Bye Bye NaBloPoMo

Sadly, there was a DDOS attack on my SquareSpace yesterday and my blog wasn't back up before Shabbat so...I missed a day. Bummer.

Miracles

Yesterday I was at a Rosh Chodesh breakfast with a group of ladies from our synagogue.  After her d'var Torah, our illustrous hostess pulled out a pan and some candles. She had a project for us. We were to light a candle and talk about a woman who was miraculous in our eyes. It could be someone we knew or heard about or read about.

You could see the look of panic in all of our eyes as we scrambled to think what to say. 

Other ladies talked about mothers and grandmothers who kept Judaism alive for their family despite hardships, sisters remaining strong through challenges, our Imaot.At first I was going to talk about Miriam whose name I chose to take so many years ago. But it didn't feel right and as I wracked my brain it occured to me that the answer was three miracles. My girls.

For so many years I struggled to have children. There were many times I was convinced I never would. That I would have to be content being an awesome aunt. I was pretty much at the end of my endurance when we started seeing our reproductive endocrinologist. I wasn't sure how many more months of mood swings, hope and heartbreak I could endure. Not to mention the feelings of complete failure as a woman that seeped into every joyful and not-so-joyful moment of my life.

When we got our protocol for that last cycle, I was determined not to fail. Not to endure. Not to survive. I was going to thrive and succeed! I found deep within me a resivoir of faith I thought had been lost. I injected myself with stimulants and asked a nodding acquaintance to give me a shot in the butt. I had blood draw after blood draw and got to know a pair of stirrups more than I wanted. There was even another person in the room when I conceived. 

Through it all I knew it would happen. I thought of how I would tell people. What midwife I would use. What supplies I'd need. 

And then we got the call.

I was pregnant!

A few weeks later we saw three heartbeats and quite a few weeks later I was snuggled at home with the three most miraculous females I've ever had the privilege of knowing.

Review: The Style Underground

Around Rosh Hashannah I was introduced to The Style Underground's scarves and tying videos and I'm finally getting around to writing up a recommendation.

I've gotten into the habit of wearing scarves rather than hats and wigs. They are more comfortable and I feel more in line with the traditional Moroccan way of hair-covering. But sometimes it gets boring doing the "bun" look. And I don't really like the "babushka" look of a simple tie behind the neck with all the ends hanging down. This is when I turn to Julie's videos. 

I've gotten compliments every time I worn one of the more ornate ties and I've taken up the habits of using a light-weight cotton scarf under the silkier or thinners scarves and of tying my pontytail higher on my head to add volume. Both were ideas that never crossed my mind and really lend a more polished look to an old wash-worn Israeli tichel.

For Rosh Hashannah I purchased a stretch lace rectangular scarf and the paisley scarf seen in the photo. I haven't gotten much wear from the lace one as the girls have decided it looks like a bridal veil and absconded with it. A shame since it was nice and stretchy and felt wonderful.

The paisley is my go-to scarf for dressier events where I actually consider wearing a wig. It wears and washes beautifully, but is lined with cotton so be careful when washing of the lining may shrink a bit rolling the edges uneasily. 

I highly recommend a visit to The Style Underground and some fancy tichel-tying to dress up your day.

1001 Journals-The Jewish Homeschooler Edition

Today the girls and I visited the Skirball Cultural Center. While there we saw the 1000 Journals Project exhibit.

If you didn't know, the 1000 Journals Project was started in 2000 by someguy. He sent out 1000 journals for people to fill the pages and send on. As the journals were filled, they were returned to him. Now the Skirball Center has 12 of the original journals for viewing. 

They also had a number of journals and art supplies available as part of the 1001 Journals project including four journals for kids only. (The girls each decorated a page.)

I was introduced to art journalling and the 1000 Journals project too late to join in, but was always intrigued by it. Seeing my girls create and the pages other children had made inspired me to make a journal collectivly with them.

Then my little grey cells got working and I thought about expanding the project. Including the Jewish homeschoolers in this process and creating a journal with groups of family pages. 

I know its a risk. I could invest several hours in creating and facilitating the journal's journey only to have it disappear. In fact, I only have one of the three collaborative art journals I made and sent around. The other two are gone. But when it succeeds it is beautiful!

If you would like to participate, please leave a comment or email me. The only requirements are that you are a Jewish homeschooler and will send the journal on via USPS priority mail with delivery confirmation.

Its November!

And we know what that means...

Its NaBloPoMo! I'll be using this month to get back into the posting swing of things.

Also, overacheiver that I am, I'll be knitting Idlewood for NaKniSweMo.