Still alive

 I am just going to start with this:

I don't know who this is, but apparently they now make this girl the charge nurse sometimes. Imposter syndrome is in full force. And the worst part is, I can't even hide from the telephone anymore, because I actually have to answer it. 

See my name listed there as charge nurse?

For those who enjoy laughing with me, I present to your the latest in...

Hebrew adventures:

כובע vs. כוכב 

So there I am, at work, helping two other nurses change a central line dressing. Doesn't matter if you know what that means, that isn't the story. So we are trying to keep the baby as calm as possible during this procedure. We have this toy that sings, and it's like catnip for some babies. It's a plastic star and it makes music and they love it. So I happen to know that this particular baby loves this star. But I can't find it. So I yell out to another nurse to see if they can get her a star to help calm her down. Except the word for star is כוכב (kochav). But instead I said כובע (kova)  which means hat. So they turn to me and say but how would that help?

So I pause, turn all of the wheels in my brain to figure out what I said and after a few moments I was like, oh yeah, I meant star. Oops. 

While changing the central line dressing. We never did find the star. 

Next adventure is called, Arielle takes on the role of math teacher. And fails. 

Okay, let me start by saying that I actually love math. Not the math my teenagers are studying, I've long forgotten that. But regular equations, making change etc... That's my jam. 

A few weeks ago, I went to the little store at work to buy a cold drink. The price was 7.20 ₪. I give them 10.20₪.  I did this so it would be easier for them to make change. Except they didn't understand this. They handed me back 2.80. So I decided to explain that the change was incorrect.  And then explained why I gave them 10.20 and not 10. They had entered 10 into the register so had no clue what I was talking about. 

Long story short, I said to them, I don't care about the few cents, I am trying to explain why I gave it to you, to make it easier. Now two teens are arguing with me in the store. I don't know what came over me to actually spend time arguing in Hebrew with two girls who clearly were never taught how to make change without a register. So anyway, thanks to my first boss in the party store who taught all of us to make change using only our brains. Kids, math is important. But also, I've become brave enough in Hebrew to argue with people. Also, I'm out some money. 

Who are these kids?

Okay, here is a very Israeli thing that I can't imagine getting away with as a teenager. For Purim, the oldest grade puts on a play where they impersonate their teachers. It's hilarious and rude and amazing and my teachers would have sent us straight to the principal if we were ever caught doing an impression of them. 

So, one of my daughters has the role of the male English teacher who apparently has a strong American accent when he speaks Hebrew. I was shocked to see her get up in front of the school and parents and really get into this role. Especially because the kids have worked hard to lose their American accents so she has to be quite brave to get up there and play it up. She was hilarious and we loved it. The whole play was spot on and I was sitting behind a few of the teachers and they were rolling with laughter. 

The other daughter did not want to audition for a role so she was in the chorus or whatever it is called. She is excellent at hiding but I did snag a pic of her eventually. 

Purim Time

Then we moved onto other Purim fun. If you follow me on Facebook you have seen the wild Purim celebration we had for the babies in the NICU this year. 

Some background.

I starting working in the NICU in June 2018.  At some point, probably around Halloween of that year, I saw a Facebook post about a NICU that dressed each baby up for Halloween. And I said to myself, self, you need to do this . Somehow I got up some courage to speak to my boss and she sent me to the 'sunshine' committee and from there, the idea started to come together. We've had tons of donations of costumes, some money to buy costumes and lots of help from the staff. 

But this year I had two amazing staff members with hidden talents, that I recruited onto the team. One crochets amazing baby hats all throughout the year. And the other apparently knows how to sew. Together they made totally amazing costumes for the babies. And this year, the hospital social media spokesperson came to see the hubub and they even posted up on their Facebook page. And then they asked someone to speak for a few moments and my coworkers oh so politely ran away and shoved me forward. Gee, native speakers, thanks! After quickly asking someone the Hebrew word for owl, I somehow got the courage to speak in Hebrew on this video. It's on my Facebook page if you want to view it. 

In other news, a different nurse got two male doctors to wear tutus for most of the day. Overall, it was a very fun day and hopefully the families really enjoyed feeling like a regular family for a few hours at least. 

Okay, this is getting long so I will end with a few other summaries. And a lot of photos. 

Army: eldest son finished basic training. I won't repost what I put on Facebook but to say we are proud is an understatement. 

Travel is back. Sort of. 

Hubby started back with traveling for work a bit. I managed to get to Vancouver and back for my niece's bat mitzvah. It was a bit touch and go as one of my daughters tested positive for Covid one week before my trip. And I needed a negative Covid test obviously, to get into Canada. Thankfully, teens don't actually hang out much with their parents, so we quarantined her immediately and I managed to escape and I made it to the bat mitzvah. My niece was awesome and it was great to see both nieces again after not seeing them for a few years.  And of course the rest of the family. 

I snagged myself an awesome Airbnb and an adorable car because obviously I needed to do some shopping and I need a way of getting around. Some pics for your amusement. 

A little drink called a bulldog. It's a margarita with a small beer shoved into it. 

Went shopping at the outlets right next to the airport. Almost dropped to the ground when I heard a terrifying noise. No worries, just a plane flying straight above your head. 

Luckily I recovered enough to shop

Canada 😂

A bit of coffee with the pops, while we waited for Covid results. Bonus, the parents paid. Both for the coffee and the test. 

Beach walk

Saying our final goodbyes for this trip. And one photo bomb. 

Yes, I live in Israel and we have anything you could possibly want for pesach. But my husband wanted good old macaroons which you can't really find here. But apparently in Vancouver, which doesn't have a ton for pesach, you can find them. 

Okay, I have to finish this because apparently some of my kids want to read it. So my last section will be called. 

"Well, I didn't die"

I had the luck to have a few days off of work in a row this year, during the middle days of pesach. My younger son had been asking for a while to go to the Dead Sea. My girls thought that was a revolting idea so they were uninvited. So my husband and I planned a day out with the younger son. Then he requested that we add on a hike. So me being a good sport, pulled up the Israeli national parks website to see where we should go near the Dead Sea. We decide to go to Qumran and to do a hike there. I'm thinking to myself, well I've been there before so I'm sure it will be fine. 

Spoiler alert. I didn't die. But also, it wasn't fine. After half an hour of hiking I decided that I didn't want to plunge to my death on that particular day (I might have an unnatural fear of heights). So we cut the hike short and headed to the Dead Sea. 

Just me pretending to climb

Here I am using a creative way to slide down the mountain. Note, I didn't die. 

That there is the abyss I didn't want to fall into

My feelings about this hike

Their feelings about the hike

And the Dead Sea. Every single time I go there I think, eh, I've been in the water many times, I won't go in this time. And then I get convinced to go in. And let me tell you. It is just as magical every single time. Yes, you feel slimy and salty when you get out but so what. This place is great.

First time we actually used mud at the beach

View from the beach. Those mountains are Jordan 

Look, we float! 

The Dead Sea is shrinking. The sign on this lifeguard station says that when it was erected in 2002 it was right up against the water. It's a bit hard to see in the photo but the water is how quite a long walk away and this lifeguard stand isn't in use. 

And finally, there was excellent parking. Even space to park your camels, as necessary. 

Then the next day, I was off again so we met up with a group of friends we know from back in the old country. I don't know if they want to be in my blog so I won't post their photos. But I will post the ones they sent to me. We did a hike on a day that was way too hot for a hike. But again, we lived. My national parks card got a nice workout during pesach. Also included, 10% off on ice cream at the parks. If we survive a hike, we eat ice cream. Those are the rules. I don't write them, I just follow then. 

Look, we made it

Me being slightly dramatic

And after all of that fun in the heat, our next day (another day off,  I know, it was crazy) we ditched the planned easy hike and skipped straight to the going out to breakfast plan of the day. Because the novelty of kosher restaurants and kosher for pesach restaurants still has not worn off. 

And just because she is cute. I end this with a photo of my dog Goldie. She is clearly exhausted from eating so many matzah crumbs during the holiday.