Monday, December 7, 2009

I'd like to thank...

My loyal readers who come back day-after-day to check why I haven't written anything new. It's probably because I'm either insanely busy, severely disorganized or a combination of the two. I kind of wonder if it's what people describe as ADD. Sometimes I feel like there's a seven-ring circus going on in my head (three rings I could handle, I mean, I do have 6 kids...) and everything's so interesting and so colorful and appealing that I don't know what to do first... On a good day, the solution is to shut everything down and work on the things I have to work on (you know, the stuff that brings in the soy schnitzel). On a not-so-good day, I start doing seven different things and sometimes, miraculously, I am able to stay focused on one thing long enough to realize I've worked on it. I have learned not to rely on my memory too much (to do things) because I forget just about everything that isn't very important... So we've got a calendar on the fridge and I write down everything that's going on and I do remember to look there (at least usually).


Anyway, I've got a whole bunch of ideas that I'm trying to develop - one's a spin-off site of fertilitystories. I bought a new domain, but now I want to build a content management system so that at least one of my websites will actually be built properly. But since I don't like risk, I haven't taken someone else to build it for me - and I don't have the time to build it myself... I've also continued to work on internationalshippingshops (do I have a thing about long mushed-up names? For this one, I bought the domain OverseasJoe, which for some odd reason I think is hilarious...) and it's actually starting to get some traffic. I'm also an affiliate of Book Depository... oh yeah, and my brother, Ben, and I started building a really cool site about a year ago - only Ben got a real job in the meantime and decided that money was more important than helping his sister (can you imagine? ;-)) so that's a bit stuck too (although I've got an idea up my sleeve to get it jumpstarted again)... And, in the meantime, I decided that I had to design something that kids could make for Chanuka that would let you turn a wheel and have the Chanukiya light up the right number of candles according to the day of Chanuka. You can't see it that well, but when you turn the dial on the bottom then through the holes you can see the 'lit candles' that correspond with the number on the top. Hadas decorated this one :-)

And then we hosted a "Bayit cham" where 4 kids from the preschool come over in the afternoon and you do some sort of activity with them - so we made these (and used my fancy new laminating machine, which made them very impressive, but also impossible to photograph). Amazingly *all*of them came out well. This is the first time I've ever planned something so complicated and it was really exciting to see the results.

When I say complicated, I mean the bottom part looks like this:

After getting good feedback on it from pretty much everyone, I am going to look into selling the design - anyone want to test it for me? I can send you a pdf...

I'm also taking my next-to-last course at the Open University - Survey Methodology - it's a great course, but requires a lot of time (doesn't everything?) - and I think I've decided not to sign up for next semester. With Hadas being in 11th grade, I still have a chance to finally get my degree at the same time as she does... (I have to write 2 seminar papers, so I plan to write one during the spring semester this year and one next year, after I take the final course.) This degree really isn't going to give me anything, but it is really important to me to finish things I've started... Uh oh, which takes me back up to the first paragraph and all the things I want to do.

Hey, I managed to get through writing a blog post today. That's something.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Music. I love music…

I remember, when I was living in Shikunei HaElef  (Hebrew University dormitory) in Givat Ram (Jerusalem) back in 1986 just how quiet Shabbat was. I lived in the building of the observant girls. A total of 7 of the 20 rooms were occupied and I’d managed to get rid of my roommate by having her upgraded to the better dorms (the Kiryah – yes, I actually went and begged them to give her a room and she was very thankful), so I had a room to myself. I think there was one other girl who wasn’t Israeli-born, but she had a boyfriend who she went to visit on Shabbat and all the other girls went home. I was almost always left in the building completely alone. In fact, most of the buildings were empty over the weekend and the few people who stayed weren’t the ones I’d choose to talk to. I was also significantly younger, being just 17, when most students there were in their 20’s. So I spent Shabbat on my own. I read books, slept a lot and I sang, sometimes for hours. I could sing as loudly as I wanted, since there wasn’t anyone there to hear – and with it being so quiet, I found that singing made me feel less lonely (and hey, it seemed more normal than talking to myself). I don’t remember what songs I sang, but I know it always made me feel happy. In every house I ever lived, I knew where the best acoustics were and even before Hadas was born, I started singing to her. She knew all the words to Leader of the Band by the time she was 4 and we sang it together in a talent contest about then.

After I got divorced, I took voice lessons for a while. My teacher was convinced that I should sing opera. I told her I was willing to try, but she never actually brought me the music. I enjoyed the lessons, but I don’t think I’d ever sing in front of anyone but my family – and I don’t think they care how good my voice sounds, so I stopped taking lessons, but I kept singing to the kids, of course. They know all the songs I love… and if they hear a song on the radio, even Abigail will say, “Is that John Denver?” I often sing to the little kids before they go to sleep (usually they choose the songs – one of the ones Abigail loves is No Wonder – not exactly what you’d expect a 4-year-old to like).

These past few years have been crazy-busy. I just realized that I hadn’t bought a CD for about a year (the last one was a Barbra Streisand one that I didn’t have yet – I have quite a few)… and I realized I enjoy the few songs I know that Sarah McLachlan sings –(like  Blackbird & Ordinary Miracle) so I ordered a disk (of course it turned out to be out of stock).

I was thinking about how much I missed having time to listen to music (I mean, who can hear a whole song with 3-4-5-6 kids at home?)  and I remembered a tape that I had with this song – but this video is so much better :-)

Shabbat isn’t as quiet as it used to be. I think I kind of miss that sometimes.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Some things lose their meaning (at least temporarily)

As a child, Yom Kippur meant counting down the pages until the service would (finally) end. From the time I was 8, I was pretty serious about fasting – and that year, I made it through to the very end - only the service ended later than the fast and I ran out to the water fountain to get a drink (thinking I was about to die). I think that it was the same year that I was in a choir of 4 that participated in the service. (My dad was the Rabbi, so the auditioning process was fairly simple.) As a young adult, I was able to understand more of the prayer and connect with more of the ideas of the day, probably giving it some of the meaning I’d learned and some of my own. Yom Kippur began to be extremely powerful, giving me a true opportunity to look at who I had been up until then and being able to make a decision as to who I wanted to be from then on… I would sit in shul and daven, not necessarily paying attention to every word (I don’t know who can), but feeling the importance of the prayer and of repenting. When finally, the shofar was blown, I  burst into tears… As a mom, I want to pass these feelings on to my children. I want all the holidays to be meaningful for them.

My little kids don’t behave well in shul. It could be the fact that there are 3 of them. Or that the shul is way-too-crowded (it is). Or the fact that other kids are playing outside. Or that I just have wild kids (not really).  So even if I took them with me, it’s impossible to concentrate between handing out bamba and drinks, wiping noses, changing diapers, taking one of the girls to the bathroom and breaking up their fights… And, living in Israel, you can’t really hire a non-Jewish babysitter to care for your kids (I know some synagogues in the US have some sort of arrangement), so instead of spending the day in shul or at least in solemn thought, I spend it figuring out how long I can keep the kids busy building with Duplo, what stories will keep them calmest, and trying not to forget to feed them, since they don’t fast (in addition to listening to one of the older kids moan and groan about how impossible it is to fast and that s/he just can’t do it…). Instead of counting down the pages, I count down the hours and minutes until the fast is over, hoping I’ve gotten a little bit of thought in at some point during the day.

Today, as Yirmi sleeps, I’m trying to get into the mood of 9 b’Av. It’s hard. It’s not only hard because I spent half the morning feeding the little kids and the other half playing with them. It’s hard because when it’s finally quiet and I have a moment to think, so many other things keep jumping into my head… And I think that’s one of the hardest things for me about being a stay-at-home-and-work-from-home-mom to little kids. It’s difficult to find time for uninterrupted thought. I never realized how important that is.

I am looking forward to a time when I will be able to feel the holidays – and feel that they are meaningful to me again - and not just be busy finding a way to somehow survive them.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Making pita

Ever since we took Abigail to Kibbutz Gezer, where they had an activity that included making pita, I’ve been thinking that I’d like to make pita at home. I’ve done it once in the past and it came out great, but then I lost the recipe and couldn’t find another one that looked worth trying.

Here are some of Abigail’s pictures – she really enjoyed it! Abigail rolling out the pita

They made sure to keep the kids safe – only the taboon guy got close to it.Abigail handing the pita to the taboon guy

Mr. Taboon also made sure the pita didn’t get burnt. Pita

Too bad they couldn’t protect the pita from the destructive things a four-year-old can do – in this case, putting chocolate spread on it. What a waste! Ruining the pita with chocolate spread. Yuck. Anyway, when Ohad said today that he preferred I use the outdoor barbeque to make chicken, I figured I’d finally use the cheapo wok we bought and make more pita. (You flip the wok upside down on the barbeque. Works like a charm.) Instead, I ended up finding a recipe that actually recommended you make the pita in the oven and I didn’t feel like standing in front of the barbeque anyway, so I made them in the oven.

IMG_2841

The recipe makes 8. We were able to take 2 to freeze – the others all got eaten straight out of the oven.

The kids kept asking me how you make the pockets. You don’t. They just magically appear :-)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tefillin...

Today, 13 years less 30 days (in the lunar calendar) - Matan was born. And today, on Lag Ba'Omer, he put on tefillin for the very first time.

Me with Matan and Yirmi (and a head covering). And, believe me, it's just the way I'm standing...

My dad with Matan, after shacharit, taking off the tefillin.



After shul, most of us went for breakfast and I even gave a very short speech - now translated to English (only because I never give any speeches at all, so if I've already written something, I may as well share it):

I chose to speak about “Shma Yisrael”.

Shma Yisrael” is the first prayer I taught my children. Every night before they went to sleep, I made sure to say the first line with them. As soon as they were able to say that, we went on to the second line and then I taught them to sing the whole first paragraph, just as my parents taught me.

Shma Yisrael is unique in that it includes rules about when to say it, “teach them diligently to your children and speak of them while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise” and about the places where we should put the passages, “You shall bind them as a sign upon your arm, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.”

As young children, only parts of this can be fulfilled – “speak of them while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise”. Later on, one can fulfill, “You shall bind them as a sign upon your arm, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes.” (Putting on tefillin) – which is what Matan has begun to do today.

Matan, I hope that in the future, as you grow, you will be able to fulfill more and more of the words of Shma, to “write them upon the doorposts of your house” and, when the time comes, also to “teach them diligently to your children”.

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I think (hope) it sounded better in Hebrew :-)

Thank you once again to all who joined us today!!!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

What do we leave behind us?

As I sit in my little kids’ room waiting for them to fall asleep, I sometimes wonder what they’ll remember of me when they’re older. Will they remember me sitting in their room, singing to them, often for a whole hour, with them setting up their own ‘playlists’? The songs I sang? Will they remember how I matched their clothes and set up outfits in the drawers so it would be easy to dress them in the morning? Will they remember the silly voices I make for them when I read them stories? Or how I we play a game we call, “hug me but don’t make me fall”? And then I think what my parents have given me and what I remember of my grandparents… and what of all that is really important.

I’ve even come to some conclusions about what is important to me… I guess I could sum it up as two things:

Values and devotion. I know what things my grandparents valued and to what things they devoted their lives – (two obvious examples are Judaism and education).

Interests and talents. I know my maternal grandfather was interested in photography, he wrote and sang beautifully… My maternal grandmother knitted fabulously (she could copy anything she saw in a store) and had an ability to distinguish more colors than the average person. My paternal grandfather was incredibly organized and read a lot… He also translated quite a few poems (both ways, I believe – from Hebrew to English and English to Hebrew). My paternal grandmother – hmmm… I don’t really know that much about her, even though I was 6-1/2 when she died. Time to ask my dad…

One of my aunts loves movies, is a talented artist and likes dinosaurs (we have a whole collection of stuffed dinosaurs :-)). My other aunt died when she was just 16, but I know she doodled in her notebooks and I think we have a lot in common…

With parents, I think it becomes even more specific, beyond the things I wrote about above, it’s also what type of books and music they like, specific things they do or have done, how they like to spend their time, expressions they use, places they visit and even physical objects that they are particularly fond of… and habits, quirks… I’m sure a lot of other things too.

These thoughts have made me even more aware of the things I want to emphasize to my children. So, Hadas knows that I have an organ donor card that I carry in my wallet and that I signed up to the bone marrow registry. All of them know that I donated my hair to children with cancer. (It was fun, highly recommended – pics below.)

BeforeIMG_1079

The braid IMG_1092

AfterIMG_1087

I spend time talking to the kids about things that are important to me, explaining my belief and giving them examples of the way I interpret things (e.g., despite the fact that I don’t drive on the Sabbath, when one of the kids was in bad emotional shape at their dad’s house, I felt that the right thing to do was to drive to them right away). I get silly with the kids and dance with them to Bryan Adams… and they’ve seen me eat peanut butter with a spoon (like my mother used to :-)) Sometimes Hadas (who goes to a boarding school in Jerusalem) calls me and tells me she heard a song I like on the radio (yes, she still knows what a radio is). And Matan  laughs at me when I’m not sure about a word and I pull out the dictionary. Lilach can always catch me when I’m being ridiculous (often) and trying to trick them. Abigail and Nomi know that when I take them out of the tub, I wrap them up in a towel and tell them to be careful not to fall and then I laugh with them that they “fell into my arms” as I carry them to the other room. Yirmi knows that I sing silly songs to him all day long… (oh yes, I do.)

I believe that making our lives meaningful to us is what makes them meaningful to our children (and then to their children). This also gives them the message that they should work to make their lives meaningful… and maybe the title of this post is misleading, because it isn’t just what we leave behind when we die, it’s what our children and grandchildren (and maybe even generations beyond that) have with them throughout their lives.

What do you think is important? What do you want to give your children ?

Friday, March 6, 2009

One-handed

This past year, I've had the pleasure of holding Yirmi - a lot. Often I was nursing him, while other times he fell asleep curled up in my arms, so peacefully that I didn't want to put him down. I really don't believe you can spoil a baby by holding him too much (if so, all my kids are terribly spoiled). I like to imagine that I'm transferring the feeling of comfort and being loved that will stay with him forever...

I sat on the couch a lot, was happy that once again I was breastfeeding during the Olympics. And I sat up in my bed, with the TV pillow that Ohad bought me as a gift when Nomi was born (sometimes falling asleep briefly while still holding him), but probably my favorite place was in front of the computer (because I'm such an addict. I totally am). So although I can't open my computer with just one hand (poor design, if you ask me), I've found some things that I can do:

- Read and answer some of the ~300 emails I get a day (though since I've switched to gmail, it's now closer to 80). The answers when I'm typing with one hand are usually shorter. I learned to touch-type 25(!) years ago and taught myself to touch type in Hebrew about 20 years ago, so typing with one hand just seems to go so slowly.

- Read updates on Facebook. I'm so not a snoop, but when people post things about their lives, I find it fascinating.

- Catch up on reading blogs. Though I've gotten pretty far behind and am even worse about commenting.

- Play Scramble (via Facebook). I play using only the mouse. I think it's the most brilliant model for a game ever, particularly the room that I play in.

- Doodle on Sumo. Here are the things I did yesterday:






And my favorite...


Any other ideas for games or fun things to do on the computer that don't require the keyboard?

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Making things meaningful

I keep putting off writing this post. In fact, it's been so long that the issue came up again and reminded me that I am just not getting around to things.

It started like this [ok, male audience, if you exist, you can stop reading]

[really, I mean it, close this window & come back again next time.]

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I go to what we call the mikva - a ritual bath and every time I go, I remember going with my mom when I was younger. She often had to drive a very long way (try Lawton, Oklahoma to Dallas, for example) just to take a 2 minute dip. But her taking the time to go there and taking me along, sometimes as "the mikva lady" (the one who makes sure every last hair goes under the water) taught me something. It taught me that this meant something to my parents, enough for them to make the effort to continue even when it was really difficult. It was enough that I remember these trips every time I go. It makes me feel like I'm part of a chain that I don't want to break...

In Israel, the mikva is maybe a 5-minute-drive from my house. Kids aren't really supposed to know you're going there (though I'm sure it looks suspicious for me to leave the house with a towel and a hairbrush, in the evening, alone) and you certainly can't take your daughter along. So how do they learn about it? How do you get them to understand that it's meaningful? What memories will my daughters have that will make them keep going?

And when I thought about that, I thought about how we make other things meaningful. I guess it's repetition, involving the kids, explaining things to them, letting them ask questions... Probably many other things that I've missed.

What makes something meaningful to you? What things would you want your children to feel are meaningful to you when they grow up? What do you think we, as parents, can do to make things meaningful to our children?


And I have to leave you with a few pictures from this afternoon, since I got all the kids together :-)

Sunday, February 22, 2009

A surprise from Singapore

One of my sweet blogger friends, Bea (let me know if it's OK/possible to link to your blog) sent Yirmi a terrific surprise. I totally love it! I was amazed when he took it and started 'driving' it all over the house. He's never played that way with a car before. (We've now put it away so it will stay nice for when he'll enjoy it even more.)





Thank you so, so much!!! It fits in perfectly with our car collection that currently includes 2 Fiat 500's, a VW Bus, a Porsche 356B, and several others. Um, yeah. Ohad seriously loves cars (his favorite is the Citroen DS). (OK, I admit it. I like them too.)


Earlier this morning, Yirmi was holding the Xbox remote and looking at a baby video. Such a boy. The girls are totally ambivalent to the remote.

Next up: teaching Yirmi to play Guitar Hero :-)

Friday, February 20, 2009

Furry Happy Monsters

Sesame Street often cracks me up. We have about 50 recorded episodes that we watch over and over (yes, I often end up watching them too). I loved this...



I especially love the female monster - good voice ;-)

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

And in my spare time, I model

Yes. One of my many gigs in the past few years. This time, Yirmi came along too.



You never know to what kind of fame a job like this might lead...



Ready for the picture*?



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...



...





Tell me you're not jealous...

*photo taken with permission of the supermarket chain and the store manager.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

A bright idea

So... I agreed to try to come up with something bright - a helpful tip (click on the title of this posting to find out why). [To skip to the tip, scroll almost to the bottom. I got completely carried away writing this post.]

In my last post, I wrote about some of the things I do, but I didn't write how I got into user interface design or human computer interaction or whatever you want to call it when someone helps make the interaction between people and technology more usable...

Almost exactly 10 years ago (Feb 1, 1999) I started working for a company that did technical writing and GUI (graphical user interface) and graphic design. I had very little experience with Microsoft Office (which was still fairly new then), but I'd worked with computers for several years - doing word processing (with practically every word processing software that came out before Word) and building databases (with dBase 3+) and what they really wanted was someone who'd learn quickly. I asked for a nothing salary (so nothing that it barely covered my transportation to and from work, really) because I had no idea what to ask for - and they hired me. I wasn't really looking for a job at the time, but it sounded interesting... I started out doing whatever was needed - editing, proofreading, and a bit of technical writing. It was a fabulous time for hi-tech and the company had tons of work. More than they could handle. My boss really believed in giving people a chance, so she threw me (with backup) into projects that could have been way beyond my capabilities. I started to get some experience and one of the women I was working with suggested that instead of technical writing, the company might be better off with me doing user interface design.

I don't think anyone had ever moved to a different group in the company before and I was both flattered and excited to have the opportunity to try. Something about the dynamics in the company (mostly within the groups) worked really well - there was a lot of cooperation and sharing of ideas. We always worked in teams of at least 2 and then we'd split up, each working on our own for a while, and then present our ideas to everyone from the group that was available (6 or 7 people) and sometimes to people from other groups too. That way, we'd get input from a several people before we got too far - and we'd go back and make changes and present them again.

The projects were from a variety of fields - I did many that had to do with printed circuit boards, so I actually went to a factory that produced them (they forgot to tell me to bring a clothespin for my nose) and flew to Germany for a week to a company that built camera-based inspection machines, to learn exactly how they worked. I did a huge project for WAP (when people still thought it was going to be the next big thing), medical products, security systems and all sorts of web applications - some of which are still around in various forms. Looking back, it was an incredible time - I worked a lot and I really enjoyed what I was doing and knew to appreciate the opportunity to work with such talented people (most of whom I'm still in touch with).

I got a lot of things out of working there. First of all, a career. More important were the things I got on a personal level - I remember being amazed by my boss so many times - when I reminded her of something she had said, she never denied it. When I said I was having trouble with something, she didn't say I was a lousy person - she found ways to help me... And then I saw the same things happening with the other people I was working with... As time went on, I began to realize that it wasn't me who was crazy or unworthy - it was just my (now ex) husband who was trying to convince me that I was. He had cut off all of my communication with my pre-marriage friends and detested when I talked to anyone from my family on the phone, but he couldn't keep me from talking to my co-workers... I took advantage of the conversations to do reality checks. It took me a long time to open up, but as I did, I found that what I was living was what they considered a nightmare. I stuck around with him (nicknamed Oscar, for his unbelievable grouchiness) for what I thought was my last chance to ever have another baby. I was 32 (which seemed old at the time) and already had 3 kids. It never crossed my mind that after a divorce I might get remarried. And certainly not in time to still be able to have a baby.

Around this time, 7 years ago, I miscarried at 13 weeks*. It wasn't a pregnancy with a lot of hope because even though the fetus was healthy, there was a large hematoma (blood clot) that bled on and off. I was on strict bed rest for the two weeks before the miscarriage. Oscar couldn't be bothered to offer me a glass of water or arrange a tv for me, even though I was only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom. When I came home from the hospital (my mom took me) after the miscarriage, he was angry that my crying woke him up and told me to just 'shut up and let him sleep'. A few weeks later I told him I wanted a divorce.

You're probably wondering how offering to give a tip for technical writers wound up with this crazy-long story. Well, I didn't mean for it to... I really just wanted to write how I started doing technical writing and then, when I wrote about the company I worked for, I couldn't help but mention the huge impact it had on my life (not to mention the fact that I ended up marrying Ohad who was one of my co-workers there, and, um, having three children with him). So.... if you've stuck around this long, here's the tip:

Got a blank page you can't get rid of at the end of a document?
  1. Turn on 'show all' (Ctrl+Shift+8) and find the last paragraph mark.
  2. Highlight it.
  3. In the font size box, type 2 and hit Enter.
Gone? It usually works :-)



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* Although I had what is considered a late miscarriage, I was not left with a sense of loss. Since it was inevitable, I think of it as G-d giving me that last, much-needed push to get out of a bad situation and I am very thankful for that.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

What I've been up to

I've written plenty of posts in my head. Actually, one of them really needs to (and will) be written. But these past few months, I've been trying really hard to keep my head above water - to be at home with Yirmi and whoever happens to be sick AND to work is challenging to say the least. (Um, yeah, blogging may make some people rich, but for me, if it covers my chewing gum for the month, I feel fortunate. I am not going to be quitting my day job too soon. Not that I really have a day job. I have about 7 day jobs (or more) many of which I don't get paid for... OK, that wasn't really the point... and if it was, it shouldn't have been in parentheses, but it is... hmm...)

Hadas has been at her new school long enough to get a report card for her first semester (very impressive) and we've gotten used to the fact that she's away. She comes home for a short time most Tuesdays and almost every weekend (though when she goes to her father's house for the weekend, we only get to see her for a few hours on Friday). Nomi's been sick on and off for the past few weeks. Today was the first day she went back to her preschool after 4 days at home (OK, there were elections in the middle, but she wouldn't have gone that day anyway). Abigail and Nomi are both still giving us (i.e., mostly Ohad) trouble in the morning when we drop them off, being terribly clingy and crying. Hullo? It's February. They should be used to it by now. Yirmi (turned 11 months on Sunday) is still not really sleeping through the night. Occasionally he sleeps from 11:30 to 6 or something like that, but more often, he goes to sleep at 8:30 and then wakes up at 2 and again at 5. We can't sleep train either, because he screams and wakes up not only the other kids, but the neighbors too. So I do whatever I can to keep him quiet (i.e., nurse him - yes, I'm still doing that and have totally given up on formula) and to get him go back to sleep as soon as possible - usually about 20-30 minutes.

Ohad, in addition to working on his doctorate, teaching a course, working through the university and a few other things, is also working on a new idea. On top of all that, he helps a lot with the kids and cooks about 8 meals a week (and prepares a few more) and does the shopping. Sound like enough work for 2? It is. Fortunately, we work well together, so I help whenever necessary (often) and that keeps me busy too. Among other things, I've done user interface design, built online survey systems from scratch (not the back-end) and edited a few articles.

Tonight, all the kids were home and it wasn't Shabbat, so we got a few pictures together. I have no idea why the pictures look like they were taken 20 years ago (but I blame Picasa. Hey, why not?)

from left to right: Nomi, Abigail, Hadas (deliberately making a silly face), Lilach and Matan (still in his Taekwondo clothes)

Lilach, Abigail, Yirmi and Matan

The whole gang - Hadas, Lilach, Abigail, Yirmi, Matan and Nomi
And even one with me in it :-)

Thursday, January 8, 2009

My rainbow

Your rainbow is strongly shaded white and blue.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What is says about you: You are a tranquil person. You appreciate quiet moments. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines. People depend on you to make them feel secure.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.