Jenny Craig Pants

"I lost 80 lbs with Jenny Craig and went from a size 16 to a size 8 in 7 months." We've all heard the commercials promising amazing weight loss results if you only join their club or eat their magic food/pill for a certain amount of time. I have good news for you! For only 30 shekels (about $8), and no time commitment at all, you can get that same great weight loss feel by simply buying these pants. Discovered in Israel and bought in Eilat, you can find all the extra room in these pants that you want. And if you're not into the Jenny Craig look, you can always go for the farmer with his baggy overalls look.

Actually, they are about the most comfortable pants that I've every worn, for as you can see, they have plenty of room! They are correctly worn by pulling the extra material out to your side before folding it back across your middle. Using the ties on the back, you tie the folded material around you waist and fold the extra 6 in. down over you "belt". The result is a roomy, happy-hippy look that allows you total comfort of movement. But beware, some people won't let you out of the house in their company if you are wearing them. :)

Eilat Adventures

"Never travel with a Wilton," Hayley warned me. "A disaster is sure to happen." What did I do? I invited her to come with Sasha, Valeri, and I on our weekend trip to Eilat. To tell you the truth, I forgot. And as we drove down and met up with her there, there was not even a hint of disaster. Other than arriving later than we had hoped, we all rendezvous at the Christian hostel and the place of the Eilat congregation, the Shelter. Ain ba'yot (no problems). The next morning, we woke up early, walked to a nearby grocery store for a few supplies and ate breakfast on an picnic table in the warm, morning sun. After changing into our swim suits and lathering on the sunscreen, we jumped in the car and headed to the sea. The snorkeling was breathtaking! The water was clear, the fish and coral were colorful, and the sun/water combination was perfect to keep us from getting too hot. We all came out with those wild water hairdos.

After getting cleaned up and changed, we left for downtown Eilat in search of Solomon's Temple, an indoor amusement park. Inside were more activities than rides. For instance, more than just illusions filled the Illusion Cave, there were also crazy mirrors, physical challenges, slanted magnetic rooms, etc. From one activity to another we raced, completely unaware of the time. We barely squeezed into the one ride, a boat tour of Solomon's reign with a finale ride on the roof overlooking Eilat ending in a Splash Mountain-like drop.

The next day we repeated the pattern, going early to the Sea before coming back to shower, change, and check out of the hostel. The next hours were spent at Dolphin's Reef, a protected area for about 6 wild dolphins. They are fed a partial diet of fish, but then must hunt the rest on their own so that they could survive in the wild if needed. They play with the volunteers there and swim with the snorkelers and scuba divers who invade their waters. After buying a sweet snack, we piled in Valeri's car and started the long ride home through the desert.

See, still no problems. We had enjoyed a wonderful couple of days and the Wilton danger was the farthest thing from my mind. Then we started home. Desert all around. Our car broke down. Overheated would be a more accurate term. With an hour of barren nothingness behind us and another hour in front, we were stuck. After doing all the normal things, checking for leaks, refilling the coolant, waiting for it to cool down, we tried again. Five minutes later we were pulled over again. Ma la'asot? (What to do?) Since we had exhausted our bank of car knowledge, we pulled out the cell phones and called anyone we knew who had mechanical knowledge. After pouring some more water in this opening and that opening, checking to make sure that the fan worked and that there wasn't any water in the oil, flagging down a passing car to beg for a screwdriver to remove a hose, and reaching in to remove the thermostat valve, we stepped back and waited. Holding our breath, we tried again. Success! Our speed was slower, and we had to pray the car up one steep climb and then another as the thermometer rose with the altitude, but we were able to make it all the way home without turning the car into a Fred Flinstone motored car. But our two hour delay in the desert had taught us a lot. We learned what to check for and where to look in our engines if our cars ever overheat. We also learned that broken plastic reflectors make horrible baseball bats. The reflector piece at the top produces so much drag that, while your eye is on the "ball" (a rock) and your hands are swinging in perfect timing to hit the ball, the bend in the "bat" leaves you hitting nothing but air. That makes it difficult, though not impossible, to connect with the ball. I also learned not to laugh if I'm in line to go second: it's much harder than it looks. We learned to trust God with our disasters. "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is....thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." Ps 63:1,7 Finally, we learned that no matter what caused the "disaster", taking a Wilton along with you is definitely worth it!

Water fun is synonymous with summer fun. After a day of doing school, projects, or running around, all the kids want to go play at the pool. Jumping, splashing, dunking, the air is punctuated by shouts, laughter, aggravated screams, and occasionally Nathan coughing because he accidentally gulped down a mouthful of water. It's cute to watch the kids turn brown, all except their little raccoon eyes from the goggles.

Hilarious Encounters With the Kitchen Sink

Besides than the 40 falls in 30 seconds from America's Funniest Home Videos that have you rolling on the floor in laughter gasping for breath, another recent event that has made us laugh just as hard is a piece of broken plumbing in the kitchen. Let me introduce to you the culprit:

our kitchen faucet.

The water flowing through our pipes has many minerals that, over time, has calcified and has cemented our swivel faucet into one stationary position. You sure hope that it was facing the direction you wanted before it was rendered unmovable. However, the zeal of young dishwashers to loosen the faucet and to swivel it around the sink as they wash dinner dishes has snapped the head off the extendible hose and has led to two new faucet heads. Ok, so now they know that applying a lot of pressure to one end of a fixed object will snap any weak plastic join in between. Now we have another problem. The threads that screw the faucet head into the extendible hose refuse to stay tight and the head keeps falling off. The first time this was realized, Caleb was washing his hands in the sink with the water spraying full blast as usual. Under the pressure, the threads, which had been slowly loosening over the past hour, let go and the faucet head fell off and the full pressure of of the water hit Caleb right in the forehead. Direct shot! Man down! Caleb screamed and fell back. As Maggie rushed into the kitchen to see what was wrong, she was stunned to see a beautiful, rainbow-arc stream of water shooting from the faucet across the table and nearly reaching the refrigerator at the end of the 15/20 ft room and a wet faced Caleb watching the water display in shocked wonder.

Thankfully, she recovered from her shock faster than Caleb had and lunged forward to turn off the water. Now comes the best part. It was Friday, late afternoon. The embassy office that maintains and fixes any embassy house problems had closed for the weekend. That cyclops of a faucet stared us down all weekend, stealthily waiting for its next unsuspecting, habit-bound victim. And they were many. I can't tell you which one was the funniest: the you did it, you get it - frontal attack; the I'm talking to someone else right now and not paying attention and so get beaned in the back of the head - sneak attack from behind; the I'm standing at the sink minding my own business and someone reaches around me to wash their hands and I get sprayed - betrayed by a traitor; or the I'm cleaning up the casualties of the first attack and I stand up from wiping up the floor just as someone else turns on the water and sprays me in the shoulder - attacked and destroyed. There were many casualties that weekend, and while there was also a lot of laughter, we were so happy to have the new faucet installed as soon as the weekend was over.

Is There Really a Difference?

Whichever psychologist said that there is no difference between boys and girls has never watched little boys and little girls play. Beka had received a snowman ice shaver for Christmas, and Nathan pulled it out wanting to crunch some ice cubes and make a snow cone. I was busy grinding the ice and every few cranks of the handle I would move the snowman and leave Nathan a small pile of ice. Pile by pile, he scooped them into his cup. As he worked to fill his second cup, his fingers got cold from touching the ice. He began looking for something other than his fingers to scoop the ice. Now if Sara had been looking for a scooper, she would have headed straight to the utensil drawer or to her mini cooking set to find what she needed. Where did Nathan go? Down to his trucks and cars to find his snow plow. Once he found it, he brought it up to the kitchen and used it to push the ice into his cup. The snow plow, toy that it was, plowed all the ice into his cup. Would've never thought of that!