On Hiatus

We're down one member, as Charmingly Random decided it was time to pick up and move on. She's taking her blog in new directions. (Not the group from "Glee.") She'll be missed very much. In the meantime, we are deciding on if and how we want to continue with and restructure the blog project. I'll leave you with some of my favorites from the past months, in case you missed them the first time around.

Enjoy!

All in Hashem's Plan
A Note about a Quote
What if?
Happy Birthday to Me! (More fitting for this time of year...)
To Life, L'Chaim!
With a dreamy, far-off look and her nose stuck in a book...
In a state of being merry

Merrylandgirl's got "talent!"

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week, I decided to ask my fellow bloggers: What is your "not-so-special" talent? (I mean this to be something strange, but not artsy.)

If you talent judges out there are reading this, please consider this skill for "America's Got Talent." Toss some dates at me and I'll tell you whose birthday takes place on each one. Or I'll even tell you about an event (nothing majorly historical) that occurred on a given date. Yes, I have a strange ability to remember all sorts of dates and events. I remember the dates of birthdays, anniversaries, deaths, etc. I've always been able to do this and I would even remember the birthdays of my friends' family members. Nowadays, while I do rely on a birthday reminder and Facebook for some people, I still memorize the birthdays of people I know very well. I sometimes need the reminders because I know more people these days.

There are times when I'll get a date in my head and it will drive me crazy until I think of the person who is celebrating something that day. It also drives me crazy that I still remember the birthdays and/or anniversaries of people I no longer talk to. (Like the friend who fell off the face of the planet 7 years ago....I know she just had an anniversary this month because I had attended her wedding. And I still know my ex's birthday even though I don't care to acknowledge it. He just happens to share it with some people I actually do care about!)

My husband teases me about my ability to memorize dates, but it has come in handy. I know people feel special when I contact them on their birthdays and anniversaries. I just contacted a friend who had his 2 year anniversary yesterday. He seemed happy that I remembered. There are some other anniversaries coming up this weekend that I plan to acknowledge, as well. :) It also helps me when I need to fill out a form and have to remember the date of a particular event. Not that it happens that often, but it's good to know that I can pull it out of my memory bank when needed. I also use this talent for my Time Warp Tuesday posts on occasion, as well as my Friendship Friday posts. People are amazed at what I store in my memory bank.

Thanks to the ability to store phone numbers in my cell under a person's name, I don't have to rely on memory as much. However, the other day a friend called my parents' house and I knew it was her number, even after not thinking about it for years (since I could just choose her name from my contacts list). It also allows me to be right about things, even when others try to challenge me. It even came in handy when I was playing a new board game called "About Time."

Ready to challenge me?!? Bring it on!

Blog Project Break

With Independence Day around the corner, I decided we all should take a week off to relax before the holiday weekend. See you on July 8th, when it will be my turn to pick the topic again!

Have a Happy 4th of July!

This isn't the greatest image, but it is related to DC, so I chose it for that reason.

I have my flaws

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week Charmingly Random inquired:Tell me about your worst habits

When Froggie and I were at overnight camp together during the summer before 7th grade, we made a deal that whomever bit their nails first had to buy the other a pack of Bubble Tape. I'm pretty sure I was the one who had to pay up, as I can't not bite my nails. I still have this bad habit and therefore have very short nails. My husband once tried getting me to paint Thum (the stuff with the bitter taste) on my nails, but I refused. I need to curb this habit because my kids stick their fingers in their mouths and I'm afraid it's because of my bad influence. When I'm not biting, I'm picking at them. It's something I do to alleviate stress and anxiety. I don't know that I'll ever grow out of it, seeing that I'm close to my mid-30's and still biting away.

I also thought I'd take this opportunity to bring up some other bad habits that I have a hard time breaking:

* Obsessiveness: I have a thing with checking every door in the house to make sure it is locked before going to bed. I can't go to bed until this happens. I also check my alarm clock settings constantly before retiring for the night. And as the other bloggers in this group know, I'm always the first to finish my blog project post for the week!

* Procrastination: This is a huge one for me, but I'll talk more about it later....What?!?

* Yelling: I tend to go that route when I'm frustrated. I feel bad when I yell at the kids though. I have a hard time counting to 10 before blasting off.

* Being disorganized, especially in the house: Someone will clean (maybe me) and then I manage to put down a piece of mail, a toy or something else wherever I am standing at the time. I then collect everything in a box and forget to put all the items away. (Either that, or I procrastinate on doing so.) I also am TERRIBLE about putting away laundry. Currently, there's a huge pile of clothes on my older son's bedroom floor and there will soon be one on mine too.

Once someone told my (late) maternal grandma that she was perfect. Her answer? "Oh, I have my flaws." So now I can say the same. (I think some of our flaws are similar, although she would never yell.)

"I'm afraid I just 'blue' myself."--Tobias Funke, "Arrested Development"

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week Desperate Madness wants to know: If you were a color, what color would you be?

I could sum up this topic in one answer, but I thought I should probably explain it too. If I were a color, I would be blue.

There's something about the color blue that speaks to me. It's beautiful and serene. I can wear anything blue and it will totally enhance my eye color (also blue). It's the color of US Postal Service mailboxes and recycling bins. I love getting mail and recycling, so it's a good representative color. It's also the color people associate with baby boys, so it brings up good memories from both my sons' births. And along with that, my favorite monster from "Sesame Street"....Cookie Monster! I don't have that much to say about this topic, so I decided to do an image search on "blue" and share the pictures I found most striking. Enjoy!


Mmmm...chocolate...



I see you!







Makes me think of "The Glass Menagerie."






Just for fun!


The origin of the title for this post...


Wiggin' out!


My favorite furry blue guy!

In a state of being merry....

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week's topic came from Froggie: One of my favorite parts about my life is . . .

I thought the topic was perfect for what I wanted to talk about this week. It's been a year since we bid on our house and started making plans to move to Maryland. It has led us to one of my favorite parts about my life, which is where I live.

A while back, I put together a "Top 10" list of everything I missed about living in NJ. To explain why I love living in Maryland (at least in the DC area), I'm putting together another "Top 10" list.

Here are my reasons, in no particular order:

1. Living so close to Washington DC. I absolutely love it there and it's nice to be able to hop onto a Metro and be there in 30 minutes or less. I love how historical everything is and how it is not centered around shopping.

2. Our house. I love our house and know we couldn't have found something this great at such a reasonable price in NJ. It fits our personalities and it's so comfortable.

3. The community in which we live. Our community is primarily Modern Orthodox and we know most of our neighbors. It's nice to see people we know outside of shul, such as at the grocery store, at a restaurant, etc. There's even a listserv for the community to keep up on the latest news or get valuable information that we need. My love for the community extends to and from the shul we attend every Shabbos and holiday. It's such a great shul and it meets every need possible.

4. Our friends. I love the friends we have made in Maryland so far. I've blogged about some of them and will blog about more in the future. Everyone is so friendly and social. I even received an indirect compliment from one of them recently. It was so heartwarming! There are also the friends who live outside our community. We may not get to see them as often, but the possibility is always there.

5. Being close to family members. My brother-in-law lives in Baltimore with his family. They live close enough to be able to make impromptu dinner plans on a rainy Sunday (not even a blackout at the restaurant could keep them away). We also have cousins in Virginia, with whom we enjoy getting together. It's nice for the kids to have a lot of cousins their age to play with.

6. My job. I've been at my job for 6 months now and I really love working here. It's a great organization and the work is meaningful. I've assisted at a couple of bigger events and it is such an amazing feeling to be a part of the greater good.

7. The schools. The public school system is very reputable and that makes me feel better about the possibility of putting our kids in public school vs. a yeshiva. I really love how wonderful my older son's school has been in just his first year there. And my younger son's school is fabulous too (right now, he is in a Jewish program).

8. How easy it is to get around. The streets are clearly labeled and there are even shortcuts to avoid traffic on the beltway.

9. Two words: Value Village. It's my favorite new shopping experience. It has turned me into a thrift store junkie!

10. All the nature around us. When we get seasons in Maryland, it is truly obvious. I didn't mind the insane snowfall because the cherry blossoms growing on all the trees in the spring made it worth the wait. And the fall colors are everything I've wanted out of one season. This will be our first full summer living here, so we'll have to see what is in store.

Honorable mentions also go to having a country music station (there wasn't one in NY or NJ), the ongoing used book sale at the library, the cheese fries at our favorite Kosher pizza place, and finally the feeling of contentment and confidence I have from living here. It really should be pronounced as it looks--Merry-land--for I feel truly merry where I live now.

'Til we meet....

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week it was my turn to pick the topic: What is the longest relationship you've had with someone whom you've never met in person? (Talk about how you met, what your friendship has been like, etc.) Do you think you'll ever get to meet them?

The topic was inspired when I realized that the other three bloggers involved with this project have not met in person and they all live in the same state. (I'm the only one of the group who lives in a different state.)

I have a lot of long time Internet friends (with whom I've been in touch on and off over the years), but I think my longest relationship without having met in person is with Katydid. (I'm using the nickname by which I first came to know her.)

I met Katydid on #CentPerk, which was this online chat group back in the mid-90's that was started in order to connect fans of "Friends." I don't even know how she and I started becoming close or what drew us together within the group. We just started e-mailing and became each other's online sister. She lived (and still lives) in Canada, so it wasn't like we could easily meet. I had only been to Canada once and that was freshman year of high school. I don't know if she had traveled to America at all, but if she did, it wasn't to Illinois.

Over time, we broke away from the chat group and were e-mailing on a regular basis, as well as sending each other packages with mix tapes and other fun items. (My favorite package was the Degrassi movie!) I felt I could really bare my soul to her, as I knew her outside my family and usual circle of friends. I would send her long e-mails and she'd send long ones back to me. I'd even write her letters on stationery when I was away from a computer but had a lot to tell her.

Then we lost contact in 2003. I don't know how it happened, but it just did. I don't know why I gave up so easily either. After I got on Facebook in 2007, I'd try to see if she had joined and would occasionally do searches. I didn't come up with much other than a lot of girls with the same name but a different face....until a few months ago. I found someone with her name who looked like her and had similar interests to the Katydid I remembered from years ago. I took a chance and wrote to her to see if she'd want to get back in contact. I received a nice e-mail in return, saying that she was hoping to find me too. It was so nice to reconnect with her. We e-mail shorter messages and it's more sporadic, but it's nice to know that she's around and that we can pick up where we left off. I hope we'll get to meet in person someday but I don't know who will make the trip first. I guess time will tell.

Rebellion!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

Charmingly Random chose this week's topic: Tell me about a time when you were rebellious - whether it be from your parents, a boss or even "The Man".

If you have only known me for the past few years, you would not think that I was ever rebellious. However, you'd be surprised...

Toward the end of my senior year of high school, I started going to see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" on Saturday nights. I eventually made friends with cast members and regulars and even got to be part of the cast for a while (as Magenta or a Transylvanian). I first became close with everyone during a weekend when my high school friends were fighting. I decided to participate in audience night (when people from the audience get to perform all the main parts). I was wearing a cute pink dress after hostessing at Yen Yen and decided to play Janet at the last minute. This entailed dancing around without much clothing. It was very liberating and I had the best time. Then I hung out with the cast afterward. We all went to The Rainbow, a greasy spoon diner. Twice when I looked up at the cash register, it said $6.66. That should have been a sign, but I ignored it and I'm glad I did. When I got back to school the following week, I told my friends what I did and one of them had the audacity to say that it was gross. (Ironically, she's the same ex-friend who was caught doing something very inappropriate in the school library a year later.) Still, nothing could take me down from the natural high I felt that night.

During the summer of 1994, we were moving from the first house I had ever really known (since I was too young to remember the one before that) and I was going to be starting college in the fall. I didn't want to be home much and would spend every Saturday at "Rocky Horror" and afterward at The Rainbow. Sometimes I'd stay out till dawn. I enjoyed the attention from the guys there (even the gay ones) and would spend hours on the phone with them when I wasn't at Rocky. I'd also hang out with some outside of our Saturday midnight gatherings. I was allowed to attend the shows each week, but my parents weren't thrilled if I stayed out all night or if I went by myself instead of with friends. However, my friends were people at the show and I trusted them. At the time, I didn't tell my parents about the guy from cast who was arrested for murder because then they'd never let me near the theater again. It's a non-issue now and he's probably locked up for life anyway. (After everyone at the theater found this out, we were more protective of each other.)

When I started dating my first boyfriend, I slipped out of the "Rocky Horror" scene for a while. Then I came back to it the following summer and made a new set of friends, as well as re-connected with the ones I already knew. By that time, it was no longer all that rebellious, as my parents were totally fine with me going every week.

However, I thought I'd find another way to try to freak my mom out and got my ear triple-pierced when I was about 20. Imagine my disappointment when she just said it looked pretty. Later, I got magnetic earrings and put them in spots of my ears that I would never actually pierce, just to see if she'd react. Again, it didn't bother her. I should have used them as nose pierces instead. Oh well...

Nowadays, I am not all that rebellious, unless you consider not shopping or driving on Saturday an act of rebellion against shopping malls everywhere. I had fun reminiscing about my rebellious phase through this post, but I'm glad I got it out of my system at the time and can enjoy my present choice of living.

Down and out in Merry-land

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

Desperate Madness asked: What is your favorite thing to do when you are down and out or having a bad day?

This may come as a surprise (or more like a shock to some) but I have bad days. I get into a funk from time to time. It happened a lot more often in my previous environment, but it still happens no matter where I go. These days it's often over trivial matters (like the untimely cancellation of "Ugly Betty" or not being able to get tickets to see Adam Lambert), but sometimes there are things that worry or nag at me, or things that I anticipate with dread. I also take on the stress of others and let it consume me. That's enough to put me in a bad mood for several days at a time.

I don't know that I have just one favorite thing to do when I get in one of these moods. My first instinct is to eat a bowl of ice cream smothered in Magic Shell. That's my favorite comfort food. However, I eat it when I'm in a good mood too. :) Other pick-me-up's include:

*Reading a good book, especially chick lit
*Listening to my favorite music (usually Adam Lambert, other times Alanis Morissette or Michael Buble)
*Watching a funny TV show (these days it is "Modern Family")
*Watching my number one favorite movie ("Where the Heart is"), which is also like comfort food, in a different way.
*Baking challah
*Going for my other comfort food: Chocolate!!!

Stuff you'd expect to see on the list isn't there, right? I left off being with my husband and kids and knitting. I love my husband and kids, but I sometimes take out my bad mood on them, which I know is wrong and I feel awful about. I'm a lot less lenient about letting my kids get away with mischief and I prefer to be in my own little world, lest I snap at my husband for something totally unrelated. Then again, sometimes his work-related stress is the source of my bad mood. He does watch "Modern Family" with me and we can joke about it afterward. Also, I just knit when I need a distraction from waiting (if I'm not in the mood to read at the time).

It doesn't take much to help me break out of a bad mood, since I seek happiness whenever possible. The stuff I lean toward when I'm sad or angry is the same stuff I like to do while I'm in a good mood, just like the ice cream and Magic Shell combo that works like a wonder drug.

No one calls me Missy!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week, Froggie gave us just one word for the topic: Nicknames!

I first have to point out that I never have been and never will be called Missy. The name doesn't fit me at all. I know people named Melissa that have proudly gone by Missy but later changed it back. I just can't bring myself to be called Missy. In college, this one guy who worked in the kitchen of the dining center with me called me Missy and found it funny when I said "No one calls me Missy!" I must have sounded like I meant business. There are other guys who have tried to call me Missy and I just shoot a name they don't like right back at them. So yes, I do mean business!

However, there are names I have gone by or will still allow people to use:

Nicole: When I was a freshman in high school, a friend thought my name was Nicole. It took me a while to figure out that she thought this and couldn't figure out why she kept saying Nicole and looking at me. I actually didn't mind and felt like it was an inside joke and a way of being accepted. Years later, she apologized for the name mix-up but I told her that it never bothered me and I felt special by her giving me a nickname of sorts.

Mel: Very few friends call me Mel. Froggie is one such friend. I have another friend who lives in Nebraska and is allowed to use the name too. I also had a friend from Hebrew school who took to calling me Mel and I didn't mind then either. It fits me better than Missy.

Melly: Only two friends are allowed to call me Melly. We have these nicknames for each other that only make sense to us. Melly is probably the most simplistic of the three names, but it's all in good fun. I even sign my e-mails to them with that name.

Magenta: I got this from my Rocky Horror days, when I played Magenta in stage shows all because I had the hair. :) I went with that nickname throughout college and let my friends use it. A friend's mother even called me Magenta. I just didn't like when people I wasn't close with used it because they heard my friends doing it. It just felt wrong. I used the name for my first website, some e-mail addresses, and in chat rooms.

Eema: Sure, my kids call me that, but so do their friends. I feel more connected to their friends that way. It's kind of like how my friends called my grandma Mama Mollie, just like I did. It all started when one of my older son's friends in NJ thought Eema was my name and kept calling me that. People thought I was her mom. Then our next door neighbor's daughter caught on and also started calling my husband Eeba (instead of Abba).

And finally, I'm now known as Merryland Girl in our blog project circle. :)

For the TV show of my life...

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week it is my turn to ask the question: What is your theme song? (Please share a link to the song and/or lyrics, if possible.)

I didn't know that a person could have a theme song until I saw "Ally McBeal" in 1998. Ally was seeing a quirky therapist (played by Tracy Ullman) who told her to find a theme song for herself. Afterward, she is walking down the street and dancing along to "Tell Him" by the Exciters (but sung by Vonda Shepard, as all songs were on the show).

After that, I thought long and hard about whether or not I had my own theme song. They seemed to come easily to some of my friends (there was one who chose "Walking on Sunshine" without giving a second thought to the matter), but I felt stuck. I abandoned the idea for a long time after the realization that I didn't have a theme song after all.

Flash forward to 2007. I had just moved to NJ and made some new friends shortly after settling in. One friend had a mix CD that she was playing in her car when we were on our way to a fair. The first song that came on was Right Back Where We Started From by Maxine Nightingale. It brought back memories of hearing it at Cubs games, which brought back memories of previews for "Slums of Beverly Hills," which is where I first remember hearing that song (I'm sure I've heard it on oldies stations as a kid, but I didn't give it much thought). Then my friend made me a copy of the mix CD and I started playing that song over and over again. It motivated me on my way to job interviews and I loved singing and dancing along to it. I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics. I just felt that the song was about making a fresh start, which was what I had to do in NJ. It also made me think that if I were a kid or teenager in the mid-70's, I'd probably be obsessed with it then, as well. It's just fun and carefree.

It's been almost 3 years since I adopted this as my theme song. I've once again had to make a fresh start when I moved to Maryland. I still play the song when I'm out driving and also turn up the volume whenever it comes on the radio. It came on last week and I was telling my husband how much I like it. He then told me that it's about a couple that is fighting a lot and has to start over again in their relationship. I told him that I just like the tune of the song and that I feel it can be about starting over in any aspect of life.

In the meantime, I also have this thing for "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. It's a strange song, but it somehow sticks in my head a lot and I end up singing it all the time. It's like my secondary theme song. It won't take the place of "Right Back Where We Started From," but it still is fun to sing and dance along with the lyrics and tune. In some ways, it makes me feel younger than I am. It's almost like the feeling I get from writing a blog that's just about me. Just about discovering all the things I thought I had forgotten and baring my soul, so to speak.

Here are the lyrics to both songs:
"Right Back Where We Started From"
"Hey, Soul Sister"

From vet to Alef-Bet

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week’s question has been brought to us by Charmingly Random: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? As a grown up, did you choose the profession you wanted as a child? If you didn't, what drew you to the profession you have?

If you just met me on the street today or even just got to know me more recently, you would have no idea that I first wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up. As a kid, I grew up with a lot of pets. That meant many trips to the vet for us. I always enjoyed accompanying our pets on these “adventures.” The vet was really nice and referred to them as “beasties.” I would then go home and play vet with my stuffed animals. I think I changed my career choice when I found out that vets have to euthanize animals sometimes. I couldn’t even imagine doing that, no matter how much the animal was suffering. I also think the jar with the dog heart that was infested with heartworm grossed me out and that also contributed to my loss of interest in the veterinary field. Not to mention that I didn’t want to be peed on by an animal I didn’t live with on a daily basis (that was gross enough in itself).

Eventually I decided I’d rather be an orthodontist because I was getting braces and I thought our orthodontist’s office was really cool. I also knew that orthodontists didn’t have to give root canals or pull teeth. However, I changed my mind about that when I couldn’t stomach the idea of having my hands inside peoples’ mouths all day long, whether or not I had protective gloves on. And I didn’t want to contribute to the torture that was an accumulation of impressions and the painful first days of braces.

I am now a grown-up (at least I tell that to my kids) and I work in the field of my religion, at a non-profit organization. This is the first job I can honestly say that I truly love (while I loved the people I worked with at my job in NJ, there’s something different about where I am now). I talk about it all the time and am proud to tell people where I work and what I do. I know I am almost starting over in my career by being an administrative assistant again, but I feel that there are a lot of places to go within this organization and I see myself staying here for a long time. There are people who have been here for over 20 years and I admire their dedication to the organization and to their job. I’d love to one day be able to tell newcomers that I’ve been here for 20 plus years and about all the things I’ve done here and the people I’ve met. I truly feel a sense of longevity here. When I was first looking for jobs after college, a job at a Jewish organization interested me, but I didn’t have the same passion I have now. When I was in NJ, I also tried to find jobs in the field of Judaism but had no luck. The first interview I had out there was for a Jewish organization on Wall Street, but the commute was too long to justify being there every day. I had a kid to worry about, as well. I also interviewed at some other Jewish organizations but they required work on Sundays and that wasn’t something to which I felt I could commit. I also envied a girl who was the Jewish liaison for the local hospital. It sounded like such an amazing and meaningful job. I ended up working for an Orthodox couple and helping them with an aspect of their medical billing business. While the business itself had nothing to do with Judaism, I liked that we were able to connect on that level and that I didn’t have to worry about taking time off for Shabbos or holidays. When I landed the interview (and then the job) at my current organization, I was ecstatic! (Of course, I felt even better once I had childcare lined up for after school hours.) I’ve been at this job for almost 5 months and feel like I’ve been here for years. It may not be curing pets or straightening teeth, but it’s meaningful to be here and that’s what’s important to me now.

With a dreamy, far-off look and her nose stuck in a book....

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week's topic comes from Desperate Madness: What's your absolute favorite book?

This is such a hard question for me to answer. I've always been a bookaholic. My subject line comes from the song "Belle" from "Beauty and the Beast," said at a point where she's walking through the town while reading at the same time. I also can walk while reading, as I do it on my treadmill all the time. I have a lot of favorite books and authors. Too many to even name! Asking me to pick just one is like asking me which of my children is my favorite. Impossible! However, I do want to talk about a book that has resonated and stuck with me for the past 12 years: "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb.

I don't know what it is about this book, but I think about it all the time and still remember parts of it like I just read it yesterday. I love that Wally Lamb can write a woman (Dolores Price) so convincingly that I forget he's a man. It's one of those books that I couldn't put down and have since recommended to everyone I know (and even loaned out recently). It even inspired me to get an apartment for my last year of college. Despite how dark some parts of the book were, I couldn't stay away. It's definitely not a light and fluffy chick lit romance novel. It's a coming of age story that is both sad and uplifting. I always hoped for a sequel, but Dolores does get a cameo in one of his other books and you get to find out what she's been up to since this story.

No matter how many books I loved in the past and will love in the future, "She's Come Undone" will always be there to set the bar for excellent writing and storytelling.

Fall Back and Spring Forward

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week's topic comes from Froggie: Write about your favorite season or time of year.

My favorite season is autumn, but my favorite time of year is the month of March.

To explain in more detail...I love the way autumn looks and feels. I love how beautiful the leaves are when they turn red, orange, yellow and brown. I love the piles of leaves that my kids can run through and crunch under their feet. I sometimes like to join them. I like how it means a new start...a new year of school and a new year on the Hebrew calendar. Sukkot takes place in the fall and I love being able to sit outside in the crisp air and enjoy a hot bowl of "Journey's End" soup. I love making campfires and eating s'mores. These days, the "campfire" is really my s'mores making set. :) I also love an excuse to wear sweaters but not need a coat just yet. I still have a thing for Halloween and autumn always represents that for me. I love all the pumpkins sitting out on peoples' front steps and the fact that canned pumpkin is in season to make lots of pies, cakes and soups. And call me crazy, but I love the smell of chimney smoke. It has such a cozy feel to it. I also enjoy taking trips to get pictures of the leaves. We missed out on doing that last year due to a lot of rain and a busy High Holiday season. In the past we would go to Starved Rock State Park when we lived in Illinois. We got some great pictures there and it was so beautiful to walk around in general. One year, we skipped out on Starved Rock to take a weekend trip through Door County, Wisconsin. The colors were beautiful out there too. There were fun festivals in the small towns along the way to the tip of Wisconsin. At other times, we have just taken nature walks through our neighborhood or have gone apple picking. Finally, my older son was born in September, so I always look forward to celebrating his birthday as one of the first autumn activities. I'm hoping we can go camping this autumn, as that would be a lot of fun.

To date, my desktop wallpaper at work is of an autumn scene....

As for my favorite time of year being the month of March...it just marks a bunch of big events in my life. I moved out of my parents' house and into my grandma's condo (when she was in assisted living) in March of 2000. I started taking improv comedy classes in March of 2001. In March of 2003, I got engaged on a cruise. My wedding was in March of 2004. We celebrated an anniversary in Vegas in March of 2006. My younger son was born in March of 2008. And we saw "In the Heights" in March of 2009 (another anniversary celebration). March is also when Purim usually occurs. It was in February this year, but close enough to carry over into March as Shushan Purim. I love how fun and festive the holiday is and sometimes it gets compared to Halloween, but without all the spooky stuff (even though Haman was scary).

While I love that the leaves are coming off the trees in autumn because it's done in such a graceful way, I also love that spring comes along in March and the trees start to bring forth new life with their leaves and flowers. This is my first spring in Maryland and I'm enjoying all the beauty of it. While I enjoy the peacefulness of an early evening that arrives with the autumn, I also enjoy having more daylight in the spring (even though it confuses my older son in terms of understanding night time). I guess I'm just full of contrasts, but it's nice to have something to look forward to every 6 months. :)

To Life, L'Chaim!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week's topic choice is once again my own: What is your favorite thing about your religion?

"Friday night, always a good night for some Sabbath.... 'cause, you know, Friday? is the Sabbath....for the Jews."

This was said on "Freaks and Geeks" by Neil, in response to Lindsey wanting to play Black Sabbath at her party. At the time I heard this line, I laughed but didn't give it much more thought. It was over 10 years ago and I wasn't observing Shabbos at the time. A few years later, I was watching "The Big Lebowski" and found it funny when John Goodman's character, Walter, was talking about how he was Shomer Shabbos and that meant he couldn't bowl on Saturday. Again, I didn't give it much thought as I was going out shopping and to movies on Saturday at the time.

This brings me to my first favorite thing about being Jewish: Shabbat! I wrote more in detail about my Jewish observance history, detailing various Shabbat experiences that have led me to where I am today, which is Shomer Shabbos for 3 years. Now that I've been Shomer Shabbos for this long, I can't even imagine going back to the way things used to be.

I love all of Shabbat, but I especially look forward to Friday night. That's when we bring in Shabbat and get to relax after a long and busy week. After I light candles with the boys, we sing Shabbat songs and dance around. Sometimes they'll play toys while we wait for my husband (their Abba) to come home from mincha. Then we all gather to welcome the Shabbos Queen with "Shalom Aleichem." Next we sing a song about a dinosaur who wants to spend Shabbat with us. The kids know all the words and they think it's a lot of fun. Afterward, my husband sings Ayshes Chayil (a virtuous woman) and then we bless the kids. Finally, it's time for Kiddush and challah. I just love the warmth and all the rituals involved with Friday night Shabbos dinner. It's something I enjoyed during the few experiences I had with it growing up (aside from going to temple with my family). I love that I can share this with my husband and kids. Sometimes we have Shabbos meals with friends and/or extended family. It's so nice to share the warmth with other special people in our lives.

Being Shomer Shabbos means that we don't use technology, drive, turn on/off lights, cook, play music, etc. during Shabbat. We've started to explain these customs to our kids and are teaching them what is muktzah. We're still learning about this for ourselves in the process. In any case, it's nice to have a day reserved for peace and quiet. My husband and I spend so much time on the computer all week, and the kids rely on the TV too much for entertainment. It's nice that we have this day to be a family, when we can eat, play and talk without the external influences of noise created by modern objects from our daily lives. Sometimes we even get in a nap, which is encouraged on Shabbat. Of course, that messes up our nighttime schedule, but it's nice on a long day after a filling meal.


Would you like some cream cheese with that "bagel?"

Over the last few years, I began to hear the term "bagel" being used to refer to an action instead of a food item. To "bagel" someone means that a Jewish person goes up to another Jewish person and reveals their identity as a fellow member of the tribe in some subtle way, such as asking where the nearest shul is or saying a phrase in Hebrew. I was "bageled" the other day when a man saw me standing next to my son, who wears a kipah, and wished me "Chag Sameach." I know I have "bageled" people in the past. I don't really have to when I have my older son around, since he makes it obvious that we're Jewish. However, there will be times I'm in line at the grocery store and the person behind me has all Kosher items in their cart. I can't help but wish them a good Shabbos!

This brings me to my second favorite thing about Judaism: Community! I love that there are so many Jewish people with whom to connect. This is not just in my neighborhood, at my shul or at my workplace, but all over the world! I love that while we're lighting Shabbos candles on Friday night, millions of women are doing this at the same time. I love being able to connect about experiences, beliefs, customs, etc. I mentioned this in my other blog about Judaism (referenced in the first section), but I love that when I was in Israel, everyone knew the words to "Am Yisrael Chai" and "Hatikvah," no matter where they were from. It was such an amazing and powerful feeling to be at that convention in Israel during my Birthright trip and one of the reasons I wanted to be more active in a Jewish community when I returned home. I also love how Facebook and other internet programs have connected Jewish people from all over the world. I love that I have found friends from NFTY, Makor, Birthright, etc. and am talking to them all in one place.

I love playing Jewish Geography and seeing who is connected in the Jewish world. It has led to so many coincidences in my life (and even in my husband's life). I even met my husband partially because of Jewish Geography. When I lived in Illinois, there was a diner where I would see someone I knew (usually Jewish) every time I went there. Nowadays, I usually see a few people I know every time I go to my favorite Kosher pizza place. During our first week here, several people introduced themselves to us the first time we had dinner at the pizza place.

Another thing that ties in with this is that I love going to all Kosher supermarkets and Judaica stores. I get a natural high from seeing stores with only Kosher items (Seven Mile Market was like the ultimate nirvana for me) and I love stores that sell things that cater only to the Jewish community in general. I love the creative things they sell, such as shirts that say "Chai Maintenance" and Hanukkiahs (a.k.a. menorahs) with different themes. They have lots of beautiful artwork and interesting books and toys for kids. I think I know that in either store, it's safe to say that no one has to do any "bageling" since everyone in the store is usually Jewish.

I can really connect Shabbat with community these days. We live in an Orthodox community with several shuls within walking distance. There's a Friday night and Yom Tov mincha minyan on our street, which is nice for my husband. On Saturday or holiday mornings, there are a lot of people who walk to shul around the same time and everyone greets each other. In the afternoons, people in the neighborhood get together so the kids can play and the adults can chat. It's not uncommon for someone to just drop by later in the day. The combination of Shabbat and community is what makes me elated to be Jewish.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness


This week's topic comes from Charmingly Random: Do you have any birthday traditions? If you don't celebrate your birthday, are there any annual traditions you participate in? Tell me about them!

Oddly enough, I don't have any traditions surrounding my birthday. I love celebrating my birthday, but every year it has been something random. I used to stay up till 12:35 am to see my birthday come in, but I'm too tired these days to uphold such a custom. This year, Tisha B'Av (a sad day during which we fast; it is held in remembrance of the burning of the temples) happens to fall on my birthday. (A few years ago I shared it with the Fast of Tammuz, but I broke it halfway through because it was extremely hot outside.)

Instead of sharing birthday traditions, I am going to share my top 5 favorite birthdays ever!

1. My 11th birthday party at Ed Debevic's. It's when Froggie and I first became friends and she got me the "Beverly Hills Cop 2" soundtrack because we would joke about "I Want Your Sex" by George Michael (because sex was such a bad word for us at the time. :) ) Afterward, Froggie and another close friend spent the night and then we all took the bus to camp together the next day. Even though junior high was hellish for me, it was a nice way to see myself into my adolescent years. My party was a lot of fun in general, thanks to a cool waitress.

*Side note: I was watching "90210" after writing this post and one of the guys had "I Want Your Sex" as his ring tone. :)

2. My 30th birthday party, which was a semi-surprise. My husband and two close friends of mine (one who unfortunately ended up not being able to make it because of heat sensitivity) threw a Hawaiian luau (that was the surprise part) and then we went to Hala Kahiki, a Hawaiian bar with really cool drinks. My husband had a picture of me put onto an ice cream cake, and even what he did to the picture was a surprise. A video of the experience can be found here.

3. My 18th birthday, which involved going to see "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with my parents, sister, grandparents and a close friend of mine (whom I talked about in last week's "Friendship Friday" blog). Afterward, we went to Lockwood Castle and they gave me a birthday sundae with a sparkler in it. I hadn't had a sparkler in my birthday dessert since I went to Farrell's when I was little!

4. My 33rd birthday, which made up for my 31st and 32nd birthdays being so dull and forgettable. I went to see "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" with my older son and a girl I had become friends with over the past few months. Then we went bowling with my husband and her husband (as well as my younger son, of course). Afterward, we went to one of our favorite restaurants with the couple. It was just a fun day overall.

5. My 25th birthday, which was held at the Cubby Bear North. It was just fun to have a group of friends together at a bar. We all sat outside because the weather was so gorgeous. "Jack" was there and gave me some fun birthday surprises (the best one being a DVD player....he couldn't take my old school style). :)

There are other birthdays that I enjoyed (such as one at the Neo-Futurarium and one involving my dog embarrassing me in front of a fun group of friends), as well as some that I wish had never happened. With my birthday being in the middle of the summer, it was never acknowledged at school, but the upside was being able to have outdoor parties or do something summer-themed.

One of my other favorite birthday memories was when I turned 26 and my husband (then boyfriend) decided to surprise me with a cake at work. I did not expect that at all and he earned major brownie points for doing so.

I enjoy focusing on my kids' birthdays nowadays and always making them special in some way or another. I know there will be a lot of milestone birthdays to celebrate as time goes on. I'm already excited for my younger son's upsherin (hair cutting ceremony) next year. :) And my older son will be 5, so that's a big deal too!

I also enjoy doing stuff for my husband's birthday, whether it is throwing him a surprise party (which I did last year) or just taking him out someplace special.

As for my own food-free birthday this year, I'll just celebrate the next day, when it's permissible to enjoy things again. :)

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week's topic comes from Desperate Madness: What is the happiest moment that you can remember in your life?

This topic was asking for another Sondheim quote! Once again, from "Into the Woods" in a song called "Moments in the Woods."

"Oh, if life were made of moments,
Even now and then a bad one!
But if life were only moments,
Then you'd never know you had one."

I thought of this song because I feel that I have so many happy moments in my life that it is hard to list just one. However, it takes times of unhappiness or when nothing is really happening in order to make such moments stand out. That they're something I can look back on when I need a good smile or laugh.

Of course, there will be cliche things that I have to mention, such as my engagement, wedding and the birth of my two sons. There is more than meets the eye for me personally when it comes to these moments.

*On my wedding day, there was a point before everything started happening where my husband and I got to see each other in our wedding gear without the crowd and excitement surrounding us. I think people would only get to see this moment if they watch our DVD. (My stepmother-in-law and my dad were the only family members who got to witness this in person.) My husband was facing the other direction and I was instructed to tap him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw me in my dress with my hair done and makeup freshly applied. His smile was so genuine and he made me feel so beautiful at that moment that I was laughing and crying at the same time. He looked so handsome in his tux and I was so excited that we would officially become husband and wife in a matter of hours. I know it's not customary for brides and grooms to see each other before the wedding, but it is different in Orthodox Judaism. Normally, we would have waited until the badeken (veiling) ceremony but everyone was nagging us to have pictures done together before things got crazy. We still got to have our special moment of awe and the badeken still was amazing. I was laughing and smiling from all the excitement of that.

*When my younger son was born, I was expecting him to be a girl (I was pretty much convinced of it, as were most of my family members and friends) up until the moment the doctor placed him on my stomach and told me he was a boy. I was so thrilled and surprised that I started crying tears of joy. I'm not discrediting the excitement of my older son's birth, but I had a feeling he'd be a boy in the beginning.

Aside from these happy moments, here are more that I'd like to share (not in any order, necessarily):

*Making it into my first and only play in high school. I felt like Elle Woods when she saw her name on Professor Callahan's list.

*The first time I won an award at a speech tournament. It was during sophomore year. Although it was 3rd place, it still felt great!

*Winning another award during junior year of high school for something I didn't expect at all. I had assistant directed two plays during that year and received a theater service award. Yes, an award for doing something I enjoyed. It was cool to receive such an honor.

*The day my sister and I waited outside for hours to get front row tickets to see "Rent."

*Meeting celebrities (the best being Adam Pascal).

*When I worked at a Chinese restaurant and gave a cocktail fan to a girl with developmental and physical disabilities. The smile on her face brightened my whole day and I still think about it and smile.

*This past New Year's Eve, just playing board games with friends but laughing really hard over the craziest things.

*Receiving an e-mail from my older son's teacher telling me that she thought he was smart enough to test for kindergarten in the fall, even though he missed the deadline.

*Finding out that my older son's speech therapist (at his school in NJ) was able to do auditory-verbal therapy. That was something we really wanted for him at the time.

*While I was in Israel, the night I was in an auditorium full of Jewish people from all over the world who all knew the same songs.

*Finding out that I was pregnant with my older son and having it confirmed by my doctor.

*Seeing "In the Heights" last year and getting to meet the actors afterward.

*Receiving a book I really wanted in the mail for free because I won it! :)

There are so many big and little happy moments that I'd be writing this blog for a year if I listed them all. I feel fortunate to have so much about which to be happy. I know I'll continue to have moments that I can list in blog entries like this. I might even make it into a regular weekly entry. When I was in England, I'd write 5 good things about each day so that I could look back and smile. I don't see any reason why I couldn't do that on a weekly basis. I know my BFF tried it for a while and I hope she'll get back into the habit of doing it again too. It's definitely nice to be able to cherish the happy moments whenever possible!

What if?

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week's topic comes from Froggie: We all have times in our lives that we look back on and wonder what our lives would be like if we had just made a different decision. What is one of those times for you?

I wanted to start off by sharing some lyrics from "The Road You Didn't Take" by Stephen Sondheim ("Follies"). Can you tell I use his music a lot for my blogs?

"You take one road,
You try one door,
There isn't time for any more.
One's life consists of either/or.
One has regrets
Which one forgets,
And as the years go on.
The road you didn't take
Hardly comes to mind,
Does it?

The door you didn't try,
Where could it have led?
The choice you didn't make
Never was defined.
Was it?

Dreams you didn't dare
Are dead.
Were they ever there?
Who said?

You take your road,
The decades fly,
The yearnings fade, the longings die.
You learn to bid them all goodbye.
And oh, the peace,
The blessed peace...
At last you come to know:
The roads you never take
Go through rocky ground,
Don't they?

The choices that you make
Aren't all that grim.
The worlds you never see
Still will be around,
Won't they?"

I was pointed to this song through an article my mother-in-law sent me yesterday about a Stephen Sondheim birthday concert she attended. The title stuck out to me since we were writing about this topic.

The road I didn't take is an interesting one. When I was in college, I originally majored in special education. During second semester of freshman year, I had the opportunity to work with some children who were deaf. I got to teach them about the Internet. I was also taking a fascinating class about speech pathology at the time. The children in the class were really sweet and I had a good rapport with them, even though I had no knowledge of sign language at the time.

During the summer between freshman and sophomore year, I worked part-time at a summer camp for children with special needs. I originally was placed in a group with two counselors who were deaf. Then they switched me out of that group for some unknown reason. I got to know some kids who were developmentally disabled and enjoyed working with them. After that summer, I decided to follow the path of developmental disabilities (i.e. mental retardation) when I delved deeper into my studies. I stuck with this path until first semester of senior year, when I realized that I was in the wrong field altogether. I wasn't cut out to be a teacher and I think I finally realized that through one of my practicums. I ended up changing majors to psychology and taking on an extra year to finish off that major instead. I did really well with psychology overall, but it was impossible to find a job in the real world without at least a master's degree. So I went the corporate and administrative route instead.

To backtrack a little, during that same first semester of senior year, I took an American Sign Language class. It was interesting, but I had a rough time with it because the teacher never spoke and expected us to pick up the signs without any knowledge to what she was referring. It was very frustrating. If I didn't have the supplemental group lessons offered outside of the class, I would have been even more lost. I enjoyed the supplemental lessons that were taught by a woman who was deaf. She was very patient and I picked up quite a lot of signs. However, like with Spanish (which I was really comfortable with for quite some time), if I didn't use the skill, I lost it.

This all makes me wonder what my life would have been like had I chosen to work in the field of hearing loss. Would I have become more comfortable with sign language? Would I have had more patience with teaching children? Would I have been able to apply my skills and knowledge to teaching my older son how to listen and speak? I think about this now because I see how wonderful the school programs are for my son. The teachers really love what they are doing and are so passionate about working with my son and his peers. Even when I went to speech therapy with him, I became fascinated with all the techniques being used to help him pick up language. I'm guessing that if I ever wanted to go down this route, it wouldn't be too late. However, I am immersed in a life filled with hearing loss in my own home and am not sure if I would want that outside the home too. I don't know if any of my sons' teachers or therapists have people with hearing loss in their immediate family.

I don't think my choice overall would have changed where I am now in terms of meeting my husband (which had nothing to do with my career choice), my Jewish observance level, where I live (it might have made me more likely to live out here sooner, since DC is a great area for people with hearing loss), etc. If I had become a teacher for the deaf or a speech therapist, I might have been more obsessive over my son's language development and more critical of his speech therapists overall. I think I enjoy going along for the ride at this juncture. I like being given information and letting the teacher be in charge of his IEP (for which I respect her, as they take an incredible amount of hard work). I don't mind putting the education and language development of my child in the hands of others whom I trust are very professional. I help by constantly reinforcing what he has learned and I know what my husband and I have done at home has paid off recently.

In the meantime, if I had chosen that route, my friendships might have been different. I wouldn't have lived in an apartment during my last year of college if I had finished when I was supposed to. Living in that apartment brought me close to two friends of mine. We still have fun memories of those times together. I also wouldn't have met "Jack". Finally, I am passionate about where I work now and am happy here. I can definitely see building a thriving career out of where I work and I might even be able to use my psychology skills down the road. (I already had to use them this week.)

While there will always be those "what ifs" hanging around, I feel comfortable with my current life choices and am glad that my son has so many resources available to him in this day and age, regardless of my career choice. I learned through subbing for a Sunday school class that I definitely do not have the patience to be a teacher. And sometimes I don't even know where I get the patience to be a mother! However, I love being able to teach my boys new things and I get so excited when they retain what they've learned and display that knowledge at a later time. I think that's all I need for now.

What *don't* you know?

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness


This week’s topic comes from yours truly again. I was watching “American Idol” last week and each of the contestants had to share something that most people would not know about them. I decided to have everyone, including myself, do the same.

(While the topic was mainly influenced by "American Idol," I also thought about how my mom recently told me that she used to knit when she was around my age or a little younger. I never knew that about her before!)


Here goes:

The ironically funny thing about me choosing this topic is that I’m an open book. I think everyone knows almost everything about me now that I’ve put myself out there so much on Facebook and have been blogging about things that come up from past memories. However, I was able to come up with something that I’m sure most people who didn’t know me at the time will have as new information and people who knew me then will have probably forgotten about it anyway.

I bet you’re thinking that the first time I ever traveled overseas was to Israel in 2002. I probably would have won a lot from such a bet because the first time I traveled overseas was in 1992, during the summer between sophomore and junior year of high school. I went to England for an exchange trip through my school.

Time to backtrack first: In the fall of 1991, there was an opportunity to host girls who were visiting from England for a month (and we’d also be able to travel to England the following summer if we chose to). I went after this opportunity right away (being that it’s not a lengthy visitor, and neither were the girls). The girl they paired me with was really nice. I remember that she liked frogs and collected erasers (which she called “rubbers;” something amusing to be yelled out loud in stationery shops). All the girls got to participate in school activities and check out the classes. They also went on field trips all over Chicago. I got to tag along for some trips, including one further away to Springfield (since I didn’t go there when I was in junior high, it was nice to be able to participate). On weekends, the girl would spend time with my family and me. We tried to keep her entertained as much as possible. I think my mom did that by herself though. She was the victim of a bad hair-dying experiment (from a salon, oddly enough) and also decided to get her ears double pierced. The girl thought my mom was trying to be a rock star! We had a fun time having her stay with us and participate in some of our daily or weekly family routines. We had some funny miscommunications due to my unfamiliarity with some British terms. Once she asked for “cotton” and I gave her cotton balls. She was actually asking for thread. Also, things sounded really cute in her dialect, like when she said our dog ate her nuggets (new-gits) or that our cat was massive (mah-siv). When she left to return to England, I was sad to see her go, but determined to go visit her the following summer.

Finally, it was June of 1992 and I was overly excited to board a plane that would take me overseas for the first time in my life. It was a long flight, but I read, watched movies and slept. When we arrived, I had major jet lag, but they decided to take us touring right away. In one town, an old lady asked me to help her cross the street and I was so freaked out by the change of traffic directions that I was practically running with her to get across safely! I also had trouble distinguishing pounds from pence when I went to get ice cream. And I even asked someone what a kwee-wee (queue) was! (That later became an inside joke with my husband.)

We spent a weekend in London before heading closer to Birmingham to meet our host families. While we were in London, we walked, took their underground or rode trolleys to get where we needed to be. We stayed in a youth hostel overnight, but it was very loud and hard to sleep. The lady managing our trip brought sandwiches for everyone but they were disgusting and birds wouldn’t even eat them. I did enjoy seeing a lot of London even though it was such a whirlwind trip. I think I’d enjoy it more now that half the books I read take place there. At night, we got to see a musical. I was hoping for something along the lines of “Les Miserables” but the trip wasn’t budgeted for such a show. We ended up seeing “Me and My Girl.” It was decent, but had more of a dinner theater feel.

When we finally got settled with our host families, I got to take a real nap and catch up on all the sleep I missed. Then I had tea (which is really dinner) afterward. I got to stay with the girl we hosted the previous fall. Her family was so nice. I adored her mom and even helped do chores around the house without being asked. I was there during Wimbledon season, so I got to see a lot of tennis. I was cheering for Agassi, of course. It got all heated between me and the family, but in a fun way. I got to partake in family traditions such as Sunday dinner (which is really lunch). I helped the girl and her mom cook using the metric system. I also read a lot of books that I wouldn’t have found in the US. I got hooked on watching “Neighbours” and “Home and Away” and laughed at all the funny commercials that came on during the shows. I also caught up on some classic movie musicals, such as “Oklahoma.” I’d stay up at night talking with the girl and laughing about crazy things. Other times, I got pretty homesick, especially after I talked to my family on the phone. I missed some of my friends too. A month feels a lot longer when you’ve never been overseas before.

During most of each week, I would go to school with the girl and check out some of the classes. I made friends with some girls I met in those classes. Everyone was fascinated by the fact that I was American. I think they found my dialect as amusing as I found the girl’s dialect the previous year. There was one time when we got to check out an elementary school and help out the kids with their assignments. The kids were asking me a lot of questions. (One was “Is it proper for a boy to marry another boy in America?” I wonder if he watches world news these days?) They also laughed when I said “period” instead of “stopmark.”

We also had some big field trips. We went to Bath, Oxford, Stratford, downtown Birmingham, etc. I have tons of pictures from all the places we visited. I also kept a journal detailing my trip (which I came across again while cleaning my closet and looked over some entries from that time). I purchased tons of souvenir items, as well. In the evenings, I’d spend time with the girl and her family. Sometimes we’d go out for meals and sometimes we’d stay in and barbeque. The food was interesting too. They had different names for things and it got confusing sometimes. I really liked Shepard’s Pie though. However, I was put off lamb after overindulging in it there. The girl’s mom was a really good cook, so I enjoyed all the meals. Ironically enough, I got to celebrate Independence Day with all the other people from America that came on the trip. (There weren’t that many of us.) We had a barbecue at the home of another host family. By the time I got comfortable with my surroundings (enough to cross the street on my own or figure out how much money to put out for an item), it was time to go home. On our last day there, the girl and her mom took me to a movie theater to see “Howard’s End.” Despite the fact that it was a boring movie, it was cool to experience a movie in a British theater. They have an intermission halfway through.

Overall, I had a great time and the memories of that trip still resonate with me enough to write a blog about it! I stayed in touch with the girl for a few years after my trip. Then we lost contact for a long time until I found her on Facebook. It’s great to be in contact with her again and to see that things are going well in her life. I’d love to go back to England again sometime, but mostly to check out more of London. It would be neat to pay a visit to my host family if it were accessible to make a trip to the Birmingham area. Staying with them was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

We are Family!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness

This week’s topic comes from Charmingly Random:
Tell me how you were raised - are there any lessons that your parent(s) taught you that you didn't appreciate when you were younger, but understand now that you're an adult?

Here goes:
This topic was very interesting food for thought on which to chew.

I like how I was raised. I can’t say that things were perfect from every angle. (My mom and I got in some huge fights every so often, but who doesn’t fight with their parents?) However, I liked that my parents cared and were involved in both my sister’s and my lives. We did a lot of things as a family: vacations, dinners out, seeing musicals, going to movies a lot, getting haircuts, being dragged on every errand whether we liked it or not, spending time with extended family, etc. When we were younger, we used to always have meals with my parents around the kitchen table. When our dad got home, we’d ask him if he found anyone a job (he was a recruiter). Then we’d sit down to a home-cooked meal. When my sister and I were involved with after-school activities, our parents could always be counted on for rides home from school. While they paid for a lot of things for us, they also encouraged us to get jobs and made sure we would become responsible adults before they sent us off to college.

When I took interest in a TV show, my mom would take interest too and we’d joke around about stuff that happened on the show. (Such as “Steeempy, you eeediot!”) When my sister and I became close friends with someone, my parents would practically adopt them as a family member (only if they liked them too). When we were involved with our different extracurricular interests, they would come to our competitions or shows. They visited us both in college and sent care packages a lot. There was a funny instance at overnight camp when my sister and I realized that they wrote us the same letter. We joked about it later. Our dad spent countless hours teaching us how to drive and hiring teachers for extra lessons outside of school until we got it right. He also took us for our licenses. Our parents spent a fortune on orthodontist visits so that we could both have nice looking teeth. They helped us with many of our school projects even when we told them about them at the last minute. (My dad mentioned my grandpa doing the same thing for him as a kid, as well.) If we had trouble with a subject in school, they worked with us until we understood it, even if it meant getting tutoring services.

Since my dad lived in a female dominated household, he went with the flow and bonded with us in his own ways, whether it was through Indian Princesses or “date” nights at our favorite Chinese restaurant. His favorite motto was “Dad can fix anything.” He taught this to us from day one. I would still call him when I was living on my own and something went wrong in my condo. He and I rarely ever fought, even when we disagreed. When I was a kid, I would go to watch him bowl on his league night. He and his bowling teammates would teach me hand symbols for strikes, spares and gutter balls. Later, I got into bowling for myself and we competed as a team once. Eventually, I went to watch him bowl for his league again when he and my husband were on the same team.

My mom took us to the mall all the time and was our fashion consultant until we were old enough to shop by ourselves. Even when we butted heads, we still were able to have heart-to-heart discussions. She spent a lot of time teaching us how to cook, which is why I love baking so much. She was the room mother for various parties when I was in elementary school. I think she also gave me the reading “bug.” She and I still love reading and we always recommend books to each other. I think our book tastes are even more similar now. She was the one (along with my sister) who helped me pick out my wedding dress. She also took over as "bridezilla" so I didn't have to be one. We had our disagreements in regard to some things about the wedding, but it all worked out in the end.

I never felt the need to drink (even after I turned 21, I kept it to a minimum), smoke or do drugs. I could attribute this to being raised with good values or just being picky enough about smells and tastes to not want to forage that path. The most rebellious thing I did, if you can even call it that, was participate in midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (which they even supported once they knew how passionate I was about it).

I don’t know what “lesson” I’ve really learned from all this. Maybe just about what it takes to be a good parent and stay involved in my kids’ lives. I already feel like I am doing that. Especially with my older son who has hearing loss…people always tell me what a difference my involvement has made for him, in a good way. I love teaching them how to cook, getting together with extended family, going out for meals together, reading with them, taking my older son to movies, being a room mother (even though it done differently now), playing skeeball or going bowling, shopping for their clothes, helping with "homework," teaching them about responsibility (in the simplest form possible for their age level), etc. We’re always guaranteed a special meal at home together every Friday night, but we make sure to sit and eat with them at dinnertime during the week, as well. Now that they’re getting bigger, they can communicate with us, which makes it even nicer.

My parents are also involved in my kids' lives, just like how our grandparents were involved in our lives (my sister's and mine, that is). They always have toys for them at their house and they visit whenever possible. They send care packages on occasion. They love spending time with the kids. They always call to see how they're doing. Now that we talk on Skype, they're even more connected despite the miles between us.

Overall, I am thankful to my parents for being involved in my life (while also allowing me to be independent) and I have a lot of good memories of our fun times together.