Tal's Camel

This post is more serious than my usual, so be prepared for something sadder than typical.

Tal was a young lady born and raised in Haifa, my hometown. On March 5th, 2003 she was killed by a suicide bomber on a bus she was on. *

Two days before she was killed, she wrote in her diary:

People tend to disregard happiness, And I think I know why. Because, when you are happy you don’t care why, And you do not deal with it too much. But when you are sad, you think of it and analyze Why you are sad, Instead of let it be, let it go and be happy again. I’m happy with no reason and I’m proud of it.

Tal Kehrmann - March 3rd, 2003

She also drew in her diary, her favourite animal:

The words "wither" and "camel" rhyme in Hebrew. A special sticker was created saying: Tal's Smile Didn't Wither.

Her father also created a website to commemorate her life and asked people to colour Tal's Camel.

The following site has the most fantastic drawings you'll ever see of a camel:

http://www.tal-smile.com/drawtalcamele.htm

If you have kids, or you have an artistic talent - go ahead, use it!

* You can read her life's story here.

I wasn't tagged, but...

Mike has been kind enough not to tag me (probably because he's given up on my blog entirely), but I thought it was kinda cute, and decided to do this one. The rules:

Go to Google Images and enter your birth date as six figures*: ddmmyy (or mmddyy if you are an illogical American). Pick any five pictures from the first page of results only. Then post them somewhere we can see!

So here goes, the digits 050269 brought the following disturbing results:

This one is self explanatory, and I won't go into too much detail, but it definitely describes me.


This is my spaceship. I was sort of shocked to find it online because I was under the impression that this was classified as Top Secret by the U.S. government, but I won't be shocked to find that someone leaked this to Google just because it's got cool colours.

When I landed here on earth, this was my first vehicle. (Yes, that birth date above is my fake identity on earth).

This is my favourite dish. The beak and feet are delicious.

This is what I breathe when I'm home. The little yellow dots in the center are my kids.

Selecting Granite for Our Kitchen

Our kitchen is almost complete (a month and a half behind schedule). I've forgotten what our kitchen looks like. We've spent every weekend in the past six weeks looking for the perfect piece of granite for our kitchen. We've called stores, we visited places. We took photos. We hung them on our wall in the kitchen to get a feel.

Though it's been a difficult choice and while I stumbled upon life's true treasures, I did finally fall in love. I finally found The One.

Listen to the words... **

You wait a long time for me
oooo ooo you wait a long time yeah

** For those curious who's singing this, click here. Did you guess right?

Driving outside of DC

I've been reading tips on how to keep the brain working and avoid early onset of Alzheimers, and one of the suggestions was to take a different route to work or back from work.

I work in DC, so obviously there are numerous routes I could take from one point to another. Heck, I even have several options of bridges to cross if I really want to get adventurous.

But honestly, I don't think I need to, because every single time I've taken 295 south and crossed the Wilson Bridge, I've been re-routed by orange cones/flashing signs/accidents/concrete barriers/new paint on the road/and police officers to a new unrecognized totally fresh detour home.

I am willing to bet that the rate of Alzheimers in Northern Virginia will be tremendously reduced in the next 30-40 years as a result of the Wilson Bridge construction site. Of course that's if anyone remains alive after this project has taken so many years off our lives with the stress of driving over it.

You wake up in the morning and you just never know which lane you'll end on, and where it will take you. And even if you took one route in the morning, once you get off work, you better be prepared for the commute from hell back home because some bozo contractor decided that Halloween is the perfect day to mess up on the job and screw everyone's commute home.

If you're about to take a drive to Virginia, and you haven't lived here this past week, I caution you - have your GPS ready because even the landmarks are different now. Oh, and ignore the GPS warning as you drive on the Wilson Bridge and it shouts at you: "Find the nearest road!"

And by the way, don't try to get clever on me and decide you'll just catch a taxi, 'cause the b@stards will be on strike when you need them.


I am reminded of my favourite poem of all times, the first poem that I learned in English, written by Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Or in my own words:

Someone made me take the road less travelled, and I'll be darned if it didn't make a difference. Indeed, a half hour longer commute worth of a difference.

Hebrew Lesson #4

The man with the big ear came from the city.

I really need this!

I've been in this house for 9 months, and have yet to purchase one very critical piece for my bathroom. But the realestate in my bathroom is so small that I have no space to put a standard one. I may have to revert to one of these:

Doing my part

Just because my mind is blank, I figured I'd take this from Mike

1.) Name one person who made you laugh last night.

Nothing makes me laugh recently. My life's too serious.

2.) What were you doing at 8:00AM?

Laying out carpet samples by my coworker's cubicle because I wanted him to approve it.

3.) What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

Finished eating dinner. Noodles & Company. I love their macaroni and cheese.

4.) What happened to you in 2006?

I spent a month on vacation in London and Australia.
I was sent out to a new jobsite.
Managed a $5 million project.
Bought a new smartphone so I could communicate with my family during the war.
Spent countless hours glued to the internet following the war in Israel.
"Met" Mike online.
Passed the PMP exam.
Became a US Citizen.
Spent two weeks in Israel after the war.
Taught about Earned Value Management at training day.
Did not get promoted.
Called my current employer in search of a new job.
Went through surgery.

5.) What was the last thing you said out loud?

"Is that 14 inches?"

6.) How many beverages did you have today?

3 cans of Fanta.

7.) What color is your hairbrush?

Brown. I think.

8.) What was the last thing you paid for?

Dinner.

9.) Where were you last night?

Home Depot. Looking for a paintbrush.

10.) What color is your front door?

By the time I get home I'm too excited to look at the colour of my front door.

11.) Where do you keep your change?

For the past week it's in a container inside the drink holder in my car. Tomorrow I plan on cashing it in.

12.) What's the weather like today?

It's ok.

13.) What's the best ice-cream flavor?

I hate ice cream.

14.) What excites you?

A guy flirting with me.

15.) Do you want to cut your hair?

I need a haircut this weekend. Desperately.

16.) Are you over the age of 25.

Yup.

17.) Do you talk a lot?

Absolutely.

18.) Do you watch the OC?

Used to. It was my favourite show. I was sad when they decided to stop it. This must be an old questinnaire.

19.) Do you know anyone named Steven?

Yeah, the asshole working on my kitchen.

20.) Do you make up your own words?

No. I have a hard time keeping up with those in the dictionary.
But I've been known to make up my own pronounciations.

21.) Are you a jealous person?

Yes.

22.) Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "A."

Alexis.

23.) Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "K."

Kyriakos.

24.) Who's the first person on your received call list?

My husband.

25.) What does the last text message you received say?

"K. Painting."

Well, that explains #9.

26.) Do you chew on your straw?

No.

27.) Do you have curly hair?

No.

28.) Where's the next place you are going to go?

Bed.

29.) Who's the rudest person in your life?

Steven from # 19.

30.) What was the last thing you ate?

Macaroni and Cheese with parmesan crusted chicken.

31.) Will you get married in the future?

If I get divorced, sure why not.

32.) What's the best movie you've seen in the last 2 weeks?

Haven't seen movies in over a month.

33.) Is there anyone you like right now?

My employer.

34.) When was the last time you did the dishes?

Considering it's been over a month since I've had a kitchen, I will admit it's been over a month ago.

35.) Are you currently depressed?

Probably. Mike gave it to me.

36. ) Did you cry today?

Day isn't over yet.

37.) Why did you answer and post this?

I needed a distraction.

38.) Tag 5 people who would do this post.

The five people who read my blog are welcome to do what they like.