The High Holidays are here

Yes I know that we have already done 2/3 of the holidays this month, but I am telling you....the Thanksgiving/Christmas season has NOTHING on this month of Jewish holidays. Next year, maybe I will hire an event coordinator for me because I am in serious meal/invitation management mode. No joke - there are scheduling templates out there to manage all of the meals, including the menu and the guests (with space for candlelighting and reminders).

For several years now, it feels as though the holidays are really all about the food. The schedule is about the food. The big buzz is who is going where. You have to take into consideration the weather and where guests will be shlepping from, not to mention where they are going after the meal (as in, do they live far from you? nearby?). You have to factor in kids (nap schedules, number of kids you can handle at one time, picky eaters). You have to have a nice balance of marrieds & singles, kids & no kids, older & younger. You need to know who gets along with whom.

Thanksgiving is one giant fest about turkey. Christmas is a lovely holiday of which many wonderful movies are made. But they don't hold a candle to the craziness I am experiencing right now.

(of course, I am saying nothing about the weekly Shabbat meal schedule.)

So at the end of the (holi)day, I am exhausted from entertaining. I actually enjoy the entertaining part, but the whole management of it tires me out. And I am bummed that I don't get to enjoy the holiday for what it is, the spirituality of it, the meaning of it. I suppose that means that I am doing something wrong, and I try to be better about it (like, selecting easy recipes or obvious winners instead of something new and complicated) with every holiday, but dude I don't have time. It's time to plan for Shabbat...

What's for dinner?

What a great question! I have officially run out of ideas. I need ideas other than pizza, hot dogs + baked beans, mac + cheese, and leftovers. Please comment! We are flexitarians so meat/chicken is not a necessity for us during the week. Help!

The down economy hits home

I have officially become a statistic in the ever-changing story of the global economy. While I anticipated that I would not be a consultant at a Big 4 forever, I didn't think the end would happen so soon. It's ok, though. I had an excellent 3 years at the firm and I worked with some terrific people and learned an enormous amount. I hope to maintain some connections as I move forward.

The good news is that I live in Houston, and the Texas Medical Center - world's largest medical center - is in my backyard (almost), so if I want to look for a healthcare job, I'm in a good place. Yesterday was a shocker. Today was a calm, back-to-reality day. Tomorrow is Wednesday, and that's always a good thing! I guess now I have a bit more time to plan for the High Holidays...