Greasy Goodness

I wanted to write my Chanukkah (Hanuka, Hanukka, Hanukkah, Chanuka, Chanukka, Chanukkah.....etc) post after I had a nice pic of our menorah all lit up which I don't yet. But I decided not to wait to write. Chanukah is just such a happy, FUN holiday that I can't contain myself.

First night (Tuesday) I was half sick and feeling blah. I left work 2 hours early, took the bus home (since our car was in for repairs) and on the walk home, stopped off and bought Y her Chanukah gift this year. We usually do very small, modest gifts but this year she got a korkinet (scooter) which she'd been asking for for a while. She is generally NOT a demanding kid so the fact she asked for it meant she really wanted one. When she first asked she hadn't learned to ride her bike which I/we felt was important so as incentive, we told her once she'd learned to ride her bike with no training wheels, we'd buy her the korkinet. She learned to ride her bike quick smart after that so I felt we needed to honor our promise about the korkinet.

About a week ago I started shopping around. There are little cheapy ones that all the kids have with these little tiny wheels that to me look so dangerous and hard to control. I wanted one with larger wheels. I looked online and found exactly what I wanted but the cheapest I found them for was 500-700 NIS!!!!!!!! OMG! <Choke> Forget that.

Then I started popping in to the many toy stores around town and found exactly what I wanted with the larger 20 cm wheels. It was on sale for 300 NIS. A little more than I'd wanted to pay but I was prepared to do it. When I got up to the counter they charged me 230 NIS and said they'd made a mistake in the price when they printed up their sale flyer so they were letting it go for that price! My lucky day. I was over the moon. THAT doesn't happen very often in Israel. Even if a store did make a mistake in their flyer, they'd usually still try to convince you that that was "only a mistake" and the REAL price is this and there's nothing they can do about it but charge you the higher price.

I still wasn't feeling great last night (2nd night) but came home from work determined to make some levivot (a.k.a. latkes - a.k.a. potato pancakes) even if it killed me. I know the holiday is all about oil which we generally try to avoid huge quantities of but I like to make them at least once during Chanukkah. I tried a new recipe which came out well and DH complimented me on. Y said she doesn't like them and didn't even taste them, T ate half of a small one and grumbled about all the oil - BIG ewwwww, DH only ate one because he tries to watch how much fried food he eats. So that left me and E to eat most of them. Glad I didn't make more than I did. There were still lots of leftovers.

If you want to know what the 10 signs are that Chanukkah is coming, go to http://rjstreets.com/ to see some wonderful everyday photos of Chanukkah in Israel. 



This coming Saturday night I am taking T to see the play Fiddler on the Roof in Hebrew at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv. As part of our Rosh Hashana gift from the company I work for, all the employees were given 4 free tickets to the Cameri so I'm taking her. Ever since I told her I wanted to take her, she has been kicking and screaming about going. I was informed that, "I don't like musicals. That sort of thing is for Ashkenazim." Apparently Ashkenazim are another "BIG ewwwwww" despite my informing her that she is half Ashkenazi <curtsy>. I have on several occasions gently tried to tell her that I try not to force her to step out of her comfort zone unnecessarily but it has been deeply disappointing that due to her nearly non-existent English skills (my fault) I have not been able to share books and movies with her that I loved as a child. So here is something from "my world" that we CAN connect on because it's in Hebrew for her. I told her that if she doesn't enjoy it I will eat my hat and that there must be a GOOD reason that that play has been running for 40 years or however long. It's timeless. I told her I wanted her to broaden/enrich her cultural horizons. She said she's not interested in being "cultured". I also told her that this is a good opportunity for her to trust my judgement, respect my decision and that even if she does sit there suffering for three hours that at least it is an opportunity for her and I to go out alone together which we never do. So she is still not happy about it but seems resigned. I will let you know her verdict after she sees it.

Chag Sameach!