A Productive Week, so far!

Shabbos was wonderful and busy. I actually cooked for Friday night and we ate at home, which was amazing. For lunch, we ate at the Abrahams, a family from South Africa, and we really seemed to click, which was nice. Shalosh seudos was at home again, which we haven't ever had as a family, as far as I can remember, because R usually eats it in shul. We were invited to a bar mitzvah in town, which was really thoughtful, and we knew many of their guests. Pia and Gabriella Katz were here from Detroit, since Pia is a cousin of the bar mitzvah boy, and was in the country anyway. Hadassah and Gilad Field were here with their kids, too, since they knew the family for a while. It was really nice to see them - Hadassah and I were friends in college - and spend time with them.
Sunday morning began with a bris (circumcision ceremony) of R's cousin right here in Yad Binyamin! Is was great to see the whole family! After the meal, while R went to the park with the cousins, I brought Leah to a backyard camp that I had signed her up for. She cried and held onto me tight, but was smiling when I came to pick her up. The camp is conducted in Hebrew, but Leah knows many of the girls from the neighborhood, and they speak English, many having made aliyah only one year ago. After camp and the park, it was back to unpacking. Our progress is slow, but steady.
Monday morning began as extremely productive. R went to the bank in Kiryat Malachi (a 10 minute drive) to get the stamp we needed to finish our enrollment in our Kupat Cholim. They also gave him our debit/credit cards and our checkbooks. Yay! Now we can start writing checks from an empty account! (We haven't quite gotten around to transferring money yet.) When R came back, he was really happy that it had been so easy - 20 minutes in and out! We then went to Ashdod for our appointment at the Ministry of Absorption (remember that post?). We made it on time, and got out relatively quickly, and were able to spend some time in the Crazy Slide Park before coming back to get Leah. After more afternoon unpacking, the Spolters from Beit Shemesh came. It was great spending time with them, too. The kids all went with Simcha to bring back pizza. I wonder how long it will take for that novelty to wear off.
It is now Tuesday at 2:49 pm. R went to Orot today to meet people and see where his office is. While he was away, I spent the morning cleaning out the washing machine. We opted to buy used, and R went to get it from Ramat Beit Shemesh last Friday. Evidently, the woman who previously owned it did not read the part in the manual about maintenance and cleaning out the soap dispenser. Not fun. In the middle of that, I was back and forth on the phone ordering a fridge and an oven. We went with the Amcor 550 Liter fridge (We get a special discount if we buy Israeli-made, and that was the largest size of the only Israeli brand) and an Electrolux self-cleaning oven. When that was done, Bezalel, Petachya and I walked to the Moatza (offices of the regional council) to give them our bank account for property tax (they take the money directly out of our still-empty account). Then we gave Petachya's ID number to the nursery school department so he can be completely registered, and then we walked over to the school. I had several things to take care of there. First, we went to the office to give our bank account number again, and pay for the books that the school orders for everyone. The secretary told us we were in the wrong building, but we could give her the ID numbers that I didn't have when I registered the kids. I had heard from someone that we could request people to be in the same class with our kids, so I did that with her as well. I had also heard that since there are about 5 kids in the school with hearing aids, there is an accoustically designed classroom and a special hearing teacher who works with those kids. So, I asked about meeting with her, but, evidently I have to go through a whole process to see if Bezalel is officially approved for hearing services. I just left my name to make an appointment with the principal, and went to the other building. The woman was very happy to take my check and bank account number, and we were in business. One small issue - when I got back from all my errands, Simcha had taken a message from the appliance place, which is closed until 8pm. I really need to get a cell phone.
This afternoon, we are going to Yair and Pam. One small problem - our car only seats 5. So, Yair came to get Leah to play with his girls, and she's going to sleep over tonight. I'll go get her tomorrow.
So, sounds like a pretty productive week so far, doesn't it?