Catch up (sorry!)

I know, it's been a very long time.  I was just about to write and then the community (BJC) suffered a sudden and terrible loss and I decided to wait a bit.  We were also so shocked here, and felt helpless and kind of alone -- nobody here except the Farkas' knew David.  Judah has been in touch with people in Oakland and elsewhere and I know the community was amazing and supportive in every way and that there are just no words that capture the enormity of the sadness and void that his absence leaves.  We miss him.

We are gearing up for another set of snow days.  I look out the window now and see the trees in the park next door, surrounded by fog and back-lit by the streetlamps blowing in our legendary wind.  I can hear the wind too, and am so grateful we have a solid home.  Even if they did build them with no insulation (grumbling about the construction mistakes and shortcuts for the houses on our side of the street is something of a pastime.  Everyone has the same house, more or less, and dealt with the same construction company.  Their architectural professionalism and thoroughness leaves what to be desired...)

Loads of emails and text messages abut the decision not to hold school tomorrow and the list of schools that will be closed (in our area, all of them).  Except the boys' school will be open for a couple hours in the morning so the boys can come get their tefillin in case they left them in school.  I loved that.

We have five or six boys from Judah's yeshiva coming for Shabbos and they will come tomorrow since the road from Jerusalem is expected to be closed starting at some point tomorrow and anyone traveling for Shabbat has been advised to be in place from Thursday. I am glad that the bakery is walking distance from our house :)  They announced that the parking lot will be closed to cars and I'll call tomorrow to see if they really plan to open on Friday or if I should get everything I need by tomorrow.

I avoided the supermarket today, I understood from friends that it was a madhouse.  Last storm everyone planned in advance, the Supermarket was packed and quite unpleasant and the day of the actual snow the place was empty but open and accessible until the snow actually started falling later in the day.  So I plan to go early tomorrow and hope that they will be almost empty and have bread, milk and chicken for Shabbos.

I asked each of the girls today if they had the choice to move back to Oakland and have everything be the way it was before, would they do it?  And I was relieved to hear that each one said no, while recognizing that there were "Up sides and down sides" to each place.  One wanted to now if she would be able to come back and visit here, one said maybe in a few weeks but not now, but all of them thought about it.  I hope that it helps them to realize that they have gotten to a place where they would no longer jump to leave given the option.  It's a big change, and I was starting to feel like they would never get used to it and be happy, even though I knew intellectually that it probably would.  They're still not delighted, but a shift is starting.

We are still waiting to hear back from one of the high schools that Aharon Akiva applied to and will be relieved when he is just signed up and registered.  Hillel, though, is all signed up for Gan for next year :)  We joked that it was his test scores and APs that got him in.  Actually it was his birthday, but we can pretend.  It's a very sweet program right across the street with two lovely teachers.  He will have Maayan Farkas in his class :)  He is learning and understanding lots of words but not talking much yet.  He has a few signs (more, eat, come, bye, where) and a few words (Ema, Abba, Uh-oh, Wow) and I did my research and concluded that there is no cause for alarm.  He is just moving at his own pace.  Apparently his father spoke late too and he is not lacking in communication skills!

I have not been able to attend my Coexistence meetings in Beit Hanina for the last few weeks because my sister has not been feeling well and can't watch Hillel anymore.  It was just too hard for him to be away from me for that many hours, too much of a break from our routine.  There is a possibility of a local dialogue group starting soon which would allow me to leave him with the older kids for a shorter period of time which may be a better match at this point in our lives.  I will let you know how that unfolds.

Kitchen cabinets are in and Caesarstone countertops have been ordered, so we are making real progress.  I recognize that part of the reason that it's been so slow is because I have not been more assertive in encouraging the work to happen faster.  On some level, it's easier for me if they don't come on any given day, because if there is a worker here I have to be home, I can't go nap with Hillel, sometimes it's noisy, etc.  So it's slow.  And that's okay.  But I do want it to get finished already so I can have my gas range and outlets where they need to be etc.  Soon.

I have been thinking more about working and am finally gathering the documentation I need to get licensed and registered here.  It's not hard, just needs doing.  Letters attesting to numbers of field work hours and meetings with officials to authenticate my transcripts and diploma, etc.  And often by the time offices open in CA, I am busy with bedtime and then tired enough that waiting until tomorrow to call them seems like a great idea.  So here we are :)

Thank you to those of you who let me know that you read this by commenting or emailing because even though I remember that the whole point of this format is availability and access without pressure, it is good to know that I am writing to somebody :)

Shabbat Shalom!