Flap Your Tiny Wings

On Thursday my cousin Jeff came to hang out with us after finishing his birthright trip. Lori&co came for dinner and Timmy made a special appearance.

The Crazy Lady made enormous quantities of food for shabbos and even with a full house, we barely made a dent in it.
On Friday afternoon I mixed up a batch of cold rise pizza dough and on motzash Lori and I churned out four pies. The people descended on the pizza with a fervor as though they had never seen pizza before.
After the pizza had been devoured, Timmy, Jeff and Jeff's friend headed to Jerusalem.

Sunday was boring. Lori&co came to eat leftovers for dinner and I found some pea pods on the pea plant.

On Monday Jeff and Timmy returned to the sun house and Lori&co once again joined us for dinner. The Crazy Lady turned some of the leftover into chicken potpie and nobody cared.

Jeff headed back to the states this morning, it was sad to see him go but I think that Oscar misses him the most. A piano tuner came to our piano and in a surprising turn of events, Lori&co came for dinner. The Crazy Lady turned the rest of the chicken into stirfry which was quite tasty. Frank got a new coat and Z beat me to the end of Assassins Creed.

How To Properly Open A Coconut In Five Easy Steps (As Taught To Me By My Mother).

Step Juan: Acquire coconut and cleaver.

Step Two: Firmly grasp coconut in your hand. 

Step Three: Hit the coconut with the cleaver until the coconut succumbs to its fate and splits into multiple pieces. 

Step Four: Remove the weird hairy stuff from the coconut flesh.

Step Five: Enjoy your fresh coconut. 

This is also highly effective method for waking sleeping family members. 

Eggnot

Last night was erev christmas. We had a little get together to celebrate the occasion, mainly because we love a reason to party.

I'd never had eggnog before but thought that it might be fun to try. I soon discovered that I wasn't the only one that had never tried the festive beverage so Lori and I whipped up a big batch for everyone to taste. It was super fluffy and sweet, sort of like melted ice cream but with a weird aftertaste.
Personally, I'm not a fan.

The rest of the family more or less shared my feelings on the subject except for my father who happily sipped away at his glass.

Today was my parents 30th anniversary. I made a fancy sign for the occasion with the help of one of my furry friends. I use the term 'help' loosely as the cat spent a majority of the time trying to eat the crayons and batting around bits of paper.

When your cat is eating crayons, stop and take a picture before trying to wrestle it out of their mouth.

Lori&co came to help us celebrate the joyous occasion and in typical jew fashion, we had a chinese style dinner. Chicken and broccoli stirfry and a meat dish which I've named beefN'chickpeas (mainly due to the fact that it contains both beef and chickpeas and partially because I forgot the actual name) with a brownie and chocolate chip cookie creation (courtesy of Lorbles) for desert.

It may seem like my father is wearing the exact outfit that he was wearing last night but if you look really closely you'll note that his button down shirt is a different color. Do not be concerned by the knife (which was used to cut the cake) or empty wine bottle, it was like that when we found it.....

Merry anniversary to my wonderful parents on this joyous occasion. May the next 30 years be as full of furry creatures and happy times as the last.

My Spinach Puffs!

The past few days have been exceptionally uneventful.
After spending countless hours staring out of my window while studying, I decided to go outside for some fresh air. While I was outside, I decided to conduct an impromptu inspection of my plants. My trusty pup came to assist me on my mission.

We started with the peas, they appear to be a tenacious bunch. Little white flowers have popped up all over the place and I'm excited to see what the next few weeks bring.

The tomatoes seem to be doing well. Unlike their neighbors, they prefer to keep to themselves.

I was surprised to find some fugitives hiding out under the leaves of the  strawberry bush.

The birds haven't gone near them yet but I'm sure that they're just waiting for the berries to turn red before taking a dainty little peck out of each and every one of them.

I spent the rest of the day alternating between studying and finding various ways to avoid studying.
Lorbles and Buzzy made a guest appearance and now we're watching The Emperors New Groove.
 

One For All And All For Me!

In an effort to prevent myself from doing something productive (like studying), I decided to spend an undetermined amount of time drawing this.....

"No cookie gets left behind!"

Don't judge me.

15,000 Shekel Storage Unit

I went to visit my sister today and noticed her new "storage space". I commend her ingenuity and resourcefulness. Why buy a new cabinet when you can simply use your 15,000 shekel air conditioning unit instead?

 

Lori's Clothes (Sweaters&Skirts)

*Note: This is a joke. My sister does not actually store her clothing in air duct. The cardboard is there to block the airflow to the room that they're not using in hopes of warming up the rest of the apartment. 

Alarming Dinners

Z's class got cancelled today due to the aftermath of the storm. I was debating whether or not I should go to Lori's for our weekly date night when she called with a brilliant suggestion, bring the party to my house.
We quickly came up with a game plan for dinner and then told The Crazy Lady that she was off the hook for the night.

I did my best to distract The Crazy Lady until Lori and her entourage arrived with the goods.
We set up the indoor grill (grate thing) and got down to business! Unfortunately we forgot how smokey the grate gets when you try and grill on it.

We opened all of the windows and tried to air the place out but the smoke alarm was overeager to join in the fun. Halfway through the burgers we heard its shrill call from upstairs. Someone eventually managed to get the battery out and we resumed our grilling.

Frank's mad photography skillz.

Shark Bait, HOOHAHA!

Dinner was beyond delicious. I think that everyone enjoyed.. :)
I made some chocolate chip cookies bars for dessert because no meal is over until you feel like you're gonna explode.

:)

Pesky Trees

The stormy weather prevailed throughout shabbos. The Freddies came to keep us company and Lori&co joined us for lunch.

This morning started off a little strange. Three burly guys from the iriya showed up demanding entrance to our backyard but then decided that they would rather not face the dog. Apparently people had called to complain about the overhanging trees from our backyard claiming that they were a danger to the citizens. Further investigation revealed that a lot of our neighbors were facing similar charges. The men said that we would be fined for our trees reckless behavior before moving on to the next house.

About half an hour after the men left, we heard a strange noise outside. It sounded suspiciously like a chainsaw....

We went outside to investigate and found a claw machine ripping trees and fences out of our neighbors yards. My father hurriedly called the gardener who promised to send some guys over to trim our trees. The iriya's "gardeners" that were "trimming" our neighbors yards offered to do our as well (provided that we foot the bill for their valuable time and expert workmanship) but my father declined the offer.  When the so called gardeners made it apparent that they wouldn't leave without ripping our trees and fence out, my father decided to stand guard until the gardeners arrived.

Freddie and The Munchkin stayed in the sun house to hang out for the day. We started our adventures out at the supermarket and then ended up heading to the mall for lunch with S&S.

Just as we were leaving for the mall the gardeners arrived to save the day. The Crazy Lady and The Mad Man stayed behind to supervise while the rest of us headed to lunch.

Lunch was delightful and the company was superb. The waitress was a big fan of the munchkins and gave them free chocolate.

Chloclit

After lunch we let the munchkins run wild in the play area.

 The Dibble proved that you're never to old to have some fun.

Spot The Dibble.

It started to get dark out so we said goodbye to S&S and Lori&co and headed home to see how things were going. The gardener did a lovely job on the garden and we're now the only ones with trees in our yard and an intact fence.

Shpunky Monkeys Day Off

Last night Shpunky Monkey was left behind at our house due to a series of undetermined events. Some claim that it was a simple misunderstanding on Buzzy's end while others argue that he was hiding on purpose (he was found in the salad spinner). Whether or not he ended up in the salad spinner by choice is hard to determine as neither party is willing to give coherent answers on the situation.

Ernie was more than happy to let Shpunky crash with him for the night. The two pals are spending the day catching up and having fun. They don't get to hang out to frequently so they're certainly making today count!

  

Cookie eating contest.

Joy rides.

;)

Poker

And of course, Xbox.

Kidnapped

Monday night was date night with Buzzy and Lori. I made waffles while Lori made butterscotch sauce and Buzzy looked cute.
We served the waffles up with some ice cream, just for good measure.

Not the most well balanced dinner that I've ever had but definitely one of the most delicious. 

Yesterday we went grocery shopping where we "conveniently" bumped into Lorbles and her entourage while we were checking out.

We had some family friends over for dinner. It was really nice to see them before they went back to the states.

Today is very wet and rainy. Z kidnapped me a couple of hours ago and Lori requested some nice warm cookies to help fend off the chilly weather. 

I'm trying to comply with their requests but I'm not yet sure when I'll be taken home. 

Living In Alaska

Last week was more or less uneventful, which definitely contributed to my disinclination to blog.

I consumed far too many deep fried foods, felt sick and lit lots of candles. I recall a conversation wherein I tried to convince my little brother that Kentucky is not a country. I'm not sure that he believes me but at least I tried.

I hung out at the Freddies for a few days which was really nice. The Little Munchkin and I went on an adventure to the park and made some nice artwork. 

We had a bunch of yeshiva guys over for shabbos. My father was ecstatic at the opportunity to impart his wisdom unto their impressionable young minds. The boys seemed happy to indulge him in return for drinks and snacks.

After shabbat lunch I was debating whether or not I should walk up the hill to visit Lorbles. I decided to take a snack and wait for a sign. Just as I was finishing my brownie,there was a knock at the door and Lorbles strolled in with her entourage in tow.

We hung out for a while but Buzzy wasn't in the mood to be inside so we decided to walk back to their side of town. We made a stop at the park on the way home and let Buzzy and Z run rampant. By the time we got back inside, shabbos was almost over. We ate cookies until it was time for havdalah.

After havdalah I raided Lorbles fridge for some dinner while Z washed the dishes. We somehow managed to get Buzzy into pajamas (how many adults does it take to get a 20 month-old into pajamas? Apparently three...) and then Z whisked the monster away to put him to sleep while Lorbles and I watched a movie tended to some very important business.

The cold and rainy weather is still going strong and I'm loving it. The only problem with rainy weather is that it makes me even lazier than normal. All I want to do is hide under my fuzzy blankets and watch TV or even just stare at the ceiling. Pretty much anything but study.

So far I spent a majority of my day studying the plants outside my window and watching a spider build a web in the corner of my room. I doubt that either of these skills will come in handy on the phsycometri but I suppose you never know.

I've kind of always wanted to go to Alaska but thanks to the weather, I can experience the freezing temperatures from the comfort of my own room! At some point in the afternoon, my fingers were so cold that I couldn't hold my pencil anymore. I took it as a sign that I should stop "studying" and go downstairs to make some soup.

I came downstairs to find my father unknowingly about to spread some leftover tinted frosting on his lunch thinking that it was chumus. My mother came to his rescue and showed him where the chumus was. 

I was making my soup and feeling rather smug about not having tried to put frosting on my lunch when my father kindly reminded me that my AC was also my heater.

I left my soup on low and returned to my tower to glare at my AC/heater with the utmost contempt. 

Now I'm sitting downstairs and trying to enjoy some of my nice warm soup.

Mr. Cat was carrying around his toy and begging for someone to play catch with him. I made the mistake of throwing it for him once and now he thinks that we're best friends. I accidentally threw it under the couch and sort of hoped that it would end things. It did not. He somehow managed to wrest it from the depths under the couch and is now sitting on the table staring at me with his big eyes from behind my laptop with the cursed toy hanging from his mouth. 

One Thousand And Eighty Two Words

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I'm not exactly sure where the phrase originated but I'm willing to bet that it had something to do with somebody trying to get out of doing their work. In which case, I greatly admire whomever they may have been.

In an effort to emulate this wise person, I will let this picture speak for me.

(Regular posting may resume when I stop being a lazy butt.)

Catching Fire

I spent most of my day in Jerusalem hanging out with my friend Sea. We walked to the central bus station as it was getting dark outside and I somehow managed to snag a seat on the bus (woo).

Lori unlocked the door for me while singing her rendition of the miami boys choir "light up the nights",  "Light up the night, backyard burning bright, on the festival of lights, here on hanukah!!". The lyrics seemed a little off, but I hadn't heard the song in a while so I shrugged and went to find my candles.

I lit my trusty dusty chanukia and noted that the room smelled faintly of smoke.  I later discovered that my neighbors had set fire to their weeds and piles of discarded furniture "garden" earlier this afternoon (perhaps in an attempt to get into the holiday spirit?). 

Lori's rendition "light up the nights" suddenly made a lot more sense....

We had a delicious stir fry for dinner, courtesy of The Crazy Lady and Lorbles. A question about where the chicken had come from sparked a lively debate over the pros and cons of cannibalism. I'm not sure what the general consensus was but I wasn't overly enthusiastic at the thought of being served up with a side of mashed potatoes.....

Hope you're all enjoying chanukah! Remember, you don't have to set your backyard on fire to get into the holiday spirit. Just clog your arteries with deep fried food instead!