Yom Hashoah 2011 - Holocaust Rememberance Day

Today is Yom Hashoah, Israel's official Holocaust Remembrance Day.  January 27th was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on the day marking the liberation of Auschwitz.  Yom Hashoah, by contrast is held every year 8 days before Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), the most perfect irony.

Check out here and here for additional information.

Every year, Houston holds a special ceremony to commemorate.

Every year since I was little, I've gone with my mom (and/or Dad).  I'm no stranger to the Holocaust; while my immediate family wasn't directly involved, that was only because my grandfather had the good sense to flee with my grandmother and their infant daughter away from the advancing German soldiers and into the Soviet interior - my grandmother's family, living on the unfortunate front lines of the German invasion into the Soviet Union.  So, 72 members of my grandmother's family was killed, who knows how.  And my grandfather was drafted into the Soviet Red Army and spent his military time on the front lines, leaving my grandmother behind hiding in forests, among other places.  My father's family in Moscow evacuated also into the interior but was mostly spared most of the horrors.  So - I grew up with the Holocaust and its aftereffects front and center in my life, but not everyone else has.

These commemorations are important for all the people to whom it's not so obvious: for those who believe that the same thing couldn't happen here in America (it could), or for those who believe that such genocide doesn't happen anymore (it does - check out Africa), or for those who just don't know the facts.  Holocaust education goes beyond what actually occurred during the Holocaust and really digs deep into why and how did it happen.  Did you know that America had a eugenics program which Germany admired (and Sweden's program lasted until 1975)?  And what about all of the ordinary citizens of the German-occupied countries who basically went along with all of the horror surrounding them?

Perhaps it's MTV who says it best.  The Holocaust happened to people like us.

Supermom came to my house yesterday

I wasn't planning on it, but Supermom came to my house yesterday.

Turns out we're very good friends and while I always suspected that's she's a Supermom, it wasn't confirmed until yesterday.

Yesterday we were in the middle of enjoying a very nice seudat shlisheet (Sabbath third meal) at our house, with good table conversation flowing punctuated by reminders to the kids to be careful.  My Supermom friend fished out a pickle (gherkin-size) from the glass pickle jar, in the process stabbing it with the (not sharp) knife.  A couple of minutes afterwards, we all simultaneously noticed that the pickle jar was leaking water onto the table.  Not a common occurrence at the table, there was a brief moment of interest followed by mayhem, trying to figure out how to stem the water leakage and also figure out HOW it was leaking if the jar was sitting on the table, seemingly whole-looking.  Needless to say, my husband and I basically did nothing (for some reason, I threw a tortilla under it thinking the tortilla would absorb the water - not a good idea) while my friend's husband (thank goodness he's an engineer) smartly grabbed a kitchen towel and cleaned up the whole mess.  We threw away the pickle jar and all the pickles.  For the next 15 minutes, we marveled at my friend's Supermom ability to break the glass jar with a butter knife without actually breaking the jar, and it continues to be a mystery.

It was funny.  So - be careful when fishing items out of glass jars...

My cousin is famous!!

Sorry if you don't understand Russian, but my cousin made it to a news spot on a Russian station while he is traveling through the country.  He's Sam at the end of the story (and the guy on the screen you see before you hit play).  Neat-o!!!

FYI - the report is about a new trend in tourism - "couch surfing" - where people stay in strangers' homes while traveling, and it's not so much about saving money as much as it is about learning about other cultures and really embedding oneself in a new culture and environment.

An absolutely amazing story from a part of the world I know nothing about

Check out this story and share with friends!

A true Thanksgiving tale

(insert heart-warming story just in time for Thanksgiving)

A friend of mine had been looking for work for a long, long time. She was an extremely experienced executive secretary who needed a career change, but ultimately what she wanted to do was to pursue her true passion – performing. She had performed before and continued to perform but not regularly, and while she dreamed big, she needed a regular job and a stable income. So she decided that she had enough of her stable job and she quit to try making it on her passion.

How many of us leave what we know in order to pursue our dreams and move into the unknown? She had GUMPTION.

And she did it – she taught and sang, but it wasn’t enough, and she realized that she needed that stable income as a foundation. Unfortunately, the economy tanked and as we all know, it just wasn’t the best time to look for a job.

But she persevered – she looked and looked.

How many of us DON’T let challenges knock us down?

Another friend of mine got a contract position within my organization, and that gave me an idea – why don’t my friend (the subject of our story) apply and maybe she too can get a contract position?

I made a couple of calls and eventually my friend was interviewed, oriented, and placed in a temporary position.

Last week she called me and said they offered her a permanent position.

I can’t remember the last time I was so thrilled (pregnancies aside). In this economy, knowing how many people are out there looking for work – my friend got a job, close to home, in a new industry where she can learn, that compensates better than her old job – wow. Just wow.

What does this teach us? Patience, faith, networking – belief that Hashem has it all mapped out for us, even if we have to wait a bit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Missing a pair of shoes *UPDATED*

**UPDATE:  Shoes were located under the bed.  Of course.**

Help!  I am not sure how this happened but I am missing a lovely pair of black, wedge-heel shoes.  I scoured all of the obvious places in my house, but no shoe has turned up.  I'd be ok if I had one shoe and couldn't find the other, but I'm missing both.  Weird.

It's not as exciting as our lost cheese story, but still, if you happen to find my shoes, please let me know!

My Zumba class experience

I attended a free Zumba class yesterday and I made a few observations. For those who don't know, Zumba "fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program that will blow you away." It looked like a party from the outside and who wouldn't want to party at the gym?

My observations:

1. Do you know why most workout pants are black? Because it's hard to find yourself in the mirror when you're in a Zumba class in black pants. I was wearing hot pink pants (the black ones were in the laundry!) so I was easy to spot, unfortunately.

2. For a good portion of the time, I wasn't exactly dancing, but I looked like I was being electrocuted.

3. I actually had to laugh out loud during several of the moves. My chest just does not move that way, nor will it ever.

4a. So during the class, I thought that it would be just GREAT to have a similar class set to Zumba-style Jewish music, you know, really upbeat, because I certainly do put in a workout at weddings, and that's in heels and dressed nicely. Surely we can have an exercise class that's with Jewish/Israeli music.

4b. Thank G-d someone had the same idea I had because we actually did a dance to Hava Nagilah Zumba-style, and let me tell you, it was awful (and I don't mean the exercising or the hot pink pants, although the pants may have had something to do with it). Listening to the music and trying to follow the steps actually made say out loud "OY VAY" unintentionally. So glad I did not take this idea and run with it.

5. My brain got a workout too as I was trying to figure out why I always had the wrong arm up (or down) or was stepping with the left (or right) leg when it should have been the opposite. I was having such a hard time following the leader and I prayed really hard that the windows looking out onto the treadmill area were really only one-way.

All in all, it was great, and my body feels like a wet noodle today. It did live up to its promise and it was a lot of fun. I have no idea how many calories I burned, but I would recommend the class if you are interested. Just leave your dignity at the door...

An evening with Joel Chasnoff

My husband and I just wrapped up a funny evening with comedian Joel Chasnoff. He's a friend of ours (long story) and he recently wrote a book about his experience in a combat unit in the Israeli army. He was in San Antonio yesterday (or maybe even today) and had some free time so we offered to put together an event for him to promote his book.

My husband found a nice hip coffee shop that gave us space (for free!) (in their driveway!) (outside!) and about 20 people showed up. It was a nice crowd! It actually ended up being a reunion of Washington University in St. Louis people (my alma mater), NASA employees, all of our friends - all in one crowd!

The book reading was quite nice and there were lots of questions afterwards, and a lot of shmoozing. We came home late for our curfew.

Find Joel's comedy clips on YouTube, and I encourage you to buy his book! It is laugh-out-loud funny and a different take on the Israeli army than you expect.

And the best part? We came home and my mom (who was with the kids) announced that our daughter PEED in her potty - not once, but THREE TIMES tonight. Which is nothing short of amazing because to date, she has yet to do it ONCE, but tonight she did it THREE TIMES. I cannot wait to stop buying diapers.

Strawberries!

As you're probably aware, it's strawberry season. Which I love, since it's one of my favorite berries. So yesterday, for the second year in a row, we went strawberry picking.

Dear daughter was really excited about picking the strawberries; she says the word in a funny way that makes it just that much better. She got her own bucket and a set of instructions from Dad and off they went, down the row, picking shiny, red strawberries.

I followed behind with Cargo #2 in the stroller, who totally wanted to get in the dirt and was frustrated that he was strapped in.

After about 15 minutes, Dear Daughter wanted to be with me and so ended her strawberry-picking adventure. We made our way to the shady tree where there was a large wagon on which to sit and a swing set. And our snacks to eat.

We spent the rest of our time waiting for Dad to finish picking strawberries while we enjoyed the shade. Dad picked two bucket-fulls. I chatted with a couple who came to the farm 55 years ago to pick; they didn't know that people still pick every weekend. I watched a dad get pretty close to the end of his rope as he wasn't able to tear his little son away from the little red two-door car...for maybe 20 minutes, the dad called, "Hennnnnnry.....Hennnnnry - don't you want to go pick strawberries? Look, mommy is picking berries.....lets go....Hennnnnnry..." And the kid would get out of the car, close the door, the dad would breathe a sigh of relief, the kid would stand outside the car and say something unintelligible about continuing to play with the car. Watching the relief on the dad's face as the kid got out of the car, hopeful that they can now go, and then have all hopes be dashed as the kid got back into the car....was too painfully funny.

Afterwards, we went into the market and picked up a bunch of farm-fresh veggies. We only bought local produce, since I'm pretty sure I can get Florida green beans at my local store.

Dear dad and I were up until 1 am or so making jam with our strawberries....yes, jam. Which we tasted this morning. And it is very very tasty.

The first time is the hardest

I won't mince words here: I forgot to pick up my daughter from school today.

The caregiver who picks her up every day has been reminding me for a week that she will be unable to pick up the little girl due to a prior commitment. Each time I assured her that it's not a problem; between me, my husband, and my parents, someone will fetch her.

The problem was that the task of communicating that need to someone - anyone! - literally, 100% slipped. my. mind.

Until my cell phone rang at 12:41 pm today and the teacher calmly told me that Yael is still at school, and are there plans for her to be picked up or should she nap at school?

I was so mortified I almost fell over.

Fortunately my mom was available and swooped in to pick her up. I called the teacher back and with all of her experience she could tell I was about to lose it on the phone. She tried to calm me down. I called my husband and told him I get the "worst mommy of the day" award, and he tried to calm me down. My mom called from the car with said daughter in tow, and she tried to calm me down.

I need a drink...did I say that out loud? I didn't articulate what type of drink...

Lost Cheese: A Story

I know it's been a long time since my last post. I'm sorry. I got busy. But I've thought about you often; I haven't abandoned you in my mind.

I do want to share with you why the 2nd days of Pesach will stand out my memory.

The Sunday in the middle of Pesach, my husband made matzah pizza - very tasty - with our large block of mozzarella cheese. We were planning on using the rest of the cheese on Tuesday morning to prepare mazta lasagna - very tasty - for lunch with friends.

On Monday night, as we were cleaning up the kitchen, my husband was staring into the fridge. He turned to me and asked, "Where's the mozzarella cheese?"

One of the oddest questions of my life.

So, slowly, I gingerly replied, "Is it not in the fridge?" Apparently, it was not.

Hm. Now this was surely an interesting problem.

With Pesach being Pesach, there were limited hiding spots for this cheese. Our cabinets were taped off and it was not in the fridge. We looked at the trash can. I ventured, "Perhaps you threw it away?" It was a possibility, not a great one, but one nonetheless. We are talking about an enormous hunk of cheese. This amount of cheese, you remember. I think it sparks your tactile memory.

Not so with my husband.

In the morning, my husband emptied the trash and actually sifted through it. No cheese. Now this was becoming even more interesting.

(Since we discovered this problem Monday night, it gave us time to think of an alternative entree. Which ended up being disasterous. We were saved by the alternate to the alternative entree. Thank goodness we bought lots of eggs on Sunday.)

Being the domestic goddess-wannabe that I am, I usually have a solution for challenges. This one left me hanging. We decided that given enough time, the cheese would start to smell and we'd sniff it out. Not the ideal solution, but what can we do? We knew the cheese didn't wander into the bedrooms, and not into the cars, and not into the taped-off cabinets. It just wasn't visible to the naked eye.

We lost our cheese.

The ending to the story is that I found the cheese yesterday - an entire week it was gone missing. I found it in the aluminum foil/baggie drawer. When I pulled it out of the drawer, my husband looked at me and said, "Obviously. Because I put it in a baggie when I was done making the pizzas and I must have put it all back in." Without realizing he was holding a giant block of cheese.

This is how I found cream cheese in the pantry. And ice cream in the fridge.

Fingers - their real purpose

Me to 2 yr old daughter: Please take your finger out of your nose.

2 yr old daughter complies.

2 yr old daughter inserts a finger from the other hand into her nose.

Me: Please take that finger out of your nose too.

Daughter complies.

Daughter sticks a 3rd finger into the other nostril.

Me: That finger too.

And on. And on. There are ten fingers, two nostrils. You do the math.

I was listening to the pop radio station this afternoon in the car and this song came on that was new to me. As far as I could tell, the song was basically about dancing and having fun. For whatever reason, that song generated a flood of memories for me of times when my girlfriends and I would go out dancing during the college years. I vividly remembered every part of it:

• The "getting ready" part: This was almost was as much fun as going out itself. Since we all lived close together (yay strategic dorm/apartment hunting!), we spent a huge amount of time picking out the best outfits (half the time I had to borrow clothes since I didn't own anything "appropriate") and doing hair and makeup, all to achieve just the right look. We had the discussions on which place to go to, how to protect ourselves from unwanted strangers (weird guys, bad dancers, etc), and what signal to give each other if we needed help. It was also a good time to share our "club names" - or maybe I had the only one - since I did not want to give out my real name.
• The "getting hyped up in the car" part: Of course, this assumes that a car was available. If not, then we either had to take a taxi (expensive!) or use the campus shuttle (totally not cool) or walk (if we were going to a frat party, and that meant we had to wear comfy shoes that was dance-worthy). Either way, we had to psych ourselves up for whatever potential the night had in store for us. This included much giggling, reminiscing of earlier experiences, and resolutions of not to do stupid things.
• The "dancing" part. Once we reached our destination, we just danced. That was our whole goal. We literally danced like no one was watching (very easy to do in a club or dance party; the darkness and strobe lights make it very difficult to see anything).

I don't know what was so special about the dancing, but literally my friends and I loved it. The freedom, sometimes playing an alter ego, not worrying about an upcoming exam/paper/project, listening to fun music - all of that was just a release.

So today, when I heard that song, that's what came back to me. All those memories I hadn't thought about in years, certainly not since I had my daughter. I thought about it - what if my friends and I were to get together now and and just go out dancing? I still don't have the clothes (I would just have to make do with what I've got), and my shoes double up as work shoes, but hopefully I still have the moves. But do I even want to? I have to say, most of the time, the thought never crosses my mind. I'm pretty content with my life. But sometimes, every so often, maybe I am inspired by something I see or read - I get this feeling, this itch to go out and party with my friends again. Just to have fun without worrying about the bills or work or planning the next event or a holiday or what my next Shabbat menu will be.

Don't get me wrong - I have plenty of fun. But those college days...always a good memory.

Fun Stories: The Accident with the Tree Branch

Before we lived in Houston, when we lived on the East Coast, we used to park our car in the lot in front of our building. The city had planted trees along the sidewalk, and the trees would shade our car when it was sunny. One day, the city decided to cut down the trees (they were lovely trees, and the reason for cutting them down escapes me - my husband now reminds me that the reason was because the trees produced berries that stained cars), and had warned the residents of certain spaces to move their cars that were parked near the trees for safety purposes. Afterwards, the city would begin to cut down the trees. We weren't warned because our parking space wasn't an affected space.

Later that day we discovered a giant dent in the roof of our car...where a tree branch had fallen. So, it turns out that our parking space was an affected space. Too bad the city didn't warn us. We didn't ask the city to repair the damage - wasn't worth it, since no one looks at the roof of a car.

The reason why I remember this story is because tonight I watched an Allstate commercial where a tree branch falls on top of a car. In a twisted way, it always makes me laugh.