Adventures and Mysteries

Every day I find myself looking at KosherCop and wondering where my scrunchy-faced little baby went. But as much as it scares me to see him growing up so fast, my brother was right. Kids just get more and more fun as they get older.

Our new fun is reading mystery/adventure stories. We had gotten him the first story in the Magic Tree House series for his birthday and it seemed to really capture his imagination. So when his aunt sent him a gift card to a bookstore, we went back for more.

This series is great - a brother and sister find a magic tree house that allows them to travel through time. There is mystery, adventure, clues, danger, and plenty of jumping off points for imaginative play. KosherCop's new favorite game is to round up his friends after services to "spy and look for clues".

What's nice is each story is self-contained, but is part of a larger mystery that (at least for the first 4 or 5) builds over several books. KosherCop just gobbles them up and then talks and wonders about the clues. It's really exciting to see this new phase.

The other series I tried to get him interested in was the Boxcar Children. He was enjoying the first one pretty well while we were reading it, but after putting it down he has been too excited about the Magic Tree House books to pick it up again. I guess even though the kids in the story live in a train car, the fact that it's not moving loses something for him. It's very much the kind of story I would have liked as a kid, though - heck, I like it now! Four kids live rent-free and they decorate their home with stuff they find in a junkyard?

Why it's a vintage girl's dream come true!

Happy Anniversary Kosher Whine!

Kosher Whine is 1 year old today! I wrote my first blog post a year ago on October 24, 2007.

Thanks to everyone who stops by to read about the antics of KosherCook, KosherCop, and me!

Here's to another great year of mishaps, missteps, and general silliness that might provide content for this site.

Thanks for a great first year!

Jewish Living Magazine: The Final Update

So in the end it really didn't matter whether I subscribed to Jewish Living Magazine or not.

Blame it on the financial crisis - apparently they shut their doors at the end of September due to their investors stopping their funding.

Here is the email I received a couple of days after they shut down:

Dear Jewish Living Subscribers -

Over the last few days we have been overwhelmed and gratified by the thousands of emails we've received from you expressing your deep disappointment at the suspension of publication. We share your disappointment and want to let you know that we did everything in our power to continue publication.

As of this past Sunday night there was no reason to think we were going to suspend publication. We had been operating in good faith and were about to go to press with our Nov/Dec issue.

Given recent market freefall combined with current economic conditions, our investors informed us on Monday morning (Sept 27th) that they would no longer continue funding the magazine. We immediately informed our staff, our subscribers and our suppliers.

That said, we deeply regret the situation we all find ourselves in. As we were a stand alone publication, the staff and principals of Jewish Living will now be starting the new year looking for other employment. We are also aware and very sympathetic to the fact that many loyal subscribers had recently
renewed their subscriptions and new subscribers have come on board. Recently received credit card + check payment orders have not been processed.

We are making every effort - as is customary when magazines fail - to ensure that subscribers will receive a replacement magazine subscription to a comparable publication.

Thank you again for subscribing, for sharing the vision with us and - for a short time - for celebrating under the big tent of Jewish Living.

Sincerely,
Dan

--
Dan Zimerman
Jewish Living magazine

Well at least we know no one was exaggerating about how businesses would start to fail.

Chag Sameach and L'Shana Tovah!

It's October. How did this happen? Wasn't it just August?

So much has happened. I started a new job at my company. Am I enjoying it? Well, I don't come home and tell KosherCook that my day was "mind-numbing", so I guess it is better.

KosherCop turned 5 at the world's worst children's birthday party a mother could ever hope to throw. KosherCop had a great a time - he's a big fan of mayhem.

KosherCook had to go to a funeral when the party was supposed to happen so I was on my own. Thank goodness my friend LN was there to help me, or those kids would've brought me to tears. Also, KosherCop was quite the ringleader. He greeted every kid at the door with "Free candy! Come and get your free candy!" (Like a moron I had put out candy for the adults figuring they would monitor their kids chocolate intake. Wrong.) So the party started with 8 kids spilling a thousand mini M&Ms all over the living room. I also realized as this was happening that the beads for the beading project I had planned (not my idea - my son loves stringing beads) bore a striking resemblance to the mini m&ms. Luckily no one mixed them up - that I know of.

Then KosherCop decided that all the kids should come into his bedroom and shut the door. I followed them in to tell them the door needed to stay open and 6 little munchkins were jumping on the bed. KosherCop's idea. So I sent them out with some toys and closed the door. I tried to play a game with them, but our house is really tiny and all the parents were talking so the kids couldn't really hear me and just looked at me like I was crazy.

Somehow I got them to the table for lunch (which they hardly ate even though I had made very delicious tuna and PBJ sandwiches shaped like hearts and dinosaurs. The parents at least seemed to like the tuna dinosaurs) and birthday cake (which they all took 2 bites out of and left over - too many m&ms I guess).

Then, covered in tuna and cake they all went back to playing. While I tried to keep one little boy from repeatedly ramming KosherCop's bedroom door with a dump truck full of blocks, KosherCop opened the piano so all his friends could bang on it with tunafish-fingers (the piano had to be cleaned and tuned anyway - now it needs to be cleaned and de-tuna'd).

At this point I pretty much gave up and told KosherCop to give out the goody bags. It ended up being only about 15 minutes before the party was scheduled to end so it worked out okay. Then KosherCook came home and started cleaning up and all was right with the world again.

The very next day was Erev Rosh Hashanah and I somehow worked and still managed to cook chicken soup and bake a honey cake before our families gave up and went home hungry. Honestly, I don't know why they continue to show up at the time we tell them. I guess they just like us and know they won't be eating until 2 hours after they arrive. We love you too, guys!

Let's see - Rosh Hashanah - that brings us to Yom Kippur, bronchitis, lots of drugs that keep me awake but finally stopped me coughing, and then to today. KosherCook's amazing - he got up an hour before I did, fed KosherCop, and started cooking stuffed cabbage. Then he went to shul with KosherCop and I finished up the cabbage. Unfortunately that was for dinner, not lunch, which we had guests coming for. Honestly, I don't know why our friends continue to show up at the time we tell them. I guess they also like us and know they won't be eating until 2 hours after they arrive. Do you see a theme here?

The cabbage proved further to be an unfortunate choice. It was slow-cooking in our crockpot and when we came in from the Sukkah, the cabbage had released its full force of odoriferousness. The kids all pronounced the house super-stinky and I had to agree. But our friends seemed to forgive us that too. And it tasted good, despite the smell.

So that brings you up-to-date. It leaves just one thing. The election. We are reading and watching everything said about it. I can't speak for KosherCook, but I guess I think as long as I keep watching, Obama's poll numbers will stay up. Kind of like when we are driving and I don't let myself nod off because I'm afraid KosherCook will fall asleep too (when he's driving - when I'm driving I just go ahead and nap).

I have to say I enjoy the humor that comes from Sarah Palin being on the McCain ticket, though. Not just Tina Fey as Palin - which I love. I started thinking about her foreign policy expertise - being able to see Russia from her window. So I started to look at all the things I could see from my window. I can see the people coming and going from the halfway house across the street, so I will be adding drug treatment counselor to my resume. I can also see birds so I must be an ornithologist... or perhaps a cat.

I can't wait for November 4th.