Pinky the Conqueror?

This Saturday, Pinky got a chance to fulfill his long life dream of conquering Jerusalem, though it didn't go as well as he initially planned..

As soon as I heard that the almond trees are in bloom (a beautiful sight second, in my mind, only to the magical cherry tree bloom) I decided to go visit my friend B. in Jerusalem, the road to which is scattered with almond trees blooming in pink and white, and Pinky decided to come with me (actually B. said that I can only come if he comes. Really). After the beautiful trip we arrived at her place, drank some terrible chocolate espresso (my reaction to which was crying "shit!") we took our coats and drove to the Israel Museum, where I was looking forward to see the belongings of Babta Bat Shimon, a wealthy woman who during the second Judean-Roman war of 132-135 AC escaped with some of her belongings (key to her house, papers and certificates of her estate, some perfume and a mirror) to a cave in the desert, where she starved to death along with several other refugees. But enough about me.

Pinky enjoyed visiting the model of ancient Jeruslaem and the second temple, where he felt like a king.

He didn't enjoy the rest of the museum as much, I'm afraid, so B. was kind enough to let him rest in her bag for a while.

After a few hours in the museum, the three of us had enough, and went to our favorite local restaurant for some fine alcohol and food. Later than evening, B. Pinky and myself were immensely pleased with ourselves and the good company we enjoyed, exchanged kisses and hugs and said our farewells to each other and the city.

I asked Pinky if he would rather stay with B. and make another attempt at taking the city in the morning, but he was tired from the long day and missed Barbie, so I was very happy to drive both of us home, while he curled up and fell asleep on the sit next to me. Honestly, I would rather have him home than managing the politics of a city like Jerusalem. That is far too much a task for a such a small body, although if someone has the spirit and valor to resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict, that would undoubtedly be Pinky.

My birthday party

Last night I held my Birthday party, which was tons of fun!

There were far too many people to seat..

Everybody brought yummy foods and assorted beverages. My favorite were the vodka jello shots, I was finally able to enjoy, not having to drive home after the party.

My friend Tamar even made a cake featuring my new tattoo!

I also received many wonderful gifts - books, and jewelry, and accessories and a spa visit!

Finally, my friends took this very short film as a contribution to Zia Kitaro's exciting new project Bits of My Life in Israel. The idea behind this project is to share moments of life in Israel, unedited but refined to 30-90 second films that will show the world who lives here and illustrate that there is more to Israel than politics and conflicts. Though what you see in this specific film is a conflict between myself and a snail who lives on my roof garden.

I plan to film several bits of my life during the next weeks, and will be sharing them with you here.

So that was my birthday party. I am blessed to have so many wonderful friends I love to have come celebrate with me. This is one year celebrating was mandatory!

I am keeping my vow

A long time ago, I vowed to get a tattoo after my beloved Mamisha passes. This Monday, three days after her passing and during the Shiva days of mourning, I went and had it done.

The past few weeks filled me with rage, due to different unbelievable problems and confrontations we had trying to get help from the relevant authorities. I was so angry, I told Mamisha I will get a huge dragon tattooed on my upper arm, just so people know to watch out of me. But mom thought it is a horrible idea, and she was right.

I wanted to mark myself as a survivor, surviving these past 3 years of taking care of mom on my own almost to the verge of my own demise, and I wanted it to show that I am still myself, that the pain has not scorched or changed me and that I will go on smiling for both Mamisha and myself for many more years. With that in mind, I had only one option.

One leg

Eight colors

A world of pain

I had it done by the brilliant Amir Bloom at Skin Line studio. Now, it hurt like hell the first few days, I actually had to use Mamisha's cane to get around the house on the first two days, but it is better now. I will show you a photo when it heals completely, in a couple of weeks. The photos you see here were taken with my cell phone camera during work, so they are not very good.

Oh oh oh! I just found out there's also a Little Miss All Goes Well, and she looks exactly like Mamisha! How perfect is that??

My mother is dead.

My beloved mother, Varda Reouveni Abramovitch, or Mamisha as many of you learned to know her, passed away this am after a three years long battle with lung cancer.

Please keep her in your hearts and prayers to help guide her soul to its proper resting place.

Mamisha undergoing chemo with Dr. Wormie, August 2008

Angel on duty

A Flutterangel hovering above Mamisha's hospice bed.

My poor baby..

A few nights ago we were getting ready to go to bed. The night shift was sharing informations and records (due to my mom's condition, she is always accompanied by a Foamie, puppet or doll when she is going to bed. The night shift is in charge of helping her during the night and cheering her up when she wakes up feeling miserable, which is often the case). Pinky was leaving shift and Erez was about to begin his. When I was putting Pinky in his bad he suddenly screamed and fainted, and I realized to my horror, that his hand ripped open and was hanging by a thread (foam).

I had to act swiftly, so I immediately rushed him to my studio, anesthetized him and performed emergency hand fusion surgery. It was a long one, and the poor pink one was sent heavily drugged to his bed where he remains still, several days later.

During the first 24 hours he didn't want anyone or anything around him.

But he is well taken care of and surrounded by love 24/7

Barbie is off work till he gets better, and doesn't leave his side

And the scars are starting to heal, thank God

Some thoughts about my late father and the fates

There comes a time, in every woman's life, when she must confront the true nature of her father and accept him for the man he really is. Today was that day for me, when I suddenly realize two truths about my father, Papisho, had he still been around today.

1. If Papisho were still alive today, he would probably have an amazingly successful Twitter account with thousands of readers. He would probably also write a blog, under a pseudo name, which he would use to tell the world the unbelievably ridiculous stories that go on behind the scenes of Israeli politics.
   
   
2. Had Papisho been alive today, he would probably own one pair of Crocs in every color known to men.
   

The first is a certain loss, but the second makes me think that indeed, all things must end at their due time and that, sadly, includes the life of our loved ones. I am not sure if this is much consolation for me these days, but I have to work with what the good lord provides.

Happy Birthday Mamisha!

Today is Mamisha's birthday! For those of you who don't know, Mamisha is my brother's and mine nickname for our well beloved mom. I hope she will have a wonderful day, full of love and joy and that she will enjoy the little party planned for the weekend.

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear Mamisha

Happy Birthday to you !!!

An old photo of Mamisha and Nick

On top of this, I finally managed to complete my first puppetry project in about 3 months. I won't tell you what it is yet, but I can tell you that 4 amazingly cute Flutterbutts will be added to the shop very soon . So expect a shop update on Friday!

Life update

I wanted to thank all of you for the comfort and support you sent me after my previous life update.

The good news we received this Monday is that the appeal my mom's oncologist filed was accepted and Mamisha will be getting Tarceva for two more months, and then they will take another PET/CT and decide what's next. In the meanwhile she is not feeling very well and is weak, but the news cheered her up and soon it will be her birthday (next week actually) so we are hoping for a few quiet days. Or as quiet as they can be.

As for me, I have been practicing Tonglen or compassion awakening meditation for the past couple of weeks. I read about it in Sogyal Rinpoche's Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (an absolute must read for every person in face of their own or a beloved's death) and although I doubt I am practicing it correctly or that it actually helps anyone other than myself, I find it comforting and relaxing and I even started finding the strength in myself to include other people in it, other than Mamisha and myself. I found it so hard, throughout my life, to embody compassion towards myself and others, and still am, but strangely I am able to take on my mother's suffering onto myself without fear, using it as an instrument to (in the words of Wiki) reduce my selfish attachment.

Please keep Mamisha and our family in your prayers. We have tough times ahead of us, but for now, we feel relieved.

Endangered species

I consider myself a pretty good illustrator. I am not learned enough to consider myself a real painter, but I do have good watercolor, pencil, ink and acrylic skills. I have even been known to sell the occasional portrait here and there. So when my niece asked me to draw her a tiger this afternoon, I had no reason to expect ending up with this on my hands.

The sweet girl refused to paint it, and said it is a strange tiger and possibly a pig. My mother had far worse things to comment on it, so I had to go find a photo of a tiger and draw a new one. We ended up with this, which she thought was very real looking.

Luckily, little Pooh ended up spilling water on the paper and we could all gladly move on to eating strawberries and drinking lemonade, free of the fear of being chased by strange and real looking tigers (or possibly, pigs).