time for a vacation

It has been a while. Sorry. I've been working like a madwoman so that I can feel a little less guilty about taking the time off work to go home to Cali for the 2.5 weeks. Although I will also be working from there. I've got 4 jobs going these days: my regular full-time job, 2 freelance editing projects, and another thing I do on Friday afternoons. You bet your ass I'm looking forward to getting away from (most of) it all!

I'm superexcited about the visit. Like, the closer it gets, the more excited I become. I'm a little nervous because I know that I've changed, and I'm sure that things there have changed, and I don't know what it will be like. And I really, really don't want lectures or questions about what the hell do I think I'm doing living in the Middle East with everything that's going on, etc. But I love my family and friends so much, it will do my heart good to see them. It's going to be strange, to understand everything, to not struggle with understanding and being understood, to live in only one language again. hehe.

I went to the kibbutz over the weekend, and it was great. It was so nice just to get out of the city, and remember what the rest of Israel is like - what for me is my more fundamental connection to the country. My uncle and aunt took me to the best steak restaurant I have ever been to in my life on Friday night. Seriously. They know the owner, so they told him to just bring whatever. Um, wow. Everything, from the wine to the bread to the meat (tender, juicy, red... AMAZING. I am so not a vegetarian) was incredible. I hung out with my cousin afterwards, which was fun 'cause I don't get to see her that much. I also visited with the couple who I stayed with when I first arrived in the country - some of the nicest people on the planet. I love them, and how I'm just a part of the family. I just walked in, gave them kisses, got myself something to eat (this is Israel, land of the Jews - everything starts and ends with a meal), and sat down on the couch to watch TV. LOVE IT. Being in Jerusalem, where my life is mostly independent and I don't see family very much, it was nice to have the reminder that they are there.

And there's another baby in the family! My cousin who I stayed with when I came to Jerusalem is now the proud father of a baby boy. I went to visit them in the hospital yesterday, and all are doing well. The baby is so sweet! You can tell he's still kind of in shock from the world after being in his little cocoon for so long. What a cutie.

I fly out tomorrow, woooooooooooooooooo!