Tis' the Season

Thanksgiving was thankfully quite eventful. We had a visit from our friends Carol and Stuart who were in for a few days. Carol is such a positive person and so proud of us--it made me feel good. Visits from our friends from the "alte heim" can be hard, because we all miss our friends so much. Liat saw a friend of hers on Friday and when they said good-bye, I think it was really hard for her. That's hard for me to watch....but I digress. For some reason it wasn't hard to say good-bye to Carol and Stuart (and their kids!). I think it's because of the way they yearn to be here too. They understand me...and next year, G-d willing they will have two kids in Israel, so I'm hoping for double the visits....

I wish I had taken a picture...

We did not celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional way this year. Many Americans here do have the turkey and trimmins' either on Thanksgiving itself or for Friday night dinner. I just didn't feel like going to the trouble. But I enjoyed the day, because of the visit, and also because many of our friends in America were home and we got to speak to them (gotta love that voip line).

So by now in America you are probably starting to hear all those carols and see all the decorations and are waiting in line at Toys R Us. Over here? The sufganiyot have been on display since the end of Sukkot. The Chanukiyot are everywhere and we've made lots of plans for Chanuka. There is an excitement in the air as people are planning parties, getaways, and me, well I'm planning the exact moment I will eat that caramel filled doughnut...

But I'm still humming "Santa got run over by a reindeer...." I just can't help it!