actually, traditional ones-the really traditional old(and some new and highly prized but less convenient) menorahs use oil:) as it was in the original story the putting menorah on the windowsill or where it can be better seen from the outside has nothing in common with showing off menorahs -it's about "pirsum ha-nes"-"publisizing of the miracle", as Hamma said. One also won't be able to see details of menorahs from outside unless he literally sticks his face to the glass of every window. The light will be seen though. (putting mezuza on the doors is also not about showing off the mezuzas as you can guess..it's a commandment. Menorahs that should be seen are not a commandment because happened long after commandments were given..but yes, that's how the teaching about the holiday goes, and is observed this way) it's not a very minor holiday either-in Israel it is very much felt for example, very warm and happy..just has nothing to do with decorations. (most Jewish holidays don't put any stress on decorations). true not as important as many other holidays yet it does commemorate a pretty important historical event. But yes, it's not a holiday where one stops working..kids get their winter breaks though thus schools close. It's definitely overblown here I don't know why. I have my explanations and not all of them are bubkes-related, but yes, overblown. All the gifts thing is kinda overblown here too. traditionally kids got a bit of money..I suppose to have something to bet when playing with dreidels:) Dreidel is a part of the story too. Now it's really popular to give yummy equivalent of money-coin shaped chocolates wrapped in silver and gold foil, in addition to a gift. They're sold here too but in Israel every pre-school kid will be washed with these..they're cheap, shiny, and one can eat them:) ah and if already to continue into the subject-"menorah" is a translation that's not exactly correct..Menorah that stood in the Temple had 7 candles..the Hebrew name for Chanuka light is Chanukiya-and it has 8 candles, for the amount of days the tiny bit of oil in the Menorah miraculously burned while they were making the new oil , plus the ninth one with which you light the rest. our latkes kinda look like the ones cat_mom made..:) that's the recipee I use..it's gluten free though, tweaked for whoever has Celiac etc. It's very yummy nevertheless. So yes I do recommend! http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/potato-latkes-jewish-potato-pancakes-gluten-free-201068 Okay. That was long..it's always harder for me around the holidays, since I really miss the atmosphere I'm used to..in Chanukah that would be also the smell of jelly doughnuts that are sold freshly baked on every corner.. Happy Chanukah!

I'vebeen putting pictures everywhere. I just reduced a mess of plants. Now I have more room for the ones I really want to keep and play with. I'm excited to have more room. I need more pots and medium. Goodbye, large pot of Hahnii! Goodbye, Gold Flame. (I kept a plant and offset.) I reduced others, as well. I'm going to make a big pot of this Hahnii. Stush's Asahi just gets better and better. So does Silver Frost.

In the above photo of my kitchen, to the right of the range that top drawer contained pot holders and my immersion blender. The long drawer to the left of the sink had all manner of spoons, spatulas, measuring cups and spoons... all the stuff I needed to cook and bake with, and it also had dividers like my silverware drawer in a photo above. It was very easy to find stuff and put it away properly, and everything was right at my fingertips and next to where I’d use the other stuff associated with it. (My mixer was right there, and all of my spices were in the cabinet above that, which was also very near my range so I could grab spices while cooking.) My pots and pans, and casserole dishes were in the cabinet below. My skillets were in the bottom drawer to the right of the range and are in a photo above. The set of 3 huge drawers to the right of the sink and dishwasher held my silverware (the drawer is in a photo above) and below that I had dish towels, large bowls for cooking (I showed a toaster in one of the photos in the drawer... but I didn’t end up keeping that there after all and it stayed on the counter) but I didn’t have dividers for the two large bottom drawers. The most bottom drawer had a lot of overflow kitchen stuff and was always my worst organized drawer, but I didn’t need to access it often. Hope that helps explain how it worked for me. That kitchen was organized beautifully once hubby was done making it (he did all of the designing, building, and painting by himself, and it took about a year to complete. I had a functioning kitchen in a mere 2 weeks, but I lived with open wood boxes/slots for storage while he finished building doors and drawers. He also took 3 months off during that build to go on a short term missions trip, finish 2 masters degrees, work full time, and travel with me for one of our son’s sporting competitions. So it didn’t really take a full year to build if you consider that. LOL!) But I was always really proud of his work and how well he listened to how I wanted all of my stuff organized. I miss that kitchen a lot!

Yes, gold mosaic. I'll send more pics.The floor of the shower has this glorious pool tile with colorful undertones. I wish I'd done that in the entire shower.