Kaplan IT Beard O's

At work, a group of us* are growing beards during November to raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity. This is being done as part of the wider Movember movement. Please click through to donate and help us reach our target. The cause is really worthwhile, some of you will be investing in your future!



* I include myself since I am growing a beard during November and do not think it is relevant that I already had one and will keep it afterwards!

Dina's Laparoscopic Nephrectomy.

On sunday morning, eruv Yom Kippur, straight after kapores, Dina had a laparoscopic nephrectomy. When Dina was born, her left kidney did not develop properly and her consultant decided that it would be best for her in the long term to have it removed whilst she is still young. Due to the relocation and merging of Pendlebury and Booth Hall children's hospitals to become Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, dates for the operation were limited and eruv Yom Kippur was the best date we were given.

In the run up to the operation Ma and I were both very worried and concerned for Dina. So were all of our families and friends. On Shabbos, I was given an aliyah at Mincha and a mi she'berach was said. The Rabbi dedicated his Shabbos Shuvah drosha to the speedy recovery for Dina. At kapores we put a sign out asking everyone to say Tehillim for Dina. Then, during the actual operation, Ma and I said Tehillim and duvened for Dina.

I am reminded of the story of the business man who is on his way to an important meeting in the city centre. Parking is very busy and there are no spaces to be found. He is driving around the block for the 3^rd time he prays and pleads with HaShem to make a miracle and help him find a space. As he is finishing his prayer, he looks up and sees that a car is pulling out of a space. "Don't worry HaShem", he says, "I found one."

Why do I tell you this story? We are all faced with challenges in life and when the going gets tough we turn to HaShem. We pray to him and plead with him. The question is ... what happens after he has answered us?

Baruch HaShem, the operation went to plan, and Dina is at home and making a good recovery. In fact, when you she her, you would not even realise that anything had been done. Thank you firstly to HaShem and secondly to all who duvened and said Tehillim for Dina. Clearly our prayers were answered favourably. I hope we all have a happy and a healthy 5770.

Where is my nearest postbox?

I have recently moved to a new office and needed to post a letter during lunchtime. I have seen postboxes while on the way to the office but I wanted to find the nearest box so that I quickly pop out during the day and catch that days post.

So I turned to Google and found that Matthew Somerville has put together a site that combines Royal Mail's postbox location data, obtained under a freedom of information act request, with an interactive map. Bizarrely, Royal Mail does not actually know exactly where the postboxes are located. Matthew's site therefore relies on crowdsourcing to gain the location of many of the postboxes.

I think this is a useful resource and it only takes a minute to add the location of a box so why not type the post code of areas you know to see if you can help to complete it.

The Mummy Test

I read this yesterday on the wall in a waiting room and it made me smile so I thought I would share it with everyone.

I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that. “Why?” my daughter asked.

“Because it’s been on the ground, you don’t know where it’s been, it’s dirty and probably has germs” I replied. At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, “Mommy, how do you know all this stuff? You are so smart.”

I was thinking quickly. “All moms know this stuff. It’s on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don’t let you be a Mommy.”

We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information.

“OH…I get it!” she beamed, “So if you don’t pass the test you have to be the daddy.”

“Exactly” I replied back with a big smile on my face.

I have not taken the test but I think would probably fail!

Asher Tzvi's Upshernish

AT's Upshernish is on Thursday night. For any who can't make it, there will IY'H be a live stream at http://kayvee.camstreams.com.

Its been a long time since my last post but I've been busy on something that I can hopefully reveal soon.

Nechomo Dina

It is my, delayed, pleasure to announce the birth of our daughter, Nechomo Dina. She was born 6 weeks early on 5/4/07, first day Chol HaMoed Pesach, at 16:42 and weighed 3 lbs. 12 oz. (1.7 kg). That means we now have two Pesach babies. One more and that will make a chazaka!

Despite her early arrival, she is progressing well. As of today, she has returned to birth weight. She has moved from an incubator in intensive care to a cot in high dependency.

AT has so far adapted well to his new role as big brother. On visits to see her he has been well behaved. Admittedly he spent one visit trying to talk to the wrong baby! Also very relevant is the fact that since Dina isn't home yet, she isn't direct competition.

2nd Birthday

AT is now 2. On his eruv Pesach birthday he got cards and a presents from us. Three days later he got another present, his sister!!

His party had already been planned for today so we decided it should go ahead. This year, following the success of last year, was another soft play party. This time at the newly opened Antz in your Pantz. Great fun was had by all, especially the parents on the "astro-slide".

Following the fun, everyone enjoyed some snacks and we sang happy birthday as AT was given his cake, kindly baked by a friend, due to circumstances beyond Ma's control making it hard for her to bake it!

Special thanks go out to Grandma for helping me pack food boxes and party bags last night.

Big Brother

Yesterday AT became a big brother. More details about his little
sister will come soon once she has her name and I have more time.

Uncle Moishy

Today AT went to his first Uncle Moishy concert. Last year should have been his first but unfortunately AT got chicken pox the day of the concert. The most unfortunate part was not that AT missed it, as he had never been to a concert he didn't have any expectations. Ma said that because AT couldn't go, neither could I.

Coming back to this year, AT had a great time. He stood on a table, danced, clapped and said "Moishy" the whole evening. Although it must be said that his favourite thing was his bag of pop corn!! (As seen in the photo to emphasise the point.)

First Steps

At the age of 18 months and 10 days, Asher Tzvi took his first steps. For the last few days AT has been practicing standing up unsupported each time for about 5 seconds.

Today when I got home from work, he greeted me by walking towards me. Ma and I are both very proud of him. Now I understand why he woke up screaming at 6 this morning. He justed wanted to get up and try walking.

We are soon to enter a new phase in parenting. We are leaving the days of "stand up" and entering the "sit down" days!

Calling Non-Geographic Number

Sorry for the gap between posts.

Since I last posted lots has happened. I have started a new job. It has been Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the start of the start of Sukkot. Finally, and the motivation for writing this post, I have got received my first proper bill from my new "cheap" 3 mobile.

It was rather more than I expected when I signed up for the contract. Partly beacuse it is one of these cheque back deals but mainly because it costs a lot to phone 0845, 0870, etc numbers ... but such is life and if you need to call a company what choice to you have.

Enter SAYNOTO0870.COM. I was this evening telling Ma to phone a company from her mobile while she is driving instead of wasting time when she is at home and has better things to do than wait on hold. My mother-in-law said she had heard of a website that lists companies "normal" numbers so that you can aviod calling 0870s. She said she didn't know the address but I could try to google for it. Those who know my mother-in-law know that she has probably never used website and google in the same sentence before!

Anyway, I went to SAYNOTO0870.COM looked for the company in question and found a 029 number. Thank you SAYNOTO0870.COM.

Disclaimer: Non-geographical numbers such as 0870 aren't all bad. I used to work for a company that despite being very small had an 0870 number. It allowed them to have a larger, more proffesional image and make a small amout of money from technical support calls. I also have a completely free, to me, 0871 fax number. Since the caller sending the fax pays for the call I don't have to, which is suits me. Premium rate support numbers a different matter however.

Busy Summer

AT had a great time in Israel this summer. He swam, played in the hotel grounds and even found time to make some phone calls.

When it came time to come home he even packed ... himself. 

Heat Wave 2

The heat wave has not only continued but got hotter. Today AT went in his paddling pool in the garden and had lots of fun splashing.

On a different but related note, I saw this, How to Sleep Comfortably on a Hot Night, and its definitely worth reading in this weather.

 

Heat Wave

We have been having a heat wave over the last few days. Over the last few weeks AT has gone from sleeping in a vest on baby grow, just a baby grow, just a vest and finally the few night just his nappy. Despite the heat he only sleeps properly if he's in his sleeping bag.

As Ma pointed out though, he just like his Tatty. No matter what the weather, I have to sleep under my duvet!

Gimmel Tammuz

I spent Gimmel Tammuz in Crown Heights. I arrived on Thursday afternoon and went straight from JFK to the Ohel and I'm staying till Sunday afternoon. The Ohel was packed with people and when I got there, at 3 in the afternoon, I was able to duven shacharis, with a minyan. After duvening I went to the Ohel itself. We limited to only two minutes but I had time to read my P’’N and duven a bit. It was only my second time at the Ohel and the first time for Gimmel Tammuz. I was impressed by the fact that despite there being so many people, everybody were Menschen and there was no pushing and shoving either in the Ohel or in the tents outside.

After that I got a ride to Crown Heights where I’m going to spend shabbos. I spent Friday just chilling here. I went to some shops and got lunch from Kingston Pizza. I’m always amazed by the scale of Jewish life in America. The number of kosher shops and restaurant in Crown Heights alone compares with Golders Green and Hendon and its just one small community in Brooklyn.

Over Shabbos I will probably duven at 770 and on Sunday I plan to visit the Jewish Children’s Museum. Then I will go back to the Ohel on the way to JFK.

Seeing as this is a post on “Being AT's Tatty”, I should probably mention him! I miss him and Ma lots and I’m really sad that I’m not with him because nursery said that he walked a few steps on Thursday.

How can "bad" things happen to good people?

A few weeks ago, Asher Tzvi was playing upstairs and started crawling to the top of the stairs. I noticed that the stair gate was open so I picked him up and closed the gate. He started crying since he didn't wanted to be held.

A friend who witnessed this who helped me to realise that this is a mashal for what happens in our lives. Look at the incident purely from AT's perspective. He was crawling along, minding his own business. As he got to the stair gate he was picked up and taken away. He had done nothing wrong yet he was being punished. This wasn't fair, so he cried.

What is the reality? I as a parent had a clearer view of a situation. I saw the dangers and harm that the AT was heading towards. My actions had AT's best interest at heart and I protected him.

What is the nimshal of the story? We in our lives are just children and only have limited comprehension of the world around us. We see "bad" thing happening to good people. We don't think it is fair so we "cry" out and show our anger against HaShem. He, however, is our father. He is beyond all limits and can see the whole picture. He knows what lies ahead and always protects the good from harm.

This week a good neshama passed suddenly from this world. We could respond by wanting to distance ourselves from HaShem. Rather we all need to increase our trust in HaShem and know that "[His] ways are ways of pleasantness and all [His] paths are peace".

May we all merit the coming of Moshiach now!

A picture says a thousand words

This is AT's first picture in a newspaper. This picture appeared in our local paper and a similar one also printed in the Jewish Telegraph. He is the 3rd seated child from the right.

The caption reads: TOTS from Hale Synagogue Nursery went on a sponsored toddle to Hale Croft Park to raise money for Barnado's. The children also had a picnic and went on a 'mini-beast hunt' in the park. They were celebrating Lag BaOmer.

Mayanot Alumni

I am a member of the Mayanot Alumni. Mayanot is the Yeshiva I attended between Pesach and Shavout 5760.

If any other alumni are reading this in the next week, please email me about details of a reunion Farbrengen being held in London.

Baby Bundle

AT is such a cute like bundle when he comes out of the bath.

He loves the bath too. He enjoys kicking and splashing so much that I sometimes get wetter than him!

Top Teeth

Over the last few days AT has been quite grumpy and clinging. He returned to nursery after the Pesach break and happy there however. So happy in fact that when Ma collected him, he cried.

Today we found out why he wasn't happy. 2 top teeth have just started to show. We knew it would be teething but didn't know when they would actually come.

On other news, AT is pulling himself up on everything. This is good on solid objects like the sofa but not on movable objects like the step ladder or ironing board. He is sensible enough to not want to get hurt. Whenever the thing he has just tried to pull himself up on come crashing to the floor, he rolls out of harms way!! Once standing he will shuffle along whilst holding on.

Nothing at head height is safe any more.