No dog

The dog experiment came to a close yesterday, it was sad an painful, but something that we had to do. We arent closing teh door on the idea of owning a dog, just putting it on hold for a bit. You can see pics of the dog and Jonah on Nat's blog

Dogs

This afternoon Nat Jonah and I went to check out some potential dogs. Our Vet friend said they had a couple of dogs at her clinic that we should come see, so we went. The dogs were cute, young, seemed like they would be fun around the house. And most importantly Jonah seemed to get along great with them. He seemed to prefer the baby cat that Nat was holding, but due to my hatred of cats, he was only allowed to play with them at the clinic.

We shoudl find out tomorrow what the story is with the two dogs that we liked, but we won't be bringing anything home till after Pesach.

That's all the news that fit to print for now...have a good one

Update: We are bringing the dog hoime this afternoon for a test run

g is for gessica, golda, gittel

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR GOLDA
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!

we miss y'all

are you turning 30??????????

Tables Are Turned

Many many times, as with all male Zacks', I've had to borrow Dad's tallis in shul for either an aliyah or opening the aron, or whatever else they were doing in shul that had to do with a tallis. At my brother-in-laws bar mitzva on thursday I had the unique oppurtunity to pay Dad back. He got called to open the aron and didnt have a tallis on him (he had davened earlier) so I lent him mine. I also offered to allow him to go under my tallis for birkat kohanim (yes, we do that every day) but he declined.
In other unique news, I shook Amir Peretz's hand today while he was walking around Jerusalem and wished him good luck. Unfortunately I didnt have my camera on me :-(

My Baby is three

I know that most of you can't beleive that my baby is now three and there is no little one running after him, but sometimes life is funny.
My baby has turned three! He's funny and loves chocolate. He still runs around with sparkles of mischief shining in his bright blue eyes and is alot of fun.
And that is my ode to my little one.

what did you do today?

i went to a chalitzah today. it was really cool. first this rav flew in from memphis to do it. i guess there aren't that many traveling chalitzah rabbanim. and then they washed the guys foot, and put on this funky leather shoe with straps going around it and some buttons on it, there were 5 rabbanim that were eidim, and the guy and the girl both had to say stuff that they repeated from the rav. there was a little bit of crying, some tissue giving and then the lady takes the shoe off the guy only using her right hand and she throws the shoe to the side and then she spits in front of the eidim ( she had to spit 3 times before they ll saw the spit, she was prettty embarrassed) and then she says another thing and the party is over.
all in all a good time was had by all. they started videotaping it but the guy requested the video be turned off. no lchayim or food afterwards but i just thought it was a reall interesting experience

purim

Nat's dad

Tonight and tomorrow is Nats father's (David ben Avraham) Yahrtzeit, may his neshama have an aliyah.

Poor Jonah

Jonah woke up this morning and it looked like a bug got inside his pajamas and had a feast. (This would explain why he slept like crap) He had what looked liek bites all over his legs, and one big red splotch on his shoulders. At first we thought it was G-d informing us that having our little boy wear tights, even on Purim, wasn't cool. But teh ones on his shoulders told us that was unrelated to tight wearing.

Nat whisked him to the Doctor, and after an hour of waiting in the office, she was finally seen. The initial thouyght was perhaps he had strep, but the strep test said otherwise. Then the Doctor decided that it must have been the motrin Jonah had before bed.

The big red splotches, which turned out to be hives, went away for teh most part. And tomorrow Nat and Jonah take off to NY for about a week, I hope he feels all better

Purim

Purim is officially over, the house is almost back to normal.

We had a great time at our Seuda, Arye and Aviva and the kids came, as well as many of our good friends. There was a lot of foods, waaaay to much, I have a freezer full of extra hamburgers and buns.

I took shaloch manos over to the Hochheisers, and we reminisced about past years, the puking, the crystal bowl throwing, the general drunkenness. Our seudah didn't have any of those classic moments but we did have a great time.

Hope the Bostoners and Israelis had a great Purim as well, next year, we should all get together for seudah.

HAPPY PURIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HALF AN HOUR LEFT

hey all...i havent posted in a while. as i metnioned to sim, the last time i did i think i was high. i am not high now. i am tired, i am thirsty, and my head hurts, but i am not high. i wish i was high. there is a half an hourof not eating now. really, its not the eating that bothers me. its the drinking. for the first time in like ever, i woke up thirsty. its god teasing me. i bet Hes laughing now. thanks god, love ya too...well, we're in israel now. i dont really know why im writing that because if you dont know that were in israel i dont think theres any loop hope for you. EVER. so live with it, and move on. there is life after the loop!! there is life after loop, after loop after loop...wowowow lotsaloops. ok annnnyways. the most exciting things that ahppened so far was seeing a white girl dressed up as an old black man for purim (reeeeeeeally good costume, i couldnt tell until david pointed her out to me), getting a firecracker thing blown up in my face (it was not funny until like 10 minutes later when i started breathing again) and beating naomi at War. youd think shed be better at war, living in israel and all...but hey. avigayil was on my team. we're unbeatable. anyhowzers, theres 20 minutes left til the fast now. 20 minutes...soon to be 15. ill update you as it happens. whats funny is that YOU stinkers in america still have like a whole day of non-eating time. sucks for you. but im not gonna laugh at you, cuz that would be mena. HAHAHAHAHA. sorry, it just came out. k im running out of things to write. i would stop, but that would mean playing War with avigayil and i think she might win if we play. i want to keep my reputation as the Unbeatable Shev. ergo, i will keep writing. if you're reading this, then youre reading AND im writing. how cool is that?!??! ok it made sense in my head. it STILL makes sense in my head. 13 minutes left. then we're gonna go hear megillah...im not going in costume this year. sim brought me a cowboy hat. hi sim!!! im not gonna wear it. do you know wy? cuz it looks weird. no offense dad and sim, but you guys look like kenny chesney, only hes better lookin. aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyhowzers when i told sim i wasnt gonna wear his cowboy hat, he said whyy? dad said 'she's a teenage girl' which is true. thats the end of my story...i feel like if i wrote that story, there shouldbe a point but theres not. i just wanted to tell u that maybe. well...heres an update on whats going on in the SimandGolda house. im on the computer (no DUH) mom is "not sleeping", taliban is barney, which is kinda weird in a psychotic sort of way, naomi just got her harry potter scar painted on her forehead, and yodapoppers is getting on his ninja turtle costume. i guess ninja turtles skipped my generation. oh yeah and avigayil is the shabbos queen. shes also the unbeatable avigayil. just wanted to tell you that. ok theres 10 minutes left and i have to go find my naot which i THINK are by the couch, so ill catch ya guys l8a!!! luvvv ya a&f

all's well B"H

we just wanted everyone to know that b'h nobody got hurt today in the boston zacks household,
and chanalana is doing b'h well. her physical scars are healing and her mental scarring is probably just begining. but hopefully that will heal with her siblings' mental healing by the time they hit their 20's.
today we went to our shul Purim carnival. Yael was a mommy, (denim skirt. and snood) shira was a princess/ queen esther and chanalana wanted to wear a snood too.
a good time was had by all. BUT they also have this thing where people bake things and then the shul sells them at a "fair price" well I made chocolate chip cookies (awesome ones!) but so did a few other people. well, i made BIG cookies and the price was .15 cents, another someone made smaller cookies and the price was 2/.25 cents. so people were buying this other persons cookies probably because you get 2 for one price. but my cookies looked and tastted 100 times better but some people will never know that. poor poor people. i was thinking maybe they shouldve put a sign on MY cookies saying 2/.30 cents. then people would think they are getting a better deal
HAVE A FREILECHEN PURIM

new couch smell

We got new couches today, they are blue micro-fiber. A regular size couch, love seat and a recliner. They are very comfortable, and they all recline.

The old couches have gone to the couch graveyard, also known as our basement. We know have 8 couches in the basement. But we are working on getting rid of 5 of them.

The plan is to keep the couches that were most recently upstairs and start fixing up the basement so that we can use it as a playroom for Jonah.

That's the excitement here..good Shabbos and happy Purim

poll

Which Zacks is the biggest klutz of them all?

I will have to go with Chananala of teh Boston Zacks, a few days after eating her own teeth, lil chananala took a tumble down the steps again

laughter

So, in the funny way that Gd enjoys laughing at me, and playing with me He got me a job. Thank you Gd. I start tomorrow. Yes, 2 days before my parents come to visit. Now, I understand that i really really want a job. I definitely know that I've sent out enough resumes to plaster some walls, and I've been going slightly crazy with nothing to do... But couldn't I start the day mom & dad leave? WHY? hmmmm... just for humors sake I guess. My unemployment time allotted to me by the Almighty runs out three days before my parents arrive. typical. Oh, and about that job...
Basically I'm working in the recruitment office in a large company in Israel as the assistant to person in charge of all publicity having to do with recruitment for the company. Not a small feat, as they now employ over 900 people. I have normal daytime hours, and the office i'll be working in seems like a lot of fun. I have a few friends in the office already, and I can see myself getting along quite well with everyone else. There seems to always be different random projects being run, and i'll get my hands into all of them. So wish me luck...
and laugh...
why not...Gd is...

toothless in boston (again)

IT was a day of JOY, a day of simcha, it was a day the whole family came together, and then without any warning they came... (IT WAS young chaims bar mitzvah) and then chanalana fell off the back steps to the house and knocked out her front tooth ! (not funny shauli, stop laughing) the little itty bitty one in the bottom front that we waited soooo long for. its gone. and now we thank hashem for the big poofy coat that protected the rest of her body, for the fact that she didnt hurt herself any worse than a tooth. for the fact that she didnt have many teeth surrounding the one that got knocked out because if she did it may be more than just one tooth that she wont get till shes 10. for the fact that while her sisters will be putting straws though the spaces in their teeth she can join them and not feel left out. devorah called me at clinic freaking out and my cell phone wasn't working so she called number i left for her and i called her back and the dr told her to call the dentist but she couldnt remember the asian names of the dentist we go to, MENG, LEE, CHO, JUA, so many asians to choose from. and so i suggested to just bring chanalana over there and they will see her. and she did and they did but they are stupid dentist ( i am not an anti dendite, or anti asian) and they couldnt look in her mouth because she wouldnt open her mouth, so they sent her home, and told us to watch her and make sure she drinks a lt after she eats, and the doc said we ( devorah) had to check her diapers for 3-5 days f to hopefully find the elusive tooth that is no onger in its proper place in my dughters mouth but rather is in the proper place in the great universe. if the totth does not come out (again) we will need to take xrays of my baby to see if she aspirated it and to make sure its not in her lungs, and also to make its not eating her. well b'h she is feeling better, and she doesnt even know her tooth was supposed to stay for this long, she never had them before. so that is what i find solace in. you can send well wishes and checks to our home address and they will be cashed promptly and the cards will be hung up on her bedroom.

no straw cowboy hats

I've been to 3 toy stores, all of them full of purim costumes and not a one of them had straw cowboy hats. It looks like we're going to have to have a non-traditional Purim and wear something other then straw cowboy hats. I'm also picking up the costume for dad this year, so this is a real problem.

I have found straw chinaman hats. The querstion is would that be a viable replacement for the straw cowboy hat? There is no chinese tradition in our family other then the fact that a lot of Zacks' have slanted eyes. Also some of mom's side married Philipinos which are like chinese folks except they don't eat rice. On the other hand, it is a straw hat.

It is a tough decision and I'll probably check a couple other stores before fianlly settling on whatever they have left at the store an hour before Megilla reading when I finally decide.

Shaloch Manot cards

Does anyone know of an organization that I can give money to and then they send a special Purim card to my friend out of town that says for their shaloch manot money was given to such and such a place?
For the past 2 years my friend in Chicago always sends me one of those and I never send her anything (because I generally dont send Shaloch Manot to out of towners) but this year I am determined to do it!
But I don't know where to go. Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks!!!

Happy Birthday, Mommy can I have....

Not all of us teach our children how to deal out there in the real world starting from an early age, but BZ's kids will have no problem. Their mom has trained them well. How many Happy Birthdays were sung to you today Devo?
Sometimes all you need is a birthday to call someone you love. And this month we have the opportunity many times, so pick up your phones people. This birthday may begin the call-a-thons.
We hope your birthday is very special and that you got to sleep in!

Happy Birthday to you,
you are funny too,
you make life so intresting,
and we miss living close to you!

Ad Meah V'Esrim.