Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Slice of Cake

On Saturday morning I walked into the kitchen and found Ricki helping herself to a sample of the shabbas cake. (It is pretty traditional to have some cake on Shabbat morning.) Now Ricki is welcome to have a piece of cake once a week (not more), but I eyed her a bit warily, trying to unobtrusevly check the SIZE of the piece she was cutting. I was ready to intervene if she would cut a huge chunk, worthy of 3 portions (or more), as she is prone to do. But to my surprise and delight, I noted that the piece she carefully cut was actually on the scant side. Gosh O Gollies, is she really finally learning what a normal portion is???

Monday, September 26, 2011

Smarter Than I

For once, Ricki was smarter than I was. On Friday evening Ricki joined me for an evening hour’s stroll. However, on returning home, I realized to my consternation that in our absence our grandson had pushed some big chair behind the door of the house, and the door could only be opened a scant ten centimeters.
Upset that my daughter had not been more careful at straightening her son’s mess, I started calling her name, hoping that she would hear me and come open the door for us. I was upset, and my emotions got in the way. I let my emotions, rather than my common sense prevail.
Ricki, however, did the obvious. She told me “Move over”, and reaching around the door’s edge, pulled the wedged chair free and out from behind the door (where it was caught between the door and the wall behind it).
That’s what I get for NOT THINKING.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Dancing in the Rain

Well, the first few light showers have already come, a welcome change after the hot summer days. Last week as the first rains started, Ricki went running to the window to watch. And then she did what I KNEW she would: she grabbed an umbrella, stepped out to the porch, and started dancing in the rain. Once this would have bothered me, it not being normal, appropriate behavior. Today I can accept better that my daughter does “strange” things, including showing her exuberance (which all the rest of us are too bashful to share…).

Friday, September 23, 2011

Ricki Writes….

It seems, from what Ricki told me on her return from school today, that someone important at her afternoon program got engaged. So Ricki promptly colored a drawing with balloons, and wrote there:
“(Wishing you) an explosive mazel tov. You should have a lot of married children. Thank you for the borekas. You’re a great lady.”

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

“Leave Me Alone” / My Twin Sister

Ricki and I were on the bus today, on our way to Ricki’s exercise class. There was a woman on the seat facing us, who, on seeing Ricki smiled and said “Oh how cute you are.” Ricki rewarded her with a growled “Leave me alone.”
And I don’t blame Ricki. I told the woman that Ricki, as a teen, does NOT enjoy being spoken to as a child. And guess what? She understood…..

* * *

I was in a store I haven’t been to for a while, but where I am a regular customer. As he was ringing up the purchase, the owner paused and saidf:
- “You have a twin sister? With a special needs child?”
- “You mean the overweight lady?”
- “Yeah”.
- “That is ME!”

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

BTW

BTW, I just added a picture (which only now became available) to my post of Aug.12

Monday, September 12, 2011

Feeling Like a Marionette (or: the Asterisk)

[Image: lady on electric wire "puppet strings".]

Today I felt like a marionette, being pulled this way and that by…. Electricity… or the lack of said item. For quite a while (months), the safety switch in our electric box has been shutting off our electricity with what seemed to be impunity.
This safety switch, designed to prevent serious electric shocks, will automatically switch off the power to the entire household when any breakage of normal circuit occurs. If this happens when you are plugging in or starting use of an appliance, it generally is a good sign that said appliance is KAPUT….. So you unplug the offending item, flip up the safety switch, and return to regular living. (If it is a major appliance, especially a refrigerator/freezer, there is of course a scramble to get it fixed….).
But then there are those frustrating occasions that the power shuts off without there being an easily identifiable culprit. So then you have to unplug each appliance in turn, until you finally can figure out which electric-run item is wrecking havoc on your otherwise well-planned day. Since my house is chock full of electric gadgets (some of which are aging appreciably), and reaching the plugs of several of my major appliances involves standing on chairs and yanking pretty forcefully, this all can be quite time-consuming.
But for the last few months, the safety switch has been rather capricious, turning off our power at whim. No offending item could be identified, each time it seemed that a completely different item was causing the short circuit… and the item whose removal from the socket would allow the switch to go up would often run without trouble a few minutes later…… We tried several times to “fix” the problem, and it finally stopped… only to return with a vengeance this morning.
This morning, after accompanying my husband to the health fund, and running to the post office, I returned home at n10 o’clock, ready for breakfast. I was ready… but the fridge wasn’t. The electricity had gone off, and I set about trying again to determine what was causing the shortage. After disconnecting each and every appliance, one by one, I gave up. I finally called an electrician. But he said “Before I come, save yourself some money. Unplug EVERYTHING and THEN try to flip the switch up. Then as you re-plug in the items, you are likely to find your problem.” I thanked him, and putting an asterisk by his name in the phone book, I followed his advice. [Only unplugging everything was not that simple, as my daughter’s room on the roof has a few nearly inaccessible sockets.] When I tried to re-plug the fridge in, the power went off. But maybe it was simply the extension cord? (Our refrigerator came, for some reason, with a cord that won’t reach high enough to the socket located next to it.) So I pulled the fridge out of its corner, to a lower socket, and plugged it in sans the old extension line. It ran OK, so I quickly scrambled out to buy a new extension cord. I returned, plugged the new extension into the regular socket, and POOF the current shut off again. Deciding that cold food being a priority, I returned the refrigerator to the plug in the hall, waiting for my son in law (who IS an electrician, but was away at work) to arrive in the evening. But then, when I went to make lunch the use of two other appliances AGAIN cause the power to fail. Obviously, this was getting complicated…
Finally this evening my SIL figured out what was wrong, did a temporary fix, and will buy the parts needed for a full repair tomorrow. But all in all, much of my well-planned day flew out the window. But since it WAS 9/11, I have to keep it all in perspective, don’t I?

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Remembering

I wish I had something truly profound to say about the loss of life at the World Trade Center (and other sites) ten years ago. I don’t. It is beyond me. I remember the tremendous shock that afternoon (here in Israel it was afternoon when the disaster occurred), when I heard of the towers falling. With a numbing disbelief at the power of a few evil people to wreck such carnage and suffering, I stayed glued to the newscasts.
Here in Israel we are almost used to terror attacks, but in truth, one never (and SHOULD NEVER) gets used to it. True, our losses are smaller, but when the numbers lost are compared to the total population size, we in Israel have suffered higher losses. Now, I am not hoping to take the “most suffering” title. But when I look at America, and how they correctly realize today that such atrocities are exactly that, I wonder how can these same people (a section of them) shrug off and do not understand our efforts in Israel to combat and contain terror. I should think that all those who are appalled at the disasters that occurred ten years ago would realize that fighting terror is serious, and must be done.

Monday, September 5, 2011

YU-HOO! Minus 60!


I have lost so far 60 kilos (thats 132 lbs)!!!
And boy does that feel GREAT!

WHAT in the WORLD?!? (Stopping Childhood Obesity)

In Britain, (see HERE )apparently a couple is being threatened with losing custody of their children because they (the children) are overweight.
WHAT???!??? True, parents need to try and curb their children’s overeating, but it does not always work. As much as I try to help Ricki make good food choices, she can not be watched 24 hours a day. Ricki can recite all sorts of great phrases about wanting to eat healthy, but (as occurs with many adults) when temptation arises, she capitulates.

My mother encouraged me to eat healthy, and I finally did, from age 57……

Even though they watched these kids at home, I am sure that they didn’t shadow them at school. [And I am SURE that having a social worker observe their mealtimes REALLY helped these kids feel GREAT. (I am being facetious here…) Maybe we can set up foster homes for all kids who don’t exercise, too…….]

If England (or any other country) wants to stop the childhood obesity epidemic, let them try THESE efforts:
1) Forbid all TV, magazine, and billboard advertisements of sweets, fried foods, and soft drinks.
2) Outlaw the placing of snack foods/ soft drinks near the check-out isle (which generates a lot of impulse buying)
3) Insist that package labeling of portions be a full-sized portion. (Yeah, just how many people do you think eat only one bar of a 70 calorie trail bar, when they are sold in packets of two to a package…..and once you open the package, the second bar starts crumbling up and falling out…)
4) Have “snack” machines in the school that sell only bottled water and low-fat cartons of milk.
5) Offer FREE weight-watchers (or similar) at the school, with available vouchers for off-school sessions for those too embarrassed to go at school.
6) Maintain more sport facilities at school, and encourage after-school use.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Shadow Shot Monday: Light and Stone

[image : closeup of rock]







[image: rock with lichen, and shaddow of leaves]


Both of these pictures are from Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.