she fell asleep and was out for the night. Which meant that my friend and I had a lovely catching up session over a leisurely dinner.

R2BC - Old Friends

Here we are on a girls' trip to Paris in September 2003.
Nicola is third from the left.

Here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful for this week. The linky is over at Becky's Lakes Single Mum for today and the rest of October.

1
Old Friend
Not so much of the old if you don't mind, but we were best friends when we were seven years old in a primary school in Harrow. Nicola now lives n LA and I live in Jerusalem. We used to pick up the phone and chat once in a while but who does that any more? And she's not on facebook. So, ironically, as social media expanded, she and I had less and less contact. Until last Sunday.

A few weeks ago Nicola and I made a Skype date for a Sunday, which was put off and rescheduled. We finally 'met' last Sunday. It was 8pm my time, dark outside, and I'd finished a full working day. (I'm a teacher so that means 3pm but ykwim.) She was enjoying the morning sunshine in her garden and talking to me on her iphone. I came with my big glass of lemon tea.

We caught up. We gave each other tours of our homes. We laughed. We didn't cry. And we promised to do it again soon(ish) and every few months at least. Thanks for a lovely evening Nicola. (Who says I'm not a cheap date?)

2
Fish Fingers
After almost a decade of looking forward to real fish fingers when we go to London, I finally found some in my local supermarket. Made by the chicken shnitzel people, Off Tov (Good Chicken) I assume, as these are called Dag Tov (Good Fish). Fish Sticks (as they're called here and in the US) are usually minced up fish and other fillers. They're more like fish cakes in breadcrumbs. Captain Bird's Eye would turn in his grave. The Dag Tov wrapper clearly showed real, flakey, white fish inside. We gave it a try.

We bought the goujons and the fried fish fillets in breadcrumbs. Both were delicious. By this week they were gone. I must look for them in other supermarkets. (Caveat: they are ridiculously expensive but as we don't buy any other meat, I'm willing to indulge.)

3
Kick Over
I'd call it a backward walkover but DD insists that it's a kick over. Anyway, we celebrated that she can finally do it after weeks of trying. I would say that this was probably the highlight of her week, if not the whole month.

I totally get it. I remember when I did it for the first time. (No, I'm not talking about that. Cheeky.) It was on the school playing field during the lunch hour. I found a grassy mound and placed myself so that my feet were higher than my hands in the back bend position. (Although it is starting to sound like a kinky version of that. 😜) So I was cheating really. Later I perfected it on flat ground. I showed everyone who would watch. (Stop laughing. I'm talking about a kick over!) So yeah, it was a big moment for us. DD has completely surpassed me. She can do both front/back and box splits which I could never manage even though I wanted it so much I used to dream about it.

Have a great weekend y'all.

You Gotta Have Friends - R2BC

Under the chupah (wedding canopy)

1
A Great Wedding
I went to a wedding on Wednesday night. It was out of town in a beautiful setting, high up in the Jerusalem hills and overlooking the lights of several towns and villages in the valley below. The friends making the wedding are old friends who also live in my neighbourhood. I've known the husband since I was 12 years old and we grew up in the same social circle. I've known the wife since she met the husband, and all the kids as and when they were born. So you can imagine that the wedding was full of people from my past and present. The food and drink was amazing and plentiful (not that you go for the food of course), the band were friendly and fun, the entertainment was delightful, and the atmosphere was excellent. All in all, one of the most lovely weddings I've ever been to. (Even the drive to and from the wedding was enjoyable as I got a ride with a neighbour and the company was engaging.) Thank you M and D for including me in your celebration.

2
Help From Friends
DD wasn't invited to the wedding so I had to make arrangements for her. She had a party to go to. One friend's mother offered to take her. She was taken home from the party with the classmate who lives in the building where DD was staying the night. About that - I have a wonderful arrangement with a good friend who has known DD since she was born, whereby her little boy can sleep over with us and DD can sleep over with them when either of us wants to go out. Cutting out babysitting costs sometimes makes the difference between going out at all or staying in and missing a social occasion. It's the sort of thing people who live near grandparents and other family take for granted. In our case, I already consider my friend to be family. The next morning DD was taken to school by the classmate in the building. Sometimes you can do it all yourself and sometimes you need help from friends. Thank you friends.

Short and sweet this week as I'm a bit late to the party. Btw, the Reasons 2B Cheerful party is at Becky's Lakes Single Mum again this week where I've joined the linky.

Friends Trump Work

You can tune through the channels and pick up different programmes
Ben Yehuda Street, Jerusalem 

It is the end of the Jewish festivals. We go back to school on Sunday and surprisingly, because it was all supposed to have been done by now, I have loads of planning and test writing to do.

I was just about to post a very low key R2BC in which I was struggling to find something interesting to write. Sitting here lesson planning and exam writing does not make me cheerful. Added to that we were embarking on one of those days of, "what are we doing today Mummy? I'm bored."

The ancient  very old with the very modern

Then we got a phone call from a friend from England who's here for the holiday and because her daughter is going into the army. They are in town and would we like to go and meet them for lunch? We did. DD had to get dressed, I had to put myself together, but we were out, on the bus, and in town within 30 minutes.

We did the usual stroll down Ben Yehuda Street. Then we strolled back up again. Then we walked to the Machane Yehuda market. It was packed. We were going to stop for a falafel lunch in the market but the queue was too long. So we walked back to town and ate at a falafel place on King George Street.

Still a low key R2BC but it was lovely to catch up with old friends. It was good to go out and do some walking. I still have my work waiting for me to do, but friends trump work.

I'm linking up with Reasons 2B Cheerful at Becky's Lakes Single Mum.

The Weather, The Wedding, And The Sleepover

Today it was 37 degrees C in Jerusalem. That's 98.6 in old money. The day before it was 36 and tomorrow they are forecasting a blessed relief of only 35 degrees. I hate the heat more than most and we don't have air conditioning in our apartment. So this is how I cope:

I leave home with DD at 8 am. She goes to her Summer School program and I go into my college (both are down the road). I sit in the cool A/Ced teachers' room or in the library, and do my work. Then I collect DD at 1 pm and we come home to basically do nothing until the weather breaks at about 6 pm. That's the thing about Jerusalem, it gets cooler in the evening, unlike in other places in Israel where you can be sweltering in high humidity all night. I guess then you do need to have air conditioning. I'm happy to rest during the day and get up at night.

It's now 11.15 and DD has just gone to sleep as, like me, she's a night owl. We both slept for over an hour in the afternoon so I'm now wide awake. I like this informal chatty style of blogging but I do need to catch up on the events of last week.

The Sunday before last I was invited to a wedding on Kibbutz Shluchot just south of Tiberius and the Sea of Gallilee. To cut a long story short, the groom's little sister had her Bat Mitzva on the Shabbat before the wedding and lots of people joined them for the whole weekend for the double celebration. Most of our mutual friends are close family or close friends with the groom's family so it was going to be hard to find someone driving up to the wedding on the Sunday from Jerusalem. I've also come to the conclusion that sometimes it's easier to just take public transport and be your own boss. I was actually looking forward to travelling on my own without having to entertain DD on the journey.

The bus traveled up the valley road that follows the Jordan River. We left Jerusalem on the east side and drove towards The Dead Sea. Then, with a view of The Dead Sea to our right which I was on the wrong side of the bus to get a photo of, we turned left towards Jericho. Passing the turnoff to the Alemby Bridge Crossing on our right, we continued north towards Bet She'an. The mountains rose out of the dessert landscape and were spectacular in the late afternoon sun. I took photos from the bus like a crazy tourist. I was mesmerized. You know I go for greenery rather than deserts, so I don't quite know what came over me.

Friends (a couple and another friend who also happens to be my brother-in-law who came for the celebrations) had spent the day at a guest house near the kibbutz and they met me from the bus so that I could go back and change at their place. We then went to the wedding together.

There were about a dozen of us who'd been teenage friends back in the UK and had been living in Israel for now 30 years or more. We get all nostalgic and it's as if no time at all has passed. Except that many of them are now passing round photos of their grandchildren on their smartphones. As a young mother myself, I indulge them and they indulge me talking about DD.

After the chupa (literally the wedding canopy) I phoned DD to see how she was getting on at her first sleepover that wasn't at my sister's with her cousins. She gave me a whole speech on the phone about how she doesn't miss me at all and she doesn't know what's happened to her because she's very happy to sleep there.... "and it's not just because I don't have a choice!" Hooray! We have entered a new era. What's more, my friend had her hairwashed and in bed by 9 pm. I must find out how she did that.

I came back south after the wedding in the car with friends and my b-i-l and the two of us stayed overnight with them in their house just outside Jerusalem, coming into Jerusalem for work with them in the morning. Apart from the fact that I had to then spend the day in school teaching, I felt like I'd had a mini holiday. Reconnected and relaxed.

Thanks Sarit for having DD to stay. Thank you Julie and Boaz for taking me and bringing me back and having me to stay overnight. Thanks Jonny and Sari for a wonderful wedding. Mazal Tov to Rebecca on your Bat Mitzva. And Mazal Tov to Ben and Tehilla on your marriage. I hope that in 30 years time you will be celebrating weddings with the same friends you danced with at yours - like we are.