Sabbath candles

Rules: My niece is doing a bat mitzvah project on lighting candles. She would appreciate your responses to the following questions. Please click the link at the bottom to fill it in for her. You can then post it on your blog, your Facebook, or just leave it on SleeQo.

• When did you start lighting candles for the Sabbath?

  I think when I was three, I started making the blessing over the candles with my mom.

• What made you start lighting them?

  my mom told me I could, I guess.

• Do you light candles every week? If so, what makes you keep lighting them each week?

  Yes. I'm an observant woman, and I've always kept Shabbat, so I've always lit candles, with very few exceptions.

• Do you have any special traditions related to lighting the candles (e.g., my husband always gets them ready, I cover my hair, etc.)? If so, what?

  I always say a prayer for the wellbeing of my family.

• How do you feel after you have lit the candles?

  usually I feel very calm after I light candles.

• Are you the first generation in your family that lights candles for the Sabbath?

  no. my mother lights candles, my father's mother lit candles, and at least one of my mother's grandmothers lit candles for Shabbat.

• Do you have any memories to share from previous generations?

  not really.

• Is it important for you that your daughters light candles for the Sabbath?

  yes. very.

• How meaningful do you feel it is to you to light candles for the Sabbath and why?

  Very meaningful. It seems to fill the house with a special kind of light, and it gives a real distinction between "week" and "Shabbat"

• Is there anything else you would like to add about lighting candles for the Sabbath?

• Do you agree to be quoted on the things you have written above or would you rather your name not be mentioned?

  yes

• If you have filled this in anonymously and agree to be quoted, please give your name.

Everyone tagged
Click here to fill in this meme

5 Pieces of Information that New Olim Should Know

I'm playing around with a new tool called Sleeqo which automates the whole meme process. This is my first meme creation using Sleeqo. Be sure to try it out yourself!

5 Pieces of Information that New Olim Should Know

by triLcat
Rules: Post 5 things that a new immigrant to Israel needs to know. No politics!

1. Israeli doctors don't have thermometers. You're expected to have taken your temperature (or your child's) at home.
2. If you want to make a graham cracker crust in Israel, you use tea biscuits.
3. The best time of year to buy new dishes, pots, and pans (in terms of deals) is right before Pesach.
4. We don't have kool-aid here, we have syrup, called petel, which means raspberry. It's called petel even if it's grape flavored.
5. Almost every supermarket has delivery for about 15 shekels. If you buy enough, it may be free. You can also order groceries online or by phone.

Click here to fill in this meme

Travel Meme

My travels

Rules: Fill in the following questions & tag 5 friends (try friends who travel a lot).

• My best trip ever...
  Ireland


• My worst trip ever...
  7.5 hour layover in Amsterdam where I was both quite sick and too scared to leave the airport


• Most important thing I ever lost on a trip...
  passport, but I found it!


• Most important thing I ever forgot to take on a trip...
  the phone number of the person we were supposed to be staying with. (though we did get it... just took some international calls)


• Thing I miss most when I'm away...
  Poofy, home-cooked meals, Israel


• Thing I miss least when I'm away...
  stress


• Favorite travel partner...
  Yaakov, Rachel


• Place I hope to travel to someday...
  China

Nobody tagged

fill in this meme

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

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
   

7 Weird Things About Me Meme

1. I have hyperflexibility, which means that even when I don't exercise, I can touch my toes to my forehead.

2. I started using email when I was 10, back in 1988.

3. For about a year in high school, I walked around talking to my deceased friend in my head. I sometimes thought he answered me, and once or twice I even felt him. Sometimes, I still wonder if it was all in my mind. I mean, logic says it is, but I really felt something back then.

4. I have nightmares about being trapped underwater or in places with very small openings. I'm not afraid of elevators or other "ordinary" small places. I did have to leave the heart exhibit at the Franklin Institute though - I wasn't 100% sure I could fit through all the tunnels while pregnant and it scared me a bit. I also get upset when I can't get off jewelry or clothes.

5. I didn't pay much attention to my body ever, and still don't. I found out that I was fat because I saw myself in a picture and suddenly I realized I was fat. In the mirror, I still looked ok to me.

6. I don't use woodcase pencils because I'm too tempted to chew on them. I only like 1.1mm lead mechanical pencils. (normal is .7 or .5)

7. I once went to a palm reader. She was wrong about everything she said about me.

I think I'm not gonna tag anyone, but if you want to do it, feel free.

Eight Times Eight is Sixty-Four

Since Friday, a migraine has been playing pingpong in my head... I spent last night in the ER so I could have a CT scan. All is well on that front. It seems annoying to have spent 7 hours in the ER so they could write me a prescription for aspirin... but...anyway...

Frumhouse tagged me on an 8 things meme... here goes.

8 passions in my life:

1. Yaakov
2. Kinneret
3. My family of origin
4. Writing
5. Ice Cream
6. Music (listening & singing)
7. Sleep
   
8. Flossing

8 things to do before I die:

1. Be a loving wife
   
2. Be a great mom
3. Be a wonderful grandmother
   
4. Be a Great-grandmother
   
5. Publish a novel
6. Take a skydiving course
7. Improve my self-image
8. Achieve complete relaxation

8 things I often say:

1. Yaakov, can you get the baby?
2. Princess!
3. Fuzzy Wuzzy Animal, please don't bark!
4. I love you (Pumpkin, Princess, Poofster)
5. We need a car.
6. I'm tired.
7. Are you a Hungry Hungry Hippo?
8. Please don't touch my baby, she's sleeping!

Eight Books I read recently

1. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
2. Fool Me Once - Fern Michaels
3. The Book of Ruth - Jane Hamilton
4. The New Method Preparation for Driving Theory Test
5. Small Island - Andrea Levy
6. Dropped From Heaven - Sophie Judah
7. Siddur Rinat Yisrael
8. Does the Ikea Catalog count as a book?

8 songs that mean something to me:

1. HaYalda Hachi Yafah Bagan - Hakeves Hashisha Asar
   
2. V'Ulai
   
3. Naara Ushma Kinneret
4. Kan Beiti El Mul Golan
   
5. Baby Mine - Bette Midler
   
6. Mi Bon Siach - Dveykus
   
7. Im Yivaled Li Yeled - Yoni Rechter
8. White Flag - Dido

8 Qualities I look for in a friend:

1. Smart
2. (Mostly) mentally stable
   
3. Good Sense of Humor
   
4. Self-aware
5. Kind
6. Good Heart
7. Good Listener
   

8 people I am tagging

1. Princee D'Tiara
2. Raanana Ramblings
3. RachInbar
4. Kirby
5. DrSavta
6. Poofy
7. Safranit
8. Abbi - Who can post in the comments 'cuz she doesn't have her own blog.
   

8 Things About Me

I was actually tagged (at least) twice for this meme, but you know, I had a baby and all...
so here goes:
"Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog."

1. I never know what to answer when people ask where I'm from, because I'm an army brat. The question kind of makes me uncomfortable in general. I claim to be from New Jersey, because I went to high school there, even though I lived in NY at the time.

2. I'm obsessed with food. I think about sushi, hamburgers, steak, etc all the time. My first year of college, I ate shawarma almost every day. I've always been obsessed with food. I once cried because my brother had hamburgers without me.

3. I love colored pens, markers, crayons, fancy paper, beads, any art supplies. Unfortunately, I have no artistic talent. I frequently throw out my doodles so that no one will see how bad they are.

4. When I was little, I absolutely adored my sister. She left home for college when I was 7. For years, every item I had that had been hers was "holy" to me, and every time I heard a song that I associated with her, I would burst into tears. When I was in second or third grade, I started crying at a school assembly where we were listening to some singer and he sang something by Billy Joel. (I still adore her, and I live less than a block away from her, but I've gained a bit of perspective.)

5. When I listen to myself, I realize I often sound like an opinionated know-it-all. I hate that about myself. Sometimes I don't know how to stop it, though.

6. Even though I grew up in the US, the last time I visited, I felt like the only thing about me that wasn't foreign was my accent. I had absolutely no sense of coming home or coming back, even when I was in places I'd been before.

7. I'm pretty good at Texas Hold'em poker, and I once played online for money and made about $25 in a very short time. I was playing on an account owned by the company I worked for, so I didn't get to keep the money. I'm not as good at other types of poker, and I'm downright awful at backgammon, even though I wrote many sites about backgammon. (and yes, backgammon is more skill than luck)

8. Since I named my daughter Kinneret, several people have told me about relatives of theirs named Kinneret. It's always the same person - Kinneret Meyer who teaches in the English Literature department at Bar Ilan. I never took a course with her, though, because she teaches more classical literature, and I prefer more modern stuff.

Tagging: There's no one left to tag. Everyone I know has been tagged, except DrSavta.

Polarity Meme

I've decided to create my own meme. Here's how it works - you put down 10 things you really dislike, followed by 20 you really like.

The concept is to get some frustrations off your chest, and then to get positive again...

so here goes.

Ten things I can't stand:
1. Contractions that aren't getting me anywhere.
2. The fact that my pelvic bones aren't sitting right.
3. The fact that the hamster cage smells.
4. Having to walk the dog when I'm exhausted and it's hard for me to walk.
5. Computer viruses, even if they're in someone else's computer.
6. Handkerchiefs because they seem totally gross to me.
7. Clothes that need to be ironed or hand washed.
8. Having to wear long or longish sleeves & hats in the summer (for religious reasons).
9. That I can't wear my rings anymore because my fingers are too swollen.
10. Being sick.


Twenty Things I LOVE:
1. That my husband made all of our food for Shabbat.
2. Having 2 dishwashers.
3. That I don't have to deal with the dating scene anymore.
4. Having a great, supportive family.
5. That my husband has a good sense of humor.
6. Skydiving
7. Swimming (& just floating in the water)
8. Cream puffs
9. The internet
10. CSI
11. Petting my dog
12. River rafting
13. Air conditioning
14. Macaroni and cheese, especially after spending the day at the pool (don't ask me why, it just seems like the perfect end to a perfect day.)
15. Holding a baby while they're falling asleep.
16. Watching a baby take their first steps.
17. The smell of a freshly bathed baby. (are we sensing a theme?)
18. Ultimate Mocha ice blend with whipped cream (Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf)
19. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
20. SUSHI!!!!!

I tag: Aurynne, Rachel Inbar, and Raggedy Mom

Modest Meme

Mom in Israel made up a new Meme for those of us who deal with the issues of tzniut, the Jewish laws & traditions of modesty.

Though I wasn't tagged, I've decided it might make interesting reading for someone (maybe me) if I answered it...
Here goes:

1. For married women, do you dress by the same standards as you did when you got married?

Yes, but I've only been married about a year.

2. Also for married women, do you and your husband conflict about this issue?

Yes. My husband is much more strict about these rules than I would like to be.

3. Have your standards changed from when you were growing up, and why?

Yes and no. My beliefs haven't changed. I'd dress the same as I did when I was growing up, but my husband would have heart failure if I did.

4. Do you often feel uncomfortable when you are in the company of a group keeping higher or lower standards than you?

Yes. I feel like the knee-sock wearers are looking down on me, and like the chilonim all think that I'm one of those crazy charedi women.

5. If you have ever suddenly changed your standard of dress, did people treat you differently or make approving/disapproving remarks?

I got a fair amount of sympathy, but not a lot of approval or disapproval. I guess I have nice friends.

6. How accepting is your community of women who "deviate" from the generally accepted mode of dress?

I live in a mixed community, so it's not really a problem.

7. If you have a daughter, has tzniut become an issue yet?

We don't have one yet, but the standards we want for our daughters has already become an issue in our marriage (sometimes we really buy trouble, don't we?)

8. Any other comments you care to share on the topic.

I want my pants back!!!!!!!! I always dreamed of being pregnant in big overalls. And my elbows! Hello, it's freaking hot out. I want my elbows!

Avoiding Pesach Cleaning

Last year I didn't post about Pesach cleaning until later in the process. The following are the triLcat stages of Pesach cleaning, in case you're curious:
1. Eating up the chametz.
2. Procrastination
3. Desperate procrastination
4. Cleaning gestures
5. Extreme procrastination
6. Laundry and bedrooms
7. Ultra-Procrastination
8. Kitchen Cleaning
9. Collapse
10. Seder

Last year, I didn't write until I was at stage 7. This year, I'm only at stage 5. Fortunately, it turns out I was tagged on a Meme last year, so I have a great way to procrastinate.

Thanks Biur Chametz.

Here it is. The A-Z meme:

Accent:
American in English, just slightly funny in Hebrew. Americans think it's Israeli, though.

Booze:
Red wine and cocktails. These days, I'm sticking to Kedem grape juice though

Chore I Hate:
Washing dishes and floors both destroy my back. Everything else is just unpleasant.

Dogs/Cats:
Love dogs, especially MY dog. Cats are ok. I'll pet them if they ask.

Essential Electronics:
All electronics are essential! except the stupid tetris game I used to have. It never worked right anyway.

Favorite Perfume/Cologne:
I like most of the Dali ones, except the red one. It smells like candy.

Gold & Silver:
I prefer gold.

Hometown:
Modiin.

Insomnia:
High sleep latency.

Job Title:
Housewife

Kids:
1 Stepson and one baby on the way.

Living Arrangements:
Rental apartment.

Most Admired Trait:
Ability to be very empathetic.

Number of Sexual Partners:
Get your head out from under our covers!

Overnight Hospital Stays:
Entirely too many, but looking forward to my next one being in July and ending with me taking home a whole new person.

Phobia:
spiders, especially big yucky ones

Quote:
"Well, I like you. You're nice, and you're funny, and you don't smoke, and okay, werewolf but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either."

Religion:
Jewish

Siblings:
1 sister, 3 brothers

Time I Usually Wake Up:
Whenever Poofy can't wait any longer for his walk.

Unusual Talent:
That's Private!

Vegetable I Refuse To Eat:
Eggplant

Worst Habit:
Talking when I should shut up.

X-Rays:
I'd LOVE to have X-ray vision!

Yummy Foods I Make:
Everything I make is yummy. Yaakov likes my chicken with potatoes. People generally devour my lasagna. I always make too much stir-fry, but people like it.

Zodiac Sign:
I don't know, but my birthstone is a diamond and my Hebrew birthday is 2 days before Pesach. A good gift would involve help cleaning or the doggone covers for my couches!