Any votes for Max's new hairstyle?

Just remember that Max's long locks will be gone (probably) by the weekend of the bar mitzvah. I've been talking to him about it for months. He's said he wants to keep it long, but yesterday announced quietly that he thought he might like it short "like William's"! Ginger and I both shot our eyebrows to the ceiling, but kept our mouths shut. Then said "Well!" and let it go. At this point in the proceedings Max is thinking he might like a quiet cut at my hair stylist (Scott at Hi Gorgeous) and the close family (I'm saying add large bottle of chilled champagne) for the transformation. If Ginger's a real trooper she'll agree to an actual hair style on the same visit, but who knows. You know how hard SHE is to cajole into something. I'm slightly worried that after the hair cut, we'll kind of not recognize him. I know I've gotten my hair chopped off a time or two and had that odd experience of walking past a mirror and thinking "who IS that?" So it's probably best that he get this done a week before the big weekend so we can at least have time to adjust, that leaves all you guests in a fix though doesn't it! I suspect I could be persuaded to post a before and after picture on this blog so you could prepare yourselves :)

Invitation hell

I will just toss out there that I have no right to complain. I have 2 healthy children and a good marriage. I have my own laptop, but I have been sorely tempted to toss it out the sunroom window during the last 2 days. How in the hell did it get so difficult to create an invitation? I made 4 different invitations months ago. We voted and Max picked his favorite. I was too busy patting myself on the back to think about printing them. We tried taking my laptop to Ginger's office and printing them on the laser printer (as the Avery half-fold card box says to do), but noooo couldn't do that. Not able to be a part of the network, blah blah. So I'm at home, crossing my fingers and doing a test print. The invitations worked great. The RSVP card didn't work! All those hours shot. So back to the drawing board and this time I had the postcards in hand complete with formatting instructions. Which didn't work! After 2 more hours I "did it my way" (Can you hear Frank Sinatra singing in the background?) and did a test print. It worked more or less so today I've been printing. We ran out of ink, who else saw that coming. It ran out with only 8 invitations to go! So tomorrow I'm off to Office Max to give them more of my money and I'm asking myself if I'll go to a printers, like Kinko's, with Williams bar mitzvah or if I'll do it all over again all by myself. I'm on my 2nd margarita though. One before (all I could think was all the money I'd blow if I ruined the printing, the invitations were not cheap) and one after. What's a mother to do? Oh and the real topper is at dinner I asked Max is he was ready for his Bar Mitzvah. Without skipping more than a second he said "No". WHAT??????????? Six weeks and 3 days to go.

Diane 

The time draws near and nerves are building

In a few short months Maxwell will be chanting Havdalah at Lichterman nature center with his close friends and family. Many of them will never have been a part of a Jewish ceremony before because many of our close friends and family are not Jewish. I know Max is nervous, but it occurs to me that the guests may be nervous too! In an effort to prepare and educate anyone who's reading this blog (you really must go do something more productive) and is also invited to the ceremony, I'd like to give you a few basics in Judaism.

For an explanation of the Havdala service: http://heh.pl/&eo


Judaism embraces the concepts of preseving nature and repairing the world or "Bal Tashchit" and "Tikun Olam". Our family is not as religious as some and no longer keeps Kosher, but we're more religious than others. We focus on conscious living and though we do some things that are against Jewish teaching, we do them not in ignorance, but in full and conscious choice. We spent as much time discussing if/how/why to stop keeping Kosher as we did when we began keeping Kosher! Similarly, building trail is something that doesn't just happen magically. We discuss the trips and decide which trip we'll participate in. With fuel prices at $2.00, it's not responsible to jump in the van and head to Missouri or Arkansas for a trail build or maintenance each time it's posted. We value our time as a family, value our financial and environmental resources and choose to participate in at least one trail build per month. It is true that Max's interest has waned dramatically in the last year. He's logged his hours and he's ready to stay closer to home, but he has had the experience and he knows how to push himself to finish a project even when the luster has worn off.

Caring for and repairing the world is like that; the work has to continue long after the luster has worn off. There is little, if any, recognition for slogging through muck and mire to repair a foot bridge or water bar. The challenge, and I hope Max's guests leave with this thought, is that we each can make a conscious choice in our daily life to help repair and care for the world. It doesn't have to be driving five and a half hours to build hiking trail in a remote area without running water. It can be as simple as walking to the corner store instead of driving or refilling water bottles instead of purchasing another case. For more information on the Jewish slant on environmentalism: http://www.jewishnaturecenter.org/html/bal_tashchit.html and http://www.myjewishlearning.com/daily_life/environment.htm

Jewish Folk TaleTwo men were fighting over a piece of land. Each claimed ownership and bolstered his claim with proof. To resolve their differences, they agreed to put the case before the rabbi. The rabbi listened but could not come to a decision because both seemed to be right. Finally he said, " Since I cannot decide to whom this land belongs, let us ask the land.' He put his ear to the ground and after a moment straightened up. 'Gentlemen, the land says that it belongs to neither of you - but that you belong to it.'

Please find one simple way today to care for the earth that supports you.

B'Shalom (In Peace),
Diane