My Love/Hate Relationship with Cereal Sales

Some background information that you probably already know:

1. I love cereal more than most people.
2. Cereal in Israel is expensive, especially good cereals.

Here is the problem: When my favorite cereals go on sale (like Honey Bunches of Oats or CiniMinis -- that's Cinnamon Toast Crunch to you Americans), I have no choice but to buy them -- how could I possibly pass up an opportunity to spend 15 shekels on a box of cereal rather than 27 (you Americans can do the math here to dollars, but basically our sale prices are you non-sale prices).

Once purchased, I then have to deal with the fact that I have amazing cereal sitting on top of my fridge staring me down. I spend the 1-2 days that the cereal lasts either a) thinking about eating it, b) eating it, or c) wishing that I hadn't eaten so much of it.

When good cereal is around, I neglect all other food groups and end up eating cereal for every meal of the day. This is probably not healthy.

So what do I do?

I made sure to HURRY UP and get that cereal OUT OF THE HOUSE as quickly as possible.

But then -- we're out of cereal! So I need to go buy more. Oh no -- it's still on sale! And it begins all over again.

This is what they mean when they say love hurts.

Elimination Communication

A few weeks ago Meira (14 months) had a horrible diaper rash. It was her first serious diaper rash. (And also the first time that I was truly convinced that breast is really best -- I don't think it's a coincidence that she got her first diaper rash only after I weaned her. And Hila, who was formula fed pretty much from day 1, had chronic diaper rash.)

Anyways, it was really bad and I wanted to give her tush as much air as possible. So I took off her diaper and pulled out our little potty...just in case. At one point, I saw her squat and start to grimace, so I quickly picked her up and stuck her on the potty. She peed and pooped.

Later that day, while diapered, she made those same gestures, so I quickly took off her diaper and put her on the potty...and she pooped again!

Two weeks later and Meira probably pees and poops in the potty and/or toilet (with kid seat) 2-4 times a day. She still poops in her diaper sometimes (this is a kid who poops many, many times a day) and often pees on the floor, but we're having some fun with this pottying. Meira will sometimes run to the potty herself and indicate that she wants her diaper off (and always goes after that), or I'll pick up on her cues and initiate the pottying. Either way, Meira gets very, very excited and is clearly very proud of herself.

Now we just need to get daddy on board...

Review of Tea Garden Spa

The Tea Garden Spa is located about 15 minutes from Kiryat Gat. It is a Japanese-style tzimmer with small wooden, beautiful huts, landscaped gardens, en-suite Jacuzzis and sauna, A/C, and cable TV. Each room also has a little fridge, a kettle, coffee, and tea. When we entered the room there was a pot of green jasmine tea (according to my super taster tastebuds) heating over a candle with two adorable Japanese teacups nearby. In the fridge was a pitcher of water and two ice cold glasses of lemonade.

Sounds idyllic, right?

Well it was certainly...um...quaint, but it was far -- very far -- from idyllic. 

Let me count the ways:

1. Our bathroom -- Our room bathroom did not have a door. Yeah, you read that right. It had a wall separating it from the rest of the room, but only on three sides, the fourth side was open, so if you were sitting on the toilet, you'd see right into the shower, which was located in the corner of the room (also not in its own room). And the interior wall that separated the toilet from the rest of the room didn't even go all the way up to the ceiling -- it stopped a few feet before getting all the way up there. Plus, I had to ask for toilet paper.

2. The shower -- The shower had a curtain, but no liner. Water got everywhere. They supplied dinky little packets of shampoo+conditioner. After extended Jacuzzi use, I needed moisturizer!

3. The bed -- It was a double. That's small for one and a half large people (is that a good way to describe us?).

4. The lamps -- First off, there were no night tables, so the lamps (large, Japanese lantern-style lights) were on the floor (that's fine). Now, if you're not going to have a normal light on a night table, you should at least make sure that the lamp is turn-off-able by hand from your bed. These had foot peddles as switches. So you had to get out of bed and step on the switch to turn it off or on.

5. The coffee -- But where's the milk? Or at least the powdered creamer?

6. The sauna -- The switch to the sauna was outside, around the back of the cabin. And who wants to sit in a boiling hot cubicle in the dead of summer??

7. The massage -- Because Menachem declined his 1/2 hour massage (part of our package deal), I got a four-handed massage. Parts were good, parts not so good. It's hard to focus on the intense pleasure of a shoulder massage when someone else is digging her pointy fingers deep into my thigh fat. I have bruises to prove it.

8. The cheese platter -- This consisted of a portion of goat's milk cream cheese, a portion of olive cream cheese, and a portion of sun-dried tomato cream cheese. There were also olives and crackers. It was tasty, but come on -- that's not a cheese platter. The wine was Young Selected. We love that sparkly soda-like wine, but I imagine that more sophisticated people may scoff at that wine choice.

9. The TV -- It was too small. And Israeli cable is stupid.

***

That being said, we had a wonderful, relaxing time. Complaining about this odd place was good fun and we had excellent, excellent meals at nearby restaurants (review of one to come). 

Why I Hate the Beach

Top 4 Reasons Why I Dislike the Beach

1. It is hot and sunny. Unless you spend the entire time in the water, you will have no choice but to walk/sit/run after a kid in the boiling hot sun. If you've ever spoken to me for 5 minutes or more, than you know I have issues with the sun, but seriously, does anyone actually like that bright hot sun beating down on them?

3. Sunburn. I put sunscreen on, and yet still get burnt. And not just a mild burn, but a bad burn in streaks where I didn't rub in my sunscreen well. Okay, maybe that's my fault, but still.

4. The water. It is salty and stings. It is dangerous. People drown and get eaten by sharks and stung by jellyfish.

5. Sand. I've saved the best (worst) for last. Sand is my greatest enemy. There is just no way to get rid of it. It takes over your entire life. I guess it's fine at the beach -- it certainly gives my kids something to do (and eat), but then, you get home, and it's EVERYWHERE. In your bags, in your food, in your clothes, in your toys, in your hair, rubbing up against your sunburned skin. Maybe you finally manage to shower it all off your body, but then there's your house that's been attacked. Somehow sand got into the sheets of your bed, onto the rugs, on the couch, all over the floors. The bathtubs and the washing machine, while doing a good job of cleaning you and your clothes, end up being sandy and yucky themselves.

And you're telling me you LIKE the beach? I just don't believe you.