For all of my friends who were too cheap to fork over $50 a plate at the Hadassah Great Plains Region banquet on June 5, 2010, at Hilton St. Louis Frontenac (yes, the same night as the Liza Minelli concert at Powell Symphony Hall and Rabbi Shook’s retirement party), here’s my presentation on “Women and Stress” and how chocolate solves all of life’s problems. If you would like to book me for your next event, please contact my agent, uh, that would be me.
Click here to watch me conquer any fears of public speaking in 30 minutes. And remember that the camera adds 10 pounds.

What would you rather do on a Saturday night—go see the legendary Liza Minnelli live in concert or listen to me talk about ways to balance stress in your life?

Well, considering the VIP tickets are already sold out at Powell Symphony Hall for the famous singer, why not join me at the Hadassah “Jeans and Jewels” banquet on June 5, 6:30 p.m., at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac where I will lead a lively discussion on how to manage our hectic lives and achieve happiness using my personal favorite coping mechanism, which I’ll divulge only to those who attend.

The Hadassah Great Plains Region Board Retreat, called “Juggling Without The Struggling,” takes place June 4-6 and features two other speakers who you don’t want to miss. Annette Sondock, the national chairperson of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel, which is the most advanced medical and research center in the Middle East, brings her expertise in organization, leadership development, and fundraising, while Rabbi Dale Schreiber, a chaplain in Oncology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, shares her insights on spirituality and healing. The weekend is filled with lots of learning, laughter, and sisterhood that you just can’t get from a Broadway star like Liza.

It’s an honor for me to hang out with this Hadassah group, which is part of the largest women’s mass membership organization in the United States with more than 300,000 members, associates and supporters. Plus, Hadassah raises more funds than any other national women’s volunteer organization. The Great Plains Region Board encompasses six states and includes women of all ages and backgrounds, but their commonality is working tirelessly to enhance the quality of American and Jewish life through its education and Zionist youth programs, two hospitals in Israel, and personal enrichment and growth for its members.

To top off the weekend, everyone is invited to join us on June 6 for the “Walk on Sunshine,” a one-mile family fun walk at Queeny Park that has raised more than $400,000 for groundbreaking brain tumor research and treatment. Click here for more information on the walk.

For more information on Hadassah, go to Hadassah.

Go here to make a reservation for the retreat.

Meanwhile, enjoy these videos of Liza Minnelli in the musical Cabaret.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOamKxW844

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRIbUT6u7Q&feature=related

Typically Jews don’t make confessions. Instead we carry our guilt like heavy bricks on our backs the way our ancestors did when they were slaves in Egypt.

So, I’ve created this sacred place in the blogosphere where moms everywhere can go and release their sins. Feel free to send me your’s at any time.

I’ll start.
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Why is it that every time I carry my groceries in a brown paper bag, I feel like Mary Tyler Moore and start to hum the theme song “Love Is All Around?” There’s something empowering about clutching a sack full of apples, ice cream, a carton of eggs, and Raisin Bran cereal with a stalk of celery and a bouquet of daisies sticking out of the top that makes me feel like I can conquer the world.

So to all you women who have the urge to sing in the supermarket parking lot or toss your headbands in the air when you’re in a crowded street, this one’s for you:

“Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it’s you girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don’t you take it
You’re gonna make it after all
You’re gonna make it after all”

All these years I thought I had my act together as a mom. After all, my kids appear to be clean (so what’s a little ear wax?), nourished (ketchup is a vegetable, right?), educated (thank goodness for spell check), and appropriately dressed (except for my son’s plaid boxers hanging out of his baggy jeans.)

At age 15 (Jack) and 11 (Sari), neither one has yet to flunk a class, swallow bubblegum, beat up anybody, get a tattoo (at least not that I know of), or been arrested for ding dong ditching in the neighborhood.

Somehow I’ve managed to pull this off while I cook, clean (my husband Scott does the toilets), carpool, and get them to every sporting event, activity, and haircut appointment while in my spare time I try to sneak in a movie with my spouse and keep my career alive as a professional freelance writer. Add to my parenting portfolio—I clean their retainers weekly with Efferdent; I collect glue sticks, eraser tips, and sharpies in every color for last-minute school projects; I make banana bread from scratch; I recycle; I’ve been a room mom for the past 20 years.

Lately, however, I feel like I did when I was in first grade at Weber Elementary School and was one of the last kids to be picked for Red Rover in gym class. Never mind the fact that I created a parenting humor column called “Mishegas of Motherhood” (www.mishegasofmotherhood.com), and one of my stories appeared as a webisode in the online sitcom series “In The Motherhood,” starring Leah Remini. And never mind that the largest Jewish women’s volunteer organization Hadassah booked me as their guest speaker at an upcoming dinner banquet on June 5 at Hilton St. Louis Frontenac.

Where I fall short is keeping up with the tech savvy mommybloggers. When it comes to blogging, I don’t know the difference between a podcast and a peapod. (more…)

The first rule about blogging is to keep entries short and concise.

I’m about to break that rule.

As a journalist, I’m usually the interviewer, but recently I had the golden opportunity to be the interviewee. What writer wouldn’t jump at the chance to talk about herself? It’s kind of like the mom who never appears in any family snapshots because she’s the one behind the camera all the time. (more…)

I’ve been doing a lot of contemplating lately. In particular, I’m thinking about my column and how much Judaism and parenting go hand in hand. I’m also racking my brain to figure out where I put my cell phone, again. I’ve searched everywhere: my purse, my coat pockets, the key hanger in the laundry room, the front seat of the car, and even in the freezer under the cheese pizza. Seriously, I’ve found car keys in there before. (more…)

As if the holiday season isn’t stressful enough with shopping, baking, decorating, spending, overeating, and overall frivolity, I impose yet another to-do list on myself—New Year’s resolutions. (more…)

As the first decade of the new millennium approaches (writers are always looking for a hook), I can’t help but contemplate how the wish lists of my children reflect today’s warped generation. Sari, almost 11, wants a cell phone. I didn’t own one until I was engaged to be married. Jack, a freshman in high school, yearns for Dr. Dre headphones that cost more than my auto insurance deductable.

Parents are to blame for their children’s spoiled behavior, and I’m certainly no exception, especially when it comes to high-tech toys. To start with, we stick our youngsters in front of the computer way too young, while they’re still in diapers, and we practically give them a username and password by the time they get a social security card. No wonder today’s youth have a constant need for stimulation and immediate gratification. When a recent Wal-mart television commercial advertises how Nintendo DS promotes family bonding, the situation is obviously out of control. (more…)