The fruits of my labors...

I spent the better part of today trying to draw a mermaid! Sounds like I need to prioritize, right? Well, needless (maybe need-ful actually) to say, she needed to be drawn first before I could make her out of silver.

As it turns out, I can draw about as well as my cat. You would think that a few lines and squiggles should not be so hard- but yikes! I definatly will not pursue any career options that involve a pen or pencil. But in the end she turned out lovely in silver:

And now that I spent about 22 hours on various stages of mermaid-ing... i have hungry kids, hungry cats, an upside down house, laundry oozing out of every crack, dishes scattered all around the garden- not sure why- hopefully nothing to do with the cats...

speaking of which, the obnoxious overly large kitten, Santa, who likes to sit on top of the fridge, fell off between the fridge and wall and got stuck- 7:30 am and in my little nightly yanking out the fridge to save a ridiculously clumsey say- I thought they were supposed to be graceful!!

Things that made me smile today

Sometimes all it takes are a few little insignificant things to make me smile. Things that come out of no where, and for no particularly good reason, they give me a brief moment of entertainment... respite from the norm.

Today was a boring errand day. Wandering through the scorching hot and humid streets of Tel Aviv- buying silver and stones... looking in windows... people watching.

In Tel Aviv, that area is called Allenby Street. This is the melting pot of the down trodden... foriegn workers... drug addicts and working girls... mixed in with the shop owners that have been there forever. It happens to be where the jewelry supply shops are located! it is tel Aviv's equilavent to 42nd street in New York.

So wandering there I happened upon a kiosk- a health food store, as it called itself.

There next to the enormous carrots waiting for juicing and fresh mangos and kiwis- is also the large display stand of cigarettes and rolling papers. Small bottles of cheap vodka rests next to beets and celery. The proprieter stands at the entrance smoking and simultaneously hacking up some frightening substance and spitting it onto the curb. Now, doesnt that whet your appetite?

Needless to say, I passed on a peach smoothie.

By the time I got home.. covered in a city's worth of sweat and grime with fading visions of the slightly sad and dirty and forgotten, I went upstairs to change and found my cat once again sleeping "downhill"- which for some reason is the position of choice for the past 2 weeks.

And these were the two things that made me smile in my completely ordinary day.

I am worse at keeping up with this blog than my to-do list that sits untouched from 2007. And the funny thing is that I can find a million things to do on the computer, but none of which takes me here. So, here I am finally. And here is 2009 finally.

The year begins with a bit of noise and unrest here in the Holy land. We have a "refugee" staying with us for a week now- that would be the son of friends who lives in Ashkelon, Israel- which has unfortunately been under rocket attack by Hezbollah for the past... well a long time- but just recently is has amplified a tad- to say the least. So instead of hearing sirens and missles, he has come to stay with us. And the odd thing is that it is only a one hour drive- yet it is a DIFFERENT world. We see everything on the news, but it seems very far removed.
So, this lovely 13 year old boy- stays with us and keeps my new kitten out of danger and out of trouble. My son has to go to school and doesnt see it as fair.
C'est la vie.
The new kitten, on the other hand, has been making life a bit hellish. i do think that possible he is part panther. We just found out today that she is a he, and now I can't change that in my head. And out older cat- well into her golden years- is about to commit suicide- due to the constant torture from her new small companion.
Will put on pics soon!

I love walking around Jerusalem on a friday morning. There is a bit of everything and everyone all mixed into one pot of human soup. Religious,students,tourists,Arabs,Jews... everyone wandering around the market buying strawberries and cheese- tasting, pushing- and generally just having a nice Friday morning.

Went into a FABULOUS cheese shop in the market and tasted cheese nirvana. Bought 18 years old cheese- hope that's a good thing. But al in all- a lot of fun. Such a change from tel Aviv- a completely different feel to the city and people.

On another note... did a lot of work this week in my airless little studio. Burned and sawed myself a tad too much, but other than that, came out in one piece. here are a few pics of the fruits of my labors:

I'm wearing BOOTS today!!! I am so happy that it is almost winter and I can get fuzzy. The boots also went along with a sweater- unfortunately it was about 78 degrees... but there is a difference in late fall 78 than spring 78, and DAMN IT!!! I am going to wear boots!!!

I would love to call this time of the year pumpkin weather- when everything is all orange, gold and crunchy, but I suppose I have to call it Pommegranate weather, because there are still a few left on our trees, and nothing is turning color or getting crunchy- except for the grass, and that is because we are supposed to cut back on the water. But still I can pretend...

Why is it than when you get to a stop light, people in the next car feel the need to stare blatently at me and I cannot return their stare? I get so embarrassed for some reason- tomorrow that is mt personal goal: to return the stare of a total stranger (some might say I am setting my personal goals a wee to low...)

Been working my tush off this week on getting new things made in my airless studio. here are a few pics- can always find them on my Etsy shop or my own site:

Why is it that when I start a diet, I always GAIN weight? It seems to go against all laws of physics, but it always happens! I can loose the same 2 pounds 25 times, so in theory, I have lost 25 pounds, even though my scale shows a one pound gain. Well. nothing too tragic I suppose.

Although for some reason now, I cannot stop my chocolate addiction. There really should be a rehab of sorts. Actualy, I saw a ridiculous commercial for a rehab center advertised on TV, and they said they can deal with all kinds of addictions: drugs, alcohol, gambling and BAKED GOODS. I SWEAR TO GOD! There are people who go to rehab because of apple turnovers!!!

Can you imagine the confession stories. Stealing money to pay for phyllo dough leaves... selling your body just for one more doughnut... SCARY!

Here are a few new pics of what i have baked up this week:

The first thunderstorm since last winter was LAST NIGHT!!! It was so loud that it felt like in was actually in my bed, and naturally my cat was freaking out. but... there is a sad side to it. (For her sake) Our bedroom door was locked and she couldnt come in- just meowed mournafully on the other side. And why was it locked? Because my slightly odd husband has issues with eating several times a night when he is sleeping, and wants to be locked in. I have vague notions of him searching for the key and trying to escape at night, but always fails. My question is, if one wants to be locked in, why bothering to look for the key?

All in all, it has helped in the eating department. once apparantly he was holding a cupcake in hand, and a second later aid it just wasnt there. So, i suppose it is actual sleep eating, which seems a HUGE waste of calories, if you ask me! (He is going to a sleep clinic in 2 days- maybe they can help!!!)

We went for a 12 kilometer hike today in hopes of getting me prepared for a trip to Nepal in the winter. Kind of boring where we hiked and I got fed up about 3/4 of the way through, so not sure how 16 days of hiking near Mount Everest would be. Although the difference is scenery and culture, and the cool aspect of hiking 20,000 up! Today we managed to see some radioactive sized turtles. Not sure why they were so big, but nevertheless a break in the tedium of picknicers.

Bought some fabulous druzy stones last week. They look so good I actually want to eat them. Literally. But alas, I have refrained. I read about a condition called Pica that some woman get when they are pregnant where they get cravings for things like laundry detergent. This seems similar, but i havent tried a bite. i mentioned it to the girl at the counter and she just stared at me and said, "why would you eat rocks?" with a straight face/ I hate when people just dont get that you are kidding. I had no response. Here are a few pics of the yummies: