The Lull Before Shabbat

I love Fridays - it is a release from the pressure of the week and all the things I needed to do and didn't. I should have; I didn't - push that to Sunday. Today is an isolated island connected to a day of such intense happiness and rest.

I did well this week. I started on Thursday - though I often can't. This week, I did the shopping early enough so that last night I was already able to cook the fish, the chicken, the soup, a hearty beans/chicken/meat/potatoes/barley/wheat mixture called cholent, and prepare the dough for the challah to rise overnight.

I have a bit more to cook, more to clean. I have laundry I need to hang in the wonderful Israeli sunshine that dries things even faster than the electric dryer I have upstairs. I don't love doing dishes, but hanging laundry is a pleasure because it is done standing on my balcony, overlooking the hills of Judea.

I woke this morning feeling that all is in control. How long that will last is anyone's guess. For now, I have Shabbat to prepare; cakes to make, a floor to wash.

Lauren isn't feeling well but still has to drag herself to a special Friday work-related meeting. Elie has a test. Amira stepped forward and offered to take little Michal overnight and now she is with me until Elie comes back from his test. They will join us for dinner later this evening.

Shmulik is coming for lunch tomorrow, along with Amira and Haim and their son. Yesterday, I went to the gan (nursery school) with Amira to pick Yosef David up...and as soon as he saw me, he ran past Amira, called out "Savta" and came to me. Rotten thing for a mother; amazing thing for a grandmother. And since the daughter loves her mother, she smiled and took it so gracefully.

Davidi and Aliza are home. So, it is a Shabbat that I am blessed to share with all my children and my two grandchildren. Rarely do you feel that life can't really get better than it is at this moment...

When it happens, I think the most important thing is to cherish the moment, thank God for it, and hope it lasts as long as possible.