I didn't really give much thought to how late i may be when the plane left Israel an hour and a half later, Still on a shwarma high. some hours later with several non quality movies watched the air PA announced that some flights might be late, that was all i needed, to be late on new years eve after promising Alla that i had already confirmed with the pilot well in advance and checked the weather and all is well (that is my regular irrelevant promise). they told us that passengers on some flights were already re-routed- other might make it and several more, mine included, to check at the agents on the ground- so now I have to wait till landing to find out if I am stuck in the airport for another year!. I decide to take action, i asked the guy who brings the food (not sure what is they politically correct name these days) to ask the passengers to remain seated while those in a rush can pass, no luck, i ask to move to a more front line sit, no luck. action failed. so i try to ask my fellow passengers to move a head of them. my row was 32, the guy next to me allow me to jump over and ...that it, no one is budging, some say that they are on short connections as well, great, the back of a big plane with short connection, and customs, what are the chances. I finally leave the plane and begin running with an overloaded back pack and a very heavy luggage and a stomach full of shwarma, neither aspect is good for airport running, lucky i am in snickers and short pants (it was warm on the plane). airport running is not easy, and i run passed people , stop for air and run again, stop, run ,stop run . i reach the luggage area before customs and... wait,, the suitcase is not there, few minutes pass and i converse with fellow rushers, they all have short connections- mine is 25 minutes away, before customs and before my suitcase has arrived. bags come out, not mine, not mine, looks like mine, but not mine. then the ramp that brings the suitcase stop, but you see some cases (not mine), I am getting restless, the worker guy calls another guy, few minutes pass and the other guy comes, presses a button and suitcases flow again, too bad not mine... its 8:09 (flight at 8:25) that my suit case arrives and I finally head towards customs, lucky this is not new york, shorter lines, every one in front has short connections, the guy in front of me when we reach the front of the line goes to the booth, and I turn to the booth next to it (without being called), mistake! the light is off on this booth, he makes me wait, come on, come on, i think i look like a smuggler with my nerves at this point, finally the passport check, finger prints, OK let's move it, I noted that i have dairy products on the customs form, this brings a line of questioning from the agent, what kind of cheese, I specify this is store bought cheese, not from a farm or something like that, I say it is soft cheese, not hard cheese, this info pacifies her, not sure why hard cheese or soft cheese matters but finally , i pass the passport counter. next, the guy who collects the customs form, while in line, i hear him asking for passengers to prepare the form, so i put it in my passport for easy reach, and he stops me and explains that he needs the form out of the passport, 7 more seconds gone! I hand him the form and move to another security point, this line is long and doesn't move fast , its already 8:20. as I get closer to the metal detector- the agents go on a break! and close one of the lanes, while everyone on this line is about to miss their flight! blame Canada! i can't miss the flight, 2 minutes later a resource full agent calls the rest to reopen a lane and i quickly line jump to pass through- and now once passed security I run again. i could never sprint for distance, that always made me cough and whiz (similar but not asthma) , it only happens on sprints and when i push heavy things, now i sprint with my heavy suitcases and feel like my lung will collapse, I make it to the gate over 10 minutes late and... the plane is here!! later i found that they delayed some flights , but this one was just regularly delayed. I was barely able to speak and took several minutes to get my breath in order and 2 days for my lungs to feel normal again, but I made the flight, I would probably have made it if i had walked without rushing at all. i quickly moved out of my short pants to longs pants and coat, the snow storm that hit Cleveland few days prior left piles over knee high at my house, lucky we got the service that clears the drive way, but there is no service that clears the path to the bird feeder...
I purchased so much treats for Alla (hence to suitcase overweight) and the pile of candy on the floor was impressive , we even have a photo, and Alla is enjoying them for the last 2 weeks, but supplies are running low.
last week we took the nephews and went tubing. the problem with tubing is the weather. you need icy conditions to have maximum speed, but icy conditions means a freezing face, not fun. if its warmer, your face is not freezing but the ice melts and the tube lanes are slow. the counter lady warned us that lanes might be slow, but we chanced it, took tubes, went up the gang way and tubed down, so slow... you don't even make it down and have to walk part of the way, but we tried to have fun anyway, by we I mean me, Michael (age 8) didn't enjoy it and after 2 runs decided it was enough, its hard to argue with kids,Ariel had more fun but we didn't stay long, we need to try a day of freezing cold weather. but on the way there, we noticed cars stop ahead of us. a deer was running on the road but not to cross it, but on the road itself, Alla stopped the car and watched the deer run at us limping, and hits the car! we were totally stopped, did he not see us? of doesn't like Mazda's? the limping deer limped away and we saw no damage on the car, I didn't get the deer's plates.
a few days later we took the same kids to watch shrek the musical. the plot is much like the movie, with much more songs, its funny in a different way, lord farquad is great and Fiona funny, shrek needs improving, but over all lots of laughs for both of us and the kids. and this is not parenting training session, they simply had birthdays. happy birthday (month overdue).
heat wave someone said, where , when? on the weekend, rumor said the temperatures will reach the 60s, amazing, 60s in Cleveland is only seen when the cavs play. what to do on such a day, go hiking? go biking? , but few days later Alla's boss asks her to switch (he probably heard of the sunny day as well) and a painter has to come to the house which means some one has to paint it, which means, no! i have to stay home on the best day of winter noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
usually doing nothing and watching movies is an activity I like, but not on such a day. the painter comes, he is a smoker. some people , i cant say why, reek of cigarettes , I really can't be near them, but on such a day i decide to open all the windows and air the house and avoid the guys scent ( he is a nice guy and a good painter) just smokes too much. now that the heat wave has melted most of the snow, i can reach my feeder and replenish it and with open windows you can hear so many different birds sounds which is really nice, usually i see the birds but don't hear them. So i sit all day, watch movies , listen to birds and imagine what i would do if i could leave the house. the guy leaves shortly before sunset, day lost.
today how ever was not as warm, 50+ but war enough- the day begins with tennis (indoors- since the outdoor courts are wet and don't have nets!), then while Alla is stuck with the painter on day 2, I go biking. 19 miles with a biking group, the organizer said there are no hills, only one incline, well for me, hill are relative, anything over flat ground is a hill for me- and the road we go has nothing but uphill no matter which direction you go. in the first part, I ride fast but remain in last position way after the rest of the group, some one else rides with me, but i know he is there to keep me company, he can ride faster, on the break I notice the tires are not properly filled, which makes my slow pace , ever slower. now after pumping, its better and i manage to keep up and even pass a guy (ignore the fact that he had a flat and had to pull over). on the way we pass the Everett covered bridge (like Madison county), not sure what is the purpose of this bridge but it looks nice. I see a great blue heron overlooking a pond, a hawk and white geese. with aching legs we reach the ends after over 2 hours of hard pace biking (well hard pace for me). an hour later I play tennis once more, this will probably be the most active day for me this winter and i will feel the results tomorrow!
speaking of tennis, I invented a new pair of tennis shoes. it started in Israel. i walked a long hike with high tops, not made for walking, and the right foot was rubbed below the ankle, so i cant wear that shoe, but i dare not play on without high tops on my left ankle- so had no choice but to use both types, high tops on the left, regular shoe on the right, so far its kind of working, no one yet has asked me about on the tennis courts.
today, Alla is choosing colors for the baby room. OMG , she spends hours on color selection, blue and gray, no stripes, mural, no blue and gray again...hours gone by, I went biking over 3 hours (with the drive) then tennis and she is still on selection, baby better like the colors!! - i think we have a selection now- but i don't want to say till its 100.1% decided and painted.
I joined a fitness group, hosted by someone from work- last month they had a squat challenge , start with 5 a day and increase by 5 a day till you do 100 a day by month end, not a difficult challenge, I was doing it for 3 weeks till it was time to fly to Israel. the problem is where to do it in the airport, its weird activity to do in public. In Toronto airport i went to the family bathroom. I don't plan on squatting in the men's room! but the family restroom is private. for the first and second day I did the challenge in the garden while taking the dog for a lish less walk, then I dropped it for the rest of the month. new month and new challenge, much harder- lots of abs and chest work, even got some wights to do it at home, takes 30 minutes to complete, on top of other activities, it is a commitment, i am so far able to keep, which reminds me, i have not done so today!
cheers from the mat in front of the TV
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