It's Independence Day now! Happy 56th birthday Israel! I'm home, not going out to party or anything. Earlier today Dana called to tell me something about the paper we have to do. Too bad I didn't ask her whether she's in the city or at home. If she's here I could have asked her where she's going and joined her. Maybe. Anyway, bygones.

I had a dream the other night. I was with my family playing with the new baby and my nephew was alone in the corner. I noticed this and went over to him and stayed with him in the corner, while everyone else stayed with the baby. Odd. I could understand if he had that dream. Kids get worried before their siblings are born. But why am I getting worried for him. I mean, I never thought he'll be neglected when his sister is born. Do I subconciously think that he'll suddenly get lonely, because everyone will prefer to be with his (hopefully) healthy baby sister rather than with him? He's a cute kid, but he still has a lot of autistic quirks, despite the fact that he's in such great shape that others can't even tell he's autistic.

There's something I feel a bit awkward about. I have this female friend, who I'm not interested in, despite the fact that she's very cute, because she's 28 years old. Anyway, we study together, but weren't really friends until recently. We just said hi to each other and that's it. Anyway, we recently started talking frequently on-line, but we still don't get to talk much in person. The other day, as I was waiting for a ride home, she passed by and asked if I want to get coffee. I'm sure she has no romantic intentions (I believe she has a boyfriend), just friends hanging out together. For some reason, a harsh "no" came out of my mouth (I don't know why), and I said I don't have time. Frankly, I could have just called my sister and told her not to wait for me, but I guess I'm like a damn teenager embarassed to admit my sister is giving me a ride. Either that or I don't feel like explaining why my sister takes her son from kinergarten not far from the university, while she lives on the other side of the city (it's the special school).

If you aren't interested in her why are you so bothered? - you probably ask. Well, I'd like as many friends as possible, and I hope she won't think I'm one of those freaks who only talk to people on-line and run away from being around people in person.

My nephew told my sister and me that there's a kid who hits him at his kindergarten (the regular one he attends 3 hours each day before going to the special one). It's good that he told us, otherwise we wouldn't have known. My sister's husband is returning from reserve duty tomorrow, and I'm sure the two of them will discuss what they should do.

My sister told my nephew she's pregnant today, after he asked what's in her belly. "Guess what's in there," she asked. After a short pause he answered, "a baby". Apparently he figured it out already. He seemed happy about it, though he didn't want to talk about it much. That's okay. That's just an attention problem, not a problem with his unborn sister.

Well, my two weeks of vacation are up, and I still haven't finished the two papers I had to prepare. One is due tomorrow afternoon, the other is due on Wednesday. At least they aren't anything complicated.

My sister is pregnant with a baby girl. That's great, because there's less of a chance for girls to be autistic, so hopefully, we'll have a normal kid this time. I just noticed I wrote "we". I'm not one of the parents, just the uncle, yet I write "we". How odd. My mother was told by a psychologist friend of hers that the way she talks about her grandson and her commitment to her family is typical of holocaust survivors. This was very surprising to me. My mother was born a refugee during World War II - she isn't what you'd typically call a holocaust survivor. And I, who also speak in a similar way, am in no way a holocaust survivor. Maybe it's true about my mother, and because I live at home I'm stuck deep inside my sister's and nephew's lives. They don't live with us, but they're just 10 minutes away and visit often. Maybe it's an overdose.

Passover is nice so far. I baked brownies today and made matza balls on Monday for the Seder. The Seder was nice, but I'm glad that we here in Israel only have one Seder as opposed to Jews outside of Israel who have two.