March Madness is Maddening!

Oy Gevalt! It's March Madness and somehow even all the way over here in Israel I have not been able to escape it! So I have seriously tried to get another post out but the first attempt failed well, simply because I fell asleep. My second attempt was thwarted by Phil's monopolization of the computer so that he could make his picks. A process that requires lots of time and intense research of course. It's very serious business you know. And I've learned over the years that you absolutely DO NOT interfere with March Madness. I truly believe that will be the secret to a long and happy marriage. Anyway, onto the events of the past few days........

So I took my first Yoga class the other day. It wasn't too bad, but not quite my style. I suppose I am a litte more of a Western Yogi than an Eastern Yogi. Just give me some hard core power yoga and spare me the chanting and the incense. I don't need to smell like a sweaty Hippie, thank you very much. I truly miss my Core Power Yoga classes with their nice large rooms heated to oh, around 100 degrees or so. Plus some nice balmy humidity! Some might call it "stifling", I, however, find it quite zen like. But maybe it's just the heat exhaustion settling in and frying my brain. (Thanks Cat, for showing me just how much fun it is to sweat out half of your body weight in just over an hour!)

I am, however, quite sore from my little yoga class. Thank goodness it wasn't up to the degree of difficulty I was used to before, or I may have just layed in final Savasana (aka corpse pose)and never gotten up. And just as expected I lasted all of about two seconds in Downward Facing Dog before I wanted to cop out and sit in child's pose (aka weak loser pose). So please, please, please tell me, Angela, how in the hell is that possibly a resting pose?!?!?! I think it's all a conspiracy and a lie that they teach yoga teachers to tell their students, because I have seriously not felt one moment of peace, EVER, while hanging upside down in Downward Facing Dog. Thanks for the info about yogatoday.com though. (My Hubby likes the "free" part of course.) I think I will check it out so at least then I can be a weak loser in the privacy of my own home. And I just may need some of those meditations to get me through March Madness!

I have also sucessfully completed my first large (okay, maybe not large but medium) knitting project. I made my first baby blanket. Now I have been trying to learn to knit for several years but have been progressing very, very slowly. Just ask my Mom. I promised her a scarf about three Christmases ago and she just got it this past year. I think in that three year period I managed to knit 2 scarves and crochet one hat. Well, actually 2 hats, but one was a complete disaster. So I stocked up on supplies and figured I would use the next couple years to work on my knitting skills so that I can officially be promoted to "old lady" status. (My inablility to stay up after 10 pm doesn't hurt either.) I can't remember exactly when I started this project, but I think it took me about 2-3 months. Mostly because I would hit a snag and instead of trying to figure out the problem I would set it aside for 2-3 weeks before I would finally decide that the problem wasn't going to magically fix itself. At this point I would rip out about half of what I had knitted, thus setting me back even more. In any case, I now have a nice, only minorly flawed (hey, it adds character, right?), blue baby blanket awaiting the next person I know to have a little boy. My next project.....a much more complicated pink frou-frou blanket for the next lucky little girl. IF, I manage to not screw it up that is.

Here is the finished project in all it's baby blue glory.... somehow it ended up much larger than it should have.


Pumpkin says, "Did you make that for me?"

So we've been here over a month now, and I think we both feel a little more at home everyday. If you consider feeling at home to mean you understand virtually nothing that is said around you and being unable to read most of the signs around you. Phil is progressing with his Hebrew lessons, while I am still awaiting a tutor. Long boring story. However, because I took an intro to Hebrew class in Oregon I have been able to review and learn some on my own while I wait. I've been working on my Hebrew script or cursive because it is quite different than the print form and it is slowly starting to not look like a completely alien life form. Very, very, slowly. If you've ever seen Hebrew, then you know what I am talking about. And it doesn't help that it is written backwards either. Oh well, could be worse. Could be Mandarin Chinese!

Other than that we have just been getting used to our daily life here. I've gotten used to the security checks at the malls, banks, post offices, etc., as well as the military personnel and their ouzies you see walking casually around the streets. I love being able to walk everywhere and still have not taken the car out since my first escapade to the grocery store. New walking shoes are cheaper than gas anyway. (Although if the dollar gets any lower I might just be stuck inside knitting and doing free yoga on the internet for the next two years.) I'm definitely not used to the incessant horn honking or the outward "rudeness" of people here (i.e. pushing, total disrespect for anything resembling a line, and absolute refusal of people to move out of your way), however, I hope that I don't get too used to it. I don't want to come back home and have everyone thinking I am rude and pushy!

This weekend is Phil's birthday and guess how we are going to spend it??!?!? I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count! Watching basketball on the computer! Woo-hoo! Thanks a lot, NCAASports.com! But if that is what my Hubby desires to do on his birthday, than that is what he shall get. I suppose I'll be doing a lot of cooking too, since I was already informed that we absolutely cannot go out to dinner the next four nights, because we must...watch...basketball....all...weekend...long. I might have that second baby blanket finished by next week after all!