Monday Nights are for Basketball

I am getting ready to branch out and start something new.  Next Monday will be the first day of an Outreach I’m putting together for all the refugee kids in the South Tel Aviv area…. Monday Night Basketball.

There is a huge park in our area where ALL the refugees hang out, and it also has basketball courts. I have a couple of friends helping me out, and I’m pretty excited to see how it all unfolds.  At the same time, I’m a little nervous too.

I have no idea how the turnout will be or how the kids will respond.  I’m hoping that we will have lots of kids show up, but there’s just no telling if that will happen.

So here’s my request: Could you all just say a little prayer for this new adventure?

* An awesome turnout.

* Safety.

* Communication. I’m the only one who speaks Hebrew out of the group, so it might be a bit challenging for me at times.

* Open Doors. I’m really hoping that this outreach will open doors for future endeavors.

* Fun. Overall, I just want to bring some fun and enjoyment into these little lives.

(One Day After) Thanksgiving Day Bliss

What began as a Freak-Out Thanksgiving, ended up a Fantastic one!  While there were a couple moments of doubt, skepticism and “There’s a bubble!” the moments of eating delicious turkey, stuffing (from scratch) mashed taters, sweet potatoes, cranberries (we actually had some, and fresh ones at that), and both pumpkin pie and apple crisp for desert erased all else.

I honestly think that getting the turkey fresh from the market is the key, cuz it was the best turkey I’ve ever had!!! (and I’m not just saying that because I cooked it).

Turns out that Becca makes the most amazing, incredible, mouth savoring Apple Crisp IN THE WORLD! We taught our friends from Finland/Holland/Israel all about Thanksgiving Day Traditions (including American Football, Chia Pets, and Aluminum Trees w/rotating light discs….don’t ask!) We played a bit of Texas Hold-Um using 10 Cent Shekels, and all in all, it was a wonderful day!  You wanted to see some pics, so here you go….

The infamous “tweezing” of the quills and feathers left on the turkey (I finally got smart and starting using my tweezer instead of killing my fingers):

Our guy Before and After:

(To see the entire Thanksgiving collection, click here)

Hope Everyone had as wonderful a day as I did!!! Now….on to Christmas/Chanukah!

Friday Fun

I love Fridays! I’m sure most people do, they’re the bringing in of the weekend. BUT, Fridays for me ARE the weekends (and Sats). I digress.

You might have seen the piano stairs floating around the internet (if not, you must see it), but posted on The Fun Theory site is another awesome experiment they did on making throwing “rubbish” away fun.

I love the ideas these guys come up with!  We need a little more fun in our lives!

I actually won something!

I am pretty excited about the fact that I won 5th place in the NCAA March Madness Tournament put on by Catalyst this year.  There were over 1,000 people who participated, so 5th place isn’t too shabby.  I even won some prizes.

The cool thing is that I was the only girl in the top 10!  AND, not to mention I had not seen a single game all season.  I just filled out my brackets and away I went.  

I actually fill out brackets every year on ESPN.com, and this year as well, but I didn’t do AS well over there (just ok).  I guess thats where all the extreme basketball fans go.  But I must say, after waking up in the wee-hours of the morning, to watch some of the tourney games (4:00am for the final) I think I deserve to win at least something; so I am going to bask in this glory as long as I can!!!!!

What can I say?!?

Q: What do you get when you put a middle school boy in charge of leaf-blowing the front yard?

 

A: More hair drying than leaf blowing!  My nephew has the day off of school today so we are having one last day of bonding together…..adolescent style!