Monday, 31 March 2014

I had a terrible time getting to sleep last night. I was so congested that I couldn't stay lying in bed, so I got up and sat in the chair for quite some time. Finally, I was able to lie down and get some sleep. I did indeed call in and take today as a sick day, and then I mostly just sat around doing nothing. The cold is still pretty bad, so I've already told Berlitz that I'm taking tomorrow, as well. I called and got an appointment with the doctor tomorrow so that I can get a letter from him for Berlitz.

This morning, I took David to his first appointment with the kidney doctor (nephrologist) here at the hospital in Eilat. The doctor (Dr. Or) turned out to be one of the best we've ever had. Luckily, he was able to access David's records from Maccabi and even from Rambam, and he took the time to study everything carefully. It looks like we may finally have a solution to David's perpetual problem with low sodium levels. We were both very impressed with this guy's thoroughness.

We ate lunch today at a falafel place downtown, on the corner of Khativat HaNegev and HaTmarim streets, where we had never eaten before. I was quite nice and inexpensive, too.

In the evening we drove down to Ice Park for frozen yogurt.

Sunday, 30 March 2014

My bad cold interfered a little with my sleep last night, but I still slept reasonably well. I did NOT wake up feeling good, though, and I've continued to have a bad case of the sniffles all day despite taking cold medicine. If I don't feel better tomorrow, I'm going to call in sick and make an appointment with the doctor.

I managed to get a couple of loads of laundry done today in spite of my cold. Mostly, though, I rested.

For lunch, we went to Chooka (at Ice Park), where David had chang mai, and I had my regular vegetarian sushi combo.

Later in the day, I went to the Maccabi office about several issues, and then I continue to Shufersal to do the weekly grocery shopping.

Shabbat, 29 March 2014

We were up late last night bringing David's high blood sugar down while trying to make sure he wouldn't go too low during the night. We did succeed, though! We both slept very soundly and well, but, of course, we did NOT get up early.

The second week of materials for my Python programming class opened this morning, and I have already watched all the lecture videos, taken the quiz (and gotten 100%), and submitted the week's miniproject.

We ate lunch at Barbis today. I had my usual soyaburger, albeit with avocado spread instead of mushrooms, but David has crispy cauliflower and onion soup.

We talked with David's sister in Ohio this afternoon, and, after that, we drove down to Ice Park, arriving just in time to see 2 cute kids (a boy and a girl) do their lovely ice dance set to "Beauty and the Beast". Then Yifgeny did one of his great routines (including his signature back flip even though, as we found out later, he had an injured knee!). Finally, Diana did her beautiful and amazing ice dance and ring gymnastics high ABOVE the ice, set to "Summertime". We stood right down by the rink to watch all this. Then we went up and had frozen yogurt.

Friday, 28 March 2014

I slept well last night, but this cold is really flaring up now, with swelling in my throat and just generally making me not feel very well. I did still walk down to recycle the cardboard and buy challah for Shabbat.

We lost an hour last night to the Spring time change, but it didn't affect my day all that much, since my students in Europe don't change their time until Saturday night. So my classes were just an hour later today: 10:00-11:30 and 11:30-1:00.

We went to Il Pentolino for lunch and had our favorite dishes there. We also indulged in some delicious desserts and thereby consumed far more calories than we should have.

Before sundown, we lit candles, sipped sweet red wine, and ate challah to welcome Shabbat.

Thursday, 27 March 2014

I slept well and got up early but still didn't feel like going out for a walk.

I taught 5 units of Berlitz lessons today: 10:00-11:30, 2:30-4:00, and 4:30-5:15.

We ate lunch at Café Café today. Both of us had salads.

David is feeling quite a bit better and did a lot of reading today, so much that his eyes hurt!

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

I slept well last night and got up fairly early, but I didn't feel like going out, so I didn't.

I taught 5 units of Berlitz lessons today, although one unit was a no-show: 10:00-11:30, 2:30-4:00, 4:30-5:15 (the no-show), and 7:00-8:30.

David's migraine was so bad today that he stayed in bed most of the day. He didn't eat any breakfast at all, and I had to bring him lunch in the bedroom. He's better this evening, though.

I fixed lunch for us at home: seitan (gluten) "steaks" and whole-wheat penne with a bit of butter.

I actually managed to get myself to do some housecleaning today, something I haven't been able to muster in ages. I cleaned the floor in the kitchen, the bedroom, and my office.

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

I slept well last night and woke up early enough to get out and walk to the highway 12 kikar and back. It was pleasant out -- I wore only short pants, a tank top, and sandals and was quite comfortable.

David had a migraine most of the day today, so we didn't go out until evening when he began to feel better. I, however, did go to the weekly WIZO meeting and enjoyed it very much. They were celebrating February, March, and April birthdays today.

I went to Buddha Burgers and ordered lunch for us, but I brought it home so that David wouldn't have to go out.

I had one 2-unit Berlitz class today (4:00-5:30), but no one showed up for it. Actually, one student did come in briefly, but he disappeared before I could even say "Hello!" and never returned.

In the evening, we walked over to the green strip and sat there for a bit. Then we drove down to Ice Park for frozen yogurt.

Monday, 24 March 2014

I slept well and deeply again last night, but I still got up late and not feeling so well.

I taught 10 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00, 2:30-4:00, 5:00-6:30, and 7:00-8:30. I wasn't scheduled to teach the class from 2:30-4:00, but I was called in about half-way through it to replace a teacher who had to leave it early for some reason.

We had whole-wheat penne and tomato sauce for lunch at home today.

I began my new online Coursera class today: "An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python". It's going to be a really GREAT class!

Sunday, 23 March 2014

I slept pretty well last night but didn't get up very early. The first order of business for the day was to take David to get his blood drawn for tests. He is scheduled to see the nephrologist (kidney specialist) a week from tomorrow, and we need the results to take to him or her.

Later in the morning, we went to the family doctor (not our regular one) to get prescriptions for the month, which I filled a bit later.

We ordered pizza delivered for lunch today.

On my afternoon trip out, in addition to picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy, I also did the weekly grocery shopping at Shufersal.

Shabbat, 22 March 2014

I slept well last night, but when I got up this morning, I did NOT feel very good. The cold, or sinus problem, or whatever it is, is still causing me a lot of problems.

We ate lunch again at Barbis today, which has become our Shabbat lunch tradition. Afterwards, we took a drive around the short loop, which we hadn't done in a while. Later, we talked briefly with David's sister in Ohio.

In the early evening, we drove down to Ice Park for frozen yogurt.

Friday, 21 March 2014

I again had a little trouble going to sleep last night but slept well overall. I got up a bit earlier than I had planned because David had gotten up to pee around 5:45 but had fallen in the bedroom. He was okay, but I just went ahead and stayed up after that.

I taught 4 units of Berlitz lessons today, but no one showed up for my first class: 9:00-10:30 and 12:00-1:30.

Immediately after my last class, we headed over for David's appointment with his psychiatrist at Maccabi. It was a good visit, and both of us were again impressed with this doctor's quiet understanding of the situation.

We ate lunch at Il Pentolino, as has been our Friday custom. We were sitting there talking, and I was mentioning that I'll be starting a programming class on Monday online. I also said something about having programmed in Pascal. Suddenly, a guy sitting at the next table spoke to me in English about programming. It turns out that he is the CEO of a company that makes air traffic automation systems and is headquartered here in Eilat! He gave me his card and told me to send him my CV, which I have already done. We'll see what may come of this, but it is at least very interesting!

Just before sunset, we lit candles, sipped a bit of sweet red wine, and ate challah to welcome Shabbat.

Thursday, 20 March 2014

I had trouble getting to sleep last night but slept well once I finally did. Of course, I did NOT get up very early.

I taught 7 units of Berlitz lessons today: 10:00-11:30, 12:00-1:30, 4:30-5:15, and 6:00-7:30. Students were in France, Brazil, Newfoundland (but originally from Chile), and Mexico (but originally from Argentina).

We ate lunch at Chooka at Ice Park. David had pad Thai with tofu, and I had my usual sushi combo.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

I again slept well but got up late. I guess eventually I'm going to have to try to do something about this constant sinus problem, but I'm skeptical that anyone can really help. Hmmm.....

I had a LOT of teaching today -- 9 units: 9:30-11:00, 12:00-1:30, 2:30-4:00, 4:30-5:15, and 6:00-7:30. We took a very short drive up highway 12 between 11:00 and 12:00, just to get out of the house, and we ate lunch at home.

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

I slept very well last night but still got up late and didn't go for a walk this morning.

Today I gave my presentation on Jewish music arranged for pipe organ at the weekly WIZO meeting. I think it went well, and people enjoyed it.

We ate lunch at Chooka today. David had classic noodles, and I had my regular vegetarian sushi combo.

I taught 4 units of Berlitz lessons today: 4:00-5:30 and 6:00-7:30.

Monday, 17 March 2014

Not so surprisingly, I didn't get up very early this morning. But I did sleep well and felt well-rested.

I taught 10 units of Berlitz lessons today (although one 2-unit student was a late cancellation): 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00, 2:30-4:00 (the late cancellation), 4:00-5:30, and 6:00-7:30.

We ate lunch again today at Buddha Burgers.

I finally got my video clips of last night's WIZO Purim party up on You Tube. Click here to watch it, and enjoy!

Sunday, 16 March 2014 (Purim!)

I slept well last night, got up early, and walked to the highway 12 kikar and back.

We ate lunch again today at Buddha Burgers. David had pea soup and a hot mushroom salad, and I again had their shnitzel dinner, this time with rice on the side.

In the afternoon, I did the weekly grocery shopping, and later we drove down to Ice Park for frozen yogurt and the Purim ice skating show. The kids were really cute and did a good job, too.

In the evening, I put David to bed a bit early and then headed off to the WIZO (Women's Zionist Organization) Purim party. It was a lot of fun! Tomorrow, I try to post some pictures and video clips that I took somewhere online.

Shabbat, 15 March 2014

I woke up quite early this morning but still just didn't feel like going out for a walk.

I updated system software and several devices this morning.

We ate lunch again at Barbis today; it's become our new tradition for Shabbat lunch.

We talked with David's sister in Ohio this afternoon and then went down to Ice Park, where we ate frozen yogurt and watched the show. At the end, the whole class of young skaters did a little routine to a popular Purim song. It was very nice.

Friday, 14 March 2014

I slept well last night but again woke up late. So the only walk I got was down to recycle the cardboard boxes and buy challah for Shabbat.

I taught 4 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-10:30 and 10:30-12:00. After that, we went to Il Pentolino for our traditional Friday lunch. David, however, ordered a different sauce this time.

This afternoon I worked on a presentation I'm going to do for the WIZO meeting next Tuesday. I'm going to be talking about my Jewish music arranged for pipe organ and playing some of the tracks from my albums for them. I hope that people will enjoy it.

We got a bit more rain last night and then some more today. It seems like we've gotten more than usual this winter.

Before sundown, we lit candles, drank red wine, and ate challah to welcome Shabbat.

Thursday, 13 March 2014

I slept well but again didn't get up very early and didn't even try to go out for a walk. I didn't feel tired during the day, though.

I taught 9 units of Berlitz lessons today (although one student was a late cancellation that I was informed about first thing in the morning): 10:00-11:30, 11:30-1:00, 3:00-4:30 (the late cancellation), 4:30-5:15, and 6:00-7:30.

We ate lunch at Café Café today. David had onion soup, and I had shakshuka.

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

I slept very well last night but woke up and got up very late. At least I feel less tired today than I did yesterday.

I taught 9 units of Berlitz lessons today: 10:00-1:00, 2:30-4:00, 4:30-5:15, and 6:00-7:30.

We ate lunch at Buddha Burgers today.

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

This morning I woke up VERY early but didn't get up right away. I still got up early, though, and walked to the highway 12 kikar and back.

This WIZO meeting this morning was at Fay's house instead of at WIZO house due to a scheduling conflict. Fay is an Anglo who has been living in Eilat for decades, and it was nice to see her house. Also, she is always very gracious and friendly and just generally a very nice person.

We ate lunch at Chooka today, at Ice Park, having our usual favorites there.

I taught only 3 units of Berlitz lessons today: 4:30-5:15 (which actually turned out to be a no-show) and 6:00-7:30.

Sunday and Monday, 9-10 March 2014

I slept well Saturday night and got up in time to go for a nice walk to the highway 12 kikar and back.

Yesterday (Sunday), it rained much of the day here in Eilat, though not very heavily. Still, we got a pretty good soaking.

David had been feeling difficulties with breathing for several days, and by yesterday morning it was bad enough that he needed to see a doctor about it. Our regular doctor was NOT available, so we got an appointment with another family doctor, at 7:00 p.m. After examining David, he decided that David needed to be undergo some tests which, by that hour, could only be done at the ER and which should not be delayed until morning. Both of us were rather reluctant to go to the ER, but we finally decided we had better do it, just in case it was anything serious, and so we did.

Of course, NOTHING ever moves fast at an ER. At least they weren't too busy, and so we got out of there at about midnight. It turns out that there was nothing serious wrong. We came right home and went to bed immediately, and that's why I didn't write a post yesterday.

Naturally, we both got up a bit late this morning, but I still had plenty of time for my morning rituals before I had to begin teaching. David went back to bed and didn't get up again, though, until almost lunch time.

I taught 8 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00, 12:00-1:30, and 6:00-7:30.

Both yesterday and today, we ate lunch at Buddha Burgers and enjoyed it thoroughly.

This afternoon, David had an appointment with the Maccabi neurologist, Dr. Apel, at 3:30. We got there around 3:00 and discovered that the person whose appointment was at 2:00 was still waiting! David fretted at LOT about the long wait and almost left. In the end, though, we got in and found out that this doctor is really excellent, probably the best neurologist that David has ever had! This is probably connected with why we had to wait -- this guy simply takes the time needed with each patient, even if it's quite a bit more than allotted.

Shabbat, 8 March 2014

I slept well last night until about 3:00, then was awake for some time, and finally fell back asleep and slept until after 7:00. Weird!

I did a lot of recycling this morning: containers, paper, and soda bottles. I also took out the trash, including the stuff from the cats' litter boxes.

We ate lunch (our usual soyaburgers) at Barbis today.

In the late afternoon, we talked with David's sister in Ohio, and then we went down to Ice Park to eat frozen yogurt and watch Diana's new show. It was set to a lovely rendition of "Summertime", and her acrobatics on the ring above the ice were stunning, amazing, and beautiful, as they always are.

Friday, 7 March 2014

I slept well last night, woke up quite early, and walked to the highway 12 kikar and back. Later, still before breakfast, I walked down to recycle the cardboard and buy challah.

I taught only 2 units of Berlitz lesson today: 9:00-10:30.

We went to Il Pentolino for lunch today and had our usual dishes there. Afterwards, David had an appointment with his psychiatrist, and then we took a short drive down the coast, turning around shortly before reaching the Egyptian border crossing.

Before sunset, we lit candles, sipped sweet red wine, and ate challah to welcome the Shabbat. Of course, Pascal got his usual rolled oats so that he could welcome Shabbat in his own way. :-)

Thursday, 6 March 2014

I had trouble sleeping well last night. Finally, I got up and took one of the herbal sleeping pills, and it did help some. The trouble is that I really wanted to sleep more in the morning. However, I didn't get up too late, and I didn't have class until 10:00, so it wasn't a problem.

I taught 7 units of Berlitz lessons today: 10:00-1:00 (4 units with ONE student!); 5:30-6:15; and 7:00-8:30.

We ate lunch at Chooka, at Ice Park, today. Both of us had our usual orders there. Afterwards, we went for a drive around the short loop.

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

I slept well last night but woke up late and slowly. This cold just will NOT go away, and it's quite annoying!

We ate lunch today at Buddha Burgers. David had their vegan beefsteak burrito, and I had gluten strips coated with a sesame seed breading, with mashed potatoes on the side.

I taught only 3 units of Berlitz lessons today: 2:30-4:00 and 5:30-6:15. Afterwards, we went down to Ice Park for frozen yogurt.

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

I slept pretty well for the first half of the night, but not as well after that. In the end, though, I felt quite rested, but I also got up rather late.

David is still catching up on all the sleep he missed and so felt a bit too tired to go to the WIZO meeting this morning. I, however, did go and enjoyed it very much.

We ate lunch at home today. We tried one of the kinds of gluten steak (the one in barbecue sauce) that we got Sunday at Breishit (the health foods store). They were very good!

We went for a short drive up highway 12 today, just to get out of the house a bit.

I taught 3 units of Berlitz lessons today: 4:00-5:30 and 5:30-6:15. After that, we went down to Ice Park and had frozen yogurt.

Monday, 3 March 2014

David and I both took pills of herbs last night that aid with sleeping, and they really worked for us, too. We both slept quite well. I still didn't get up in time for a walk, though.

I was scheduled to teach 9 units of Berlitz lessons today, but the last 2-unit lesson was a no-show, and I was notified of it earlier in the day so that I didn't have to go into the classroom at all or even be at home at the lesson time: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00, 2:30-4:00, 5:30-6:15, and 7:00-8:30 (the late cancellation).

We ate lunch at Buddha Burgers today. David had lentil soup, and I had a stir-fry dish over rice with chunks of tofu and gluten in it. After that, we filled the car with gas and got it washed (as you'll see, the latter was a big mistake!).

We went to Home Center and bought some hooks so that we can put up a wind chime that we've had for quite some time. We didn't actually put it up yet, though.

We had quite a thunderstorm here in Elat this evening! The lightning began while I was teaching (5:30-6:15), and the rain started just as we headed out for the market after my class. By the time we got to the grocery store, though, it was already almost over. There was still PLENTY of water running down the road and crossing it here and there on our drive back home, however. So, now the car is even dirtier than it was before its bath. Poor Rosa!

Sunday, 2 March 2014

We both had trouble again getting to sleep last night, but we finally both got fairly good sleep. I woke up towards morning and had to work quite a bit again to get some more sleep.

Today was our last trip to Tel Aviv for David's dental work. He got the new plate (a whole row of lower front teeth) and is really happy about that. They look great, too!

The weather conditions were quite unusual today. The wind was from the south, so that we actually got better mileage going up than returning (the opposite of what generally happens). We also hit some patches of light rain here and there, especially on the way back across the Negev and down the Arava to Eilat. It was ugly today from about Mitzpe Ramon north. It's a kind of haze that looks like brownish smog, but it's actually a bit of an example of a condition known here as a שרב sharav. The weather is warmer than normal for the season, it's very hazy and the air feels heavy, and occasionally there are a few drops of rain (but not always). It "breaks" when colder, wetter air enters the region, often with some rain, and almost always with a noticeable drop in temperatures and rise in humidity.

Despite all this, we actually got very good overall mileage today: 18.6 km/liter (43.7 MPG!). This was achieved when traveling at full normal highway speed, going through some light surface street traffic in Tel Aviv, and even with a small amount of use of A/C (mostly we didn't need it today). Our little Fiat Panda is really great!

Before coming back home, we stopped at Breishit, the natural foods store near Shufersal here in Eilat, to get a few things, including some herbs that may help David sleep better without making him feel drugged the next day. Keep your fingers crossed!

Shabbat, 1 March 2014

Both of us again had trouble falling asleep last night, and so David decided to try the small-dose sleeping pill again. Unfortunately, the results were the same -- becoming groggy and slurred of speech, still not falling asleep for some time, and feeling drugged much of the next day. Finally, this afternoon, he got an hour or 2 of good, refreshing sleep. No so surprisingly, we were both rather wiped out today.

We ate lunch at Ginger, an Asian restaurant downtown. The food was excellent but rather pricy. Still, we did enjoy it, and it's one of the very few restaurants open on Shabbat. Luckily, it won't be going kosher anytime soon, I think, since they have LOTS of seafood on the menu, NONE of which, of course, could ever be kosher!

We drove down to Ice Park in the late afternoon and had some frozen yogurt.

We talked this evening with David's sister in Ohio.