Good Thing He's Cute

 

It's been 7 weeks.

He doesn't sleep much but we sure do like him anyway!

Viovio Photobook Review

I put up this post, reviewing photobooks from Picaboo and Shutterfly.

In response, a very lovely email came to me from Viovio, another photobook service. They offered me a $50 gift certificate to create a book and review their site. How wonderful!

Go read more of my review here.
(oops, I messed up and violated the terms of my BlogHer ads agreement. Sorry!)

One Month Haze and Days

While on maternity leave...so far...

We made snowflakes...

Played video games (yes, he's holding the baby AND playing a video game. Such a multitasker, my kiddo.)

And someone turned one month old.

Where has the time gone?

Not much sleeping happens...but there's a lot of family togetherness.
It's so good.

The Tu B'Shevat Spirit

The holiday of Tu B'Shevat is coming - the birthday of the trees!
We've had lots of fun over the years with Tu B'Shevat, it's one of my favorite holidays. One year, I made green pancakes for breakfast. And of course, other fun tree/earthy sorts of activities.

But this year, I saw a great post from a friend on Facebook, showing me her Tu B'Shevat challah. It was gorgeous (she's quite a cook AND lucky for me, she lives in Europe so her Shabbat prep started way before mine...) so I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's my not-so-tree-like (but if you squint really hard and use your imagination...) Tu B'Shevat challah:

Can you see the tree in there?

And thanks to LeighAnn, because of her challah post, I now always braid with 6 strands - one for each member of our family. What a sweet and wonderful idea. (Oh, and a thank you to Tina Wasserman, for teaching me how to braid a six-braid challah.)

Hopefully more Tu B'Shevat posts coming this week as the holiday approaches...bli neder.

Swagbucks, Groupons, Discounts...Oh My!

Over the last few months, I've become a huge fan of many of the various sites that offer deals and discounts. So I thought I'd share a few with all of you.

First of all, Swagbucks. Lots of people have been sharing their "swag" stuff on Facebook but I resisted. Then I signed up and overnight, without even doing very much, I had earned about $15 in Amazon gift cards. That's nothing to sneeze at, my friends. (Have you seen how much I read?) It's a virtual currency that allows you to "earn" stuff...I thought it was a big joke but it's actually not.

Swagbucks has just introduced some new Free Games that are a really cool way to have fun and earn Swagbucks points fast. If you click here: Free Games you'll be taken directly there, and give me a tiny little kickback (gotta disclose, right?). When you go there and sign up, use the code SBGames and get an additional 30 Swag Bucks in your account (add that to the 30 that everybody gets for joining and you're doubling your points already!)

Okay, here are a few more that I like:
Groupon (nuff said)
Mamapedia - another daily deal site that is mom-focused
WeDeal - a super-local site  that is great - check if your city is in there...
FamilyFinds (formerly Mamaloot)
BabySteals and KidSteals (but for some reason, I usually miss the deal - someday I'll get something good.)
JDeal - a Jewish daily deal site. So far, mostly only in New York City. They say they're going to expand so hopefully Chicago is next!

Please note that almost all of those are my referral links, meaning that I get a small credit or points or something if you sign up and/or purchase a deal using my link. So, be nice. Thanks.

In addition, I've started to read a few blogs that share coupons, deals, etc.
My favorites:
Kosher on a Budget
Hip2Save
Frugal Fun and Fortune

I do sometimes wonder if getting a "good deal" on something that I wasn't planning to buy in the first place is actually a good deal. But...that might be another post for another day when I've gotten more sleep.

A Legacy of Song

The Jewish community lost a remarkable presence today. Debbie Friedman died early this morning.

Debbie has always been a presence in my life. Even before I met her in person at OSRUI in 1991, her music had a deep impact on my connection to prayer and Jewish life. 

But tonight, as I put my kids to bed, I realized her most lasting impact on my life.

Each night, we sing a bedtime Shema.

We sing Debbie's Shema.

And then, upon further reflection, I realized that we sing the Alef-Bet Song almost every morning.

And Havdalah each week. And I know that there are many many more...

Talk about a legacy. My kids will always know her, even without her physically present.

May her memory be for a blessing.
She will not be forgotten.

Book Recommendations

So I published my Book List of 2010 and received a few interesting comments.

The most interesting (!) was from a friend who pointed out a book that I read and forgot to record. (She remembers because I borrowed it from her!) My goodness...that makes 101. And it happened to be a book that I really enjoyed: Room, by Emma Donoghue.

The other comments were from people who suggested that I highlight the books that were "worth reading" or make a top 10 list.

So I've decided to add to my list and create a "top 20" list. I picked ones that I've been recommending to people all year long. I really enjoyed many others (almost all of them) on my list, but I tried to pick "unusual" or different ones - I don't need to recommend the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to you. Good books, but everyone suggests those!

1. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde - if you haven't ever read his books, they're funny and creative and different.
2. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah - I thought this was her best book so far. If you've avoided her books because they look like "chick lit", this one steps a little outside that box.
3. The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf - a story about the Muslim-American experience. I personally found it interesting to compare to the Jewish-American experience.
4. Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn - powerful stuff.
5. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian - interesting Holocaust literature that isn't really about Jews, and it isn't BY a Jew.
6. Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht - although many at the book discussion didn't like this book, I found it readable and interesting.
7. Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa - really hard to read, the (fictionalized) story of Israel from an Arab perspective. I didn't agree with most of the book, I found it disturbing and annoying, but it also felt a little bit important to challenge myself.
8. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan - better than The Help. Grittier, more difficult, but a more compelling story.
9. Crashing Through by Robert Kurson - non-fiction about a guy who is blind and has his sight restored. Fascinating.
10. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen - one of my new favorite authors. I read through all her books in about one week.
11. By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan - Inquisition story, well-written and interesting
12. For the Win by Cory Doctorow - he writes such interesting (fiction) books about technology - this one is about "gold farming" in massive multiplayer online games.
13. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares - a change from her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a book about reincarnation and memory, a sweet story.
14. The Red Thread by Ann Hood - novel about adopting from China, tracing the adopting parents and also the mothers who give up their daughters
15. A Novel Bookstore by Lawrence Cosse - the librarian handed this one to me and it was a challenge but very worth it.
16. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons - one of my favorite books of the year - a sweet story about trying to fit in
17. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer - well-written and gripping story of Europe before and after the war
18. The Violin of Auschwitz by Maria Angels Anglada - a brief book about how music has such an impact
19. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner - really enjoyable book set mostly in Madison, Wisconsin
20. Room by Emma Donoghue - the one I left off the list! Such an interesting perspective in this novel.
    

So...what do you think? What books are on your top list from 2010?