I Don't Need Much...

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I don't need much to feel good. Not happy, but content...
Maya is finally asleep, after a day of much running and coughing. My husband watches TV, my son is in his room (nothing new here) and I am alone in the living room, with my new laptop and a pot of strawberry yogurt. As the forecast for tomorrow is rain, rain and more rain, I've put my laundry to dry here, in the room, on a drying rack and the room smells deliciously of clean clothes. I sigh with content as I anticipate the few hours of reading I have ahead of me. I intend to start the fourth book of Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files". And maybe later I'll drink a cup of ginger and hibiscus tea. What else could a mortal like me ask for ?

Finally, Autumn

I think I can finally say that autumn is here, in Israel. Until this week, it was so hot, we had a chamsin (hot wind from the desert bringing sand and dust), but for two days now it has been raining. Me and Maya (although sick again, poor baby) had a lot of fun watching the rain from our living room windows (facing the sea), made a lot of pictures and gave up when the strong wind came with such a force we tought it would blow the windows in...

Conversations with Maya

Image by Pensiero via Flickr

Whenever Maya sits on the toilet, minding her business, she gets all philosophical. Today, for example, she was having a poo - I absolutely need to stay with her during the process - and, abruptly, she said:
"Mum, is it true that girls have smaller wee-wees and boys have bigger ones?"
(Since she started going to the kindergarten, she also started noticing the anatomical differences between boys and girls)
"Yes, baby, they do" I answered.
"Then, when I am going to be a boy, I'll have a bigger wee-wee and I'll pee like a boy, the other way round."
Oh, sweet God! No comments.

Double D (Only For the Ladies)

I was blessed (or cursed) with...ahem...a big chest. The women in our family share this gene, but if we'd had a contest, something like "Who's got the biggest ballobas, anyway", I think I'll win without a shade of a doubt. Because I try to live naturally and not to appeal to agressive methods when it comes to my body, I never thought of getting breasts reduction, so I suffer quietly and try to find the appropriate garment, that is, the brassiere that will fit and won't make me look like I have a huge block of some sorts glued to my front. And if this isn't enough to add to my trials when I have to buy a new bra, there is the price issue. Here, in Israel, a regular bra's price ranges from, lets say, 8-10 dollars to 50 dollars tops. But, if you need a double D, as I do, well, for a good bra you have to pay 100 dolars!!!! I don't know how it looks for you, American ladies, but when the minimum wage in Israel is 1000 dolars, 100 dolars is an awful lot for a bra. That is what I paid today for my Triumph bra. Gorgeous, but very expensive. I had to buy it on my credit card and I reallly feel bad for spending this amount of money, but I didn't have a choice...

Oh well, this is water under the bridge already, but still, it is discriminatory. The same goes with clothes' sizes. There are special "big sizes" shops where everything is soo expensive! I know because I wanted to buy something from such a shop when I was pregnant and huge, I saw a nice feminine blouse, but I almost fainted when I saw the price. It is so not fair! Why somebody that is weight challenged has to wear shapeless tents because he/she couldn't afford a decent piece of clothing...It is beyond my understanding...

Anyway, I really do hope that Maya won't have such problems (weight or big breasts, that is), because, as you can see, she likes her clothes to be nice and cosy...

Life Begins at...44?

Image by mandolin davis via Flickr

Yeah, I had my birthday last week. I am oficially 44 now...I was so depressed before my birthday, kept thinking about old age, kept having flashes with old and wrinkled bodies (shudder), kept looking up the net for brain enhancing natural remedies. But you know what? Things changed...My fantastic husband bought me a fantastic laptop that can be used as an ebook reader and I joined a gym! Today I had my first meeting with my personal coach...of course I am not going to mention here the embarassing moments when I had to "hop up" on a scale or when I actually see with my own eyes what is my body mass index...No...I am going to focus on the merrier moments, when we built together my "fitness program" and I started on exercising. The gym I joined - "Holmes Place" is situated here, in Ashdod, near the sea, near the beach. So I focused myself and my breathing on the beautiful scenery and I made a mental note to myself that I am going to take every lesson they had in the studio: yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais. After four years of just sitting on the side and playing "mummy" for my gorgeous baby, I am going to enjoy every moment at the gym. And did I tell you they have water aerobics, too?

The Power of Mummy's Touch

As you all know by now, my daughter Maya is a very energetic child. I should say, a ball of energy, sometimes. And when she's tired, she's even wilder. I already know her, so I also know what do to, how to help. Because the problems usually appear at bedtime, when she declares, emphatically, crossing her arms on her chest: "I will never ever go to sleep!"

Today, in the evening, as we had a power shortage and my many candles came in handy, we sang and declamed poems and had a lot of fun. Afterwards, when the power came back, we read "Cinderella" - we have a beautiful pop-up book and then put on her favourite music CD - "Mozart for Babies". But she was so agitated, just couldn't settle down. So I started to gently rub her back, then her tummy, her legs, murmuring a silly word - play that she loves. It is something that my grandmother used to do when ever I had a tummy ache: she would rub my tummy and said the magic words that would take the pain away. The words in Romanian are:

"Bongoiese, gozu iese

Din ograda Nicoresei

Dintre toate Shtefanese

Ptiu, ptiu sa treaca."

The English translation would be:

"Bongoiese, the trash is out

From Nicoresei's yard

From all of them Shtefanese

Spit, spit, let it go away!"

A bit of nonsense, but Maya likes the sound of it, and together with the rubbing, it helps her settle down to sleep.

Needless to say, she was "out" in five minutes...

(in the post's picture is Maya when she was aproximately two months old)

Papanashi - for Michele

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I've known the writer Michele Hauf through her books first, then I started reading her blogs:
http://dustedbywhimsy.blogspot.com/
and
http://vampchix.blogspot.com/
In the last post of her blog, she writes about dumplings. Well, dumplings are a subject very close to my heart, as my grandmother used to cook us sweet cheese dumplings, or plum dumplings, in Romanian - papanashi, in Hungarian - gombocz.
I continued the tradition and of course, I cook them to my family whenever I have the occasion, but, as Michelle says, dumplings are best eaten in winter, because they will fill you up and warm you. Now, the sweet cheese dumplings can be cooked both ways, you either boil or fry them. Since eating healthy is an issue this days, I boil them. But, of course, they are absolutely delicious if fried.
I'll post here the recipe , of course you can change the quantities, but the result will be the same: a delicious dessert.
Papanashi
Ingredients:* 2 eggs* 2 spoons butter* 300 g sweet cottage cheese (if you don't have sweet cottage chesse, use regular cottage chesse and add sugar, aproximately one cup sugar to four cups cottage chesse)* 3 spoons semolina* 1 spoon flour* salt* bread crumbs
Preparation: Mix well the cheese, eggs, flour, semolina, salt. Make balls as big as a walnut and flatten them between your palms. (or leave them round, I do). If the cheese is too watery, you can add more flour and semolina to the mixture. Place them to boil in a sauce pan with salty boiling water and leave them until they surface. (15 minutes at a small fire). Melt very little the butter in a pan without burning it. Drain the cheese balls, put them into the pan with the melted butter, sprinkle generously bread crumbs and sugar. Serve very hot with jam and sour cream.
If you want to fry them, you have to make dough balls, flatten them and make a hole through them, them fry them in hot oil until they are golden. You can also make smaller bals of dough and fry them and put them on top of the holey ones, as you can see in the picture. Also, you should add some baking powder to the dough, it'll make the dumplings fluffy.
Bon appetite!

In the end, I just want to say; Grandma, where ever you are, I know you watch over me. I love so much and I miss you every moment of my life, and I so sorry I didn't tell you more often how much I loved you.

I Love Sunday Mornings

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I love Sunday mornings. The house is quiet, my husband and son are gone to work, Maya is at the kindergarten. I walk barefoot on the tiles (it is still hot in Israel) with a mug of cofee in my hand and I mentally prepare my "to do" list for the day. Put on the washing machine. Go buy some fruit. Go see how much do the charge for a month at the gym. I don't have to cook because we still have loads of leftovers from yesterday. Fish and baked potatoes. Soup for Maya. Tabouleh salad, eggplant with mayonaise. Great. I'll worry tomorow about what to cook. Today is Sunday, a new week and in the evening I have a reflexology appointment...
Isn't life just great?

Nice Things Keep Happening...

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As you know, I had my birthday two days ago. At first, I was feeling really depressed because time flies and I am not that young anymore...But nice things have been happening so I totally forgot about being sad. First of all, we had our friends for dinner yesterday evening. I didn't want any party so we had a nice meal with our friends. They are Maya's godparents, I know them since I came here and we've been together through a lot.

But here it comes the best thing: my husband. I don't know what has hit him, but he bought me for my birthday a gorgeous laptop, tiny and that has a rotating display, and it can be used as an ebook reader also. I've been reading my ebooks at a very old laptop that is heavy and it becomes really hot after a while and its battery doesn't work properly and it also makes a lot of noise when trying to cool down...But the new one! It is a work of art. I'll post soon a picture, to see I am not exageratting. At it has a beautiful bronze color. And also, brace yourselves, my husband gave me as a second present a subscription for a whole year at the gym of my choice!!!!!!!!!!!!Before I had Maya I used to be a fitness freak, I went to the gym almost every day for 2 hours. Now? I am overweight and depressed and my metabolism has slowed down to the speed of a snail. But this bleak period is near its end, and I cannot wait...

What do you say about this? I kept asking him if he has a mistress or something because I simply got overhelmed by his presents... But I decided I don't care, I will enjoy my presents and be quiet....A laptotp! Gym, here I come! I don't dare to hope, but maybe, maybe the bout of bad luck that we had lately is OVER?!

Birthdays and Memories

Image by Miriam Cardoso de Souza - Caxias do Sul-RS via Flickr

My birthday came and went away, just like that...My husband was very sweet as he took a day off from work to be with me... We had breakfast at a cofee-shop in one of Ashdod's mall's, then he accompanied me to the doctor's. At noon we took Maya home from the kindergarten, she was over the moon when she saw her daddy, during the week it is ussually only the old, boring me. All in all, a nice day.
But today I remembered another birthday of mine. My 18th. The one I will never forget. Because on my 18th birtday I fell in love for the first time. My first love and my first kiss. The memories still send shivers through my body, they are sharper as ever...I remember that kiss as if it was yesterday: my lips touching his, and a feeling of..elation, like my feet left the ground and I was floating, dizzy and happy, on a cloud of pink cotton candy. I still can hear the loud boom-boom of my heart, the fireworks in my stomach, I can still fell the saltiness of my tears mixed with scented breath, the way his palms cupped my face, the autumn wind in my hair, the warmness of his body...It was simply magical, as an 18th birthday kiss can be.
And even though that first love of mine ended in tears and I was left with a broken heart, I am grateful for that unique moments, for the beauty of loving for the first time, for the sweetness of that first kiss, for the feeling of being ALIVE.