Nail Polish

I bet you thought that I was on a roll and then lost interest in the blog and you would have to wait another 3 years for my next entry.

Fooled you!

My friend came to visit from Canada and I got caught up in the whirlwind tour of Israel.  She arrived on Sunday afternoon, after having had a two day delay in getting here.  We jetted off (well, more like bussed off) to the Dead Sea.  I brought my computer, with the intention of blogging while I was there, but time to myself got away from me. 

We arrived at the Dead Sea on Tuesday afternoon, after having spent Monday morning playing in the park here in Tekoa with the kids and then doing an afternoon trip to the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem.  I introduced her to the art of hitchhiking out to the settlements, which is our preferred method of transportation, for us "settlers".  The bus only comes every two or three hours, so it is faster to hitchhike.  We had a bit of a hard time getting a ride back, since we were travelling with her baby.  People didn't want to take the chance of travelling with a baby and we finally found someone who had a baby seat, willing to take her and her baby.  The driver didn't have room for me, as she was waiting on her brother and his girlfriend, but luckily I found a ride immediately and actually ended up getting to Tekoa first.  We had made a plan to meet at the hitchhikers post in Tekoa and I sat down to wait for her.  All of a sudden I got nervous, trying to think back to the woman who picked her up, what she looked like, what her Hebrew sounded like, did she have an accent, etc.  As I sat waiting for her, I started imagining the worst.  I imagined myself calling my husband, saying "I lost Jenn!"  It was terrible.  But she arrived safe and sound and actually got a ride all the way to my house, whizzing past me at the hitchhikers post.

She got a good taste of public transportation here, though.  The bus ride to the Dead Sea took two hours and we went through all of the tourist spots. 

On Wednesday morning she decided to hike up Massada with her sister in law and sister in law's boyfriend, along with her baby.  I declined this opportunity.  The way I figured it was like this:  I was on holiday.  Hiking up a mountain sounded suspiciously like exercise.  And exercise is work.  And I was on holiday.  If it involved exertion on my part, I wasn't doing it.  So I stayed back. 

Instead I went to the spa. 

Mmmm....

Alone. 

I opted for a facial and much needed pedicure. 

The facial was nice, but the pedicure was heavenly.  It has been 4 years since I have had a professional pedicure.  My feet were in terrible condition.  4 years of running around after small children had taken a toll.  And I have the bad habit of picking my nails, both on my feet and hands.  Somehow, in the last week or so, my nails have started to grow and I have restrained myself from picking them and managed to grow a little white area where there is supposed to be a white area on your nail. 

I feel triumphant.

After almost 12 hours of being on holiday without my children, I was starting to feel like "me" again.  Like a person independent of being a mother, or even a wife, for that matter.  But here is the thing.  A mother can go on vacation, but she is always a mother.  How do I know this?  Because when the Esthetician asked me which color I wanted to paint my nails, I looked at the bottles, sitting in the box so nicely and thought, "Which color would my girls think is the most fun?"  I picked a metallic purple. 

And you know what?  It was the most fun.  Normally I would go for a staid red or light pink, but I decided to be adventurous, for the sake of my children!!!

Even on holiday, I was thinking of them....

Of course, it wasn't until the last morning there, that I started to miss them.  It was nice to be away from them for a couple of days.  To have my breakfast, lunch and dinner made for me, to not have to do laundry or make a bed (not that I make the beds at home, this is a defect of mine that I am working on...).  On the last morning there, however, I was watching my friend play with her son and thought, I miss my girls' hugs.  I can't wait to see them!

They were asleep when I got home, but Friday morning, when Chaya woke up, she saw me and gave me a HUGE smile and said "You came back!".  I am still her favorite. 

It was all worth it!