Winter Break 1

So this post is to tell everyone what I did in the past week and 2 days before I get too busy and forget to write about it.
The reason I called it 'Winter Break 1' is because there is another winter break that we will be having in February, and when I blog about that one I will call it 'Winter Break 2'. :0)

So the first day was a sunday and I did a bunch of catching up on things. I blogged, wrote, did some homework, bought some stuff on Amazon, and studied for my second to last test for my BA.

Monday I tried to study for the test but I really wanted to do something vacation-like [more like procrastination-like] so I searched all over the house until I found an interesting book to read. Then I went to the Sass's house for a birthday party for their youngest. :0) I'm obsessed with this kid. The Sass boys chose what to do at the party. They wanted to make dinner and a cake for her and play a game. [2 of these boys- twins, are in my 2nd grade class. the other is younger]. They found a recipe in one of the cookbooks for pizza monsters, which in case some of you aren't familiar with these [shame on you] is little pizza's that you decorate with different vegetables in the shape of a monster face. They also made her a cake and we played granny apple. It was really fun.

Tuesday I studied ALL day for the test and then I went to the Sass's house to take it because Mrs. Sass had so generously agreed to be my proctor and by a miracle, they approved of her position in the 'universal educational institute'.... which is basically the kollel.... lol
We read the rules and then Mrs. Sass printed out the test and Rabbi Sass set me up a work station in the basement where it would be quiet, complete with a gatorade feature for brain power. lol. So I got to work and expected it to take me a few hours as my other tests had. I was really really nervous about this one because I learned the information 7 months ago and haven't looked at it since then, I also didn't have the text book with me- just my notes. So I was really nervous about it. I guess I studied a lot more than I did for the the other tests though so I guess it was fair. I was just scared that they would ask a question on one of the sections I didn't take notes on or understand at the time I was learning it. I just davened that it would go well and then trusted Hashem that I was going to be okay.
My first glance at the test made me very relieved and happy because I did know almost everything on it. B"H, I don't know what grade I got, but it only took me 40 minutes to complete and I guess I'm still just trusting that it's all in Hashem's hands.

Wednesday I didn't do much... I was recovering from the stress which led up to the test. That's how I always  had to do it even in Israel.
Thursday I tried to do some work. Not much got done, but it was an honest attempt. ;0} I even tried to create a fairy-tale of my own by going outside with my guitar to sit overlooking the frozen ravine and play and sing... but it didn't work out too well. lol [see the post before this one for pictures and more details].

Friday I woke up at 6:00 am and bunkered down, completing all my writing just in time for the deadline. Then I went over the shabbaton schedule and got ready for shabbos.

Shabbaton... I didn't yet tell you about that. When I got a chance to hang out with the Bat Mitzvah club at the legislature Mrs. Pinson asked me if I would want to do a shabbaton with them as a counselor. So I agreed. Well that was this past week. Most of these girls come from public schools and irreligious homes, but all different ends of the spectrum. The point was just to let them experience shabbos and have a fun time. It was not very intense, but it was a lot of fun. Every minute was had a new game, activity or presentation. Friday night I even gave a little performance. I told a story about a little girl who wanted to keep shabbos in a very dangerous time and the miracle that happened [not a true story], and sang a song about it.
Friday night was very long and the day was much shorter. I did both my meals in one because Chabad doesn't start the meal until like 2:00 pm normally and shabbos ended at 5:00. We didn't start our meal until 3:30 because we had a house hunt where we were split into 3 groups and we had to start at a different house each. At each house we had to present a shabbos poem, eat a treat and make a bracha, and unscramble a phrase. Then we would get our next clue of which house to go to next. The game was a race and my team won!.... but it was a chaval b/c I barely got to eat any of the awesome treats and i was hungry!!! lol

After shabbos we went to a professional rock climbing place called Vertically Inclined. It has rock climbing on every wall and even something called the cave, where you can climb completely upside down.... well, though we tried, none of us were successful at this feat but we watched some really cool spider ppl do it just fine. :) I'll try and get pictures of me on the wall to post at some point.

Sunday..... I didn't leave the house but I did get to talk to a bunch of my friends! One of my friends that I go way back with- all the way to camp in middle school, just got engaged and she called me to tell me all about the excitement going on there. So it was really fun catching up with her b/c we haven't spoken in a while.

Monday  I woke up early and got some work done and then I went to drop off my guitar to get fixed at the pawn shop. The man there asked me if I was born in Israel and for once I was able to say 'Yes!' :0D
Usually I get asked if i'm Lebanese. Apparently there are a lot of them here. In Detroit I get asked if I'm Caledien. And on my way out Yona called me and we got to speak for the first time in months.

Today I woke up early and prepared for school all morning. I still have a ton to do but it was a good start. I was supposed to pick up Donna from the airport in an hour but in the end, someone who is less likely to end up in California trying to get there, is going to do it. And I was invited out for dinner. I figured its good to go and break the routine of eating only peanut butter and jelly melbatoast, coffee, soda, and ice cream for over a week. Because notice- the only time during this vacation that I ate out was the night of the Sass baby's birthday part, and shabbos. lol
Although I did try heating up frozen shnitzels on Monday that the Pinson's sent me home with after shabbos and it was a small disaster but I did eat them anyways.... lol. I had just washed the pot and then i put the clump of frozen shnitzels into the pot [all stuck together] and then i thought of oil because that's how you make shnitzels. So i put some oil in the pot and put it on the burner on medium heat- [since the past few times i tried warming things up on high heat, Donna usually comes running downstairs b/c she smells something burning and my food is disintegrated]. So medium heat. Then I realized that there was water in the pot with the oil so I covered the pot with the lid and left it to cook. Then it started making really funny noises and I was scared to open it. So I called Mindy on skype for some culinary advice.
She confirmed my worst fears and told me that when I felt brave enough, i was going to have to open the pot and try to pry apart the shnitzels or else they would suffer a similar fate to all the other foods I've tried to warm up which ended up inedible. So I put her on the counter while I braved opening the pot and then cautiously proceeding to seperate the pieces. With her expert guidance I emerged from the experience unscathed. In the end, the shnitzels were dripping oil and black but they were edible and hot so I did eat them.

That's all for now. Until next time!
love,
shayne

Pictures

A piece of the Chanukah project I did with My 5th Grade. We glittered the 2 opposite corners of the mirror in beautiful pictures like this one and then I wrote in gold in the center "HaNeiros Halalu Kodesh Hem" in a circle shape to go around the base of the Menorah that would stand on it. In this picture you can see me in the mirror taking it, lol. 

My Menorah at home. This was on the first night. 

The Chanukah mural I painted for the preschool Chanukah performance for the community. It was too big to get a shot of the whole thing at once but the next picture is also part of it. There were also decorations that the kids made hanging on top of it and on the sides. 

This is just another piece of the mural. 

This is the Ravine outside my house. When you go out the front door and cross to the other side of the street, this is what you see. I have a bench overlooking this so I went outside during vacation to play guitar in the snow, looking out at this really pretty scene. It was like a dream. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture of myself doing this but I did take a picture of how pretty my guitar looked up against the snow. That is the next picture.

So this is the picture of my guitar against the snow. Unfortunately  as pretty as it looked and as much of a fairy-tale it was to go play guitar in the snow, that's just what it was- a fairy-tale. Within 2 minutes of taking my gloves off to play, my fingers were so stiff from the cold that I actually couldn't manipulate my fingers into the position of any new cord from the one I was in when they froze. So I was stuck in C. Contrary to this my strumming hand was doing quite nicely. As it turns out, its easier to strum when your hand is frozen and numb so I still had some hope. The last straw really was that the guitar needed to be fixed either way because I had major buzzing on my strings so it really sounded like a dying animal and I was forced to stop for the sake of my own ears. Somehow in movies everything looks so languid and natural,easy and perfect......But still it was a good dream. :)

Me and the Bat Mitzvah club all geared up for the performance at the Legislature. This was taken in the hallway  just a few minutes before we 'went on'. 

I have so many more pictures but these were the ones I felt I could put up on my blog for public viewing. I can try and send pictures to anyone who writes me a personal email request. Enjoy!!
Love,
shayne