LUE: Another List
Sep. 19th, 2024 06:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
notquiteisraeli1. Today I got my student loans out of default. We'll see just how much they judge I should pay in the Income Driven Repayment Plan. I can tell you that I'm hoping it won't be much, given that my monthly income is ₪4250 (or, if you prefer, $1125.98). It would be lower if the Department of Education knew about the insane cost of living in Israel (even though Beersheva has the lowest cost of living of any major city in Israel, this is not in any way to imply it is low compared to, say, Glens Falls, NY). Still, there's a light at the end of this tunnel, and it ain't the 8:30 express.
2. I gifted Eyal cologne. I felt him out about it first, because he didn't really wear it when we were dating even though he owned a few different bottles. He said that he used to wear it on dates and special occasions, but then his mother died and he wasn't permitted to wear it during the first 30 days of mourning. Then the pandemic hit before he could start dating again. By the time we met during the second lockdown, we were meeting in his apartment. He'd shower diligently, and shave, but cologne was off the radar. That is what he told me when I asked him if he would wear cologne if I gave it to him. So he was open to it. I got him English Oak & Hazelnut and Cypress & Grapevine Cologne Intense from Jo Malone. He doesn't like lightweight scents on himself (though, interestingly, he likes them on me and prefers extremely femme floral scents to lightweight unisex scents on me).
3. We played Truth or Drink with grape juice and one of the questions was "tell me about the one who got away." I simply said one word: Balázs. Eyal knew.
4. This weekend we're taking my father-in-law out to lunch at Indira, a super Indian restaurant in Tel Aviv. My father-in-law really likes Indian food, so yay. He has quite the spice tolerance for an Ashkenazi Jewish man...but maybe that helped him survive marriage to an old school Bukhari woman. And they were married for almost 50 years.
5. We talked to my father-in-law recently and asked what he was doing. Swimming three times a week, yoga, and hanging out with his friends at the community center. Sometimes his friend Yehuda comes over and they'll each nurse a beer while watching the footy match. I think that's not bad for 81. He still drives, although we don't like him driving at night. Eyal asked him if he wouldn't like to go on a pensioners' tour aka geezer trip to Italy or Greece, and he was not interested. Not even the temptation of uneven numbers (that is, there are a lot more grannies on these trips than grandpas) tempts him. He's not interested in dating again, and Eyal's mom has been gone almost five years. That's okay, though. I can understand - maybe she was the only one for him. And that's actually amazing.
2. I gifted Eyal cologne. I felt him out about it first, because he didn't really wear it when we were dating even though he owned a few different bottles. He said that he used to wear it on dates and special occasions, but then his mother died and he wasn't permitted to wear it during the first 30 days of mourning. Then the pandemic hit before he could start dating again. By the time we met during the second lockdown, we were meeting in his apartment. He'd shower diligently, and shave, but cologne was off the radar. That is what he told me when I asked him if he would wear cologne if I gave it to him. So he was open to it. I got him English Oak & Hazelnut and Cypress & Grapevine Cologne Intense from Jo Malone. He doesn't like lightweight scents on himself (though, interestingly, he likes them on me and prefers extremely femme floral scents to lightweight unisex scents on me).
3. We played Truth or Drink with grape juice and one of the questions was "tell me about the one who got away." I simply said one word: Balázs. Eyal knew.
4. This weekend we're taking my father-in-law out to lunch at Indira, a super Indian restaurant in Tel Aviv. My father-in-law really likes Indian food, so yay. He has quite the spice tolerance for an Ashkenazi Jewish man...but maybe that helped him survive marriage to an old school Bukhari woman. And they were married for almost 50 years.
5. We talked to my father-in-law recently and asked what he was doing. Swimming three times a week, yoga, and hanging out with his friends at the community center. Sometimes his friend Yehuda comes over and they'll each nurse a beer while watching the footy match. I think that's not bad for 81. He still drives, although we don't like him driving at night. Eyal asked him if he wouldn't like to go on a pensioners' tour aka geezer trip to Italy or Greece, and he was not interested. Not even the temptation of uneven numbers (that is, there are a lot more grannies on these trips than grandpas) tempts him. He's not interested in dating again, and Eyal's mom has been gone almost five years. That's okay, though. I can understand - maybe she was the only one for him. And that's actually amazing.
no subject
Date: 2024-09-20 10:44 am (UTC)It's great that your father-in-law is so socially active!! That's the key. And my mom and mother-in-law both never wanted to find another man after their husbands died 30+ and 20 years ago, respectively, and were married 20-some years.