The end of the weekend... sigh

Simcha the Brave decided that today would be a good day to squeeze out the door between the living room and the balcony, and jump off to the ground floor beneath. This didn’t work out nearly as well as he had hoped, primarily because the resident tomcat, Tiger, did NOT take well to an upstart pisher of a kitten invading his territory. Many yowls later, we found them squabbling and rescued Simcha – he was, of course, filthy, having been chased through a construction area and multiple rosebushes. In punishment, we gave him a bath. And, since we already had one massively unhappy cat on our hands, we decided to give Osher a bath too. The look on his face was priceless, you could see it in his eyes – I didn’t do *anything,* don’t punish *me*!! So our two cats are a little bit peeved, but they do look very handsome and feel oh so soft… if a bit fluffier than usual.

Shabbat was wonderful – we went to Jeffrey and Courtney’s and had Shabbat pizza. One of the things we talked about was moving to Cincinnati next year. As much as we would love to buy a house, it just doesn’t seem feasible (unless some rich unknown relative dies and bequeaths us lots of money). So, at the moment, it looks like we’ll fly back to LA as planned, and then Jonathan will go to Ohio to apartment and job hunt while I tie up loose ends in Long Beach. Then a short cross-country drive with two cats in tow, and woohoo, we’ll be settled. (right, like it’ll be that easy)

Mara came over on Thursday and we watched Mean Girls. I’d never seen it, thinking it would be a stupid teen movie, but both Jonathan and I really liked it! It was a truly satirical, biting commentary on high school life today. Though it makes me feel old to say it, it’s probably the Clueless of this generation. For our next movie, I'm on a search to find An American Tail or Feivel Goes West. For some reason, the lyrics just keep running through my mind: "There are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese..."

Thursday was also the day I was on the phone with Netvision, the internet company, for two and a half hours. It’s a long story, but basically, they were charging us for two accounts, not one. I was getting nowhere by myself, so I went to HUC and Helen, one of the administrators, kept them on the phone from 2:30pm til 5pm, yelling at them til they gave in and gave us a full refund. I think I’m too nice for this country - the word “pushy” has nothing on Israelis. If you want something, don’t take no for an answer. Helen literally refused to hang up, and we were transferred about six times, but it worked! Hooray for Helen, everyone cheer.

And since I'm on about cultural differences, let me add that I *really* miss a clothes dryer. Our washer is slow, which is bearable, but we hung laundry out to dry and it was out there for three days... it kept raining and getting wet again! We've finally given up and are hanging it inside with a space heater. The cats, at least, are enjoying the process – they currently think that the sheets and towels in the living room are their own personal obstacle course.

I read part of Vayishlach, in Genesis, in services on Monday, so have been practicing the Hebrew all afternoon. Afterwards, I’ll be two-thirds done with my tefillah (service) requirements… all I’ll have left is to give a d’var Torah, or sermon. That seems easiest to me – no Hebrew, just write and deliver a speech. Public speaking I can do, but service leading? That’s something else. It’s funny though - talking to Helayne today, I realize I’m the opposite of a lot of the other students here. They may be able to lead services in their sleep, but are terrified of the sermon-giving. It does take all kinds, as they say.

Have a wonderful evening, everyone. As you sleep late on Sunday, think of me in class at 8:30. :)