Unfortunately I cannot find time to update my blog due to real life deadlines. This coming Friday I'll be teaching a class at a company training day. I volunteered for it. Little did I realise that it won't be as easy as I expected. I spent my entire vacation in Israel reading the book on the topic. Then I spent the past two weeks, since I returned, working on the presentation. Half hour a day is all I could get in with my busy schedule and on some days I couldn't work on it at all.
This weekend I put in 18 hours on the presentation. I think I wasted all of Saturday on trying to figure out something idiotic about charts in MS Excel. Eventually I gave up and asked the question online. Thankfully, someone responded by this morning. I no longer felt an idiot after reading his reply. I would have never reached the answer on my own. Now I have to go back and fix all the charts in my presentation. Oh joy.
Last night as I reached 80% completion of my presentation I made my husband sit and listen to it. Mid-way through it I realised I pretty much neglected the most important part of the presentation - the definition.
I'm hoping everyone who's taking my class signed up for it because they had nothing better to do with their time, so no matter what I teach it'll be an improvement on their other choices.
My husband left for Las Vegas early this morning (Jeep thing) for the entire week. I inserted an envelope with some gambling money in his suitcase, just because I haven't done something nice for him in ages. My hairdresser told me that I should tell him that if he wins any money he has to share. He didn't seem as thrilled with this concept. Not sure why.
As I went to bed last night I realised he had put on his alarm clock for 3:45am but forgot to change the time on his clock. I wasn't too eager to wake up at 2:45am, so I changed it for him. This morning I found out he wasn't the only one who forgot to change his clock. When I got in to work at my usual 7am early morning time, all the parking spots were taken as if it were past 8am. It was rather obvious that in a government facility - 80% of those parked are there by mistake and not dedicated employees who arrive at 7am.
After waking up at 3:45 with my husband I'm totally wiped out and can't focus on finishing my presentation.
I learned back in college by a very beloved professor - if your project sucks, make it look professional. Tomorrow is my day for making it look professional. I'm done with the "this sucks" aspect.
I'm at a point of considering adding some nude photos into my presentation just to wake up everyone and maybe even get a glowing evaluation from everyone. But then again, that's going to be a feat considering I know of at least one born again Christian taking my class who won't be thrilled about this development. Of course it doesn't help that he's my boss.
I would like to share with you a personal moment of pride. Last week my husband and I were invited to one of several opening gala's of Mt. Vernon. This Friday I will attend the Grand Opening ceremony mid-day. Mt. Vernon is the location of George Washington's estate. To read about this place and the new buildings click on this link. I highly recommend clicking on the link for "Panorama Look Inside" - and believe me when I say this isn't the best part of this place. Also try the Graphic Map. It shows what was inside the Washington Post on one side of the page. The link online is not as wonderful as the actual Washington Post from today which shows a half page photo on the front page and two full pages in the center, plus an article on two pages in the Style Edition and a page in the Kids section. I don't recall when an event took this many pages in the Washington Post.
When my husband picked me up to go to the event he asked how long we'll be there and I said "Oh, I don't know anyone there. It'll probably be just an hour." Three and a half hours later...
This place is absolutely STUNNING!!! I was at complete awe at what they had done to the place. I have not been to a more beautiful complex of museums in the entire world (and I've been to hundreds of museums!).
This place is definitely worth a visit if anyone happens to be in DC. I am already planning on taking any of my future guests to this place.
So why was I invited to the Grand Opening? Because I was heavily involved in helping Mt. Vernon with the guests lists for all opening galas. As a database developer I was requested to create a database that will track all the invitees and guests to each of the opening events. Originally I was told it would be about 3000 people invited to 9 events. Not surprisingly for this occasion the database now contains almost 7000 invitees and 12 events.
My husband and I were given a personal tour by the Director of IT for Mt. Vernon (my client) who explained to us everything and showed us all the important highlights of the place. I don't think I could express in words how appreciative I was for this personal escort throughout this beautiful place. Not only that but my client introduced me to almost every employee that we came across, including the executive director, introducing me as the database developer. It felt so awesome to get all the compliments from everyone for all the reports and information they got out of this database. Now they want to use this database for other events they will hold at Mt. Vernon. I just can't believe it!
An event like this really tears me up about my future. I love developing databases. But I also love Project Management. I feel split between two loves. I don't know which way to turn.
I can't wait for Friday! Oh yeah, I figure I might as well throw out some names of guests who will attend the Grand Opening, but I cannot do so before the event. Let's just say there are quite a few "The Honorables" in my database. Keep watching the news and reading the newspapers, you'll see it.
My husband and I went out to dinner this evening. First relaxed dinner since I got back from Israel. I told him about some conclusions I reached during my vacation. Told him why I've made some decisions. This was one of two conversations that I needed to have with him. I decided to start with the one that speaks about other friends in my life. The next conversation will be about himself. Just things that bother me and have bothered me for 14 years (and 4 days).
As I was in the middle of a serious discussion, and he was done paying the bill, he interrupts me and says "are you going to finish that Coke or can we go." And that's exactly what I needed to talk to him about. So I told him, next time I'll tell you why I don't like it when you do this.
As we left the restaurant and headed to the car, he was holding the leftover box. When we got into the car, he put it on the dashboard. I was still occupied with telling him how much I dislike being rushed after eating a meal. But I didn't do it in a reprimanding fashion but jokingly. I just told him he's an idiot and needs something to treat his ADD.
He turned the key in the ignition and says, "You know what ADD stands for?" Then without waiting for my answer he says, "Attention Deficit hey watch out for the leftover box so it doesn't fall."
Every time he makes me laugh like this I fall in love with him all over again.
I finally identified one thing I won't miss when I leave Israel the day after tomorrow.
Israeli mosquitoes!
ARGH! Can't stand their homing devices. They see me, they see a feast for a tribe. They leave me spotted all over, suffering for weeks later from their marks.
Maybe the one good thing about the Israeli ones is that they are so malnourished from the thin people in this country that the bites are far tinier than the American counterparts. But nonetheless - still very annoying.
I'm very satisfied with the accomplishments of my trip. I met with my six best friends, my cousin and of course my immediate family. I managed to begin peace negotiations between my mother and her brother after six months of no communications due to a major major family crisis.
I handled a major work crisis from six time zones away.
I figured out some issues that have been bothering me lately. Issues that really bothered me and were a part of my needing this vacation away from everything. I'm really happy about this because I didn't think I was giving myself enough time to think when I kept doing so much every day. But it's exactly that aspect of doing so much that led me to the conclusions I needed. I'm quite happy with the resolutions. It makes me feel better since they caused me some major stress in my life this past year.
I can't say that I am ready to go back, but I know I must. I have a terribly busy next week at work and I'll be lucky if I find time to even sit across a computer. So I may not blog until next weekend. Then next weekend I am participating in a walk for a cure to help other Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis patients. Wish me luck!
It's been a week since I arrived and I'm still trying to take everything in, commit to memory, and enjoy the moment. Coming back home means to me a huge assault on all senses. It's a positive assault, the type that renders me so calm and relaxed that it's almost addictive in nature.
The warmth of the sun, the light of day, the smell of the salty Mediterranean, the smells coming from restaurants, the noise of people talking Hebrew and Arabic, the touch of my nephews hugging me, the sight of the most beautiful architecture I've seen in all places I've ever been to around the world, the sight of Mt. Carmel dropping to the sea. All these combine into an experience that I wish I could record and share with you.
I take lots of photos all the time. I videotape, too. And I will upload it one day. But for now I just want to enjoy the time here. Enjoy being back home where I really belong, and where I feel most comfortable.
I've met a couple of my friends so far, and five more scheduled for this week. The rest will have to live with just a phone call from me. My mother still thinks it's a mystery how in 14 years of living overseas I still have Israeli friends who want to meet me. She thinks I'm imposing myself on them and forcing them to meet me. Funny thing is that I actually had to cut down on the number of friends I call because it seems that everyone wants to meet with me. Everyone wants to see me and talk to me. Some are coming all the way from Tel Aviv - something not too common because there's a rivalry between the two cities to a point of - "why don't YOU come to Tel Aviv, rather than me coming all the way to that small northern town." ["Small"- I will remind everyone means, the third largest city in Israel!]
Sukkot started last night and with it all the kids are out of school for eight days. A film festival began today on Mt. Carmel. I took a stroll with my mom along with thousands others. The town was absolutely packed! Earlier this evening I went with my sister-in-law and niece to the beach, where we enjoyed watching all the Israelis dancing folk dances. I videotaped that, too. I'll upload it some other time. It felt so great to see everyone enjoying the outdoor after being shut inside the homes during the war. You could almost sense the new vigor and excitement about life. But hidden underneath you could feel the constant fear that it'll be taken away from us again.
I love my country so much that it really hurts me to realise that in a week I'll be on a plane headed back. I don't want to go back. I don't. But I will, because I have a husband there. And a job.
When I get back it'll be straight to that damn cold weather that I detest. It'll be back to talking English without the Israeli humour I love so much. It'll be back to feeling a stranger in a strange land, even after 14 years of living there.
I tried to upload photos but blogger wouldn't let me. Too frustrating after five trials. I give up.
It's been a very rough few weeks for me at work and in life, and I needed to go back home to be with my family. I requested two weeks of "vacation without pay" and flew back to Haifa, Israel alone to spend the high holidays with my family.
I wanted to be with my family during the war but because I did not have a passport yet I couldn't leave the US. I finally received the American passport two weeks ago and was able to leave the country.
I don't know what I expected from this visit, but it's more painful that I imagined. My nephews and niece still talk about the war. My friends still talk about it. My parents still talk about it. People on the streets or anywhere I hear them - are still discussing it. It's not over for us. We're still living in fear that Nassaralla will continue to use his leftover missiles in a second war, and the foreign troops in Lebanon will again be helpless to prevent any casualties. Rather than rebuilding our country and talking peace, we're training our military for the next war, because the Hizbullah continues to threaten Israel with another attack.
Maybe the minor comfort we get is from hearing that the Lebanese are mocking the Hizbullah for claiming victory in a country completely destroyed by the results of their actions. Maybe the comfort is in knowing that Hizbullah did not come out the winner if the Lebanese are calling for Nassarallah to resign.
I came here because I needed time off from work and I needed time with my family. It's not a vacation by any means. But no one would understand that. No one. Coming back to friends and family who are all still recovering from a trauma is not a happy occassion and does not make this for a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy the holidays.
