Purim 5769

Last year, Adam and I were on vacation for Purim. We spent the day walking around in the warm Jerusalem sun, delivering mishloach manot to our friends. This year, Purim was a regular work day for me and, even worse, an exam day for Adam. But we still managed to have some fun. A few highlights:

• Purim night with the Washington Square Minyan. We dressed up as Antony and Cleopatra. (Cleopatra had two children with Marc Antony, so the pregnancy bulge did not spoil the costume!)

• Daytime megillah reading with the Newton Centre Minyan before work. Don't ask me what time I woke up.
  
• Matanot l'evyonim through Yad Chessed, an amazing local organization that runs a Purim program where needy families in the community get certificates to the Butcherie (a kosher grocery store in Brookline). Thanks to Brandeis Hillel for organizing this!
• Mishloach manot put together with items from BJ's, the wholesale club of the east coast. Wouldn't it be great if Israel had BJ's? 24 perfect little packs of peanuts for under $10! It's amazing!
  
• Seudah (festive meal) with Meg and Eli and Taam China, the finest kosher Chinese food in Boston!
  

It's a Boy!

Adam and I had our "Level II Ultrasound"/"Fetal Survey" today. Below is a picture of our structurally perfect SON! Who, apparently, sucks his thumb.

What Do You Think?

Things have been busy of late. School. Work. Other non-blogging obligations. But stay tuned, because soon we'll have some really blog-worthy news. At least if you think the gender of our unborn child is news-worthy.

That's right. We should hopefully know boy or girl on Monday!

So this is your last opportunity to make a prediction. What do you think - Girl or Boy?

Quickening

I can feel my baby moving around! It started this weekend and continued today. It took me several times feeling that popping/fluttering sensation to become convinced, but now I'm sure it's the baby. It seems to happen if I'm sitting still, and it is the most amazing feeling in the world!

Not-So-Relaxing Sleep

My pregnancy book, Sears Parenting Library's The Pregnancy Book, told me that pregnant women spend more time in REM sleep and consequently are more likely to dream and more likely to wake up and remember the dreams. I've found this to be very true. The night before last, I had an incredibly vivid dream in which Sasha and Malia Obama had been kidnapped, and I couldn't locate them, although locating them seemed to be my job.

A few days before that, I woke up at 5:30 in the morning having dreamed that I had taken my baby to services on a Shabbat morning and put him (yes, we had a boy in the dream) in a baby playground swing. Then I went inside for services, totally forgetting about the baby until several hours later, when I was ready to walk to lunch. In the dream, I panicked as I remembered the baby and rushed toward the baby swing. I could see that his little body was there in its little blue sleeper, but before I could tell if he was okay, I woke up screaming.

Did any other women out there have unusually vivid dreams while pregnant?

Just a Little Bit More

I know. I know. This blog isn't about politics. It's not my fault that the Prime Minister of Turkey stormed off the stage like a toddler (There I said it!) after Shimon Peres gave one of the most impassioned political appeals that I have ever heard.

It's also not my fault that terrorists are bad people. Now I know that there are a lot of bad people all over the world, but I feel like it's important to set the proper context when delving into the world of politics. We need to know what we are dealing with.

For example, in Iraq, a woman was just arrested for organizing the rapes of more than 80 women. Why would anyone do such a thing? Because after you have the girls raped, you can convince them that the only way to regain their lost honor is by becoming a suicide bomber.

I guess after all of the weak minded targets are gone (because they have blown themselves up) you just have to create more using whatever means available.

Another example, though not nearly as extreme, is the armed larceny of food and blankets by Hamas police in Gaza. Never mind that the aid was being distributed by the UN to needy Palestinian families. Hamas has the guns, so they do what they want.

Too Funny

יו יה
אני שואל
יו יה
אתם עונים
יו יה
האם זה פייר
יו יה
אתם לא יודעים

My colleague Monica tells me that Temple Israel students were dancing to it this past Sunday. Well, apparently it's not just for Sunday schools any more!

A Video Worth Watching

I'm not usually one for political blogging. I would rather use this space to update people about our lives rather than stir the proverbial pot. However, I recently watched a video of a panel discussion at the recent world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, that centered on the situation in Gaza. Among the panelists were Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Amr Moussa, the former Egyptian Foreign Minister who now leads the Arab League, Israeli President Shimon Peres, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Durin the panel, Peres made an impassioned speech in defense of Israel. I can honestly say that I have never been as moved by hearing an Israeli politician. Especially since Peres has done as much or more for Mid-East peace than anyone in recent history. I strongly recommend everyone watch the video below to appreciate his passion not only for Israel's right to defend itself, but also the country's desire for peace.

Peres begins his speech at about 39:30 (you don't have to wait for the entire clip to load).



For those of you who watch the entire clip and would like to talk about/respond to the Turkish Prime Minister's behavior at the end of the panel, just let me know and it will be the topic of my next blog post.

Michelle's Inauguration Post

Gil Troy, for whom I used to work, put a post on his blog Center Field two weeks ago entitled "Thank you, George W. Bush". For those who aren't inclined to click on the link and actually read the post, the gist was that the Jewish community should show its appreciation for President Bush's strong and steadfast support for Israel now that he's out of office, in a way that we failed to do when he was in office. If anyone is as moved by Professor Troy's words as I was, consider visiting the George W. Bush Foundation and donating to his presidential library.

Scrubtacular

Many of you may know that I am an ardent follower of the TV show "Scrubs." I've stuck with the show through the highs and the more recent lows. I even followed the show across networks (from NBA to ABC).

For the past two weeks, Scrubs has been airing back-to-back and for both weeks, for whatever reason, my DVR has decided to only record the second episode. In the old days this would have caused me much consternation, however, now days, we have this new fangled "Internet," where I can still watch my shows. In place of the TV advertisements, the show breaks several times to show you a single 30 second ad. The same ad repeats for each of the breaks.

On a somewhat ominous note (for ABC) the ads during my most recent viewing of Scrubs were all promos for other ABC shows. This means that they had a captive audience and chose (or even worse - were forced) to show advertisements which generated no revenue. Now, I guess ABC could have decided that these promos would lure me into other ABC shows, but seeing as how I had to visit ABC's website in order to get to the Scrubs episode, I was probably aware of the other programs already.

So either they actively decided to get no money from the show, or nobody was willing to pay.