Boycotting Life
I have been boycotting life recently and I'm fine with that.
Feeling in a bit of a slump and understanding that it's part of the natural pattern. The winter holidays are there because we need them so badly. It's no wonder the holidays of lights fall in the darkest, longest times of year.
At the Grocery Store
Arriving in Israel, one of the first words you learn is "balogan," for which there is no exact translation-- come here and it will be immediately obvious exactly what it means-- but whose general definition is chaos. Human created chaos.
The grocery store line took an expected 20+ minutes today. Not having a car means doing a major shopping about once a month with a price tag that's out of this world. Visiting my parents on the weekend, I would see their shopping bills and cringe, never believing that I would spend that much on groceries. Now I am.
But never fear, some entertainment is guaranteed. I was in line behind two uniformed soldiers who were clearly on a run for their entire unit. In their shopping cart-- and yes, I actually took notes to tell you about it and for humor's sake-- were 6 cases of Coke, about 25 bags of a junk food known as Beasley, 18 cartons of apple, orange, and pomegranate juice, and 20 bowls of dried soup, the kind you add water to and voila.
The store wouldn't accept their credit card, so they paid in cash-- or more appropriately coins. The bill of 249.73 was paid for in change: one shekel coins and 10 cent agurot. The cashier was slow because her long, curved nails reached well past her fingertips and she couldn't pick up the coins one by one, so she had to sort them and slide them from the metal counter, to her hand, to the drawer.
Good times.
Good Books
I was lucky enough to get a good haul of books last time I was at the public library in a small community outside of the city and have recently been indulging in bestsellers like Mike Gayles, Nora Roberts, and Joy Fielding, whose novels I've previously avoided, but now tempt me like a siren's song.
Give Yourself a Break
My best advice to you if you too are feeling the slump in these long, gray days is to let yourself rest. Don't hold yourself to the usual deadlines and errands. Give yourself time to recover and recuperate in whatever way you need to. If you aren't sticking to your usual to do list, give yourself a break instead of aggravation over, "I didn't do this, and I didn't do that." We all deserve to give ourselves a break.
Feeling in a bit of a slump and understanding that it's part of the natural pattern. The winter holidays are there because we need them so badly. It's no wonder the holidays of lights fall in the darkest, longest times of year.
At the Grocery Store
Arriving in Israel, one of the first words you learn is "balogan," for which there is no exact translation-- come here and it will be immediately obvious exactly what it means-- but whose general definition is chaos. Human created chaos.
The grocery store line took an expected 20+ minutes today. Not having a car means doing a major shopping about once a month with a price tag that's out of this world. Visiting my parents on the weekend, I would see their shopping bills and cringe, never believing that I would spend that much on groceries. Now I am.
But never fear, some entertainment is guaranteed. I was in line behind two uniformed soldiers who were clearly on a run for their entire unit. In their shopping cart-- and yes, I actually took notes to tell you about it and for humor's sake-- were 6 cases of Coke, about 25 bags of a junk food known as Beasley, 18 cartons of apple, orange, and pomegranate juice, and 20 bowls of dried soup, the kind you add water to and voila.
The store wouldn't accept their credit card, so they paid in cash-- or more appropriately coins. The bill of 249.73 was paid for in change: one shekel coins and 10 cent agurot. The cashier was slow because her long, curved nails reached well past her fingertips and she couldn't pick up the coins one by one, so she had to sort them and slide them from the metal counter, to her hand, to the drawer.
Good times.
Good Books
I was lucky enough to get a good haul of books last time I was at the public library in a small community outside of the city and have recently been indulging in bestsellers like Mike Gayles, Nora Roberts, and Joy Fielding, whose novels I've previously avoided, but now tempt me like a siren's song.
Give Yourself a Break
My best advice to you if you too are feeling the slump in these long, gray days is to let yourself rest. Don't hold yourself to the usual deadlines and errands. Give yourself time to recover and recuperate in whatever way you need to. If you aren't sticking to your usual to do list, give yourself a break instead of aggravation over, "I didn't do this, and I didn't do that." We all deserve to give ourselves a break.