"Call me maybe?"

Sorry for the cheesy pop song title but I've noticed that there are people out there in the universe reading my posts. So in the interest of hearing from you, look me up on Facebook or Twitter. Tell me what you think and it's okay to be honest. Any feedback is good feedback. http://www.facebook.com/lenorelowen or http://www.twitter.com/glamavon So what's going today? Well another good start to the day. Mom has entered her semi-annual psycho-mom mode. This syndrome usually occurs around the two major Jewish holidays of Passover and the High Holidays in September/October. It's characterized by an mad rush to the grocery store, cleaning and cooking frenzy, panic, and anxiety. Personally speaking, I find this semi-annual descent into madness to part of what exactly is wrong with contemporary Judaism. Instead of just calmly and rationally going about preparations for these holidays, it becomes an exercise in how much can you bankrupt yourself preparing lavish meals, buying new clothes and other related expenses. Coupled with this are the religious laws that govern how these holidays are to be celebrated. They have become so precise, so detailed that it actually takes all the fun out of the moment because, somehow, it's more important to pronounce the correct blessing at the correct time while standing on foot (I made that one up). The point is that the actual celebration has become so ritualized, so anxiety producing that it's just not worth it anymore. Further, having to sit through an overlong meal with people I barely know and care making polite chit chat is just not my idea of a good time. If it were up to me, I'd take off for Italy or Costa Rica for one of those Passover travel deals, blow off the formal religious portion and go sight seeing. The only thing stopping is not having the funds. Anybody got about $20-25,000 U.S. dollars lying around? I like to travel comfortably. I think mom was trying to reach out to me today by asking what I would like to contribute to the holiday. I don't mind doing the cooking because at least I know and can control what goes into the food preparations. When I cook, I like to try out new recipes. I think that's the fun of cooking, experimenting, see what works. Passover presents a particular challenge to the process because you can't use any grain product such as wheat or barley. However, I can whip up a delicious chocolate cake without restoring to non-wheat products such as potato starch. I can also fake pasta with spaghetti squash. I'll consider her offer to chose how I wish to contribute. The only catch here is that if I say I want to participate in the cooking, I have to deal with her micro-management. When it comes to doing anything, I prefer to calmly go about the preparations then execute. No fuss, no stress, just do. I'll think about it. In the meantime, I just want to remind anyone who's reading that I'd love to hear from you.