Yonah has been sick the past two days, which means Mommy had to play hooky from school. Nothing serious, thank Gd, just a runny nose and slight fever (I’m putting my money on some new teeth brewing). Being stuck in the house is not something I do well, and was probably a big contributor to my over-thinkiness/temporary downturn in mood. Gd willing, Yonah will be in better shape tomorrow and we’ll be able to get back to business as usual.Playgroup was a smashing success. The three other mommies who were supposed to make an appearance cancelled at the last minute, so it turned out to be Yonah, me, our hostess Rachel and her son, Shmuel Yaakov. After some initial hesitancy on Shmuel Yaakov’s part (”Who is this kid, and why does he have his paws all over my toys?”), the two boys became fast friends. I’m hoping that Shmuel Yaakov, who stands and walks beautifully, will inspire Yonah to get walking, too. Then again, I should probably treasure his limited mobility while I have it. I felt an instant kinship with Rachel, who is very warm and down-to-earth, which made me very happy. Now I have not one, but two friends here in Ramat Eshkol. Not bad for being here only two weeks.One of the things I’ve noticed is that Israel is to stray cats as America is to squirrels; cats are typically not domesticated here and prowl around as if they own the place. This came to my attention during my last visit five years ago, but yesterday I had a particularly cat-ful day. I must have seen 20 of them. My favorite was the gray one who popped his head up from behind a stone wall, looked at me, and then slowly lowered his head back down, keeping his eyes on me like one of those animatronic robots on a Disney World ride. I feel like he camps out there, waiting to entertain every person who passes by.I am secretly sad (though, I guess not so secretly anymore) that my sister has opted to spend 3 weeks traveling around Europe instead of coming to stay here, as was her original plan. I can’t say I hold it against her–she’s hitting almost every major city on the continent–but I was looking forward to seeing her. While I am very lucky to have as much family around as I do (Tovi will be staying with us for Rosh Hashana), I still miss mine. Speaking of Rosh Hashana…no, forget it. I don’t even want to think about it. It starts in three days, kicking off a series of high holidays that come as quickly as machine gun fire. This means that, basically, I will be cooking for the next two weeks. I’m planning an apple-themed dinner for the first night of Rosh Hashana; everything after that I’m pretending doesn’t exist.