He's mine, all MINE!

LO is home at "Camp PHD" for the summer. They both thought it would be more fun to spend the summer doing things together rather than for her to go to her usual summer camp (which she has grown bored of). While PHD is great fun, LO has asked that every now and then Camp PHD recruit another camper....so today her friend "Nesya" came to visit. I assumed that they would have nothing but great fun today but....that was a bad assumption.

I just got a phone call from LO. She was crying and screaming hysterically..."Abba doesn't love me anymore!" "Abba wants to play with Nesya instead of me!" "I want my Abba back!" "He's MY ABBA!"

(ed. note - I am using "Abba" in terms of the Hebrew word for father not that Swedish band that Neil is obsessed with.)

I was shocked. She has never been overly close to her father (my ex-husband). She never really took well to anyone I dated after the divorce. But, then came PHD. She has gotten very close to him. This became obvious to me when she decided that she wanted to call him "Abba". And it is very apparent when I see the two of them together. And now it's even clearer to me.

I'm thankful that they have built this wonderful father-daughter type relationship. But I'm really at a loss of what to do about what is now appearing to be a little over-possessiveness. I explained to her that he absolutely loved her and even if he was paying attention to the other little girl that he still loved her. What else could I have done? Any suggestions?

Our Chicago trip in pictures

Since this was my first trip to Chicago, I took over 300 pictures. (Thank goodness for digital cameras!) I've already blogged about meeting Leah and Amy, so here's a small sampling of the rest of our trip...

This was taken from outside the Adler Planetarium. As you can see, we were blessed with beautiful weather during our trip.


No trip to Chicago could be complete without seeing Wrigley Field. The Cubs won this day.

We stayed with some of PHD's childhood friends at their awesome contemporary home. They were lovely hosts (If you are reading this J & M, many thanks for your hospitality!)

PHD's daughter works at the Lincoln Park Zoo, so we went there for a visit. This was a real treat for me since there is never much of a chance for me to see a polar bear in Miami.

Leah and her yellow crocs inspired us to take this picture of us. This is us at the Lincoln Park Zoo. (I love my Crocs and my little Israeli flags on them!)

We went to Chinatown and I thought it was cute to see that their fire engine number eight also had the number eight in Chinese on it.

Next we headed to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. We walked all day and I am told that we didn't even cover 1/2 of it. What an amazing place!

Stopped in East Rogers Park to pick up some kishke. We managed to get them all the way home to Miami and I can't wait to eat them!

All you have to say to me is "Kosher Chocolate" and I'm there. :)

I saw more homeless people in Chicago than I see in Miami. It was quite sad really. But this lady amazed me. She was as happy as could be reading her book and I just want to know how she manages to schlep all that stuff around by herself. A true example of make the best of what you have.

And finally, a trip to the Chicago Art Institute to see my favourite Seurat painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

It was a wonderful trip and we already can't wait to plan our next one!

Accidentally Jewish and Big Mouth

Well, we just got home from a WONDERFUL trip to Chicago and I took over 300 pictures. This was my first trip to Chicago and I have to say that it is such a wonderful place that I now know why people brave the weather to live there. I'll post more about the trip as soon as I can go through the pictures but for now, here's a glimpse of one of my favourite parts of my trip....

I met up with Leah of Accidentally Jewish and Amy of Big Mouth Indeed Strikes Again. And from this meeting, I learned that not only is Chicago an awesome place...it sure has some awesome bloggers. Can't wait until my next trip there!

A blogger encounter

(I was going to title this post, "Amishav, JAP, PHD and Two Orieyentas" but I thought that might be a bit long!)

Guess who we had lunch with today? Amishav and JAP are in hot, humid, sunny Miami visiting JAP's family and we were lucky enough to have them join us for sushi. I've been blog friends with Ami for a while and although this was the first time we ever met, it was like seeing an old friend. JAP was beautiful and sweet and I am just thrilled that we were able to all get together.

LO had two teeth pulled this morning so she started out rather quiet and not like herself. I apologized when we first met because LO was not even half the fun that I describe her as. However, that changed as the meal went on and she came completely out of her shell complete with her declaration that Amishav was indeed Jewish since he does not eat crab.

So Ami and JAP - thanks for making time in your vacation schedule for us. We hope to see you again soon - maybe we'll even make our way to Colorado some day!

Oh and speaking of blogger encounters...next up, PHD and I will be meeting Amy Guth, the most beautiful and talented author of "Three Fallen Women" and if we are lucky we'll get to meet Leah too.

You gotta love the jblogosphere.

Pink Cows?

At dinner last night somehow the conversation turned to milk. As usual, LO jumped in and took over the conversation...

LO: I like chocolate milk. Chocolate milk comes from chocolate cows with some ice.

Me: Really? Well, where does white milk come from?

LO: It comes from white cows.

Me: And strawberry milk?

LO: Duh Mama! It comes from pink cows!

Shabbat Shalom.

The Kvetching Jogger

One of the things that they do in LO's physical education class is run laps. At the end of the year anyone who qualifies gets to participate in what they call the "Panther Mile". For LO this means that she needs to run a mile in 10 minutes or less. LO has never qualified for the Panther Mile. But it's not because she can't run a mile in 10 minutes or less. It's because she is usually walking the track with her girlfriends. Instead of her feet running, her mouth is running...a million miles a minute.

It has never seemed to bother her that she and her girlfriends haven't qualified for the Panther Mile or that they are always the last to finish "running" the mile. But the other night when we were taking a evening stroll, she indicated that she wished she could run the Panther Mile. PHD told her that it would be easy and that he would help her do it. So this morning, training for the Panther Mile began.

(I was at work so this event is as told by PHD.)

The plan was to run one block and then walk one block for the mile. They started by running three blocks. Always the drama queen, LO started to pant like a dog that had been running on a hot summer day (complete with the sound effects and the tongue hanging out).

Then the kvetching began. PHD said she gave every excuse in the book. Some of the highlights were:

I'm sweating down my neck.

My arms hurt.

My eyes hurt.

My tongue hurts.

My tuchis is schvitzing. (I loved this one the most. How funny is a Chinese kid complaining in Yiddish?)

She called me and told me, "Mama, I'm a kvetcher!" Then she told me that the best part of jogging is stopping. Now I can't wait to go jogging with her. Although I fear it will be more about laughing hysterically than actually jogging.

16 weeks later....

(This is not LO, but isn't this little girl adorable?)

In preparation for our shul's trip to Israel (which ended up not happening) we applied to renew LO's passport back in May. Here we are now SIXTEEN WEEKS later. Guess what we just got in the mail? Geez, they sure weren't kidding when they said that there are currently delays in passport processing.

(I am also amazed that I applied to renew both LO's passport and my own on the very same day. I receieved my passport 2 months ago. How the heck does that happen?)

Her Dad wants to bring her to visit friends in Costa Rica. I want to bring her to visit friends in Israel. I wonder which wonderful and exciting destination will be the first stamp in her new passport?

I need COFFEE

I'm not ashamed to admit that I live a caffeine driven life. And I do know that it is important to taper off the caffeine prior to a fast. So, here it is the 17th of Tammuz. Guess who already has a headache? (Oy, somebody please remind me to lay off the caffeine before Tisha B'Av!)

May we all have an easy fast.

The kindness of bloggers

(art by: Naomi Ocean)

Whenever I talk to a non-blogger about any of you who I refer to as a "blogger friend", they look at me like I am meshugganah. They can't understand how I can call someone a friend when I have never met any of you (although that will change very soon) and only spoken to a few of you on the phone. I'm sure that this is no new subject for a blog post but it's actually a little surreal when you think about it. We watch each other's children grow and share fun stories about them, we mourn the loss of each other's family members, we dream about each other, we join together for support when one of us or a family member is ill, we celebrate engagements, marriages and the donning of tefillin for the first time...we do all sorts of things "together" yet we could probably pass one another on the street and never know it. And the kindness I have come across here never ever ceases to amaze me and I thought I would share one of those stories.

LO and I were supposed to go to Israel and meet up with PHD there. Our trip got cancelled, but PHD couldn't cancel his trip since he was going there to attend a family wedding. Every day that he was gone LO and I were missing him terribly, but Shabbats were always the worst. Turns out that he felt the same way. While he was enjoying his time with his family in Israel, Shabbat was not the same without us. Short of getting on a plane to fix the situation, I tried to think of what else I could do to make this better. My research for ideas led to many very EXPENSIVE solutions. I decided to turn to a blogger friend who lives in Israel for suggestions. And he went way beyond giving suggestions, he actually facilitated the whole thing and certainly made Shabbat for PHD and his family very special. (When I tell this story to non-bloggers, they can't believe that someone I have never met would do such a nice thing.) So Trepp, here's a HUGE THANK YOU! I am truly blessed to know you and to be able to call you my friend.

After that Shabbat, PHD arranged a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Trepp. Here's a picture from that meeting (and yes, I'm still jealous!)

We had a beautiful Shabbat (as we always do) but this one was more special since it was the first one we shared since PHD returned home from Israel.

To all of our blogger friends out there, LO, PHD and I wish to thank you for your kindness and for sharing all your stories with us.

Shavua Tov.

Inside LO's head

When LO was younger there were several times a day where she would say something and I would just have to giggle at how her mind works. As she has gotten older, those moments still happen, but not quite as often as they used too. However, the past few days have been a little different and I thought I share a few of my favourites with you all...

LO asked me what a legend is. I explained and then she said, "Like Amelia Bedelia, right?" I replied, "Well, not really but..." She interrupted to explain how Amelia Bedelia flew her airplane all the way across the ocean but got lost in the Atlantic never to be found again. I said, "I think you meant Amelia Earhart."

She just looked at me and started giggling. (Should I be scared of what she is NOT learning in school?)

To keep LO from simply watching TV and playing games on the Internet all summer, we have decided to have our own little book club. We are currently reading "The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden" by the most wonderful and talented Robert J. Avrech of Seraphic Secret. We each read a chapter and then we discuss it. When we first started reading it, she asked me what an Apache Maiden was. She thought this meant she was someone's maid. I explained that an Apache is a member of an Indian tribe. Then she wanted to know if that was like a Cohen or a Levite. Oy, is this kid Jewish or what?

This morning she was marveling over fake grass. They replaced the mulch at her old school with this grass and we saw some of it at Disney World. The conversation went like this:

LO: Why do people want fake grass?

Me: Well, maybe they don't want to cut the grass.

LO: But they could just buy a lamb and have the lamb eat the grass. As long as it doesn't poop on the grass.

8 things

(photo by claudecf)

Babka Nosher tagged me for this meme asking for 8 facts/habits about me.

The Rules are:
~ Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
~ The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
~ At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

This is an awful like this old meme but I guess that means I'll just have to share a little more! Here goes...

1. I drink what I am sure is an unhealthy amount of coffee and diet coke everyday. (Let's hear it for CAFFEINE - YAY!)


2. I taught myself to read Hebrew from several books after I realized that LO could read more Hebrew than I could.


3. I worked in the theatre on the cruise ship the SS Norway doing the show “Will Rogers Follies”. Before that I worked in the theatre on the cruise ship MS Seaward doing the show “Grease”.
   


4. My English middle name is also LO's first name.


5. My car has a navigation system in it because I am directionally challenged.


6. I have struggled with food issues for as long as I can remember and I even went here for help several times. (Ultimately keeping kosher is what saved me!)


7. I love to scrapbook and my scrapbook pages have been published in Memory Makers, Creating Keepsakes and a CK Idea Book.


8. When LO is asleep, sometimes I play games on her Gameboy. (Shhh...don't tell!)

I tag Z, Hila, Raggedy Mom, Amy Guth, Amishav, Tamara, Another Meshugganah Mommy, and Suburban Kvetch (who has been MIA for months but maybe this will bring her out!)

The Mezuzah Police

(Mezuzah from the Gary Rosenthal collection)

The other night we were at shul and when we were leaving LO was holding the door for everyone. I noticed that she was paying special attention to each and every person who passed through the door. As they walked through the door she would either shake her head or proceed to look at the next person. I asked her what she was doing. She told me that she was watching to see who touched the mezuzah when they left the room and who didn't. (And I thought it was nuts when she acts like the kosher police.)

As cute as this was (and puzzling because you never know what she is going to come up with next), I made an interesting observation. The only people who touched the mezuzah when they left were all converts (myself and LO included). I wonder if this was a phenomenon of this group or if this happened outside of our little group. How about you? Do you touch the mezuzah on any doorpost that you see them on or only on your own home? And at home, if you have them on every room, do you touch them when you enter and exit each room?

An animal encounter

So, while Neil is writing about pigeons on his porch, Babka Nosher is writing about her dog Rudy's antics, we learn just how much Amishav loves cats, and Jack has something to say about his love of cats as well, I have a little animal story of my very own.

Yesterday I stepped into the shower and turned the water on. I turned to reach for the soap and guess what I found in the shower...

If you guessed a RAT, then you guessed right. Umm...but it wasn't quite as cute as this picture. Oh and another thing...it was DEAD. Apparently the cat thought she needed to bring us a present. Oh the joys of an indoor/outdoor cat.

(BTW - LO's reaction was a very dramatic "EWWWWW!!!" But then her curious side took over as she visually inspected our dead little friend...."Mama, how come the rat doesn't have a tail?" Do we have to say kaddish?)

And why does this song keep playing in my head?

*Special thanks to our friend SS who so bravely removed our dead little friend for us! (There was NO WAY I was moving that darn thing!)

The Kosher Police strike again

For an 8 year old LO takes keeping kosher pretty seriously. (I've posted about this previously here and here.) Tonight while I was watching television, LO was playing with her Webkinz on the computer. A commercial for Dunkin Donuts advertising a special for iced coffee and a ham breakfast sandwich came on. LO suddenly quit playing, looked at me and matter-of-factly said, "I have one thing to say about that - NOT KOSHER." Without even blinking an eye, she then turned back to the computer and continued playing her game.

That's my little kosher police for you. I wonder if the OU is hiring.

They didn't look Jewish

We were at shul the other night baking fresh pita. (Yum - if you have never done this you should try - it is AWESOME!) Since we spend loads of time there, it is like a second home to us and there really is no need for LO to be at my side every moment. She usually plays in the school playground which is right outside the kitchen or she reads in the library. She is always sure to check in every now and then.

On this night, she apparently needed to use to the restroom. She ran by telling me she was going to the restroom and moments later she came back to the kitchen and had a very frightened look on her face. She said, "Mama, there were some ladies in the bathroom and they talked to me but they didn't look Jewish, so I didn't talk to them." Imagine my surprise after have just posted this when I heard coming out of my own child's mouth "they didn't look Jewish".

All the women in the kitchen stopped to listen to what would happen next. I asked her, "What do you mean they didn't look Jewish?" She replied, "I have never seen them in the synagogue before, so they must not be Jewish."

I explained that it was better to say that she didn't recognize them as people from the synagogue or as people that she knew. And I was certainly relieved that her explanation didn't include some form of stereotyping. I can only hope it will always be this way.

Fiddler Muzak

The bathrooms in my Corporate America office have all of a sudden been playing Fiddler on the Roof muzak! Why does this make me giggle every time I have gone in there? Do you think anyone would appreciate it if I sang along?

Jews Come in All Colors

(photo: Jewish Multicultural Network)

PHD's mom and I went out to lunch this weekend. She's a big mahjong maven in her community and she basically knows everyone there. A woman came over to our table to say hello to her. They proceeded to have a conversation but I noticed that the woman was staring at me. At some point in the conversation, PHD's mom said something in Yiddish and I giggled at what she had said. The woman questioned, "You understood what she said?" I replied, "Of course." She then said, "You're Jewish? I mean, I see you wear the Star of David but you're Jewish?" By then another friend has come to the table and next thing you know she is pointing at me and saying, "She's Jewish."

I really should be used to this by now. But it made me think about a conversation I had with PHD not too long ago. He said that when we are together, people assume that I converted so that we could be together. This does not surprise me and actually offends me. Why is it so hard to understand that someone could have such a love for Judaism that they would convert for that reason only? Why assume that marriage is the only reason? How about you all out there...if you met a Jewish couple where one of the them was Asian or African or any other race, would you assume this? Or are you ever surprised when you meet someone who is not "sterotypically Jewish looking" when you find out that they are Jewish?

It's pineapple time!

Looks like we'll be having pineapple for Shabbat! Freshly picked by LO from our garden! Yum!

Shabbat Shalom!

Where would you honeymoon?

PHD and I had a discussion the other day about honeymoon destinations. My first thought was Israel. (Does that surprise anyone?) He said that we would take many trips to Israel but that it was not the most romantic of destinations. (I'm not so sure I agree with that BTW.)

So I asked, "Where else then?" Hawaii? Too cliche. Paris? Been there, done that. Disney World? Nah. Bali? South Africa?

If you could choose anywhere in the world to go where would you go? Or for those of you who are married, where did you go? Or if money, time, and/or kids were not an issue where would would you vacation? Inquiring minds want to know.

LO's newest pets

I am not sure if these are a big thing for kids everywhere but Webkinz seem to be all the rage here in South Florida. They are sort of like beanie babies but you get an electronic code with each animal which allows you to go on their website and play with your virtual pet. And of course I could never allow LO to be the kid at school that only has ONE of them.

It should come as no surprise that her naming trend has continued.

She wanted the white dog to be a girl and while she was thinking of a girl's name she quizzed me, "Mama, what's Abraham's wife's name?" She caught me off guard and for a second I thought it was a trick question. Yep - she named her "Sarah".

She named the panda "Moses" and Moses came to shul with us for Shabbat. The Rabbi got her to call him "Moishe" and he pointed out to her that he had seen Moishe shuckling. She believed him and was like a proud mother that her little panda knew how to daven. It was too cute.

And the latest addition to the family is the Pug. I keep thinking maybe she'll start naming them names like "Fluffy" or "Rover" or "Precious" or something like these typical pet names but no, not my LO. She named this little guy "Eliyahu" and everytime I see her playing with him she is usually singing or humming "Eliyahu HaNavi".

Oy, what could possibly be next? Anyone want to offer up some suggestions?

(Best friend El and I looked at a photo of her family from the early 1900's and chose Gittel and Yehudalaya but LO was not too fond of those.)

Gotcha Day

(photo taken: May 29, 2000)

In the adoption world the day that you finally meet your child is often referred to as "Gotcha Day". It's a day that comes after piles and piles of paperwork, after home study visits by a social worker, after loads and loads of money, after riding the emotional roller coaster of a lifetime, and for us...after a trip to another continent.

Today marks the seventh anniversary of that day that we now call "LO Day". The photo above was taken the very first time I ever held LO in my arms. I can't imagine a greater gift in life than the gift of my little girl. G-d has truly blessed us.

Mi Sheberach

Please daven for Shlomo ben Miryam. He fell ill right before Shabbos and had to be rushed to the emergency room. I have been friends with him and his wife for almost 25 years and consider them my adopted Jewish parents. BeEzrat Hashem, they will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary on Thursday.

Kvelling on Shavuot

Shavuot is always a special time for us. It was the first holiday that LO and I "officially" celebrated as members of the Jewish people. So while we celebrate receiving our beloved Torah, we also celebrate the anniversary of our conversion. (It's an added bonus that the holiday comes complete with yummy foods like blintzes and cheesecake!)

This year we can add to our reasons to celebrate because LO will "graduate" from the Aleph Class in her Hebrew School. I've been told by the teachers that she is a model student and a pleasure to have in class (if that doesn't make a mother kvell, I don't know what would!)

I'm so proud of my little girl. And I feel so honoured every day to be a Jew.

Chag Sameach to you and your families from this kvelling Mom and her little orieyenta.

Chicago here we come!

(photo: Art Hill)

When I first met PHD he described himself as the true "wandering Jew" since he loves to travel and I can hardly name a place that he hasn't already been. (This will make choosing a honeymoon destination interesting to say the least!) While I have never been much of a traveler, PHD has decided this should change. New places and spending time with PHD...what more could I ask for?

I've always wanted to go to Chicago since the Art Institute has one of my very favourite paintings there. Then I found out that Chicago is the home of awesome authours like Elaine Soloway and Amy Guth. And now, most importantly it is where PHD is from and his daughter lives there where she works at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Well...looks like I am finally going to take that trip! We have plane tickets in hand and will be heading to the "Windy City"! I'm so excited (and thankful that he didn't decide this trip needed to happen in the wintertime.)

LO's little act of chesed

One of the qualities I love about PHD is that he is very outgoing and friendly. It seems as though he is passing this quality onto LO. It used to be that if we were meeting new people, it would take her a bit to warm up, come out from hiding behind me and actually make eye contact. Lately I have been witnessing the complete opposite.

We just took a trip to Disney World. At Epcot we were sitting in Germany and a man sat with us at our table. LO decided to strike up a conversation with him and so on she went with her 3rd degree....

What's your name?
Where are your from?
Are you here by yourself?
What's in your bag?
Are you Jewish?

This was just a snippet of the conversation but at the end of it all, she asked her new friend if he would like to spend the rest of the day with us. Apparently he was automatically ok in her book since he is Jewish and she didn't want him to have to spend his day all alone. (Is that chesed or what?)

We gave him our blog address (Hi Richard!) and wished him a safe trip home to Los Angeles. He gave us hope that some of our Los Angeles blog friends like Danny, Davi, Neil and Sophia, Jack, and Tamara may sometime end up on over here on the east coast. We'll meet you at Disney!

*I wish I would have thought to take a picture of him with LO but since I didn't, here's one of LO and Tigger instead!

Havdalah's New Friend

Anyone who remembers this story probably thinks I would be meshugganah to actually allow LO to have a fishtank. During a brief momentary lapse of reasoning at Chanukah time, I ended up buying her a small fishtank and a goldfish. She named the goldfish Havdalah since we went to the pet store and got him motzei Shabbat.

Well...Havdalah has gotten bigger and has been umm, er....dirtying up the fishtank almost quicker than I can change the water. So I decided that we should get him a larger tank. As we walked into the pet store LO ran down the aisle and she became more and more starry-eyed as she made her way down the line from small tanks to enormous tanks. We settled on a 10 gallon tank which should seem huge to Havdalah in comparison to his 2 gallon tank. I'm sure you can guess what happened next.

LO: Mama, the tank is really BIG. Don't you think Havdalah will be lonely?

Me: Um, I guess.

LO: (excitedly) So does that mean I can get another fish?

Me: (I was thinking no in my head but...) I guess so.

LO: YAY! (Off like a bolt of lightning she was to the fish aisle.)

The first fish she chose was the size of my hand and was $40. We examined several others (that were not quite as pricey) before she chose a nice little white and orange goldfish friend for Havdalah.

Me: So, what are you going to name your new fish?

LO: Can I name it something in Hebrew?

Me: Of course.

LO: I'm going to name it Batsheva.

Me: Batsheva? After PHD's friend Batsheva?

LO: No. You know, BATSHEVA. Her husband was some guy named Eria or Uriah or something like that and he got killed and then she was with King David.

Me: Um....ok, Batsheva it is.

Nice to know that my Hebrew school dollars aren't going to waste. I shudder to think of what she might name a dog if she ever manages to convince us to get one of those. (Why does "Kelev" come to mind?)

Lag B'Omer

(photo: Jewish World Review)

Yesterday at our shul barbeque to celebrate Lag B'Omer...

LO: Rabbi, where is the bonfire?

Rabbi: Well...

LO: (interrupting) Because you know there's supposed to be a bonfire for Lag B'Omer.

Rabbi: (smiling) Yes, I do.

Leave it to LO to try to keep everyone on their toes, even our Rabbi.

(This is actually the second year in a row that we couldn't have a bonfire as we are under drought conditions.)

LO's first sleepover

While LO has gone to many sleepovers at her friends' homes, I have managed to avoid actually hosting one of these giggle-fests for quite some time. Unlike Babka Nosher, Chana, Pearl, Trepp, Raggedy Mom, Jack, and especially PT, I am not one of those "Supermoms" (or "Superdads") who can manage more than one child at a time. Sometimes I can barely keep up with myself and LO so I am always in awe of those who can manage more and still remain sane.

I knew that there would come a day when I would have to give in and let her host her own sleepover. When she and I were discussing it with PHD, her biggest dilemma was which one of her two best friends she should invite. He told her not to worry about picking one or the other just to invite both! (I am certain I shot him a very evil look when he said this.)

And so last weekend, LO hosted her first sleepover. There was swimming, hot dogs and tater tots, brief moments of banging on the piano, movies, and a WHOLE LOT of giggling and screaming. (And I survived to tell the story.)

(Hey, couldn't they be a poster for the United Nations?)

They all had a great time but I heard from the teachers that there were some pretty sleepy girls at Hebrew School on Sunday. Oops!

Science Fair WINNER!

After I explained her failed science project experiment here yesterday...guess who won 3rd place in the Science Fair?

Tzniut Meme

(photo: tznius.com)

Raggedy Mom tagged me with this meme started by Mother in Israel. It certainly has some thought provoking questions.

1. For married women, do you dress by the same standards as you did when you got married?
I’m not married (but will be soon!) but I don’t believe that my standards will change.

2. Also for married women, do you and your husband conflict about this issue?
As I said in #1, I am not married (yet! LOL) but we have discussed this and we feel that it is up to me as to at what level I feel comfortable. For example, we discussed the headcovering issue and he said he would support me if I decided to cover my hair and that he would also support me if I did not want to cover my hair (shul and other necessary places excluded of course!)

3. Have your standards changed from when you were growing up, and why?
My standards have changed from when I was growing up because I grew up in a more “Reform” type home. When I started working on my conversion and as my observance level became higher, the tzniut issue became more important to me. And now if you looked into my closet, I think I could be a spokesperson for this place.

4. Do you often feel uncomfortable when you are in the company of a group keeping higher or lower standards than you?
Not really. Although in South Florida there are often times when lower standards means women wearing next to nothing…and yes that does make me feel uncomfortable.

5. If you have ever suddenly changed your standard of dress, did people treat you differently or make approving/disapproving remarks?
As mentioned in #3, it was pretty obvious when my dress changed. I work in a building with approx. 2,500 people and I am the only observant Jewish woman here, so I stand out for my dress and my race. Being in South Florida, I hear “Geez, aren’t you hot?” or “I can’t believe you are wearing stockings in this weather” quite often.

6. How accepting is your community of women who "deviate" from the generally accepted mode of dress?
The community is very mixed and therefore pretty tolerant of the various modes of dress.

7. If you have a daughter, has tzniut become an issue yet?
It’s not an issue and I don’t think it will be because she has always been a skirt/dress wearer from before she could even talk. She feels more comfortable this way and she has always been aware of her clothing because as she likes to say, “No one should be seeing MY business.”

How come my bread didn't mold?

It’s that time of year again…time for the dreaded science fair project. Last year I won 1st place in the 2nd Grade Science Fair (oh wait, I mean LO won 1st place!) Ok, I admit, I probably helped her more than I should have.

This year I was determined to let her do everything she could on her own. She decided on the project of “Which Type of Bread will Mold the Fastest?” This sounded like an easy project to me – buy 3 loafs and bread and wait for them to mold…easy, right? What I didn’t realize was that the time allotted for the experiment would be right around Pesach. When I realized this I had to explain to LO that we couldn’t start the project until after Pesach. Even though this felt like waiting until the last minute there really was no way around it. Other than the fact that I knew we would have to adhere strictly to the deadlines for each part, I didn’t think it would make much of a difference. Boy, was I wrong.

Yesterday marked the 20th day of her experiment. The bread NEVER molded. LO and I joked that we should change the name of the project to “How come my bread didn’t mold?”

This morning I watched as she headed off to her classroom with her project board with her 3 pieces of non-moldy bread. Despite her failed experiment, she remained a good sport.

Note to self: Next year, no science projects involving chametz!

Bring your kid to work day

Thursday was "Bring Your Kid to Work Day" and this was the first year that LO was eligible to go. She was thrilled to go but I couldn't help thinking at the end of the day that kids who's parents do something more exciting than an actuary (like a doctor, a firefighter, or an airplane pilot) must have had more fun than she did. Her big task was to help me with an insurance rate filing for the state of Utah. Good thing for the citizens of Utah that she was in a good mood and didn't want to raise the rates.

She had to fill out a form to bring back to school and she had to have my boss sign it. One of the questions on the form was "What was your favourite part of your parent's job?" She responded, "Talking to her friends." Oh boy, now my boss knows how much I REALLY work.

LO's continued matchmaking

With all the talk of marriage, you would think that LO was a shadchan in training. She has certainly made it clear that she approves of the shidduch between me and PHD. We had a conversation the other day when she explained how she would like to call PHD "Abba" once we get married. I adore how she has her own little "plan" of how life is going to be.

At the dinner table last night, came this conversation....

LO: Do you want to marry my Mom?

PHD: Yes I do.

Me: Why do you think PHD and I should get married?

LO: Well, he's Jewish.

Me: Well, yes that is important.

LO: And he's nice. And he's playful.

Me: Ok, those are good things.

LO: And he COOKS for me!

Looks like not only has he won my heart....but he has won hers as well!

LO's phone call to PHD

(This is one of my favorite pictures of PHD and LO - they are always goofing around and making me laugh.)

PHD had to go away on business for a few days. I knew I would miss him terribly but it didn't dawn on me how much LO would miss him. We were sitting in the house and out of the blue LO said, "I miss PHD. When is he coming home?" I explained that he would be home as soon as he could and told her that we could call him.

Here's how that phone conversation went:

LO: Hello? WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME? I miss you! I'M HUNGRY! I love you, ok bye.

She then proceeded to hand the phone back to me.

You know that old adage "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach"? I think it applies to LO as well.

Shabbat Shalom.

Guess who's going to Israel

The first time that we met our Rabbi he showed LO a book that had the most beautiful pictures of Israel. Ever since then, she has expressed an interest in going there.

While I would love nothing more than to hop on a plane with her, I had a few concerns (i.e. time off from work/school, is LO too young to appreciate it, etc.) the biggest being the cost (hamevin yavin).

Our synagogue takes a group to Israel every year. The time for this year's trip is rapidly approaching and our Rabbi has asked us to go. I explained how I would love to go but with the costs involved I really couldn't afford to pay for both of us and I don't want to make the trip without LO. He told me that I didn't need to worry about the money and that BOTH of us are going on the trip.

I am so excited because we are finally getting to make the trip to Israel AND we have been invited to Chez Treppenwitz AND because PHD is also going to be there. (There may even be a wedding to attend!)

Eretz Yisrael here we come!