Yet another cocktail party, etc.

So I went to a real estate party tonight (and will go to another tomorrow night, and so on), and actually enjoyed myself. This was despite the presence of ever-obnoxious-and-ubiquitous Rick, the tacky-and-uncouth Realtor who I've blogged about before.

The food was a simple yet tasty selection of cold cuts and sandwiches, cookies and fruit, as well as the obligatory wine and beer bar. But what made the event worthwhile was meeting a really nice couple. The woman is a fellow Realtor, and she brought her husband along, who is an engineer.

We had so much to talk about! She's interested in breaking into commercial R.E. (real estate), so I offered her whatever few tips I could. We talked about tons of stuff-- from energy sources (Did you know that astrophysicists are working right now to develop an energy source from a substance supplied from the moon? Neither did I!!), to the Bible, to ...my ex-boyfriend, who they know! Gulp. Discovering that sure started an interesting tangent in our conversation! They are politically supportive of Israel, and we talked about my plans re. aliyah as well. (Take that, ex-boyfriend! I hope they tell him everything.) Anyway, it was a good evening, and I hope I'll see them again. The Realtor and I exchanged business cards, so perhaps we'll meet up for lunch, or at another party. We'll see.

I have very good news about Truffle, my mom's dog. She went for her 4 week x-ray check-up today, and everything looks good. It's such a relief! The bones are fusing nicely, her incision spots are healing, and it's time for her to start swimming and walking a little! Yay!!! It's been awfully boring for the dogs to never leave the yard. In fact, starting last week, I felt so bad for them that I've been taking them for long car rides. I've done this 3 times now, and with the price of gas, I really can't keep it up! So hearing that Truffle can now start some low-impact exercise to regain muscle mass was welcome news indeed.

I'll confess something here. I pray that my mom isn't reading this, and that my great-uncle doesn't alert her to it (got that, Elliott? ;)) One morning last week, Truffle and Angel got out of the yard. I should have been supervising them, but I came inside for a minute, and that's all it took. It had been a windy night, and the wind had blown the gate open. The dogs ran around the block, crossed a fairly busy street, and were frolicking in someone's yard and reveling in their all-around horrid behavior. A kind and observant (and much appreciated) neighbor saw them and drove over to my house to tell me, where he found me already frantic and in my car, after driving around and not finding the dogs. But they were perfectly fine, it was just a close call.

I was so scared and mad at them that I left them in the car in the (cool) dark garage for half an hour. I hope they could tell I was angry by my glaring at them and slamming the door. Yep, the silent treatment is what they got. Of course, when I came back to let them out they were sleeping contentedly, so I don't know if I got my point across, but doing it made me feel better anyway.

The long and short of it is that I was afraid the running and playing had impeded Truffle's bone fusion process, since she was doing the very things that are forbidden. But as it turns out, she's o.k.!

Thanks for tuning in.

Hee hee... my female readers will enjoy this!

WALKING 5 PACES BEHIND

Barbara Walters of 20/20 (USA-ABC Television) did a story
on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before
the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily
walked 5 paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women
still walk behind their husbands. From Ms. Walters's
vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive
Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further
behind their husbands and are happy to maintain the old custom.

Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked,
"Why do you now seem happy with the old custom that you
once tried so desperately to change?"

The woman looked into Ms. Walters' eyes,
and without hesitation, said,
"Land mines."

Precious Ones,

I apologize for the delay. Life happens. I've been overwhelmed. And after some time passes, one never knows if anyone is even checking the blog anymore. And really, my brain has been filled with veterinary medical care and real estate marketing for quite a few weeks now, and it just doesn't seem like those topics are all that interesting to blog about. But I'll give it a shot.

So Happy Belated Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had a good one. Mine was interesting. I shlepped the two dogs up to Lake County and spent the night with a friend, and you wouldn't believe how much crap I had to take to keep these dogs comfortable! It was like packing up children's stuff-- toys, baby gate, blanket, food, medicine, medical equipment, snacks. Good grief. It paid off though; they were very happy.

I can't totally say the same for myself, though. My friend Cindy hurt my feelings a few times. Looking back, I can see that she was just stressed about hosting 12 people in her home for the first time, but she wasn't very nice to me. She sort of snapped at me once, and a few times did/said unkind things. And I was very considerate and generous the whole time.

Example: I, a single guest, contributed a magnum of very good Cabernet Sauvignon, rolls, 3 kinds of candy to set out in candy dishes, sweet potato casserole, cranberry bread, and cranberry sauce (homemade, of course!). And of course all the decorations. She had asked me to help, so I did. Did she ever even acknowledge this? No. Instead, she gave me rude comments. Next time I won't be so kind or generous. Some people.

The guests were all nice, and of course dinner was scrumptious. And my team whupped the other team in an after-dinner game of Pictionary. I love that game!

But I sure was ready to come home after that.

The Question of Dual Citizenship

Note to regulars on my blog: This topic started in the comments section of www.olehgirl.com, when readers questioned her citizenship plans. I have no opinion about her plans (whatever they may be), but I am curious about how various people view the idea of retaining US citizenship after making aliyah, and why some people seem to find it distasteful to do so.

Linked are my two comments from Olehgirl's blog.

Guests and newcomers: feel free to express your opinions about this in my comments section.

One of America's Finest...

Yeah... This ATF guy is the one I want in a time of crisis...

A friend just emailed his response: "The gun is probably loaded, too."

This picture reminds me that I really have to step up submitting my aliyah application!

They've stolen my identity!!

That's just a joke.. but it's how I felt when I decided to google 'Yaakova,' and discovered that other people are in fact using my blogger name! And not only that; they appear to have been using it all their lives!! How did I not know this?! I can't believe I didn't do a google search before.

The truth is, it's really comforting that some Jewish and Israeli women are named Yaakova. Knowing that really helps me feel more comfortable with putting it on my aliyah paperwork. One of the Yaakovas is a writer, whose surname is Sacerdoti, and it looks as though she writes in Hebrew and English?? Or teaches Hebrew? I'm not really sure; translators may have been involved. Another Yaakova seems to be a pillar of the community in New York, who organized a nice fundraising event to benefit Jewish weddings. The really funny thing is that there's a wedding announcement for a young woman named Arielle Yaakova Epstein online, and in Israel, I'd probably change my surname to Epstein, which was my mom's maiden name. So look out Arielle, there may be two of us soon! (sort of...) :)

Obviously, I have too much time on my hands this evening...

Truffle is Home!!

I picked up Truffle over an hour ago. The surgery went very well.
But talk about stress! Mixing my frightening driving skills with a drugged-up dog on the back seat made for a scary and slow drive home. Then she wouldn't get out of the car. I finally picked her up and got her out.
She's now asleep, after eating and drinking a little. Poor girl, she's been through a lot. And now she faces 8 to 12 weeks of a boring recovery.
It's great to have her home, and to have the surgeries all finished. (We hope!)
I'll keep her as calm as possible.

Well, what to say...

Thinking about Simon, I guess I just have a feeling that he's a bit shallow. He comes on strong, but I don't think there's a lot of substance beneath the initial advances.

Also, he and I really don't share a lot of common ground. We have enough to spend some time together, but not enough to sustain a long-term relationship. The area that we do share is our interest in international topics-- His bachelor's degree was in international business; mine was in international studies with a concentration in international marketing. We both love to travel (but who doesn't?), and we both enjoy being involved in the more cosmopolitan scene.

These are nice things to have in common with a friend. But more than that? I doubt it. I didn't even go into detail about my faith, my love for Israel, etc. I know from experience that bringing up those topics too early can be show-stoppers, so I just avoided them.

Do you know what's nice? Having the inner strength to be able to not get emotionally involved with someone, just because he's available and looks like a good catch. Believe me, it wasn't always this way! I used to feel a lot more pressure --from within and from society-- to "just get married, already." Now, I don't feel that way at all. So I'll keep my options open. But in the meantime, I just might date Simon for a bit. (If he contacts me, which he hasn't since yesterday.) I guess companionship can be nice, even if there's no future in it.

On to a much more emotional topic: I dropped Truffle off for her second surgery this morning. It's so sad; she really is a sweet puppy. (Even if she did destroy all her dog toys, a framed painting, a beloved bird-bath and some wood objects. So far.)

The great news is that her other surgery is healing really well: none of the 6 screws holding the bone plate in place have become loose, as can happen if a dog is too active after the surgery. This was very welcome news, because as anyone knows who has had a puppy, it's really hard to keep them still!!! She has to be relatively inactive for 8 to 12 weeks after the surgeries.. And you know I'll try my best, but she does get away from me sometimes!

She will have her surgery today, and I'll pick her up tomorrow afternoon. They don't let her take any personal items (dog toys, blankets), so the poor girl will not have anything comforting around her. Granted, she'll probably be too drugged-up to notice, but still.. If my pelvic bone had just been sawed into six pieces, I'd want a little comfort. Poor baby!

Time for a happier topic: While waiting for the vet to call, I went shopping. I purchased some inexpensive serving platters to replace those I broke after Yom Kippur, and also found nice, very inexpensive shabbat candleholders. Can anyone tell me if it's okay to use crystal candleholders? My current silver-plated ones are ready for the recycling bin; all the silver-plate is coming off. I can't remember seeing people use anything other than silver for shabbat candleholders, but I don't see why one couldn't. Please let me know!

I also bought a brass menorah-- can you believe, a solid brass menorah for $8.99?! Gotta love Old Time Pottery!! The menorah is very simple; nothing fancy, but it's big enough, at 10" tall and 8.5" wide. Angel is checking it out-- she approves!

I hope you are all having a nice day out there.