Happy New Year

It's been a chaotic week and the mood in the country is very much like the mood during Christmas season out of this country. Everywhere you go there are reminders of the upcoming New Year beginning tomorrow night. Stores are packed. Drugstores are having specials galore on makeup and perfume. Grocery stores are selling traditional honey cake, prices are higher and there is even a honey cake flavored yogurt (yuk!) which I obviously won't buy. I'll stick to strawberry and peach - thank you. Employees of companies get bonuses in the form of coupons for clothing stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, appliance stores, etc. The employess of the electric company in Israel get the highest number of coupons valued at $250. We got $75. It's better than nothing. Maybe I'll buy a blender or something fun with it. I made sure Hubby went to the social worker who used to help us when we were in a financial rut and gave her an envelope with a bit of $ so a few families in a similar rut would be able to have a little bit more this expensive holiday season. I hadn't done this in years. Really. And it felt good to give charity for a change instead of getting it. Hubby wanted to know if he should give Abed a bonus. I told him, it's better if he gets his bonus during the major Islamic holy day of Eid al Fitr. He doesn't celebrate the Jewish holiday and it makes sense to wait. Most Jewish employers have no clue when Ramadan or any Moslem holiday is and most don't give a hoot unfortunately. So I hope he does so whenever Abed's holiday is - sometime in November. We're off to the Galilee to our friends who live on Kibbutz. It's not a large kibbutz and a poor one by most standards. My friends have not taken a holiday in years because they just work each day steadily on the kibbutz. But they don't have to ever worry about where their next meal is coming from because in the communal dining room, the food is always there. They pay no rent. They get a monthly stipend which is used for telephone, electricity, cigarettes and - beer. They drink lots of beer up there. My kids are all crying that they'll be bored up there. One made arrangements to be at a friend for the holidays. Doesn't anyone like down-home country livin? The smell of the cows? Hay? There won't be much to do in the city because most places will be closed until Saturday night. So they're stuck either way. To top it all off I had to have a root canal done today. I usually postpone dentists, but figured if I do that, I may have the pleasure of having to use the services of the kibbutz dentist who may be the cow milker or whatever. Didn't want to take that chance. I like my American dentist! To alleviate the kids' predicted boredom I bought a 500 piece puzzle, will take along their backgammon set, and what can be so bad to sit by the pool for 3 days every afternoon????