Election day

I know you were all dying to know the end of the story with the babysitter, so here goes: It turns out she was busy, so I tried the only other number I had for a babysitter, and thankfully she was available, and it all worked out great. Yaakov and I went out for dinner and had a great time. We were so relaxed knowing that the next day we would both be off and could have a lazy morning. The next day was election day. We got a late start and then headed to the voting booths. I had been warned that the voting system in Israel is a bit archaic- and now I can officially agree with that. We went behind a booth, where there was a table with about 20 or so piles of small pieces of paper, each with a particular party's name on it. Every voter is handed an envelope, and you select the slip of paper that represents the party of your choice. You place the slip of paper in your envelope and then you place your envelope into a large blue box. All the votes are counted manually! It was fun to be a part of it, though it would have been nice to feel a little bit more passionately about who I voted for. This year in Israel it felt a lot like picking the lesser of two evils. Anyway, after that we headed off to Jerusalem to the Old City to walk around a bit and visit the kotel. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. I hadn't made a trip like this to the kotel in 2 and a half years, so it was quite special. We then headed off to Katamon to visit my grandfather, or as Ayelet refers to him as "big Saba"(if you saw him, you'd know why). On our way home we encountered a huge thunderstorm, and hail I might add, so when we got home we all snuggled up on the couch to watch Toy Story. It was our first time enjoying a movie together as a family, and it was really fun. All in all, I must say it was the perfect day. We had a little bit of adventure, a little bit of relaxation, and a lot of nostalgia for those Sundays that we miss SO MUCH! Looking forward to the next one... in four years!