All Good Things Must Come to an End

Wednesday May 9 / 24 Iyar
I can't believe it! Our time is Israel is over. So sad, that we have to go back to Virginia and to real life.
Huvi and I took Rikki to gan. I went to Greens to get my last iced coffee. Well, it seems that Huvi loves iced coffee as much as I do. She claimed it and wouldn't give it back. At one point she feel asleep, and even in her sleep, she wouldn't let go of it! LOL!

We walked to Meah Shearim to go to Avigail Bakery, which I think has the most awesome cookies. It was the first time I was able to get there this trip, but I bought a ton of cookies to bring back to America with us.
From there I went to Jerusalem Yarmulka. I needed to order the mantel (cover) for the sefer Torah.  It was so good I went in person, because I was able to express exactly what I wanted.  We were going to look into combining three designs to make what it was I had envisioned. Yet when I walked in there, there was a design I didn't notice before that was so perfect! We did end up combining two designs, but she created something that I feel encapsulated the exact idea I was trying to get across with the mantel. Something elegant yet looking forward with hopes of Moshiach arriving quickly. If you want to see what I picked, you need to come to the Hachnases Sefer Torah next Shushan Purim. I am not giving away at all to anyone what I picked out.
The timing was perfect, because when I finished up there, Zahava and Sheindy were ready to meet me in Ben Yehuda.  The plan was to take Sheindy to the shuk to get the last presents we still needed for those at home.
When I got to the meeting place, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Shauly had joined them. Zahava and Sheindy were hungry, so we went to Sam's Bagels to get lunch. After lunch, we stopped to pick up a sweat shirt for Shoshana (and Sheindy). Finally we were off to the shuk.  Huvi had sorta reached her limit, so Shauly took her home, and the three of us headed off looking for some bangles for Olivia and a purple chamsa for my mother-in-law, among other things.  The bangles was a total bust, as was the purple chamsa.  I did find a pretty gift for her, but it wasn't exactly what I had wanted.

Sheindy was happy to have finally found the famous "chocolate milk in the bag" that her friend had told her about.  She said it was good, but not as great as it was built up to be.

We needed to pick up the personalized sweatshirts, and I still had some last minute packing to finish up.
After spending two weeks in Israel, I was finally going to get my lamb-burger that I had been waiting for and talking about for the last two years.  We all went to Burgers Bar for dinner.  Dinner was nice, if not a little rushed, because I was nervous about getting to the airport on time.  Penina & Yaffi were finally able to join us on a trip! Yay!

5 minutes before we were due to leave, I managed to lock myself in the bathroom ... not good for my nerves!  Thankfully, Zahava got me out and our ride came right on time.
For anyone traveling to or in Israel, I highly recommend Yisroel Braun of Executive Drives.  Shauly had recommended him to me for the airport pick up and I used him in both directions.  Let me tell you, you travel in style. He has water and different kinds of coffees and cookies, etc. You are treated like a queen & princess (at least, we were!).  Sheindy even commented to me after how happy she was with the trip to the airport. (I get nothing for the plug, just passing it along cuz we were so happy.)

This is always the worst part of the trip; going back to America.  I love Israel so much, and I miss the kids & grandkids. The world is just so different there. You feel it everywhere you go.  The kedusha seems to just drip out of the rocks and trees.  Then we come back to the mundane world here, where gashmius rules. *sigh*  Can't wait to go back, may it be today with Moshiach!

Yerushalayim, forever in our hearts!

  אִם-אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם-- תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי.