The Army

Our lovely daughter enlisted yesterday.  We went to the Bakum along with the rest of the parents whose kids are being borrowed by the country for a few years.  It was quite something, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't stressed.  Here are some before and after pictures.

This is what the lounge looked like on Wednesday night before she was due to leave at 7am Thursday.  Believe it or not it all fitted in the giant red bag.  And her's was by far not the largest bag we saw at the Bakum.

The family came to see the girl off to the army for two years.

Ready to board the bus off to basic training.

The good news is that she got to come home for her first weekend.  This is the crispy new uniform.  She looks good, the girl.

2 Days to go

In just two days time our little girl goes to the army. Bwo took her out shopping for the items on her list (like for summer camp) and they came home with a huge backpack full of stuff, which I am sure will all be stolen before she even arrives at her base.  It hard to actually believe it is finally going to happen. She has been getting steadily more nervous as the day draws closer, but she is a strong one and I am sure she will land on her feet.  I am not so sure about her mother though.  I got an emotional call today" "Our baby's going to the army. What are we going to do?" I suppose we will just be like other parents and just deal with it.

One good thing is that she has not been working this week and so my lovely daughter has been cooking for her dad. This I will most definitely miss!

Booster

This is bloody incredible. The sound of 3000 mph. Cool. Watch it full screen. It's worth it.

Harmony in the House

Blackwifeo is off at some drum circle, crystal worshipping, dawn sun embracing thing at the Dead Sea for a couple of days.  So I was alone with the kids (H+J are not much kids any more). We made supper.  The girl made a spectacular stir fry, with braised tofu, cauliflower, broccoli and green beans. It was really good.  She made an excellent chilli last night.  In all she has become a altogether competent chef.  I made the salad and the boy cleaned up and did the dishes. We ate together, spoke and listened to Foxtrot on the kitchen speakers. All in all a special time. Bwo called during the meal, and I worked hard to make her feel as jealous as possible.  Why not?

Purim

Purim. It's hard not to like it. The whole Jewish Halloween thing is very pleasant. This year I noticed more than ever that young girls use Purim as an excuse to dress up like sluts and streetwalkers. There must be some hidden urge that, when given permission, young ladies like to dress with less. I realize that according to the Purim legend, Queen Ester sold her "physical favors" in order to get something in return. She enticed the Persian king with some sort of provocative dance routine, wearing probably very little in the way of covering. So I suppose historically, the young girls of this kingdom are doing Ester justice by wearing very short dresses and high heels, all the better with fishnet stockings.

Not that I mind really. A few days back, while walking around Herzliya at lunch we came across a gaggle of schoolgirls outfitted in the shortest of dresses and battling to walk in their high heels. Their faces were caked in makeup, their hair piled on top of their heads as they stumbled along in their primary colored tiny dresses. Don't their parents care what they look like, I thought to myself. Then I got home to find a tricked out "supergirl" in short-shorts and fishnets, wearing Russian transvestite knee high, high heeled boots on her way to "The Downing" for a Purim party. (She was actually dressing down). So, who am I to talk?

High Fashion

So Azizza bleached (economica'ed here in Israel) my socks. Why? They were next to the sink in the bathroom and when she went all medieval with the bleach my poor socks were caught in the crossfire. Blackwifeo claims it's because I left my socks on the left hand side below the sink and "how was Azziza to know?" Well for 11.5 years I have been placing my socks below the sink on the left hand side. Every three or four days I remove these socks from the left hand side below the sink and place them in my mesh sock bag (so they will remain safe, separated from the rest of the washing - but that's another story). I have only been doing this for 11.5 years. But, yesterday Azziza failed to notice the BLACK socks next to the WHITE sink and bleached them!


Life is tough here on the very edge of civilization.

A Good Listen

I have spent much of the week driving around the country, to Kiryat Gat, to Haifa back and forth. The weather has been stormy with some high winds which tend to blow the poor Prius all over the road (it's especially bad when overtaking buses or lorries, as you emerge from their shadow, the car is thrown to the side by the wind). All the week I have been listening to Christopher Hitchens' "God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything".

It makes a riveting listen.  He reads the book himself and his wonderful use of language is as spellbinding as his message.  I highly recommend this for the less faint at heart. It has certainly got me thinking. I now understand more than ever our boy's deep connection to atheism. Blacksono pointed me to some of Hitchens' YouTube arguments. I will post those I think worth watching.