Three Weeks

A lot changes in three weeks.

On Monday the 5th, I was having irregular contractions that weren't quite painful enough to be the real thing. For some reason, I decided to go get monitored at the Women's Clinic here, and my blood pressure was too high, so the doctor sent me to the hospital to get some blood work done and check for pre-eclampsia.

My mom and I went to the hospital. They monitored me, took my blood pressure, took bodily fluids of various sorts, etc. Then they decided to strip my membranes and send me home.

For those who don't know these things, stripping membranes is roughly like having one's tonsils removed via the cervix. (sorry to those who will have nightmares for the next month...)

This was around 5pm. We drove back to Modiin, picking up Yaakov on the way. We went to my sister's house, where Kinneret was, spent a little time with her, and went home. Yaakov made me dinner, and then it was time to head back to the hospital. It was a bit after 8 when my mom picked me up.

Labor was super-intense. We got to the hospital around 9, and I asked for an epidural. The baby was born at 9:40, before the anesthesiologist got anywhere near me. So once again, despite my best intentions, I had a natural childbirth.

To those who think that's a wonderful thing, I have one thing to say: OW! Giving birth hurts, dammit!

In other news. we named the baby Ephraim Yehoshua. Ephraim is for the verse "Haben yakir li Ephraim" - the son Ephraim is dear to me. Yehoshua is Joshua - the man who led the Jewish people in the conquest of Canaan. Remember the walls of Jericho? That was Yehoshua! So, here we are, looking for a true leader for the Jewish people... We're working on it right here at chez triLcat.

Kinneret was sick the week Ephraim was born, and to top it off, Poofy got into a fight with another dog on Shabbat. They fought right in the stairs of our building - I couldn't even be angry at the other owners for unleashing him - it's indoors... anyway, he couldn't walk, so I took him to the vet.

That was a really fun experience. We packed the two kids into the double stroller, and then we took a broken stroller that Yaakov is planning to take the wheels from and put Poofy in it. We wheeled our two strollers to the vet's house. Thank G-d (and Moti Dror, on Almogan, phone # available on request), the vet was home. He came out despite being in the middle of his morning coffee on a Saturday morning. He looked Poofy over, listened to my story, and gave Poofy a shot of steriods. He told me to take him home and keep him still and bring him back after Shabbat.

The whole afternoon, I spent worrying about Poofy, especially worried that he wouldn't be able to walk anymore and we couldn't keep him if he couldn't stand up by himself. Needless to say, there was much crying. After Shabbos, the vet told me that he expected Poofy to continue healing and that I should give him steriods for the next three days. He gave Poofy another shot, and gave me the rest in pills so I could give him them at home.

The bottom line is that Poofy can walk and run just fine now, but his jumping seems to have been permanently damaged. He can jump onto furniture, but it seems to be harder for him. The upside is that I doubt that he'll be able to get onto the dining room table anymore. On the other hand, I really miss his excited bouncing, and it's sad to watch him trying to analyze the jump before he gets up on a bed when it used to be completely effortless before. I guess it was inevitable. He's ten years old. He was going to slow down at some point. I just wish it hadn't been such a drastic and dramatic event :(

After this, Kinneret was in daycare for about a week, and then she got sick again. She was home for four days this week. That was challenging, to say the least. The doctor wasn't sure if it was herpes (which she'd been exposed to) or hand, foot, and mouth disease. Since herpes is super-dangerous for a child Ephraim's age, I had to keep her from touching him. That was, needless to say, challenging. Fortunately, it turned out to be hand, foot, and mouth disease, which is a much friendlier virus. It's one of those one-shot deals, as opposed to herpes which hangs around forever.

Today, she's finally back at daycare, and I'm trying to get control of the dish situation. I'm so grateful that we have dishwashers! Today feels so relaxed with just one baby who refuses to be put down. Fortunately, I have one of those wrap-up-baby things that you can use to attach a baby to the mommy. Kinneret used to love it, and Ephraim loves it too. I don't have a picture of Ephraim in it, but I'll give you a picture of Kinneret...

So, now I think I've caught up for the past three weeks. Well, pretty much. I'll post some more when I have the energy.

Yaakov and Kinneret at home.

Publish Post

Poofy is away at his second home.
Kinneret was off on an overnight with here Aunt Rachel and Cousins.
Leah thought it was a good time to be in Shaarei Tzedek overnight.
But do not worry Leah has two roomates and small company near bye in the Nursery a Baby Boy at 3.06 Kgs.

Oh Leah and baby look well . Yaakov is with Kinneret at home, wishing mommy and baby well.

More photos Here on Facebook

Still at Home

Despite having had some steady contractions last night, I am still home and waiting for things to happen.
I'll keep y'all posted.

Our Last Shabbat with One Baby?

Shabbat was pretty quiet. Yaakov is not feeling very well. He's running a fever. Kinneret has a bit of a cough, but she's acting like her normal cute & rambunctious self. Her newest joy is in taking a plastic spoon or fork and a cup and "feeding" everyone - me, Yaakov, Poofy, her toy bear, her doll Shlomit. It's very cute, and we had many a good feeding over Shabbat.

I had some contractions today, and they're getting stronger now, but they're still not regular or terribly painful, so I guess I have some time left before anything happens.

I'll keep you posted if I go to the hospital, and I've added my sister as an author to this blog.

Shavua Tov,
t.c.+

Copied from Despite Motherhood, DrSavta, and The Mommy Guilt Blog

So I'm supposed to take this list and color all the things I've done.


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (What you can afford is a matter of perspective, I guess, so not sure if this counts)
7. Been to Disneyland/world (Disney World, and I don't remember it)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang/played a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (while pregnant, no less)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables. (though not terribly successfully)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (but don't tell my mom)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (not a long one, but a dinner cruise)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (I suppose this depends what you mean by ancestors.)
35. Seen an Amish community (It was one of those fake-tour ones, though)
36. Taught yourself a new language (does html count?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (but not in public)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (does snorkeling in a swimming pool count?)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (I've eaten them, though)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (does salmon roe count?)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (by my own brother, no less)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (at least twice)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox (had shingles!)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Made a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

New Blog

Hi,

I've started a new blog called Lazy Environmentalist.

The idea behind it is that we all want to save the environment, but most of us are too lazy to change our lives to do it. While we might not be willing to use cloth diapers and bike to work, there are things we can do here and now, without driving ourselves nuts, to use natural resources better and pollute less.

I figure that even the laziest among us can make small changes with minimal effort that can help. Sure, they only help a little, but if all of us lazies make little changes and help a little, we eventually get a cumulative effect. Think that if every citizen of the USA managed to use just one less plastic bag a week, that would be 15,659,277,244 per year. That's over 15 BILLION plastic bags.

It's pretty amazing how much you can achieve if everyone makes small changes. So think globally, act locally, and figure out how you can save your plastic bag each week, your liter of water, or whatever else needs to be saved in the environment.

Come on over to the Lazy Environmentalist blog and leave comments on quick, easy things that you can do to save the environment without driving yourself nuts.

A FAQ for Those Spending Time with a Pregnant Woman

Q: The pregnant woman appears to be eating quite a lot. When should I stop her?
A: When she starts eating your vital organs, you may suggest something else instead.

Q: When can I tell a pregnant woman that she's gaining too much weight?
A: When you have a death wish.

Q: If I'm out and I see a woman who I think is pregnant, what should I do?
A: If you don't see a baby coming out of her, keep your mouth shut.

Q: When is it appropriate to touch a pregnant woman's belly?
A: Unless you're her OB/GYN or her husband, only if you're invited to.

Q: Why do pregnant women glow?
A: It's called sweat. The little person inside of them functions as a heater.

Q: What should I do if my pregnant wife wants the house cooled below freezing?
A: Buy yourself an extra blanket. Or take hers. She likely won't notice.

Q: But won't that cost a lot in electricity?
A: You're about to have a kid. Electricity is nothing compared to a college education.

Q: My pregnant wife is crying. Why?
A: While it's probably somehow your fault, a pint of Ben & Jerry's might help.

Secular Zionism

Warning: Contains Kol Isha (a woman singing solo)

What I like about this video is that it's clearly secular. The girls are wearing jeans, and one of them has a solo. The boys aren't wearing kippas, but listen to what they're singing about.

the words are over here:
http://www.mp3music.co.il/Lyrics/3868.html
על כפיו יביא

Here's a quick translation of the first verse:

In our narrow street
Lives one strange carpenter
He sits in his shack
And doesn't do anything

No one comes to buy
No one comes to visit
It is two years that he doesn't
Do carpentry

And he keeps one dream in his heart
To build a chair for Eliahu who shall come
He will bring it in his palms
To Eliyahu the Prophet

He sits waiting for him
For years, he's dreamed that he will merit him
He keeps his secret and he waits for him
When will the day come already?

-----
Oh yeah, I have a point here... my point is that this country is built upon the ideals of being Jews and the upcoming (soon, we pray) redemption.

You don't have to wear a kippa or study gmara all day to believe in it.

Today's government seems to have forgotten that this is the Jewish homeland, which means, first and foremost, that it is a home for Judaism.

The city of Hebron has a Jewish history. Abraham bought the cave of the patriarchs. There was a continued Jewish presence in Hebron even after the 1929 massacre, until the British Mandatory Authority moved the remaining Jews out in 1936.

But Ehud Olmert's appeasement plan involves beating Jews to keep the Arabs happy.

When Fair Isn't

On Orthonomics, a poster named tesyaa posted the following quote:

There is no way I would let any of my children even apply to a private college. Even if we could somehow manage to send a deserving older child, the precedent we'd be setting with regards to the younger ones -- and the hard feelings we would cause by saying no to them -- would basically be ruinous.

I've been turning this over in my head. I'm one of five kids. I don't remember my parents telling us where we could and couldn't apply to college. They asked us, and we decided where to go. I'm certain that they (and their wallets) heaved a sigh of relief when 4 out of 5 chose to go to college in Israel.

However, one of my siblings went to Yeshiva University. He was number three, so he could have started a trend, and my parents didn't raise any objection. My brother was the sort of person who was very socially active. In his time at YU, he ran camps in the Former Soviet Union. He worked with a group called Yachad, which provides activities for developmentally disabled Jewish teens, he worked as a mashgiach (the guy who makes sure the kitchen is Kosher at a commercial establishment.) He simply wouldn't have had these opportunities at Bar Ilan or Hebrew University (where the rest of us went).

For the rest of us, being in Israel was paramount. We weren't willing to give up life in Israel for any of those opportunities. Should my parents have forced him to go where we went, us to go where he went? It wouldn't have been right.

To bring the point home further, my sister and I both live within walking distance of my parents. My mom sometimes takes me to doctor's appointments or even grocery shopping, because I don't have a car. Should she have to pick up my sister for her doctor's appointments and grocery shopping to be "fair"? My sister has a car and would be more inconvenienced by shopping on my mom's schedule than she is by driving herself. On the other hand, my mom took my sister's oldest daughter to Beijing in 2007. Should I complain that she didn't take Kinneret? The idea is laughable.

While I see that it's important for parents to not favor one child over another, it's also important for equality to be less important than giving the children what they need.

For example, suppose you have a child with dyslexia who needs tutoring. Should you make each of your other children also have a tutor? Should you withdraw other children from advanced reading programs so that the child with dyslexia doesn't get jealous?

Equality is nice in theory, but it ends up not being to anyone's advantage when it's over-applied.

7 things about me

I've been tagged for a meme by Leora from Here in HP

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people (if possible) at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

=======
Seven things about me:

1. I have a superman complex and find myself wanting to save pretty much everyone from pretty much everything. I obsess over other people's problems.
2. When I was 12 or so, my best friend cut her wrist in a suicide attempt. Since then, I get weirded out by anything touching (or especially scratching) my wrists. (Friend is still alive and even occasionally in touch)
3. I'm one of the only people I know who actually LOVED high school and had relatively few complaints about the particular school.
4. The longest I ever lived in one place is 5 years, but I'm coming up on 4.5 years in my current apartment.
5. When I was in kindergarten, and they asked me what I wanted to be, I said "author and illustrator." Author is still on the short-list of what I'd like to be.
6. I'm not sure whether I'm more afraid of having an epidural or going through another whole labor without one.
7. I've crocheted a kippa for almost every guy I was ever serious about - except Yaakov, who only wears velvet anyway.

People I tag:

1. Rachel at Despite Motherhood
2. Bethami at The Mommy Guilt Blog
3. Raggedy Mom
4. Robin at My Home in Israel
5. K. at Children Mentioned
6. Raanana Ramblings
7. Perky over at Chez Perky
   

Haveil Havalim #192 is Up

I haven't been terribly active in the whole J-Blogging community, but I've decided that maybe I should be... so here goes.

There is a weekly carnival called Haveil Havalim. This week's is the Thanks & Giving Edition.

Check it out over at Ima on (and off) the Bima

Laziness/Efficiency (or a Quiet Family-Oriented Friday)

Friday & Shabbat are the only days off in Israel. Israelis call Fridays the day for SKS - Siddurim (errands) kniyot (shopping), and sponga (washing the floor). Yes - it sounds like what it sounds like in English too.

For those of us who are religious, it's the only day off we have all week that we can really just do what we want. Add in the chores involved in preparing for Shabbat, and many families never really get to just spend some time together on their Fridays.

Clearly, one doesn't want to enter Shabbat with a filthy house and no food, so there are going to be preparations, but cooking doesn't need to take up all of your day.

I've prepared a sample menu for a Shabbat that involves relatively little preparation time.

Friday night:

First course:
olives
pickles
hummus
matbucha*
hatzilim**
challah
salad

how to make this course:
(prep time - about 10 minutes + shopping)
buy challah, hummus, matbucha, your family's favorite hatzilim, olives, and pickles at the supermarket.

salad:
1 bag pre-shredded, pre-washed lettuce
2 tomatoes
4 cucumbers
lemon juice or vinegar
olive or other oil
salt
pepper if you like it

wash the tomatoes and cukes
sit down at the table with a cutting board
cut the tomatoes into pieces and put them in a big bowl (preferably with a lid)
add contents of lettuce bag. Add a splash of lemon juice or vinegar and a splash of oil, a dash of salt, and maybe some pepper. Put the lid on the bowl (or plastic wrap if you don't have a lid.) Shake it all. Put in the fridge. Serve.

Everything else can be served directly out of the container or spooned into a plate or bowl before serving. (I prefer not to serve cans at the table, but have no problem with hummus in plastic containers)

Soup:
Pea Soup

Prep time: 10 minutes.
Lead time: at least 2 hours

How to make this course:
you'll need:
split peas
1 large or 2 small onions
oil for frying
water
salt & pepper to taste
parsley (dry flakes work fine)

Chop the onion fine.
Fry the onion in the bottom of your soup pot until it turns transparent
add water and split peas. Stir.
Bring to boil, then leave to simmer, stirring every 30-40 minutes and checking to make sure it doesn't run out of water.
Add parsley - it helps with certain gastric issues.
Add salt and pepper only after the peas have become mushy. If you forget, they can be added at the table.

Main Course:
Chicken & potatoes
String beans with slivered almonds

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Chicken & potatoes:
prep time: 5-10 minutes
lead time 1-2 hours, depending upon the cooking utensil.
you'll need:
1 whole chicken & or a bunch of chicken pieces
4 large or 6 medium potatoes (or you can use the tiny ones)
Granulated garlic

how to prepare:
I usually use a clay pot, but you can use a regular deep baking pan or even a disposable.
wash the potatoes. Do not peel.
slice them, unless you're using the tiny ones, in which case, just stick them in as usual.
place the chicken on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle granulated garlic on the chicken.
Cover the chicken (if you're using a clay pot, use the lid. If you're using something that doesn't have a lid, use tin foil) Place in the oven at about 350 degrees F (175 C). A clay pot needs about 2 hours while a regular baking pan needs a bit more than an hour

string beans with slivered almonds
prep time: 10 min
you need:
frozen string beans, preferably whole
slivered almonds
salt
oil (preferably olive)
granulated garlic

how to make:
defrost the string beans, either by leaving them out or by microwaving them until they're defrosted and not all the way cooked
put oil in a frying pan.
add string beans and stir until they look lightly sauteed.
add slivered almonds, salt, and granulated garlic to taste.

dessert:
cake & fruit
buy a nice cake at the supermarket or bakery (rugalech are fine too)
rinse off the fruit and put them in a bowl, serve whole.


Shabbat Lunch:
first course:
olives
pickles
hummus
matbucha
hatzilim
challah
salad
(look familiar?)

main course:
sliced deli meats
sliced tomatoes
sliced challah/rye bread/rolls
ketchup/mustard/mayo (depending upon your family's tastes)

dessert:
cake & fruit

----
that's it. done. You don't have to spend your whole day working on this.
You've only prepared:
salad (10 minutes)
soup (10 minutes)
chicken & potatoes (15 minutes)
string beans with slivered almonds (10 minutes)

You've spent less than an hour slaving away in the kitchen, but you have full, acceptable Shabbat meals, you haven't bought lots of overpriced prepared junk, the meals have a reasonable amount of variety, and you don't have to leave the platta/blech on all of Shabbat either. (This is a huge benefit in the summer, imo - we use a timer to have it on for about 2 hours Friday night, and then it's off the rest of the time.)

If you put all the hot stuff in the oven and put it on high for a few minutes right before you leave for shul, you can actually get away with not leaving the platta on at all. (unless you go to a Karlebach minyan...)

This isn't our family's definitive every week menu, but it's a good sample of how we manage to get in a nap on Friday afternoon, have friends drop by, and not feel like we're rushed to get our food ready for Shabbat.

*matbucha is roughly like salsa, though it has more cumin and less pepper.
**hatzilim is shorthand for any of a number of salads which include eggplant (the actual translation of hatzil)

Not Exactly Writer's Block

I haven't written in quite a while. It isn't that there's nothing to say, and it isn't quite writer's block either.

Recent events in my life include:
A trip to the emergency room which almost ended up with me being admitted for monitoring because I have hypertension and the doctors are worried about pre-eclampsia. I am monitoring blood pressure and protein at home. It's still fairly low risk, so that's ok.

I'm on bedrest for something called SPD, which is related to an over-production of elastin. Basically, the bedrest is to limit how much pain I'm in rather than to save the baby or something useful like that. Limiting pain is good. There's enough of it already.

Kinneret can say baba (byebye, and she waves), hello (when she picks up a phone), ball (when playing with a ball), mo (for more).
She touches her nose when asked where her nose is, and she touches her head when I sing "yadayim lemala, al harosh" (hands up, on your head).
She claps for "if you're happy and you know it"
She spins around when she likes music. She enjoys playing her xylophone, drawing on a magnadoodle thing, and keeping her toothbrush in her mouth for hours.
She knows how to climb into her stroller by herself, and sometimes will do so if we tell her we're going out. She climbed in by herself the other day when my nephew went to pick her up from her daycare.

----
I was thinking about writing various posts about stuff going on at Orthonomics. It makes me mad to see people who have loads of kids that they can't support and then complain that people from the community aren't supporting them. If our financial situation doesn't improve, I can't imagine us having another baby after this one.

There was also a thread in the comments there where I suggested that a solution to the extremely high school tuition in the US might be to make aliya...

>>>Dave said...

Leaving financial issues out, I think the case can be made that widespread Aliyah is not in the interest of the Jewish people.

Historically speaking, what has preserved Jews as a people has been a widespread diaspora, so that when oppression arose in one area, there were still safe Jewis communities.

Had there not been a widespread Jewish Diaspora in the late Republic and early Empire, I doubt that Judaism would have survived the Bar Kochva rebellion.<<<

I've been biting my tongue to resist getting up on my soapbox to tell people that only through widespread aliya can we prevent the scary stuff that's in the works... A Shas spokesman told the press that of course Tzipi Livni won't be selling the country to the charedim. She's already selling it to the Arabs. (This in response to Livni saying she won't sell the country to the charedim.) It sounds like Jerusalem is already on the chopping block. Scary stuff.

At least Sir Peres isn't rushing to evacuate the West Bank.

I also tried to stay out of the whole US election debacle. I'm now just praying to be wrong about my predictions for Obama's America. Unfortunately, a few years ago, I prayed to be wrong about the Gaza expulsion. The situation in Ashkelon is precisely what I feared would happen. (Hat Tip: Joe Settler) It doesn't look like life in Sderot is improving much either.

Anyway, all of these little bits and pieces could be posts, I suppose, but I'm afraid that the beginning would be boring, the Kinneret stuff would be standard (and boring) parental bragging, and really, no one wants me to get up on a soapbox about the rest of it. So that's why I haven't been posting.