The very very not short dear god it's long meme

Don't worry Domestic Spaz, I still love you.

Ok, plunging right in now...

Favorite person (outside family)? My best friends, they don't read my blog (because I haven't told them I have one) but they know who they are

Favorite food? Pasta

Quirks about you? None. I'm perfect in every way. Sorry, if you haven't fallen on the floor laughing rest assured I'm just kidding. I'm one of Six Billion Eccentrics. (Listen to track 10. Then listen to the rest, especially if you like singer-songwriters. The tracks are wonderfully diverse, I'm a big fan. Just saw him perform here in Israel last week actually.)

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? No idea and he's sleeping so I can't ask right now.

Any regrets in life? None I haven't come to terms with

Favorite Charity/Cause? Breastfeeding support and promoting peace and tolerance

Favorite Blog recently? There are way too many to limit it to just one.

Something you can’t get enough of? Time

Worst job you’ve ever had? Data entry clerk in a pre-computerized firm (yes, I am old enough to remember the bad old days)

What job would you pay NOT to have? Pretty much any job on that BBC Worst Jobs show - they go century by century describing the worst jobs imaginable. The one who cleaned the sausage casings so they could be made into violin strings would probably rank in my top three.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where? Inside my daughter's head. I'd really like to better understand what she's thinking. Not a literal fly in her head though, because that would be disgusting.

Favorite Bible verse right now? Not relevant

Guilty Pleasure? Eating gourmet chocolate chips straight out of the package

Got any confessions? I just tore into the bag of milk chocolate chips I bought to make chocolate lollipops for this Friday, when it's my daughter's turn to bring a treat to preschool.

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? Shopping spree, and several days at a spa.

Favorite thing about your house? My kitchen, especially the tiles we chose for the backsplash (see the picture in my header)

Least favorite thing about your house? The plumbing. This place is cursed when it comes to anything water.

One thing you are bad at? Following through on things

One thing you’re good at? Empathizing

If you could change something about your circumstances, what? I'd give myself job security

Who would you like to meet someday? Definitely all my internet friends. Some of us have known each other for nine years already without ever having met face to face!

What makes you feel sexy? The right clothes

Who is your real life hero? WhyMommy. Her strength and courage amaze and inspire me.

What is the hardest part of your job? Self-discipline

When are you most relaxed? weekend mornings

What stresses you out? time pressure, being overcommitted

What can you not live without? chocolate. Oh, and air.

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists? It's much too broad to be taken seriously.

Why do you blog? For the sense of community it engenders

Who are you tagging? Whoever feels up to responding to this mongo meme!

Sate Chicken Skewers

The chicken itself was long gone by the time Janet asked for this recipe, so since I didn't have any food to photograph I decided to show you the recipe card itself. See for yourselves how well-loved this recipe has been over the years. The card is one of a number of family recipes my mom wrote out for me when I got married and nearly seventeen years later it's still a family favorite. We make it often at home, and our favorite go-to dish for summer barbecues whenever we're asked to bring "something to throw on the grill".

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Enjoy.

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Indonesian-style Sate Chicken Skewers

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Ingredients:

4 large chicken cutlets, cut in strips (or easier to skewer bite-sized pieces, whichever you prefer)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Tbl oil

1 Tbl molasses

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 Tbl lemon juice

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Mix above ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Marinate chicken for at least 2 hours.

Just before grilling, soak bamboo skewers in water (so they won't catch fire, which might put a damper on your dinner, so to speak). Thread the chicken onto the skewers. Grill 4-5 minutes or until done. (May take longer if you've done your chicken in chunks.) Brush with marinade. Or don't, I often skip this step.

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Note: The original recipe calls for serving this with a spicy peanut sauce, but since no one but Jay and I ever ate the sauce (Israelis don't tend to be big fans of peanut butter in any shape or form) I've stopped bothering over the years. The chicken is delicious plain, but the sauce definitely kicks it up a notch. This recipe is similar to the one I used to make, but I leave out the coconut milk, thinning the peanut butter with a bit of hot water instead. Get creative, it's hard to go wrong with peanut sauce.

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Click here if you'd like to see more of my recipes.

If only...

Somewhere out there, in a parallel universe, another Robin is having a really great day...

Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod! Five out of six numbers!! One more and I win! Holy crap! The jackpot of the century!! Come on, come on, come on 14. Come on. 14, let's go, 14! I can't breathe, ohmigod, pleaseletmewinpleaseletmewin!!!

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won I won I won I won I won!!!! Holy crap holy crap holy crap!!!!! $15 million dollars!!!!!!!!! Oh my god, what do I do first?!?!? Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!

Where's my phone? Where's my damn phone? Found it! Hello?!? This is Robin. I quit!!! Yes, I just said I quit! I'm done working - for you or for anyone, but especially for you! Done, finished, finito, sayonara baby! I'm outta here!

Ok, now what. Wait a minute! I didn't call Jay! I can't believe I forgot to call Jay! Come on, pick up! Pick up dammit! Hello? Wewonwewonwewonwewonwewon!!! What? Forget the meeting! Come home! Come home right now! And on your way, call the town pool and tell them we won't be needing a membership this year - or any year! We're going to be moving to a villa with a pool just as soon as my fingers can dial the realtor! And a boat! We have to have a boat! Where should we berth it, Tel Aviv or Herzliah? How big should we get? Should it be big enough to take us to Greece?!? And France! We should definitely get a little hideaway in France somewhere! Paris or Provence, what do you think? Oh, and we should donate a bunch too - which would you prefer - to fund a soup kitchen or a full-service homeless shelter? And what about traveling? Let's all go to someplace exotic before we visit my folks this summer! Tahiti or Fiji? What do you think? So many plans! So many decisions! Ooh, and a caravan! Let's buy a caravan to keep in the States so we can go wherever we want! And...

And then phone started ringing, and the kids started clamoring, and the doorbell started ringing, and i came crashing back down to earth... A nice little fantasy while it lasted, but not very likely to come true, especially since I don't even buy lottery tickets.

As long as we're back to reality, for those waiting for a personal update the Lag B'Omer camping trip went very well. We camped right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea (they weren't allowing camping or bonfires right on the beach) and had gorgeous views of the Tel Aviv skyline on one side and sunset over the Mediterranean on the other. It was absolutely idyllic if you just ignore the unfreakingbelievingly loud and horrifically bad music that blasted up from some all night dance party on the beach from midnight on, and yes, I do mean all night. They finally stopped at 5:30am. Somehow all the kids thankfully slept through it, but none of the adults got much sleep. In the morning we broke camp and headed down to the still-deserted beach for a picnic breakfast and swim. All in all a delightful holiday.

TT - 13 Things I'm Taking On Our Lag B'Omer Campout

Tonight (Thursday night) is Lag B'Omer, a Jewish holiday celebrated among secular Israelis primarily by the lighting of bonfires in fields and vacant lots all over the country. Last year we saw nine different fires just on our block. (Yes, I have asthma, and yes, this is a particularly delightful evening. I'm already taking preventive meds.)

This year we've decided to upgrade a bit and are hitting the beach with a couple of my son's friends and their families for a bonfire and campout. (Yes, this means that camping at the festival last weekend went well.)

Here are thirteen things we'll be bringing with us (if you're wondering why obvious items like coals for the grill are left out it's because one of the other families are bringing them):

1. Wood of course

2. Two tents (we'll be buying a single larger tent in the States this summer)

3. Two double air mattresses (comfort makes camping a lot more pleasant for this mama)

4. Four sleeping bags

5. Two sets of sheets (adult sleeping bags will be used as "blankets", kids' bags are just for lying on blankets under the stars before we head to bed

6. Indonesian sate-style chicken and hot dogs for the grill

7. A small grill

8. Loads of Israeli salads - hummus (fancy adult version + plain kids' version), red cabbage salad, and tomato and red pepper matbucha salad

9. Pump for air mattresses

10. Bathings suits

11. Sinai carpets (beach blankets)

12. Beach toys

13. Marshmellows!


Visit the Thursday Thirteen hub to see what everyone else is counting this week.

Survival against all odds

They say that a mother's love is the strongest thing on earth. Here's why. Two mothers who used their last breaths to save their children. My heart breaks for all those who have lost everything to the capriciousness of nature.
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(taken from a lactation e-mail list I'm on)


China Earthquake - Baby Survival Stories
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Under the rubble, dead mothers tightly held their babies; baby girl stayed alive by breastfeeding from dead mother Singtao News (written in Chinese) http://hk.news.yahoo.com/080517/60/2u63i.html
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In Duijangyan, Sichuan, a young mother tightly held her baby girl, who was about 3 to 4 months old, while using her own shoulders to stop the roof from falling onto her baby. The mother slowly lost her life, however the baby in her arms was still breastfeeding from her dead mother, until the baby was rescued. In Beichuan, another mother who also died using her body to protect her baby, left the last message to her baby: "my dearest baby, if you can live through this, you have to remember that I love you."
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In the afternoon of May 13th, the second day after the Sichuan earthquake, scores of rescue workers were digging through a residential area of Duijanyan, looking for survivors. A volunteer doctor said that under the rubbles, they found a young mother holding a 3-4 months old baby. The mother was curling her body, her head lowered, and she had no sign of life, however her shirt was lifted up, and the baby girl in her arms was still sucking on mother's nipples.
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Doctor wept as he recounted the scene, "At that moment, we saw a red (lively) little face, against the dead mother's gray breasts that were covered with dusts.it was such a contrast. Everyone at the scene cried.
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"I can't imagine, a dead mother was still breastfeeding her own child. From the way she was holding the baby, you can tell that she was protecting her child, or perhaps the mother put her nipple into the baby's mouth just before the mother died. We carefully took the baby out. The moment the baby was taken away from her mother's nipple, the baby cried."
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In Beichuan, rescue workers also found another dead mother protecting her
child: she was kneeling down, bowing her back; both arms on the ground supporting her body - her posture was like someone kowtowing, however her body was crushed so badly that it was deformed, and she was dead.
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Since it looked like she was protecting something underneath her, rescue workers carefully removed the rocks and stones around her. They found a baby who was around 3, 4 months old underneath her body. It was because the mother used her own body to block the falling wall, the baby was miraculously completely unharmed. When being taken out, the baby was even sleeping peacefully.
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A nurse removed the blanket from the baby to examine her, and found a cell phone tucked inside the blanket. Doctor looked at the screen of the cell phone, and saw a text message left by the baby's mother, "my dearest baby, if you can live through this, you have to remember that I love you."
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And in the midst of the devastation, a local policewoman gives orphaned babies a chance at life:
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The Face of Rescue: Women's Work
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CHENGDU, China - A Chinese policewoman is contributing to the country's massive earthquake relief effort in a very personal way -- by breastfeeding 20 babies.
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A newspaper in Chengdu, the capital of quake-hit Sichuan province, devoted a special page to the 29-year-old woman, calling her a hero.
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The woman from the quake-ravaged town of Jiangyou has just had a child herself, the Western Urban Daily said. She is nursing the children of three women who were left homeless by the quake and are too traumatised to give milk, as well as five orphans, the report said.

The babies who lost their parents have been put in an orphanage which does not have powdered milk, it said.
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Please look here and here to see why giving artificial infant formula in a disaster is extremely dangerous and puts the babies it is purporting to help at risk of serious disease and even death. Think twice too about which aid organizations you support. Dumping in a load of expired or nearly expired formula with no labels or instructions in the local language and then expecting mothers with no access to clean water or washing facilities to prepare bottles for the first time in their lives does not save babies' lives - it puts them in grave danger. Much more good could be done and many more babies saved through the provision of lactation support instead.

My life in a (very small) nutshell

A few weeks ago Angie tagged me for the six word memoir meme, where you have to sum up your life in just six words, which I might add is an awful lot harder than it looks. I've been pondering it on and off since then, and after much deliberation and hand-wringing I've come up with this:

Family and friends keep me strong.

I'm not traveling this path alone. I may not know what is around the next bend but I know that whatever it is, good or bad, I won't be facing it alone. I know that I will be wrapped in a blanket of love and support. I know that my family and my wonderful, wonderful friends both outside and inside of my computer will be right there rejoicing in my joys and crying with me over my sorrows. All of you, you make me strong. You keep me strong. I couldn't do it without you. Thank you.

Now I'm going to throw this one out to all of you prolific writers out there. Who wants to take up the challenge of summing up their entire life in just six words? Post your entry and come let me know in the comments. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

And that's a wrap

Another year, another festival. This one though was one of the best we've had in years. The music was fantastic, the addition of a whole extra day made the entire festival feel more relaxed and less rushed, the kids were wonderful, the weather was perfect, literally dozens of dear friends were there, the pool was cool and refreshing (and Itai even remembered how to swim), even the camping went off without a hitch. Better than just without a hitch actually. It went so well that Maya and I will be joining the boys (Jay, Itai and a few other fathers and sons) for a Lag B'Omer campout on the beach this Thursday night after all.

Have I mentioned that the kids were terrific? Itai is now old enough to wander around freely with his friends (something only possible at a closed, extraordinarily safe and family-friendly festival like this one - I know that must sound appalling to some of you out there, but trust me, Jacob's Ladder is truly a land unto itself. I'd never let him wander alone at any other event.) Itai also had his first celebrity crush on a group of young bluegrass musicians. He bought their cd with his own money and came home clutching not one but two different autographed photos. Maya is still a bit young to sit still for the more formal indoor performances, so we mainly stuck to the outdoor stages (where most of the music is anyway) and she alternated between sitting on the side blowing bubbles and playing quietly at our feet. (The addition of a well-timed ice cream or two didn't hurt either.) For the first time in years Jay and I actually came away feeling like we'd heard a lot of music rather than that we'd spent most of our time kid-wrangling.

Times like this are what make it all worthwhile. They make the stresses of daily life (and we've got some whoppers right now) fade away for a few days and give us the chance to just be. To do what we love with people with love.

Who could ask for more?