Steven Birnam please send me your email address

If you are the one who sent me the comment below,please send me a way to get in touch with you. I would love to hear about Eyal and how some of my old friends are doing.I've tried over the years to email the kibbutz but no one ever answers me.

Yes,"E" is exactly who you think he is. I hope to hear from you!



BTW: Was the "E" in question Yishai? - who had been evacuated from Europe, sent to Kfar Giladi and finally found himself on Eyal.
I just got back from a trip to Israel I had been a volunteer on Eyal during the Yom Kippur War, and dropped by the kibbutz to visit friends - unfortunately Yishai was in his room - he has been sick, and not up to getting out.
Steven Birnam | 06.28.07 - 4:08 pm | #

If you need an excuse to get out of work.....

Some of my co-workers come up with really odd reasons why they can't come in to work or why they have to leave early. I thought I had heard them all....until today.

One woman,I'll call her Miranda since we don't work with anyone who has that name,complained of a stomach ache first thing this morning. I had pre-menstrual cramps that could kill a person but I popped 6oo mg of ibuprofen and I felt fine. I'd never go home "sick" with period cramps. Damn....the majority of the company is made up of women. If we all called in with that excuse no one would ever be at work!

So,Miranda had this stomach ache and then about an hour later her name was crossed off the schedule and someone said she went home. One of Miranda's family members also works with us and she confessed the real reason that Miranda went home.
She had to poop and she didn't want to do it at work.

Someone asked if she was coming back after she pooped. Her family member told us no. One of my co-workers shook her head and said,"That must be some dump she's taking!" We all fell over in a fit of laughter. In fact,we joked about it all day. Everyone agreed that pooping at work wasn't our first choice but we've all done it and then used the air freshener to make it nice and flowery for the next person. We're all human and we all poop! We can't go home every time we have to poop.

One woman said,"I feel a little flatulence coming on....I think I'd better go home!"
Thank goodness we all have a sense of humor or we could've been really bitter. Maybe I'll use that for tomorrow.I'll call my coordinator and say, "Ya...hi...I'm wicked bitter about yesterday and I can't come to work today!" Nah....I'd never do it. I'm too responsible.

Have you ever left work to go home to poop? What is the worst excuse you ever used to get out of work?

Mom's life lessons

This post is over at DotMoms.

Crunch time

There are only 6 more days until my mother's 70th birthday and there is still so much to do. Kara and I went shopping yesterday to buy what we need to make center pieces for the tables. That is to say that Kara is actually making them. I'm in charge of making chocolates,of course,which I'll make on Friday.

Today I started Mom's scrap book and I love how it's coming out. I have some really cool pictures from the 60's and 70's. I tried to make personal pages so that the people who are closest to her will have a page to sign. My page has a picture of me and Mom from 1964. I was 20 months old. The other picture is from my wedding in 1994. I left a space to write a nice letter to Mom which I'll do on Saturday.
Kara's page is really cute too. Our pages are side by side so we also have 2 pictures of the 3 of us on each page. I'm really excited about this.

Well,that's it for my break. I have to get back to scrapbooking! Time's a tickin'!

Stay tuned for seaglass!

My best friend,Liane,came up from Virginia to visit with her family. Last night,she had a party to show her new line of seaglass jewelry. It was beautiful as I knew it would be. Liane designs all the pieces herself. Her website should be up in about 2 weeks and then I will link it here.

I am so proud of her. I thought the party was amazing. For someone who has been quite shy all of her life,she was phenomenal giving a talk on some of the pieces and giving a history of seaglass. I tried so hard not to cry. I was just so proud of her. I only shed a tear when I talked to her at the end of the party and told her how great she did. We've been best friends for 32 years. She's lucky I didn't sob through the whole speech!

I'll keep you posted when her website goes up!

A great new word

Every now and then Lillianna and I come up with a new word or expression that really works for us. Years ago I was trying to get Rich and Lillianna to hurry up so that we could leave the house. I meant to say,"Shake a leg" but somehow it came out as,"Shake your sheep!" Rich and Lillianna looked at each other then looked at me and burst out laughing. We still use that expression whenever we are in a hurry.

The other day Lillianna was telling me about a girl she has known for years through her best friend. Apparently at a recent party,this girl really gave everyone a hard time. Lillianna sighed and said,"She's not very get-alongable." I just loved that word. It seems to fit quite a few people that we know. Now we use it all the time.

Have you ever made up words that you still use?

Do I miss my old job?

I had to call my old job yesterday and I was asked if I missed that job. I said,"Nope. I don't miss it one single bit but I do miss a lot of the people."

I worked with a great group of people. Over the 4 1/2 years that I worked there it was like we were all married to one another. We shared good times and bad. We were there in sickness and in health. We shared the bad news of when our husbands lost their job and the joy when they found a new one. We shared the ups and downs of motherhood. We laughed and we cried.

So I just wanted to say "I miss you!" to Samantha,Justine,Lisa,Suzie,2 Sues,Frannie,Colleen,Jen and everyone else I am too tired to mention by name. I may only be working one job now but by 7:30pm, I'm exhausted!! My mind is a blank right now.....sorry.

I hope you are all doing well and that it's not too busy for you since I heard someone else left recently. Hang in there!!

The power of prayer

Jill survived her surgery and from what I hear she is doing well. With only a 20% chance of survival,her recovery is truly a miracle. Kara told Lillianna that Jill brought a bottle of holy water with her and before she got the anesthesia,she asked the surgeon and a nurse to put some on their hands. They must have done that before they scrubbed up!

I'm going to ask Kara for her address so that I can send her a card. I've never met Jill but I'm sure glad she is doing well and can live another day to be a mom to her daughters.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for her.

Prayers are desperately needed!

My sister Kara just called to give me some very sad news. Her husband's friend's daughter in law was diagnosed with a tumor around her kidney and one around her heart. She had recently given birth to her second daughter and I guess she wasn't feeling well. That's when the tumors were found. She was told she needed immediate surgery.

Her name is Jill and she is going in for a 10 hour surgery tomorrow at 12pm. Jill was told she only has a 20% chance of surviving the surgery but she is very optimistic and she is sure she will come through with flying colors. Let's make that a reality.

Please say a prayer for this young mother.
Thank you!