Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Goodbye to the latkes!

To take a lyric from my son's Hanukkah song

"I had a little latke, I made it out of clay"
"And when I tried to eat it, my tummy says Oy Vey!"

How many latkes have I had? - Let me count the parties.

Expensive Latkes
Location: Andrew's Preschool Hanukkah Party - I made latkes for the class and it cost me $350 the next day which I had to pay the plumber after I put the potato scraps down the garbage disposal. Next time, I'll buy the mix.

Healthy Latkes
Location: Hanukkah Brunch with my in-laws - Delicious, Weight Watcher recipe latkes - but still ate too many.

Lotsa Latkes
Location: Hanukkah Party with my Chavurah
- Latkes everywhere - and latke-leftovers galore! Great party with great friends. Each family lit a menorah and we all did the blessings together. Definitely a holiday highlight.

Latke Overload
Location: Hanukkah Dinner with my parents - I asked my mom what we were having - guess what - more latkes! Apparently, my dad didn't get to eat any during the 8 days of Hanukkah. Oh well, what's one or two more latkes, right?! Who says I'm not a trooper...

I think I'll take potatoes off the shopping list for a while.

Happy New Year to all!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Supermarket Sweep for Stamps

I think I created this blog so that I could share funny stories like this one. I know I told a few people this story before, but it is worth repeating.



A few weeks ago, I was checking out at the supermarket when I saw a sign that said "stamps sold here." Thrilled at my good fortune that I would not have to schlep the kids to the post office in the cold weather, I asked for 2 books. I paid for the stamps and the cashier pulls out 2 books - one had the a lovely picture of Baby Jesus & the Virgin Mary & the other had Christmas trees and Santa Clauses.



"Do you have any other kind of stamps?" I asked the cashier.


"No, why?" she says.


"Well, I can't put Christmas stamps on my Hanukkah cards," I said in sort of a whisper.


She looked at me a little strangely and said that she had no other stamps. When I asked for my money back, she calls over to the store manager. Meanwhile, the line is getting longer behind me.

The manager says, "you can't use these stamps?" I explained again, why I can't use the stamps and asked for my money back.


The manager proceeds to check 20 aisles worth of cash registers to find stamps that are not of the Christmas variety. Finding none, he comes back to me - "are you sure you can't use them?"


(I think the woman behind me was ready to explain it to him at this point).

After explaining for a 3rd time that I was Jewish and couldn't use his Christmas stamps, he reluctantly gave me my money back.


It wasn't like I was looking for stamps with menorahs or Jewish stars. An American Flag or Liberty Bell stamp would have been fine!

I was a little mortified, but in the long run - it makes a great story and you truly can't make this stuff up.