Let me first start my post with something serious; I don't want it to just get tacked on to the end of my post like an afterthought when it deserves more attention than that. And I especially want my non-Jewish readers to take a moment to read this. It is a link to a post written by an Israeli blogger, Imshin. In this post she gives a slice of life in Israel; she talks about a story of one Israeli who recounts what happened during the Arab riots in October 2000 that began what has now become the intifada, or Palestinian uprising. What you hear in this article and what I have heard personally from a close friend of mine is the absolute disbelief that one moment Jews and Arabs were close, both as friends and in commerce, and then overnight Arabs turned on the Jews and began riots (this included Arabs living within Israel, not just Palestinians). This was triggered by the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, paying a visit to the Temple Mount. This area is considered sacred by Jews and Palestinians alike (to oversimplify for the sake of being concise, the Jews once had a Temple there, it was destroyed, and the Muslims built their own house of worship there. Thus the debate as to who has rights to the land). Anyway, the Muslims did not like the Prime Minister of Israel on 'their' holy site and so began the riots in which many unsuspecting Jews were seriously injured (with one killed) by people they had considered friends and neighbours. Losses were also shared by the Arabs as 13 of their own were shot and killed by Israeli forces. It was an ugly mess for both sides, and the fighting has not stopped since (and again, I am oversimplifying...it's not like there wasn't trouble prior to this).
At any rate, it's a moving description of one person's account of what happened to him during the riots.

For good measure, check our Meryl's analysis of the recent release of numbers showing that terror attacks against Jews in Israel was down 50% in 2003 compared to 2002. Sounds great, right? Sure, that means only 3,838 attacks last year. Does that sound like reason to celebrate, to you?? Meryl talks about it much more eloquently than I do, I just get mad. Go read her thoughts.

Ok, now that I have gotten that off my chest I will try to give colourful highlights of my life over the past 2 days and try to make it sound very interesting to total strangers. LOL!

My day started at 2:30am. Got up, got dressed, took Princess Blondie and her boyfriend to the airport. How nice for them to be in Cuba when we are currently experiencing temperatures of -30C (-22F), and our city has been put on a "cold weather alert". Hope they enjoy it while it lasts, and here's hoping I remember to bring them their winter jackets when I pick them up at the airport next Friday. Heh.

After that I went home and tried to sleep for another two hours. Then I got up, and went to pick my grandma up at 7:30am for a trip to the hospital to have cataract surgery. My grandma can be a bit of a handful as she is very bull headed and strong willed. And she just loves to bark orders, and never wants her purse out of her sight. By the end of the day I was getting snappy with her asking every other minute if I had her purse. Finally begged her to have a little faith that I was there to look after her, not leave her to the wolves. *sigh* Oh, and btw, what did I do while in the waiting room during her surgery? That's right, my homework. Because I love doing my homework. I have a sick addiction to Hebrew homework and I don't care WHO knows it. :-P

So I got grandma home and fed her her first meal in about 15 hours (they don't want you eating 12 hours before surgery). She decided she wanted pizza, so I ordered us some. Mmmm!!! Happy day for me too. We ate, and then I tucked her into bed. I tried for a nap too (I'm only running on about 4 - 5 hours sleep at this point and my day isn't nearly over) but was awoken by my cats fighting on the bed; both wanted the prime spot right beside me. Finally I gave up and when my mom arrived I tagged off and went to my home for a shower; I still had balloons to pick up and a surprise birthday party to get to.

Long story short (and one balloon short coz it took off in the high winds while walking in the parking lot) my friends and I had a great evening. We had an awesome surprise dinner for my friend's 30th birthday, and after stuffing our faces with ribs and chicken, we went out to a pool hall and shot some pool. *sigh* This sort of thing makes me gush about my friends, but I really do love them. We have SO much fun together, and we're such a tight group. Hugs and laughs all night... I tell you, it's so good for my soul. After a night out with them I am in a glow of contentment.

Today I finally get to relax a little. I am going to shower and tidy up my place a bit. And then you know what I'm gonna do? That's right, lots of homework. *glee!* I am like a sponge who wants to learn more, it's weird. I only wish I was like this about learning something a little more practical. LOL!!!!!
And tonight.....more fun with some friends. Life is good that way. :-) We have cast votes, and now it is up to me to be the deciding vote: Big Fish or Love Actually? Help!! Has anyone seen these?? I am good for seeing either one, but it seems our group is a little divided, so I have to be the one to make the call.....input from you guys would be nice. lol