Dum Dum DUM

That is the sound collectively hitting Israel this morning as we begin the period known as "acharei hachagim" or "choref zman" or "that's it until Pesach." No cushy Sunday for us, gently bringing us back to reality. Oh no. Shabbos ended, BAM, the lunchboxes were out and I was at my favorite activity, packing aruchat eser. Today, BAM, kids off to school/gan, Donny off to work, and me here, at my computer.


But let's back up. On chol hamoed, we - the collective Rose, Klein, and Leibtag contingent - hit up the Roladin factory in Kadima where we made our own cookies and other goodies. The workshop was fun, but it was lacking in that there was no tour of the factory (just windows so we could look in from above) and neither of their two sukkot were kosher, so no lunch out at Momz and Dadz's expense. Oh well. At least we had plenty of goodies to munch on during the drive home. ("Don't Need No Sukkah for Achilas Arai" is a single on my next album.)


Later that night, we had a surprise 60th birthday for DADZ. It was especially surprising because he doesn't actually turn 60 for another month. There was BBQ and cousins and friends and birthday cake. What more could a guy ask for?


On Tuesday, despite the fact that choref was nearing, the weather continued to remain toasty. So after a massive food shopping outing, Donny and DADZ took the big kids to the pool. On Wednesday, we had the audacity to NOT entertain the children, something they felt quite indignant about. Simchat Torah was the usual fun and games. (I think I stopped enjoying this particular holiday once I turned 8.) Then came Friday, aka Morecookingday, and Shabbat, aka Moreatingday. Ariella went to shul in the morning with the men so she could listen to parshat Breishit. Last night, we bid a tearful goodbye to Momz and DADZ, who will God willing return on Pesach.



"It's Hot as a Cactus Out There"

I know you are all still drying your eyes because you are so sad that Momz and DADZ left, so I will end with a humorous Yaakov anecdote. A Yaakovdote, if you will:


He loves to look at the weather website with me. As you can see, it's a 7-day forecast. The first part of this 'dote is that Yaakov becomes very frustrated because whenever we look at it, we are always on the first box! When will we get to the last box? he despairs. Sadly, never.


The website also uses a picture of a cactus to denote "fry your shakshuka on the sidewalk" kind of hot. I explained this symbolism to Yaakov. When we were in Alon Shvut for Shabbat chol hamoed, he saw a little cactus growing outside my cousins' house. "Oh," he said knowingly, "this means it's very hot out."


A good choref to all of you. May it rain a lot, but not so much that they fall behind on building our apartment. Amen.