chocolate

I am in the mood for american chocolate today, but I don't have. Instead I gave in and bought a bag of oreo cookies at a high price, but sometimes you just need a fix.
After the first year of my daughter being in grade school, I can safely say that I have learned her style. Naomi will never be able to find her supplies or books and will always have to call someone to find out the homework. So she takes after her father! I guess if other parents can deal with this then I should be able too. It just means more work for the mom, a large stack of pencils and clearing out the backpack on a regular basis. Now child number 2 will have a completley diferent style right? I have a feeling she might be more like her mom in this area; sure I have homework, I'm just not gonna do it!
I ncourage everyone to have a chocalate for me, cheers!

haircut

For teh first time in a long time i had my hair cut by someone other then Milaine or a roommate. I have taken many things for granted, for example the barber asked how I liek my hair, I had no idea what teh correct answer was i said, I dunno, my cousin usually cuts my hair, I don't ask questions. Then came the payment part, I remember when I used to go to Jeff the Russian it was like 7 bucks, imgaine my surprise when the girl told me it was 15 bucks!!! for a hair cut, it'll grow back in a few days, I paid her and went back to my office only to discover that in addition to the regular fee, a tip was expected, and I got sent back to tip the barber.
Milaine if you read this, you do a better, quicker job at a much more affordable rate

Yom HaZikaron - USA Style

Memorial Day in US:

1. Sales
2. Barbeques
3. Boating/canoe trip
4. Lazing around
5. (Amazingly) Fighter jets heading towards Canada
6. Junk food
7. (Too much) Time with kids
8. Family hoopla
9. Country music and video stations playing all the best songs about patriotism and war and soldiers (somehow I just don't feel it, except of course the one about 9-11)

What I wasn't expecting was to spend the afternoon with our friends the Eisenbergs who are moving to Israel in, like, 2 weeks. Golda, if you recall our Costco trip together, it took me a little bit to realize it was the last hurrah, and then I was a wreck. This time was different. I didn't ask when they were leaving until we were about to get into our respective cars to go home. But then it hit me.

I really like the Eisenbergs and I hope to remain friends with them.

Have a good day everyone! That's it from here!

Veev

Ummmm, Yummy

In my last post, I discussed the halachik issues surrounding eating flesh.

In that post i discussed the issur of eating a piece of a living person due to Ever Min Hachay. Sim correctly pointed out that the Rambam in Hilchos Maacholos Assuris Chapter 2 halacha 3 says that there is no Malkis for eating flesh of someone living or dead, indicating that their is no prohibition of Ever Min Hachay that is being violated with the eating of flesh.

We have further researched the issue, and i have the following to report.

First of all, the Ramban understands human flesh to be kosher due to the fact the breast milk is kosher (and it comes in such great packages.) That being the case, human blood is also kosher d'aaraysa, and is only prohibited by the rabbonim due to issues of Morris Eyin. But if your finger is bleeding, there is no halachik prohibition against putting the finger in your mouth and sucking the blood.

Second of all, the prohibition against eating milk and meat does not apply to human flesh. If one were to eat a ground human shoulder hamburger, he could cover it with cheese, and have a nice tall glass of milk with it. Same thing ribs, or any other piece of human.

As for the benefits of eating a jewish body or that of a non jew, the carcas of a jew is considered to be Assur Behana, and is forbidden, except in situations of Pikuach Nefesh. So it is preferable to eat the body of a no jew. Another interesting tidbit to come from this discussion is performing an autopsy on a jewish body in order to find a cure for cancer. Since Pekuach Nefesh is Docha the torah, one would think that it is permitted to use a Jewish body for cancer research, since it might aid in finding a cure. The Nodav B'Yehudah came out with a groundbreaking P'sak that the concept of Pekuach Nefesh Docha Kol Hatorah only applies for an immediate life threatening situation, but not for potentially saving someone down the road. This is the reason why someone working on cancer research cannot work on Shabbos, since even though his work is pekuach nefesh, there is no instant immediacy to his research.

(I wonder if it is a problem that the non-jew has presumably eaten non-kosher food all his life)

There is a theory that the reason the torah doesn't ban human flesh is because the torah is only written for normal life situations, and it is the rabbis job to fight the worlds perversions with their rabbinic decrees. However, if this was truly the case, why is it necessary for the Torah to slepp out the prohibition of incest, particularly with one's mother? It would seem to be unnescessary, and only the rabbis would ban it.

This should probably be the end of the human flesh eating discussion. I do want to make one more correction from my last post, though. In that post I mentioned that if a cow that gives brith to a camel the camel would be kosher because Kashruth follows the mother. However, Sim correctly pointed out that the gemara says the camel is not kosher.

The reason for the error was a misunderstanding between the rabbi and the shuir. The rabbi said that if a camel gives birth to cow the cow is not kosher, because we follow the mother. I assumed from that discussion that if it was reversed, the camel would be kosher. And while it is true that the animal is kosher, the rabbis have banned this camel born from a cow.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday.

then one day...LEO BLOOMED

my daughter chanalana had it all figured out. she didn't want to overly excite me while i was studying for finals or taking finals or in my last year of classes so she just sat for a long time but as soon as i finished my last final i came home and she now almost has two teeth. devorah says she can see them in her gums and she's sure there about to pop on through any day. and she scoots around the living room. she sits on her tush and jumps up and down and moves forward. and she said her first sentence too. she sings(like a zacks) and i think she's really progressing to a mature young woman (not quite as quickly as naava).
we had grandma bulman for shabbos, and sunday and monday and we're trying to figure out what to do on these expected rain filled days.
we had a new couple over for shabbos, (no aviva, they are not new they are just new to us) and they were very friendly and nioce and they had a baby that was chanalana's age. so they sat on the floor together and shira poked her eyes. it was fun. we need to replace two sets of friends that are leaving thios summer. thats the problem with boston, its sio transient you work hard getting to know people, you put in the effort, you make them friends of yours and then they leave...before you. how can anyone live in such a place. so these new people are the krochmal's and he works in the jewish bookstore and his wife is from montreal, she might know golda cuz theyre both from Canada.. ai?
well devorah just gpot a mazal tov yesterday in the park from a lady in the hood, and she wasn;t quite sure what it was for, she was holdiong chanalana but this lady had a baby after us so i guess devo just looked confused after a minute and the lady said it was because i had finished school. so devo said i just finished my classwork but i still have a year of clinic, and she told her that her daughter in 7th or 8th grade had told her i finished. i thought that wss funny, i'm topic of conversation in this little girls life and i dont even know her! anyway dont read into that too much but anyway it seems everyone is anxious to get rid of us so angela is available, several people have already 'called' her. then we tell were not leaving yet and they feign happiness but i know deep down they hate us for staying,
well have a good week everyone

Yay for Blogger

I just want to sy Kudos to Blogger because after I had typed my whole last post and tried to publish it, I got one of those Unavailable pages that pop up when you aren't connected to the internet. Because I am typing this at our house, where we put our Internet on hold, the only internet we have is the wireless connection of our neighbor 2 doors over so it's not very good, to say the least. I thought I had lost my whole blog but when I got back to the Posting age, I saw the little underlined words that said Rocover Post. I pressed it and VOILA - there was my post. Hip, hip, hooray, yay Blogger!! -Nat (of the ShuandNat team)

Horrible Sounds

Argh! Help! I sit here at quarter to 9 in the morning (after my baby slept through the night but of course I didn't fall asleep until quarter to 3) with Jonah, just chilling. And he makes such a horrific sound - like he is chewing on his teeth. And then I realized oh no, he has learned how to grind his teeth. Mind you, he only has 2 whole teeth and 2 half teeth, and one quarter of a tooth but they are right on top of each other and he grates them together. I've never really been around anyone who grinds their teeth and therefore I never knew how much I hate the noise. But every time he does it, I freak out and then Jonah laughs. Right, so I know that certainly isn't the way to handle it. But does anyone know how to nip this in the bud???? Do I call the pediatrician? The dentist?? Or am I doomed to live with this noise until the dentist says Jonah has to wear a mouth thingy because he has been grinding his teeth for years and years.
Anywhoo, I hope to hear your comments and maybe someone has a miraculous way to stop it (riiiight....along with getting him to always sleep through the night , not bang his toys on the glass topped coffee table, and lean his head back in the bathtub so I can rinse off his shampoo).
Love you all, Natalie

house update

Just to keep everyone in the loop.....

We have been discussing buying a house with the old lady who lives there. She can't live there anymore because she's too old and has to move to an assisted living facility. I personally don't think she'll last more then a year in that sort of place because she loves her home and the new place is smaller then her living room. We are the only people who have looked at the house and made her an offer for 90% of what she was asking. We also agreed that she can stay until she is ready to move out, which is September. We also said it wouldn't be a problem sending some of the money directly to relatives in America.

She's been waiting for her son-in-law to meet with us and today she gave us his phone number to discuss it with him. He said - without paying a penny, the house is already yours. She won't sell it to anybody else. (I think he meant without even a deposit). Now all we have to do is meet to argue about the details.

We're still not telling our friends about it yet until we have the papers signed.
So things are looking good in that respect.

Pause for an Ephraim Moment

My Ephraim is adorable. You know him. The one with the cheeks and the round head like Charlie Brown. The one with the great laugh and the freckles we call "sprinkles." The one who says his nickname is "Effi", spells it FE and says that no one calls him that.

On Thursday I told him that there were going to be storms on Friday, so the BBQ at school would be indoors instead of at the park. On Friday I saw him at school and he said, "I don't understand. You said it was going to rain today, but we had outdoor recess and it was sunny."

I told him I had watched the Weather Channel that morning and they said it would rain after five. He seemed to be OK with that. A little later, during carpool, he told one of the other kids that it was going to rain later. The other kid said, "How do you know?" Ephriam said, "My mother saw it on the Weather Channel."

After carpool, we went over to Mom and Dad's for some pre-Shabbos hoopla with Bubi and Auntie Barbara. We didn't get home until about 6:45. As we were walking in the door, I said to Arye, "Can you believe what time it is?"

Ephraim said, "Is it after six already??" I said, "Yes, why?"

His eyes big as saucers, he looked at me incredulously, "They cancelled the storm??"

lag ba omer in herzelia beach

hey guys what's up? how's life? It's friday afternoon. I'm so tired but just wanted to keep you posted on my weekly events. Sunday was my hebrew B-day (not that I remembered but my Daddy called me to wish me a happy birthday, so i was surprised), Tuesday (my student day) we went to the beach that was fun. David came back red purplish (no, i didn;t beat him) while i came back black brownish (not fair), I used to hate the sun b4 we got married but since I married David I am much more exposed to the sun, Then May 25th was our six month anniversary. we didn't celebrate it, buti it was just fun to realize how time flies when your having fun. Then Thus night my school friends invited us to a "lag ba omer" party on the beach what i thought to be like in the olden days that you take tuns of wood and fire it, but we got there and realized that we actually don't have a fire, but that didn't stop the guys to put all the meat on a little grill which was fun. Plus most of my friends are married so it was fun to see David and the rest of the husbands trying to connect through the bar.b.q grill. I was even impressed that Duv "nifnef" as opossed to my family bbq's that he just sits there after my brother and Dad finish doing it and then they serve him meat...We had fun but I was so tired I fell asleep on the ride back ( David said that the couple taht drove us back were really nice and that we should hang out with them, ofcourse they are only dating so I hope they get engaged). Anyways today I woke up so late because i had a meat hangover but then i made 3 things (lazanga, kugel and squash keesh) hope they come out great with an oven that cooks in 4 hours one thing. we are davening in the kotel b"h and on shabbos we are going to "Shaarei Tzedek Hospital" to visit , my friend Mimi because I think her mom didn't leave the hospital since she arrived. So I have that feeling that we are gonna walk a lot this shabbos. Kitzur have ya'all a great shabbos and may we only hera good things... love xoxo shany

First of all

Happy birthday Sim. Welcome to the 30s. Aviva has been waiting for someone else to turn 30 for a long time.

Second of all, and not really realted, did you know there is a machlokes between the Rambam and the Ramban regarding whether human flesh is kosher or not. The Ramban takes the opinion that since the torah mentions Animals, birds, fish and insects, but not humans, that human flesh is kosher diaraysa, and the Rabbonim banned it.

The Rambam takesd the approach that human flesh is not kosher. Before Noach, no one ate human flesh or animal flesh. After the flood they lifted the ban on animal flesh, but did not lift the ban on human flesh.

Then, there is the question as to whether a jewish corpse is better than a non-jewish corpse. I do not remember for certain, but I believe a jewish body is preferred.

One of the proofs for the Ramban is we know that breast milk is kosher, and we have a principle which says if it comes from a kosher animal, it is kosher.

Another interesting note - If a cow gave birth to a camel, the camel would be kosher, since Kashrut goes through the mother.

But here is the big difference between the Ramban and the Rambam. If you are in a situation of pikuach nefesh, such as trapped on a desert island, and you have a dead friend and a dead dog, the Ramban would say you should eat the person, which is only Assur D'rabanon, whereas the Rambam would tell you eating either one is the same.

Interestingly, everyone agrees that if someone loses an arm but is still alive, you cannot eat the arm because that would be a violation of Aver Min Hachay.

Don't know what this has to do with Sim's birthday, but I am sure there is a connection somewhere.

Maturing

for the past few weeks my office has beeen buying powerball tickets, with hopes of winning the 100 million plus. Today we were talking about what we would do If we would win. Interestingly enough I was teh only one who said that I would still work. Of course both Brian and Eli laughed and said I was an idiot but I was serious. The way I see it, I don't want Jonah to grow up thinking that you don't have to do anything, that if you want something you'd have to work for it. I did concede that I wouldn't come in teh next day. I would vacation for awhile. But in the end, if I retired at the ripe old age of 24, what would I do wth myself.

Bar Yochai...

Interesting thought. Soem rabbis were sitting around, one said, how wonderful the Romans are for what they did, another said nothing, R' Shimon B Yochai said, its bad cuz they did it for themsleves, some guy listening went and told on them, and Rashb"i had to run and hide in a cave. he was there 12 years, came out, and couldnt deal with the world, couldnt understand people were working and not learning, so he went back in the cave for another year, and then he saw that people need to wrok and all that and he came out. He taught through the Zohar all about Ahavat Hashem and bringing Kedusha through every day things. My question is, after 13 years in the cave, did he change his mind? If he believed in bringing Kedusha in everything, why not through the Roman bridges and streets? I think he went in the cave believing in the Charaidi cutting yourself off from the world, and came out believing in the Dati Leumi bringing Kedusha into everything around you way of life. Happy Lag B'Omer!

Specifically Untitled

I did not Title this because the orignal title would have gotten people very excited/confused for no reason. So i'll start with the story and then give you the title. I am writing this from Maalot. Both of my groups were in Tzefat today. There were so many issues going on with the groups that I felt it necessary to come up here and see that things were running more smoothly. The truth is by the time the train was halfway to Naharia things were much better having been taken care of over the phone. Not as simple as it sounds reading this here, but that's a rant i just don't have the energy to go into now. Sim picked me up from the train in Naharia. In the car on the way over to Maalot David called. Being that we were in the car, Sims phone was on speaker and so we both said hi. Needless to say David was a bit confused as to why we were together. Sim told him it was because I got frusterated at the world and so I came home for the night. Was a bit of a funny thing to say, but so true. Nothing could have been better then being woken up this morning by my nieces & nephews. Title was, So I'm Home. Can't wait until you're all living here...

All alone

I have survived a day without Nat, it went without incident. (for thos who don't know, Nat stayed in Detroit this week, and I'm back in Pittsburgh) I got home from work, heated up some chicken that was leftver from last week, and watched a movie. Now I am sitting in my office all alone watching the Pistons game. I got invited out to the Perecemens for dinner tommorow night, so I know that at least I won't go hungry.

Toilet

Want to hear something gross? More gross than what Arye wrote on his post. Mainly because he wasn't there. Now, to be fair, I love David K. He likes me back, is very friendly to me, and always calls me Mrs. Zacks. From the minute I married Arye. He is a very entertaining fellow, only made more entertaining by Mom's old stories about him. But here's the thing. He's really out there.

One day I called him to come over to fix our dowstairs toilet which seemed to have been backed up, despite Arye's plunging acrobatics. He snaked the toilet out and remove the pencil that was blocking it up, instructed me how to raise my children to not stuff the toilet, and removed the thingy in the toilet tank upstairs that makes us have to hold down the flusher. (I had replace a broken part in it myself, but didn't read the fine print)

The next thing I knew, he had taken off the one working piece of our coat closet door so I can bring it to ACE Hardware and get a new one for the other side. (So, now neither door works, because I do and don't have time to go) He also wrote down exact instructions on how to ask for what I need there on a piece of paper plate that he found in the pantry.

But the gross part comes now. After I asked him to total up my bill, (he didn't charge me for the door or the other toilet) he brought me into the bathroom to show me that he scratched the bottom of the toilet. At which time he took a pencil (a different pencil) from above his ear, tried to "erase" the scratch in the toilet, shook it off, and put it back above his ear. Trying not to gag or laugh, I escorted my friend David K. to the door. Closing the door, I looked at Nava. "Did you see that?"

There's no place like home

We are back in detroit, at least for now. Our trip was relativly uneventful, I did get a speeding ticket on the turnpike (see my blog for that story). We had dinner with R & V and family last night, and came to moms for lunch today. When we got home our lawn was a disaster, long grass, lots of weeds, so at 8 am, i got out the old lawnmower and mowed away. The highlight of teh day came around 11:30 when I picked up my diploma from teh U of D offices. I guess now I'm officially a college Graduate. whoopeee, in the words of Yaakov, no more teacher no more books...

NEVER AGAIN...

no, its not yom hashoah..... its the last day of class EVAH (thats ever in bahston)!!!!!!!! i just finished my last class of (hopefully) my life! i no longer have to come to lecture hall 2 and sit in uncomfortable chairs listening to lectures.
i know i'll have to take CE ourses and what not but not here. not in the next year. now its on to clinic. rotation #1 is at Dimock Community Health Center. located in the beautiful city of Roxbury, MA. maybe you've heard of roxbury, its where all the shootings and stabbings occur in playgrounds and parks. im gonna try to keep my gun at home so i dont accidentaly get in on the fun. that'll really ruin my fourth year rotation and i may have to stay for an extra year or 6.
well before i go to my rotation on MAy 31 i have to get through finals. one on monday, tuesday and thursday. they are not easy and i'm trying to study for them but its very difficult. well my study break is over. no more school no more books no more teachers dirty looks...

Lunch

Had a very nice lunch with Mom today at a very nice restaurant. I invited Bubi too, but, wouldn'tcha know it, she's had a canasta game to play!

Oh, well. Bubi and Saba are coming for Friday night dinner with Shu and Nat. We're starting Shabbos with Young Israel instead of with God. The kids will be allowed to stay up for this special occasion.

BTW, for anyone who is going to be in the area, we have some family events coming up:

June 5 at 12:30 pm, Nava's Bubble Birthday Party!
June 5 at 5:30 pm, B'nei Akiva's Yom Yerushalayim Celebration, Daniel's class performing!
June 9 at 9:00 am, Ephraim's Kindergarten Graduation!

Sixteen more school days!

Daniel would love it

Jonah has learned a new (very funny) trick. He blows on our skin, and makes very realiatic fart noises. Natalie wants to know if this is normal for children, or if perhaps Jonah has a special talent.

manic monday

I managed to find a babysitter for tomorrow night. Yay, I can go to parent/teacher confrences!
I told my neighbor I hate them because I never undestand when there is so much going on, he suggested I ask them to talk in english and then they will be the ones going really slow. Funny thought, but it could never happen. If it is one on one then I have more of a chance of understanding.
David called earlier to tell someone we knew was being arrested for blocking trafick. 10 min. later sarra called to find out if his parents should be called. I, being female and a mom, imediatly said we should call. Simmy debated for a couple of minutes because he thinks it'll just worry them for a hour. We ended he should call, but David is on the phone again and he didn't call. What's your vote?

the batcave

at first i felt like batman... sipping coffee in the batcave with alfred my trusted slave, before robin my 'little boy' came on the scene. so there i was sitting by myself (Alfred was in his room) and the bat alarm went off. someone has infiltrated the batcave. my home my escape. where i can be myself and not be you. where i can share my innnermost feelings and thoughts with alfred. and now ho was this being that has come into my home. at first i thought it was an accident,an honest mistake of going down the wrong road going through the fake mountain door and accidentally getting passed the bats and intop the batcave but now i think its a little more than that. i think this thing came here on purpose and i dont know what to do.
how could a non zacks blog and comment on the zacksloop?????????????????
anyway, now that thats over yael has decided that she doesnt want to go to ballet because she already knows it all and its boring?if she says that with ballet what is gonna be with school in a few years??
i think chanalana is getting better a little bit at a time.
and i'm almos5t done with school. woohoo
gotta go...robin's coming

Aliza's Here!!!!!!!!

Hey it's the Sarra/Aliza team blog. I will now grant Aliza writing time being that she's gracing me with her presence this evening:
hi zacks family. so, i am hanging with sarra and her roommate jessica (who is so nice, by the way!!!) i came here straight from the airport on thursday night and stayed over till i went to aunt susans for shabbat. i was suppoosed to stay at aunt susans tonight but decided to come back cuz this place is so nice (okay, its cuz my yucky dog cousin lucy was peeing at mindys house on her couches and mindy needed her to pee on susans couches, so i left!) going to the kings tomorrow - will not be the same without you people there with me!!! anyway, israel is awesome....(sarra just said she has the munchies - anyone concerned???) okay, i am jetlagged and bit loopy (hey this is the loop!!!)....special regards to daniel, fry, and nava, and of course to my pretend neices and nephews.....
And now back to Sarra...
Funny story....(aliza is listening so i'll keep it clean)...I was planning on eating friday night dinner with the group that I'm working
wait - she got up to fill her munchy issue - she got string beans....what is with this chick....k, back to sarra
with who arrived on Friday. After spending sufficient time with them on their first day in the holy land, i decided I did not want to eat Friday night dinner with them, but I had not made plans yet. So, I called Josh who always knows what's going on and who has room, and he told me that there are two girls who live two doors away from me who are making a big dinner and I could definitely go there. Now, a little funny side note is when my non-date last Sat night walked me home he commented that I live two doors down from two girls who he is friends with and it's weird that he's never met me before. I told him I don't know the girls and never knew they lived there. Back to the story at hand, I called one of the girls' and she was very happy to have me over and told me that she had heard there were 3 girls living 2 doors away from here...anyway, Friday night I show up and meet the girls (who are very nice). They had about 10 guests coming, of course who walks in the door...that's right my last nonDate date guy. Who comments how interesting it is that I've now met my neighbors. I feel like I'm stalking him, but I know I'm not, not only did I comment about this to my roommate when I got home, but Aliza just asked if I was stalking him...hmmm...
So, there we are at dinner and someone mentions that they dont' know everyone there and we should all introduce ourselves. My nondater says he has a better idea...why doesn't everyone introduce someone else..so everyone starts introducing someone else at the table. When it was nondate's turn he said he wanted to introduce me, but the guy sitting next to me said he couldn't because he's already decided that he was going to introduce me, and that in his head he had already "called it", so my nondatee did not introduce me, however i am left wondering how he would've introduced me...till next time

The big Fadicha (awkward scene)

hey it's shany what's up?
We just came back from shabbat at my parents' it was nice yata yata yata but what i would like to tell ya'll a sad and funny story at once. On erev Yom Haatzmaut we were invited to my friend's house for a little party, as we were about to leave the house Mendy or Menachem as he calls himself, told us not to come because the girl that was having the party got a message that her friend got in accident and was injured. A day later I get text messages to my cell that my friend Michal from Montreal was injured in an accident (she was the passanger on the motorscooter, nothing happened to the driver...). Anyways I really felt like We should go visit her' (it's only a 45 minute walk to Shaarei Tzedek Hospital from my parents house). So today I forced David to wake up so we could go. We found where she was after a lot of climbing stairs. I asked the male nurse where she is, and he pointed straight ahead, I was in shock no one prepared me to see someone with a "halo" machine that held her head and back up, and she was connected to so many wires. I felt horrible because no one said she's in that position where she can't even cough.. Anyways while I was inside David was outside making small talk with the Mom playing Jewish geography but when she came back in to talk to me, we started talking and then she told me that she used to live in Bet shemesh when she did sherut Leumi. I told her that my parents also used to live in Bet shemesh and then she understood who my parents are she said oh your Mom is Kelly & Your Dad is David Edry (My dad's old last name b4 Adar)... Then she said that she knew my Dad better so that didn't seem weird to me, later when I came home I told my mom the story and she is like oh my gosh "Shany I have to tell you a story"/ Apparently this lady (who was friendly with my mom) came to Bet shemesh to do sherut leumi, she used to hang out in the sherut leumi girls apt, where everyone used to go and chill there. One day This Girl told her that she had the biggest crush on this guy,My Mom really didn't like the guy when she first met him was convincing this Girl Not to like him' because he's 9 years older then her and she could do better. The girl went back to Montreal, and when she came to Israel a year later, my mom had gotten engaged to that girls crush(MY DAD), which makes my mom look really bad as if she wanted him so she scared the other girl away. but really my mom didnt like my dad then and only fell for him later. My parents keep telling me to invite her but I'm so embarrased. Its funny how things turn out. Good night and have a Shavua Tov

First Shoes....and First Steps?

Well, the time has come to buy Jonah shoes. I don't know that I am ready to buy my baby boy shoes. He's too little. First, come the shoes and then he'll be walking before I know it. Woah..
But the truth is, I feel really bad taking him out without shoes. Because he likes to stand. And go places. Like when we went to the bank the other day to open an account (I know that sounds like we are officially staying in Pittsburgh but it's just a way to deposit Shauli's once a month paycheck so we can attempt to pay the bills and our mortgage). So we had to sit and wait at the bank and Jonah wanted to stand. But I don't know what's on that floor. And while it was probably perfectly clean, I really would prefer Jonah wearing shoes. Because you never know.
So now comes the Shoe Dilemna! Maybe I am making a bigger deal of this then I should be but I always heard that you aren't supposed to put hard shoes on babies who aren't walking yet cuz it can really mess up their feet. Ok, so the cute miniature hiking boots are out.
Recently, I have started hearing about and seeing these soft-soled shoes called Robeez that people LOVE because they stay on and don't mess the little footsies up and yada yada. And they have a whole bunch of designs and colors and what not. Also, they are made in Canada. So I went to check out these said "Robeez" and they were $29 for one pair!! I figured it was just because I saw them in an expensive shoe store so I checked elsewhere and went online and that's basically the norm!!! $26-$29 for a pair of shoes for my 8 month old?? I don't spend that much on shoes for myself. GULP!! And it's not the kind of thing I want to buy used on e-bay (even those are still expensive). So do I give in and buy these GREAT shoes for my baby? Or keep him barefoot? (I did used to dream of moving to the hills near Har Arbel and watching my kids run barefoot through the fields.......) Or get some other kind of shoes? Hmmm.....
What do you suggest??? Thanks, Natalie

day of bones...

happy yom haatzamus to all.
today devo took chanalana to the dr because yesterday and the day befor and the day before she wasnt feeling very well. so when her temp hit 104.5 (F) yesterday we got a little nervous, how many little brain cells were being cooked? we could smell them and it smelled like rotten eggs, but i digress. so we called the doctor last night at midnight because even though she was throwing up all evening with nothing but dry heaves and bile coming up( nice picture? imagine it on YOUR clothes) so we couldnt give her medicine orally so you guessed it UP THE YING YANG we (devorah) suppositoried her every couple of hours. (i think she liked it) (both of them)
so we called the doc at midnight to find out what to do when she wakes up at 3am throwing up again, and we waited like half hour and they didnt call back but chanalana fell into a lethargic sleep and we did too. so when the doc called at 2:30am we were elated. what service! and caring professionals. so other than telling us we don't kno0w how to take a temp because if she had such a high temp then shed be dead by now the dr was very nice on the phone. so this morning devo took her to the dr and she spent all morning there and they did lots of test and heres the conclusion. chanalana has a raging UTI which she got a high dose potent antibiotic shot for and now shes on the 15 day disabled list taking antibiotics, but thats not all...she also has to be on lotriman diaper cream top stop the yeast infection tyhats bound to come with 14 days of strong antibiotics, but thats not all, she also needs to continue the thrush medicine as hger thrush started coming back from her last antibiotic experience from pesach. and thats all folks
(every we and us in the story is devorah) im just along for the ride

LOL

I just finished catching up on everyone's goings on for the past week, and you're all crazy!!!!!
First of all, to set the record straight, Batsheva doesn't eat steak, so if Justin or anyone told her the best way to cook it, she would move to different seat. It was a nice dinner and I dont think that Shev has the hots for Eli. She's got her eyes on other boys at the moment.

I'm happy that David had such a meaningful and fun experience on Har Herztl, thanks for the shiur on hallel

Its nice to know that eventually Shauli and Nat will be coming home, and that Yonah may have all his teeth by then so that he'll be happy.

Sounds like Sim and Golda and the kids are still enjoying the great outdoors. I'm jealous, just stay away from Shlomi please. Sounds like all the birthdays are now like polish weddings and last for weeks!!!!!

It got cold here, which is sad because we had 1 pool day in which everyone that wanted went swimming including me. Batsheva had the 1st swim party of the season, and the last for at least a week as temperatures are in the 40 - 60 range.

I love you all
Mom (for those who don't read who wrote)

Baby face

Hey,
Happy Independence Day! Last night I was at the main big ceremony at har herzl bringing in Yom HaAtzmaut. It was very cool. It was even cooler since its a VIP event and everyone watches it on TV, but my sister-in-law was in it and got us tickets. Today we are having a bbq. And unlike galut Jews, I'm going to shave, cuz today is a holiday. Just another reason to live in the land....As far as saying Hallel goes, I looked up the matter, and every time there is a public miracle we are supposed to say Hallel. They said Hallel in many European cities throughout the Middle Ages whenever they were saved from an attack, and they said it every year. So, unless you look at Israel from a Satmar point of view, youre supposed to say it. For the miracle of throwing out non-Jewish rule, of bringing in the Jews to their homeland, of winning a war. I'm not sure about Jews out of Israel though. Is it considered a miracle that took place here, and we only say it in Israel, or is it a Jewish miracle and it said everywhere......Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

Good News

Brian has finally set up a meeting in Detroit with Huron Valley School District, one week from this Thursday. This is great news for a few reasons
1. My whole reason for being here is so that I can run the Detroit branch. By setting up our meeting it’s the first step towards my return.
2. Once we get things started in Detroit, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel as far as our return to Detroit
3. We will be in Detroit for a long weekend, getting in Wednesday night, staying till Sunday. We will then be back home the following Shabbat for Yom Hazikaron B'America weekend.

Things that make you go hmmm

Yesterday was Naomi's hebrew birthday, and yes for the most part we keep hebrew birthdays now, actually we keep both and you get to celebrate in between too, it's a good deal. So to return to my original thought; We were going to take Naomi out for dinner, just her with her mom and dad, thats us. The babysitter called at 4 and cancelled, she was supposed to come at six. Out of the options given to her, Naomi chose to still go out that night with all her siblings in tow. We got to Nahariya, hung out at the beach while waiting for Simmy and we were all good and hungry, but....It was erev yom hazikaron and that means everything closes early, hmmmm. We finally found a pizza place open, but over all it was a rather disappointing night out.
Today, we met Simmy in Nahariya again, he got off early for erev yom Haatzmaut, and we explored the area around rosh hanikra a little, no, not Lebanon, the Israel side.
Tomorrow we plan on hiking nachal bezek and then BBqing at home, the guys are getting tired of waiting for the coal to heat up.
Now the kids are lying in bed quietly because if they stay quiet and are still awake then i will take them to the shul for dancing at 9:30 (it's almost 8). Parents can be tricky when they want thier kids to sleep.
Loved all the pictures, sorry our camera broke, hopefully sometime soon we will get pics up again.
Chag sameach one and all.

New Phone

Yesterday, Nat and I recieved our new phone service from Vonage, the internet phone company. I don't know what our phone nukber is now, but in 2 weeks or so, it will be the same as our Detroit number. The Vonage system is pretty cool, so far, and there was no delay when we called Mom to test it out.

Dinner, Yum

To all my brothers and sisters who deserted us...

We had a most delectable dinner last night at Eli's new restaurant call Grille 173. And here's what I have to say:

Ambience - fantastic
Appetizers - delicious
Side of beef on my plate - juicy and tasty
Marinated vegatables - yum
Mashed potatoes - too much stuff in it
Arye's fries - good
Company - priceless
Bill - have no idea thanks to Dad, Harry and Saba (and spouses)
Babysitter - really good

Also, kudos to my new favorite cousin who knows a little somethin' about ordering steak (thanks to a summer job). Medium-well, people. That's all I have to say.

Just in The Mood

I feel like complaining-so here goes.
One morning, the week before Pesach, we were woken up very early by what sounded like our building collapsing. Since we were tired, we tried to go back to sleep,but it didnt work. So MyShan went upstairs to see if we had to evacuate or not. Turns out, the family above us decided to remodel their apartment. She asked them why they couldnt tell us beforehand so we could at least be prepared, and the lady told her that anyway they were remodeling, so it didnt matter if we knew. Thsi from the same lady who told us two moths before that she always tries to keep her kids quiet so they dont disturb us....Since then, theyve been construction almost every day. They like to start the actuall drilling around 7, but we hear them scraping stuff beofre them. They finish around 7PM. I've tried drowning out the noise by putting music on (I know its sefira, but theres not much else to do) but I get a headache from that cuz the music has to be really loud to drown out the drilling. One morning they woke me up, and when I went to the bathroom I saw a shower of dirty water coming down. I ran up to yell at them, but only the arabs were there. They came and told me its from the heater. I also had an enormous paperwork I had to do for school. I sat here for days trying to work on the computer, figuring out how to use VLookup on Excel to sort out the missing dates, looking up whatever I could on the Internet about Schlumberger LTD, all the time with the sound of construction on my head. Thats enough complaining. That felt good. Anwyay, I handed in my paperwork on time, so at least thats over. Hope everyone has a meaningful Yom Hazikkaron and a joyous Yom HaAtzmaut!

The pain in my mouth finally subsided, but still, I went to the dentist. He gave me an antibiotic shot, and told me to come in and get a cleaning in a month or so...There were two things about this doc that impresse me
1. I walked in and he asked if I had been to his office before, I told him I didnt think, but he was positive, and turns out he was right. I went to see him in while I was in 11th grade, (I know i went to a dentrist once here, so I assume that it must have been him, since he remembered) I thought that was cool, the doc remebered that he saw me and I didnt.
2. His hygentist had saops on teh tib ein the office, when he cam ein he switced it over to ESPN classic, and we watched a 1971 boxing match between Ali and some guy named Oscar. the doc would stop what he was doing, and talk about the fight. As I was leaving teh office, he yells out my name, thinking maybe he knew what was wrong with me, I ran back. All excited he said watch the end, and right then Ali knocked teh guy out.

In other tooth news, Jonah has cut a top tooth...Thi ssucks for us, because it means we get no sleep. for the past fw night he has been teh devil, crying all night, and only sleeping if we held him, or if he was in our bed...This can be really bad tonight because I have to be up at 5:30 to take someone to the airport, sometims I'm just to nice..

Bugjo?

David is really Bugjo?

That's great.

Exploding Diaper Club

Happy Mothers Day to All!! But mostly to the Mothers.
I guess I will have to wait a few years for the Good Morning Breakfast in Bed (made by the kid(s) and the husband). My wake up this morning(at 6:45am) was not quite as pleasant. But I think of it as just another "initiation" - this time into the Exploding Diapers Club. Now, I have used that term before but I always referred to a very full diaper that leaks. But Jonah's diaper this morning EXPLODED. And I got to see the stuff that diapers are made of. Apparently it's GOOP. Or more likely, crystals that turn into goop when they get wet. And I guess if they get SOO wet, it pops and the goop ends up on my baby's belly. So poor Jonah took his first shower this morning because our new house has one of those little sprayers. We got the goop off and thought it would be time to go back to bed. But apparently the Little Prince had other plans. So we stayed up and played. Well, he played and I worked. His Dad watched a stupid movie until Jonah went to sleep. Then he went to sleep. Then I went to sleep.
And we were all in much better moods when we woke up again later. The afternoon went a lot better and we spent a few hours in Point Park which is where all 3 rivers meet. And Jonah attempted to eat his first apple. Whole apple. Apparently his cousin eats apples so he should try them too. Aviva, you definitly have someone rivaling you when it comes to giving my baby new things to eat (that I am not quite comfortable with).
Shauli was going to make Fettucini Alfredo for dinner (ooh la la) but he opted for Mac and Cheese from a box in the end. So he is at the store buying milk. And we are all dreaming of the wonderful BBQ you Detroiters are having. Mm mmm mmm.
Oh yah, Shauli got me a card too (aren't you proud Veev?). And he signed it Shauli Zacks. In case I got him confused with my other "baby daddy".

I'm an inspiration

No really, i am. At least my roommate says so. Shabbat was excellent. I stayed home this week, even though I was invited to Eli - which I have been meaning to go to for a while- b/c I hadn't really been feeling 100% this week, and I wanted to catch some sleep in my own bed. Friday night was loud, with about 20 guests, and I left a little early. Shabbat day I woke up feeling much better. Jess and I went to a friend of hers with only 10 guests - 8 of whom I knew. One guy who I haven't met yet (although he claims to have met me already) and i hit it off pretty well. Saturday night, I called the mutual friend and asked for his number, and as it turned out, he had no plans and would love to go grab burgers or pizza with me. So he picked me up in front of the apartment and off walked to Emek to grab some burgers. He loved that I called him, thought it was very cool and gutsy of me - two points: Sarra! We had a great time, and then walked around the city for a while, until at around 1am we found ourselves in front of my apartment. Shmoozed for about 10 minutes outside, and then said g'night, told him I had a great time, he thanked me for calling said he had a lot of fun...and the night ended. wheee!
Okay...he's a really nice guy - I only ask out the really nice guys. From NY (don't hold it against him), he's been living here for about 8 years off and on, made aliya about 4 years ago, but doesn't know if he's set on staying forever. I'm not letting that cloud my judgement...after he falls madly in love with me - he's not going to be leaving. He works in the computer programming world, and he's a really really cute nerd. That's it for now. I'll let you know if he calls, cuz he defenitely has to make the next call...a girl can only do so much....

pesach pictures are on the web

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=562680600106&page=1&sort_order=0

enjoy!
im gonna send out an email in case this doesnt work

So much pain

It's 2:40 am, i sit by the computer with a frozen steak pressed againast my lower jaw :(
For the past week I've had a nasty cold that was accompnied by sinus headaches, and headaches that felt like the pain started in my jaw. I figured I shoukd see a dentist sometime, but the pain would subside, so I decided I'd wait untill I was back in Detroit. Until now, I woke up at 2 in terrible constant pain, tylenol hasnt done anything for me. I guess I have to call a dentist first thing and see if he can see me. Of course thus has to happen now, tommorow is supposed to be my first meeting with a potential client, who is dying to get on the bus...I dunno if We'll try and reschedule, or maybe Brian will just have to go on without me. Either way, the pain has gotta stop!!

home again

i(devorah) love going on long road trips because it makes you really appreciate home
not that we didnt have a great time in detroit and new york ....... just home is different
yom tov was great but chanalana forgot to stop crying - she wanted to be held the entire 8 day sof yom tov - and not by all of the thousands of loving family members that were around adn wanted to hold her only by me and yaakov.
Yael and Shira knew tons for the seder but once they were up late - they just were not the same after that (unless cuz i stayed up for the whole seder i was so tired and grouchy and they were angels)
they actually were not bad but i was too tired to deal with the "wetting" that began and stuff like that !
So getting home to a schedule is nice shira even told me that home is great cuz we have all of the best toys that she loves in the world ! i still feel all warm and fuzzy from that comment and decided that i will push off taking her to toys r us to get a new bike until she forgets that our toys are the best.
yaakov was even able to smile when his "closet" broke and fell down (he uses a curtain rod for his shirts - yeah jeff foxworthy would have a field day with that)
Yael is loving school and playing with naama (our neighbor)
Chanalana finally got over her ear infection adn another virus that she got that involved blisters all over the inside of her lips and she is a sweet smiley baby

Youre Uninvited

MyShan has started blogging! But since she didnt get invited to blog on the Loop, she started her own blog. www.shanyaz.blogspot.com

it's been a while

havent written in a while because i've actually been busy. i know, many are shicked but the end is near! three more weeks and no more school! woohoo! BUT there's these three weeks, and then there's finals. so we came back from our great pesach break and i realized i had three papers to write and a presentation to give. the presentation was to be given the tuesday after yom tov (chag) and that went along with a 20 page business plan. thankfully we are n groups of three. and i did most of my of part before i left. we didnt start working on the presentation though till i got back so it was a stressful day. we got back from NY at 3am after chag(yomtov) and i had clinic at 8am and thena workshop after clinic and then i had to work on the presentation so i got home about 7pm and went to sleep pretty well that night until chanalana woke up twice. oh well. so then i had two more papers to write this week. one for a pediatrics course wwhich is really just a bunch of stories about the kids and one in a business management class which i just flubbed my way through 5 pages. so now i have 5 minutes to read and write and get in on the loop. in other news i drove dads new car it was cool. over the last week i drove 12.5 hours to detroit and about 12 hours to NY (detoured through pittsburgh) and then 3hours and 8 minutes from NY to boston. ( the last one was really good timing) also it was like a lot of miles, and the ids were great. and devorah drove at least 3 hours of it so that helped a lot as well.
so now im tired and i have studying to do.
have a good shabbos

Scary Thought

Some people have deep thoughts they blog about, others have funny thoughts, daily thoughts, and random thoughts. I'm not about to confine myself to one type of daily thought blogging so don't be expecting a "Scary Thought Of The Day" string. Just one scary thought for the blog world.

I just talked to Cheryl and Shoshana about where Shoshana should go to seminary...

Scary right...

Where ever you go.....

Mom always says "Behave because no matter where yo go, someone will know hwo you are."
The last day of Pesach Nat Jonah and I went to the Butler sfor a visit (we knew they knew us) and they had a crazy BBQ (they have a kosher for Pesach grill, now thats thinking ahead) and some other people who we didnt know. After the introductions were made, One girl came over to me, introduced herself as Susie Jacobs, told me that she's from Charleston and used to sit next to Bubba in shul. She knew Sim and Golda from NCSY, and she is living in Pittsburgh. So we were talking about the old country and what not, when she asked if we still lived in Detroit. I told her we did, There was another couple at the table who overheard our conversation, and turned to her husband and said, Detroit, thats where Devorah lives. So i dutifuylly asked Devorah who? to which she replied, Devorah Bulman Zacks. I informed her that she is my sister In law, and is currently living on Boston. (she knew that) her name was Nava something or another from the Heights. after that was all doen a third couple came in for a late BBQ snack, and we didnt know them and they didnt know us.

Monday

Today was just a regular day!! No Yom Tov meals to cook, no Shul to go to, it was nice. I got to spend a good part of it with Daniel, Ephraim and Nava. We had a fun time here and then we went to the library where Nava was afraid of the tree house, the sleeping dragon, and the puppet show that Ephraim kept saying he was going to put on for her. Oh well, so she whines. We then left the library after a nice stay there and went to the pizza shop which was too crowded to eat in. Ephraim wanted to go ask all the people at the tables if they were about done so that we could sit down, but I kept telling him no. We took the food back to their house wherewe ate with Aviva and then I got to leave. I thought I'd do something with Shev in the afternoon as she didn't have school either, but she went to lunch with rivka and came home close to 3 and didnt feel like doing anything, so I did laundry and more laundry and brought up stuff from the basement and in general worked at getting the house in shape.
(Aviva, you could have called me, I would have brought thekids back here)
for dinner we had bagels, salad and eggsalad.
not very exciting, but I was all cooked out.
Looking forward to tomorrow with no major plans.
Love you all

Waaaahhhh!

My sinuses are at it again, and I'm cranky and whiny. Oh, and I'm the Mommy.

Mad props to Mom for taking the kiddies off my hands this morning and for buying lunch, but since I'm the Mommy, I used my first free time in 2 weeks to go shopping at Costco.... alone! Stupid, because then I crashed in the afternoon and stayed in bed for 5 hours.

So thanks to my big boy Daniel who took charge of everyone all afternoon (but drew the line at wiping Nava).

And thanks also to my honey who came home an hour early from work and fed everyone and drove people where they needed to go and did the laundry and washed the dishes from breakfast and brought all the Costco stuff to the basement and all the fridge stuff upstairs to the kitchen and made sure Daniel and Frai were showered (but drew the line at bathing Nava).

And now I'm going upstairs to take a Tylenol Sinus. Cheers.

Chags Up

Hello everyone. As we are all relaxing into the regular swing of things I thought I'd also add to the reflections of Chag.
We had a very enjoyable Chag. My finger is healing nicely( Sarra thinks it is nowhere near as bad as I made it sound), Simmy got better quick enought to enjoy Chol Hamoed and we had a good time. We loved having Sarra here all week, even when we weren't home. David and Shani graced us with their precence as well and we finally met the roomate Jessica. She is very nice and is invited back anytime (she liked my cooking). During chol hamoed we camped out down by Beer Sheva, got to visit Gush Katif, which has the most awesome sand on the beach. It was white and soft and clean, we enjoyed the beach. We did the Bsoar reserve, Airforce museum and nachal Amud. By the way after our afternoon in the airforce museum, I'd like to advise all of you before you stand in a line, any line, ask what it is for and if there are similar things like that without lines and don't give your kids the option of standing in the long line.
All in all a fun time however.
I have an old friend coming up for shabbat with her family, so we are lookiing forward to that and thats about it.

It's Something Unpredictable

Have you ever sat in a class, looked around, and then noticed that your leg was attached to someone else, then realize that its not your leg, just another guy wearing jeans and brown shoes? Remarkably, I stayed calm through the whole incident.
I'm still not enjoying class. I figured maybe after a nice break, I'd come back and enjoy it more. It didnt happen. I didnt really think that either. I've learned from last semester that more important than going to class is buying the book of old tests and studying that really well. I've discovered what I believe is the main difference in school here and there. In America, I had a text book and homework, and if I understood the book and knew the answers to the homework I was guaranteed a good grade in the class. Here, there is no text book and barely any homework. If you go to class, do all the homework, and go over all the old test from the past ten years, you'll probably pass. But its not a guarantee. The tests arent really on the material you learn, but based on the material you learn. I got to get to my next class, hope everyone in Chu"l enjoyed their long holiday...

For What It's Worth...It Was Worth All The While

Pesach was excellent. At least looking back it was. At the time, going through the motions, it had its ups and downs. Was a little more emotionally charged then I'd have liked, planned or wanted, but the end result was an awesome chag with a lot of fun and adventure thrown in. I spent the whole week up in the Galil using the Maalot Zacks' home as a base. Yom Tov was fun, with good old fashion teasing and all...
Chol Hamoed started with a hike with Sim Golda and the kids, and then they left me and went camping. I decided against camping with them, although I probably would have had a great time. I just wasn't in the mood. All my hiking friends had bailed on me, and I was in the mood to be miserable. It was a little hard to be miserable surrounded by such beauty and coolness. I took my trying to be miserable self to the beach for a little R&R and read an awesome book I'd recommend to everyone (except for Aviva) called Night Fall. The book was great, the beach was awesome, and I hitched home relaxed and ready for tomorrow. I borrowed some movies from the SJ's, was invited on a hike with David & Amalia, and heard from my roommate Jessica that she was going to come up. Things were looking up. Jessica and I met in Teveria - thanx to "Zohar" who drove me from Carmiel. We went on a boat ride, ate out, and chilled on the promanade. Then we caught a lift out of Teveria to Tzefat. We decided to chill there for the night - no really chill...in the cold...without a place to sleep or a sleeping bag... When I had chilled enough I woke Jessica up and told her we needed to find a warmer place. So we met our new friends who "broke into" the midrasha where we found couches and blankets and running water & toilet paper! whoo-hooo. Jessica was glad I woke her! We slept there until the next afternoon when we ventured out to find food. We ran into some friends from Yerushalayim who were on their way to Nahariya. So we got a ride with them, chilled on the beach some more, and then met Sim & Golda for an A+ steak fest. I'm now an expert chips maker. Friday we went off hiking some more, and met a new friend - Ariel - who lives up in Maalot. I'm going to probably hire him to work for me as a madrich in May, so this all worked out amazingly. Shabbos/Yom Tov was awesome! The agam was fun, the SJ's were great company, and of course nothing beats Sim & Golda's. So all in all...I had a pretty hard time being miserable.