Gemini Girl

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I have always believed in signs, even as a little girl.

When I was 14 years old, the summer before high school, I was at the airport with my mother about to board a plane to Israel for the summer. I eyed a cute teenage boy and he smiled at me. I blushed.

A woman walked up to my mother and asked if she could keep an eye on her 14 year old son who was flying to Israel alone.

My mom said she would.

Then the woman proceeded to point at the cute boy.

I spent the entire flight staring at the boy (10 hour flight).

When the flight landed, we departed, never to see this nameless boy again…

or so I thought.

Fast forward two weeks, at my mother’s cousin’s wedding.

There I was, a bored out of her mind teen . Suddenly, I look over at the table next to me- and there he was- the Cute Boy!

What were the chances? I pointed him out to my mother and we walked over to say hello. The boy’s mother was there with him and we all laughed at what a small world it was (he was from the groom’s side, we from the bride’s).

And that was that…

or was it?

Fast forward three months later.

I was at a teen party with a girlfriend in New York. If there was a DJ and some root beer, you could count on all the local teens to be there.

Suddenly, from within the crowd- I saw him.

No, I thought to myself…. what are the chances?

But sure enough- it was him.

I told my friend about the story and pointed him out to her.

“Oh, that’s Mikey” she said. “I know him”.

I told her not to approach him, I was too nervous.

She told me to “suck it” and walked up to him. At that point I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I heard her say something to him, then she pointed at me. He then looked over at me and smiled.

I figured I needed to walk up to him at that point, and I did. We both laughed that we kept running into each other.

And so my first hardcore teenage crush began. It was to last 4 years.

I did some detective work and found out that he went to school with a bunch of my friends. He also happen to have the same initials as me. To add more fuel to my teenage fire, as I was looking at pre-school pictures, I noticed someone…. it was him! He was in my pre school class.

I spoke my friends ears off about this boy.

I would often run into him and freeze up. He was my ultimate crush, and yet I couldn’t speak to him.

He was a DJ, or whatever that meant for a 15 year old boy. He had a turn table, records, and was actually paid to spin.

And so the great plan of  1996 began, amply called  ”Get a friend to throw a party so that we can get Mikey to DJ”

The wheels were in motion. This was a plan of great importance.

The players in this plan, in no particular order were:

Me

Elaine

Heidi

Moran

I came up with the idea, but where would we throw such a party? My best friend Heidi at the time had a friend Elaine, who went to a different high school than us. Elaine was a goody-good, and her parents had a conference for a weekend – and the house to herself.

Elaine agreed.

Moran was a friend who knew Mikey, and got his number for me.

And so the house party was planned.

He was going to come and DJ. *SIGH*, would he make a first move?

We spoke for about an hour before the party took place, and there was definitely a connection.

The party was set for Saturday night, and let’s just say it got a little out of hand.

The police were called, and broke it up. Elaine was promptly grounded, AND expelled from her very religious high school (she then transferred to our school and our class and we were all very happy about that).

I would see Mikey from time to time that year, but nothing ever really became of it.

When I was on hospital bed rest last year, a few close friends came to visit me on night.

After they left, I recieved a call from one of my friends who had just left. Apparently, “Mrs. Mikey” had just given birth, in the room next to me, and Mikey was pacing the hallway outside!

I mean, come on!

I always wondered if he was someone I was truly meant to be with.

But I guess we’ll never know- plus, I hear he’s STILL a DJ.

I dont read many books. I am not big into non-fiction or anything that’s a long winding story. I gravitate more to the teaching books, or self help. I also love books on the paranormal/ mysticism.

I am currently reading Sylvia Browne’s “The Book of Dreams” and I am loving it. My mother purchased the book last week and read it in one night. Since my maternal grandmother passed away (almost 2 years ago), my mother hasn’t dreamt of her, and this has really affected her.

Me on  the other hand, I dream of her on a somewhat weekly basis. She is always there, in the background. She never actually speaks to me, but she lets me know she is there, and I love her for that. She even brought my paternal grandmother with her on one of these “visits” and introduced me to her (since she passed a year before I was born and I never met her).

I am a big believer in the paranormal, and there being things in this world that science cannot prove.

I come from a LONG line of  people with a strong sixth sense.

A few days after my mom read the book, she had a dream. She dreamt that she saw her maternal grandfather laying on a bed. He looked at her and asked her what she wanted. My mom answered that she wanted to see her mother, to which my great-grandfather replied that my grandmother was not ready. My mom woke up in a cold sweat, and dozed off a little while later. She then dreamt that she was in her parents house and there was a knock on the door. My mother opened the door only to see her neighbor. My mother asked her neighbor what she was doing there, and her neighbor moved aside, and a few feet behind her there stood my grandmother, smiling. My mom finally got to see her mother.

This sent chills up my spine when my mother told me this since I know just how much this meant to her. So of course, I had to go out and buy the book.  It’s a good read if you are not a skeptic, let’s put it that way.

*******************************************************************

A friend of mine came over for lunch on Sunday afternoon. Originally, I was going to have her pick a menu and order anything she wants off of it- but decided instead to cook.

Usually, I love to cook- but not when it’s last minute and I’m under stress. It doesn’t help when you have one toddler who has now perfected her couch climbing skills, and her couch running skills. I am  up in arms about that one by the way- what can I do about babies climbing couches? She’s already fallen off twice, but it does not deter her.

Soleil on the couch

So it was nice to have lunch with this friend who I havent seen since the girls birthday party in November.

Neve: "So, what did you get me?"

Soleil: "Is there a present for me too"?

I made some egg and sauce tomato mixture (called shakshuka in Hebrew):

Shakshuka

Baked some frozen puff pastry:

Burekas Cheese & Potato

….and made a spinach and cheese quiche, which didn’t really solidify so it’s like a spinach and cheese mush- but a good one!

My girls are going to be compared automatically to one another anyway because they are same sex twins, so why should I add fuel to the fire and dress them a like? I don’t knock anyone who does do it with their kids, its just a personal choice.

The question I have been asked lately by my non-Jewish friends is “What’s Purim“?

I promptly respond, “Why, it’s the Jewish Halloween”

Actually, there’s a bit more to it (as in the majority of Jewish holidays).

Short Version:

King Ahashverosh who ruled Mesopotamia was a widower and searched the land for a new queen. He finally found a young woman to make his bride (Queen Esther).

The king’s second in command was an evil man named Haman. Haman was an anti-semitist and asked the king if he could choose a date from a hat and obliterate the Jews.

The king said fine.

What the king didn’t know, was that his new beautiful bride- was in fact- Jewish.

Meanwhile, the queen’s uncle overheard a plot of two henchmen to poison the King. Word got back to the king, and the plot was foiled. He decided he would one day reward the man who saved him (unknown to him that the man who saved his life was his wife’s uncle).

As the date of the “Jew killing spree” approached, so did the queen’s fear to tell her husband that she was Jewish.

She had a banquet and invited the king and haman over to her quarters, where she revealed that she was Jewish and that his second in command was going to kill her.

Haman was then promptly hung from the tallest tree, the queen’s uncle was given a heroes parade, and the Jews were saved.

-FIN-

So why do children dress up?

We wear costumes on Purim because it’s sort of an “Opposite Day”- as in, we were supposed to be killed, but the man who wanted us dead was the one who was killed!

Me as Queen Esther

**Apparently I was Queen Esther, and this was indicated by me wearing  a plastic cape and plastic skirt and my mom drawing  huge red circles on my cheeks with her lipstick. Man, I look bewildered ****

 (Lest we forget the Purim of 1994 when I dressed up as Joey Lawrence- because what better way to express your love for a teen heart throb then to dress up as him. And yes, there is a photo somewhere*)

We also give baskets of food to one another. This started out as giving food to the less fortunate, but has quickly become a “let’s make goodie bags for every person we know”.

This becomes problematic when you are a 5th grader and EVERYONE in your class is planning on giving you a basket- which means you need to buy and make 20 baskets full of candy to distribute. This equates to BIG BUCKS.

You are required to make two baskets and give them out to who you choose. This year, I saved myself the hassle and purchased two already made baskets from a company.

Baskets (Mishloach manot)

Haman-tash cookies (named after Haman)

We dressed the girls up in costumes.

 Snow White Costume on Soleil:

While Neve didnt seem too thrilled with her costume:

She saw the Big Bad Wolf

S & N with our friends children

Purim 2008

Purim 2009