1) Finished Harry Potter last Thursday at work (shhh!) and rewarded myself with a sushi dinner. I actually really liked the book (my love has dwindled slowly with each book in the series) and like other Potter fans am now dying for the last installment.

2) I had my mom take me out to go shopping for the dreaded bikini because she can put up with my whining and crabbing about how I hate shopping, she spent years listening to it while buying school clothes. Her help paid off, more or less and I bought two bikinis. I'm not in love with either one, but they will do. I *desperately* need colour because I look horribly pastey and white in them. I have no idea how I am going to acquire said colour.

3) I did not manage to go buy a sleeping bag but I did manage to make myself clean my increasingly messy apartment. I always feel better with a clean home, so why is it so hard to get myself to do it?? Oh, and I also have to buy luggage soon too. Cha-ching! CHA-CHING! $$ :-/

4) I pulled out my Hebrew textbook from class to start to refresh my memory a bit before I go on my trip. I think I will start listening to my Hebrew cd's in the car now too. Any Hebrew is better than no Hebrew, I figure. But without a class or a native speaker of hebrew around I am finding it tough. I have questions and nowhere to direct them. Very frustrating.

5) I got news this morning that an old dear friend of mine from highschool has lost his mother. She died at home of cancer. My friends and I are extremely worried about our friend for he has always been an emotionally and mentally unstable fellow at the best of times. We hate to admit it but we believe it's only a matter of time before he commits suicide since his mother was his whole world (he lived at home with her, and he rarely worked). He buried his father when he was a child (the event that I believe lead to his lifetime of mental/emotional difficulties) and his stepfather a few years ago, whom he was very close to. He really has no one left and no money. I hope he is still here when I return from Israel, but between his addictions and bi-polar behaviour I am not hopeful. With no family to ground him it's up to us as his friends to try and help him. He has already had a violent outburst and it meant his mother was sent home to die instead of a hospice.

Another of our friends has gone with him to make the funeral arrangements today, I expect the funeral will be sometime at the end of the week. This news has deeply saddened me and I worry about my friends future.....

6) I just got 4 out of 7 numbers on my lottery ticket which earns me $151 towards my trip. And of course I'll be buying 2 more tickets this week, because what kind of a gambler would I be if I didn't spend the winnings on another chance?