Vacation 2007

On the evening of July 16th, Ari and I became newlyweds again ... well, kinda.

I’ll explain: I took DB to the airport to fly to the States for the first time by himself. He is very capable and I was not too worried as I dropped him off curbside and hugged him goodbye. My worry only began to increase when he called me not 5 minutes later from a number I didn’t recognize to tell me he had left his cell phone in the car and could I please come back to the airport to give it to him?

I got off the highway, turned around to go the other way and headed back to the airport. I handed his phone to him as he wait by the curb, smiled and lectured him only a little (I had to!) by reminding him to pay attention to what he was doing and drove off reluctantly. Deep breath!

Ari had been in Jerusalem at a class and so met me back at home ... with our dear friend Shimmy T, who spent the night with us.

5 minutes later our doorbell rang and 3 of MB’s friends were standing there ... coming to say hello.

The next morning, Ari and I packed up and headed for the hills! Literally! We spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday relaxing and pampering ourselves at the Carmel Forest Spa at the top of a mountain in the Carmel Forest near Haifa.

I felt a little guilty enjoying myself so much, but only because it was the nine days before Tisha B’av and we’re not really supposed to engage in such “fun” activities. But I made sure to suffer somewhat – between my head and foot massage, facial, and full body Indian oil massage – I suffered! The most suffering I did was in the Solarium or Quiet Room. There were about 20 padded lounge chairs set up in a sound-proof room all facing a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall glass window, looking out over the forest, onto the Mediterranean Sea. After each treatment I went into the Solarium to just be quiet. Heaven and Peace! oh, but I suffered!

On Friday we checked out of the Carmel and drove east towards the Kinneret Sea. We spent Shabbat at the Ramot Resort Hotel, where we have spent Pesach. Only this time we didn’t stay in one of their A-frame family huts! Instead, we stayed in one of their brand new log cabins, exquisitely decorated and equipped with an in-room full size Jacuzzi, sauna and plasma TV. The room also came with a half hour massage for both Ari and I before Shabbat, (as if we hadn’t already been massaged to death) and breakfast served to our room in the morning.

By the time Sunday came we were both ready to come home. There's only so much suffering a person can take :)

So that was our honeymoon. Of course, we still have not yet been in the house alone. B”H. I guess that is the way our home and our lives are supposed to be.

Ari leaves this Saturday night…
And then you know what that means?!?!