Chag Sameach To All

Wishing all my readers a good yom tov.

Seeking Guest Posts

I am looking for guest posts on numerous Orthonomic subjects. Have any of my readers used a People to People lending service (like Prosper), either as a lender or a borrower, who fill me in on halachic issues of using the site (are you direct lending or are you really investing in the Prosper company?) and how they worked with the issues. Assuming the halachic issues I'm seeing can be overcome, I'm most interested in the experiences of lenders. So I'm looking for both the Ortho and the nomic sides of this equation.

I am also hoping a reader who is trying to get out of debt would like to start a monthly diary to share their experiences in making a major life change. It would be great if the diary could include chizuk, feature practical advice, talk about challenges, and include some hard data (e.g. debt left to pay off so readers can track and cheer for the progress). I'd love a regular and empowering column from someone who is experiencing success.

Any subject you want to hear about as a reader, let the readership know by adding your comments. I've had requests for posts on Special Education and the Orthodox parent and Homeschooling and the Orthodox Family. The number of subjects are endless, so suggest anything you want and let's hope someone picks up the ball and runs with it.

Those who have emailed: Please forgive me for not getting back promptly. I will answer emails, but I'm under a pile of work and emails are on the back burner.

New Thrifty Blogger on the Block

A poster at Imamother forum started a fantastic new blog, Saving Money Ideas. Every week she goes through different ads, including Walgreens and CVS, and does the hard work for her readers. She tells us what the good sales are and where to find the coupons that can be clipped, should they not be sitting in your coupon file. For more reading on Organizing Shopping, check out my post on the subject.

Most importantly, she has a post on how to use the CVS Extra Bucks system effectively. I see no need to reinvent the wheel, so follow the link.

Another great source for those with cash is BankRate.com. Bank Rate is a website that lets you compare different financial products with the click of a button. The website also runs some ads which might lead you to a different product that is worthwhile. I am in the process of moving our Emergency Fund to Everbank, which is offering a money market account (i.e. liquid savings account) with a 4.76% APY for 3 months. Not bad! When the promotion is up, I will head back to find another good account.

Public Service Announcement:
Interested in Living "Out of Town?"

The OU is not paying me to run this advertisement (although I will happily allow them to pay me for making this announcement). I received the following in my email box and hope it might be of interest to my readers. Anyone able to attend that would like to post their notes as a guest post here is welcome to email me. Things are a bit slow on the blogging front while I attack some major projects, to say nothing about the most major project (Pesach).

On Sunday, April 6, 2008, at New York's Grand Hyatt Hotel, 12-6 pm, the OU will showcase fourteen growing Jewish communities from around North America where you could relocate. You will meet community representatives and learn directly from them about:
synagogues, day schools and yeshivot
kosher stores and other Jewish communal resources
exciting and lucrative job opportunities
affordable housing
close-knit and warm communities
Torah atmosphere in which to raise children
rewarding retirement opportunities

The following communities will be highlighted:

• Bay Area: Oaklandand San Francisco, CA
• Charleston, SC
• Columbus, OH
• Dallas, TX
• Denver, CO
• Edmonton, AB, Canada
• Houston, TX
• Indianapolis, IN
• Memphis, TN
• New Orleans, LA
• Omaha, NE
• San Diego, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Vancouver, BC, Canada

Needed: Guest Reporter in the New York/New Jersey Area

Blog reader Elitzur notified me that there is a talk this coming Saturday evening at 7:45PM in the Highland Park/Edison NJ area at Ohr Torah. It will be given by Yossi Prager, executive director for North American AVICHAI, entitled "The High Cost of Jewish Living."

I would really appreciate it if a reader could attend the talk and record a transcript to be posted at this blog. Let me know if you can do this. I wish I could offer compensation, but I haven't even jumped on the blog ads yet.

Seeking a Potential Guest Reporter

OHEL Family Services is running an interesting series of lectures on strengthening families. The first lecture looks very interesting. It is entitled FINANCE AND FAMILY: MAINTAINING FAMILY VALUES IN A MATERIAL WORLD and will be presented by Dr. Norman Blumenthal, Ph.D with Opening remarks by Rabbi Kalman Topp, Associate Rabbi of the Young Israel of Woodmere on MONDAY, DECEMBER 17th 2007 at 8:00 pm Young Israel of Woodmere 859 Peninsula Blvd.

I caught the itinerary for the night at ImaMother and the questions that will be addressed are as follows:

- How do I balance supporting my family with being present in their lives?
- How to teach children strong financial values?
- How do we cope with the pricetag of living in the Jewish world?
- What are the myths and pitfalls of "keeping up with the Goldbergs?"
- When does money equal happiness?

I've written about these subjects at Orthonomics, but would absolutely LOVE to have a reader of my blog write a guest post for me about the event and the answers offered by the speaker. Anyone want to be a guest poster? (Sorry, I can't offer any pay. My last name is not Goldberg :) ).

Shana Tova

Shana Tov U'metuka to all of my readers and commentors. I have to thank all of you for keeping the tone pleasant while discussing issues that are important to our community. In the blogging world, that seems like a rare feat, but it is a goal I strive for and I'm lucky to have such a great group of readers, guest posters, and commentors. I'm sure there have been areas where the tone has sunk inadvertently and for that I apologize and ask forgiveness.

Have a wonderful New Year and may you all be inscribed in the book of life and be blessed with the resources to meet the needs of your families.

We Interupt This Silence

. . . . to say that our internet service has been totally botched up. Hopefully things will return to normal ASAP because I need to get some work done for my clients and wouldn't mind blogging either.

Eight Things Meme

I got tagged with the Eight Things Meme. Seems like I'm the last on board which is fine by me. I don't have to tag anyone. Since Memes are not part of the expected blogging material here at Orthonomics, I thought I'd tie this in to my blogging in general. Add your comments about you.

1. I wrote my first letter to the editor when I was in the 1st grade. It was my mother's idea: a thank you card. A men's service club built a little playground area in the local park and it was a bit hit. I spent a good part of my summer walking around the neighborhood collecting signatures from all of the kids for the thank you letter which was published in the letters to the editor section of our local newspaper.


2. I have attended a Chinese Auction. My neighbor asked me to accompany her and I tagged along. Watching Yeshiva educated, grown men, whooping and hollering over the winners like they were at a Monster Truck Rally, was far more disturbing than spending ridiculous amounts of time deliberating which box to put my tickets in, as if I was going to actually walk away with the set of silver that made me drool. I don't intend to ever go back.


3. I used to want a lot of children, as in more than 10. Since I've become certifiably Orthodox, the number of children that I desire continues to drop and I sometimes feel fairly guilty about it. I have to remind myself I can only have as many children as I can physically and mentally handle, and that number doesn't seem to be anywhere near 10 lately.


4. I have regular dreams. The most recent one involved one of our siblings building a tropical rain forest, complete with waterfalls, next to their dining room. Of course, everyone was ooohing and aahing the beautiful home renovations over the Shabbat meal. I too was enjoying the view until my mother-in-law turned to me and said, you should really consider doing something beautiful like this to your home. I was about to loose my temper. . . . and then I woke up.


5. I am the "spendthrift" in our house. My husband often needs convinced as to why we "need" certain things. In one of our more memorable convincing sessions, I had to convince him that we "needed" couches because I wanted to have something soft to sit on. He figured we had plenty of chairs for us and our guests and just couldn't see the need for another place to sit. Usually, these discussions are resolved when I remind him that as a homemaker, I spend far more time and home than he does and our home should be a pleasant place for me to raise our kids in (and sitting on hard chairs all day just isn't pleasant).


6. I practically run my own warehouse of non-perishable goods. I can't resist a bargain deal on things we use regularly. Lately I've been striking gold. I probably have 30-40 cans of canned tomato products in the 28 oz. size. I use no less than 2 a week it seems. I also have about 20 packages of diapers, and I'm heading out to get 3 more packages at rock bottom prices this week. After that, I probably will stop. I hope to have all children in diapers trained by the time I work through this huge supply. Instead, I will use our food budget to stock up on grape juice at the anticipated pre-Rosh Hashana sale. I'm down to 2 or 3 huge grape juices and I'm hoping the sale will be annouced before we are out. The lack of supply is making me nervous. At the anticipated $2.89, I will probably buy enough to get us through Pesach.


7. I don't think there is a countertop spice rack big enough to hold all of the spices I own (and use). I'd like to have them at arm's reach from the stove, but I'm thinking they will have to go in the pantry on an over the door organizer.


8. I dream of catering my own sons' bar mitzvah parties. I'm sure this would not go over well at all with my in-laws in the least. But I think the idea is fantastic. If I'm blogging when the day comes, I'll write up a post about the good, bad, and ugly of catering your own affair.

The Competition Heats Up

Somehow I made the finals for the JIB Specialty Award, Best Contribution / Blog that Made a Difference. And let me tell you, the competition is stiff. In fact, I'm up against my own favorite Rabbi, educator, and columnist Rabbi Horowitz. I'm also up against a Avraham who writes the DafNotes blog, the ever popular Muqata, and many other popular bloggers. So check it out and vote for whoever you believe is deserving.

Vote for Me (in the JIBS)

I've been nominated in the Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards for Best Contribution/Blog that Made a Difference and am in Category B. I'm not sure if I am deserving. But if anything I've written on my blog has made a difference in your life (or in your pocketbook), I'd appreciate your vote.

I'm Back

While I can't promise a "new and improved" blog, I'm back after 16 days of no email or Internet access. So look for upcoming and hopefully more regular postings. Leave a note if there is any subject you want me to talk about or drop an email if you feel the need to guest post about an Orthonomic subject and need a venue. I've got a host of subjects on my mind. So, look out.

In the meantime, (warning: rant ahead) can someone please tell me why so many of the classes marketed to women either sound like either a self-esteem building session for women or a title on a self-help book? Call me a feminist, but woman today are every much a part of the outside and professional world as men (more so in some circles) and we tend to run the household too, from the kids to the kitchen. So, why do we end up with such a heavy dose of inspiration with only a spoonful of halacha? Rant over. I'm headed to bed.

A J-Blog Interview with Yours Truly

One of my favorite Bloggers, MominIsrael, has decided since Jewish Blogmeister won't be interviewing any female Jbloggers, that she would take up the gauntlet. Her first interview is posted. Enjoy.

Hate Mail Upon my Return

Hello readers and friends! I'm back after a long and extended Pesach break. I wouldn't actually call some of Pesach a break, since I actually ended up having to do some unplanned, last minute, emergency work during chol ha'moed. But, I did take a break from blogging, commenting, and even reading.

Upon my return, I see that I have a new commenter (anonymous) who has left me a few hateful comments in the comments section on a number of topics. The comments are some of the most vicious and disgusting comments I've ever seen on a blog. But, since these comments are directed at me and not any of the other commentators, I'm leaving them up since it demonstrates the severe lack of character that was being addressed.

A question for fellow bloggers: Is hate mail like this common? And, what do you do when you receive such comments? Since I set up this blog as a place to have serious conversations, I don't believe that I will allow such commentary to continue in the future. But, in the meantime, I am not erasing these comments.

After Pesach I have plenty to blog about. So, please come back by to visit!

Experienced Bloggers: I need your help

Hello readers and Shavua Tov. I am experiencing a bit of frustration. I want my profile, links, posts, and archived items to appear at the top of the page on the left. But, as I have posted more, my links have ended up on the bottom of the page out of sight.

How do I get them where I want them?

In addition, I would like to be able to upload to www.jrants.com, but I can't figure out what information they want and where I find that info.

Any helping hands out there?

Please Excuse Minor Errors

I am a perfectionist by nature. When I worked full time as a professional, I spent the majority of my day putting extensive amounts of procedures, data, and tests into the language an average middle schooler or high schooler could understand. During my years in the workforce I developed a writing style which was clear, concise, and precise. Unfortunately, I have lost some of my touch lately while I spend my days doing things that I consider much more valuable, primarily being completely available to my family.

So, I ask my readers to please excuse my grammatical errors and inconsistencies and my spelling mistakes. Thanks!