Why You Should Follow the Milk Rule

A semi-regular occurrence in our house:

I buy milk once a week, when I get two bottles. Usually we have one half-finished bottle still in the refrigerator when I come home with two new ones.
Logic would dictate that one would not open a new bottle until the one currently in use is finished. Yes, no? I think so.

But every so often (emphasis on the often) THIS happens:

Go on, study the picture. Click on it if need be. Pay attention to the numbers.

And that is why you don't open a new bottle of milk (C) while you have one that is already in use (A). And if you are a milk snob and can't handle drinking milk that has been open for more than 48 hours, and you must open a new one...
PLEASE AVOID CREATING THE DRAMA DEPICTED ABOVE BY CHOOSING TO OPEN A BOTTLE THAT EXPIRES THE SOONEST (B).

Thank you.

Why am I Posting Pictures of My Phone?

Once upon a time, there was a phone. It lived in our house and served us loyally. Besides for making phone calls, it stored our incoming phone numbers with dedication. And we were all happy.

But one day... (which happened to be today) ...things changed. {cue foreboding music}

This little sweetie,

this innocent toddler who sits innocently in her innocent little rainbow jacket (with a unicorn on the back. Is that not the epitome of innocence?) loves to play with the phone.

And with one swift stroke of her slender fingers (I wish I could say "pudgy fingers") she innocently erased

every....................................................................................................
single..............................................................................
phone .......................................................
number............................
from
.....................our
..........................................caller
............................................................ID
..................................................................................history.

Oh yes, she did. See?

And although I do have most of the phone numbers written down elsewhere, there were several that were only stored in the phone. So if I used to call you sometimes and suddenly stopped, don't take it personally. You can call me yourself and revive my poor phone's number file.

(I seem to have luck, eh? First the cell phone, and now this.)
(Oh, and the first phone call I got on my new blank slate of a phone was... a telemarketer! Gah!)

Crazy Cat. And I Mean that Lovingly.

Mel is one active cat. He does not fit the stereotype of "lazy cat." He sometimes gets into fits of activity and literally gallops across the house, from the back windows to the front ones, and back again. He jumps over any obstacles in the way. Adel being one such obstacle. He dashes the distance (of about fifty feet) in under two seconds. I'm not exaggerating.

He also like to jump up onto the china closet.

There he goes!


...almost made it...


Hi, all!


Majestic king of furniture.


These stars are a thorn in his side. The boys and I made them for Purim, to hang from the hood of the stroller. Three stars, to symbolize the end of Shabbos, to complement our havdala theme.


Before Purim, I hung them on our chandelier for the fun of it. Mel went mad! He tried to reach them from the top of the china closet, but they were too far.


Time for Plan B.

(Sorry for the awfully blurry and grainy photo. I wasn't prepared with the right camera settings at the moment Mel jumped.
But you can still see him flying off the china closet head first. And the shadow is great!)

Maybe I can get it from this angle!
Standing on the table?

No.

Standing on a chair?

Still no.

Annnd, it's Hillel to the rescue. Finally someone had pity on the poor animal.
Mel bats at the stars till his furry little heart's content.


Well, this crazy active cat of ours...
Wanna hear how he earned the title of "crazy"?

Yesterday morning we woke up, but there was no cat running into our room to try and catch the last minutes before the hamster retreats to his den for the day. There were kids running in, but no cat. My initial thought was, "Pheeew. Finally that creature has learned to leave the hamster alone."

We went on with our day. I thought it was weird that Mel wasn't meowing for his breakfast, so I just opened a can for him and put it in its spot.

That's when I began to worry. We searched all around the house. Maybe he was sick? Hillel went out to look in front of the house. No Mel. Having nothing else to do, I decided to wait, and began doing laundry. While loading the machine, I was gazing out the kitchen window. There was that hugely pregnant orange cat that lives on our block and a black and white cat next to her. The clack and white cat looked too fat to be an alley cat.

I dashed out of the house SO fast. As I approached the cats in the backyard, the pregnant orange cat whispered to Mel, "There's someone coming!" And they both started running away. The Orange cat ran through the fence, and Mel hesitated. I knelt down and "kss-kss-kss"ed at him. He turned to look at me.

I was afraid he'd choose freedom over me and run. But as soon as he saw me, he ran right into my arms!

No matter how many times we questioned Mel on his escape methods, he kept his lips sealed.
We only open our windows from the top- too high for him to jump. He'd be able to jump that high, but having nowhere to balance, he'd fall right down 2.5 stories.

So my theory... Sometimes Hillel leaves the computer room window open a few inches on the bottom. I've told him not to, but he claimed that he was careful... that he closed it before going to bed...
Well, I'm guessing he forgot to close it this time.
Very conveniently, there is an awning right under that window.

My theory:

Now you see why "crazy cat"?? He's too confident in his jumping skills, and that causes him to do crazy things.

But honestly,

Mel doesn't always quite clear the jump!