It was Friday, but the way things were going it felt a lot more like a Monday. Ran out of flour midway through preparing my challah dough so I ran out to CVS – the fastest and easiest place to pick up flour. On the way home another driver tried speeding up and passing me as the lanes were merging and when he wasn’t successful, he leaned on his horn and made a crude gesture.

At home I glanced nervously at my yeast and water mixture which puffed up as high as the edge of the bowl, quickly mixed in the last few cups of flour, added the yeast to my Bosch and turned it to low. It started going too quickly so I turned the switch to off, but instead the machine freaked out and started spewing out dough clumps, yeast droplets and flour clouds everywhere.

Looking at the amount of yeast and dough on the floor, counter, cabinets, my clothing and suede boots I contemplated giving in and letting the machine have the last word. But that’s not my style. So although I’d been fasting and was definitely not at peak energy, I ditched the boots and other affected garments and began the sticky job of cleaning up.

An hour later the dough was rising beautifully in the bowl and my daughter came home from school. I was able to finish up some articles that were due before the weekend, while she gave six braiding a shot for the first time.

Let me tell you, that night when we said Hamotzi and tasted the (beautifully and artfully braided) challah I knew I came out on top in Bosch vs. Baker Lady. The outside was crispy, the inside soft, fluffy and perfect. It was heavenly.

Same with rude guy vs. Baker Lady. I’m not here to preach about patience or anger management. All I’ll say is there’s nothing like having it all work out in the end. That poor, angry passing guy couldn’t have been rushing home to anything as urgent as homemade challah to break the fast and welcome in Shabbos.

Maybe I should have slowed down and let him in…

The other day I was driving our nine-year old to school, waiting to turn on to the main street near the school. A woman in a huge cadillac SUV was passing our street, and traffic was going very slowly. I looked at her so she would realize I was trying to get in to the lane, and she looked back at me while steadily pulling up and blocking my path. I gave her a strong glare with a sickly sweet smile on my face and pointed that I was trying to get in and what was her issue anyway. She smiled sweetly back at me and stayed right where she was blocking my path. I smile-glared back at her with great annoyance and held up my hands as if to say I’m giving up on you, hopeless stranger.

As I continued my smile-glare-hand routine, a small voice from the back asked, “Mommy, what are you doing?”

Now this was embarrassing. I kind of forgot myself for a moment, forgot that everything I do is watched by those who are learning from my actions and plan to imitate them one day (if not today). Did I want my daughter making sickly sweet faces at someone who didn’t allow her to do what she wanted, when she wanted?

Miss Oversized SUV seemed to want to park herself in my path rather than let me in. A little unfriendly, sure, but how do I want my daughter to react to these kinds of frustrating situations? Not with ugliness, fake smiles or anger. I want my daughter to rise to the occasion and say to herself:

There’s a reason this woman is not giving me what I want, and maybe it’s because I need to work on my patience, humility, and giving people the benefit of the doubt (She truly wanted to let me in, but her brakes were slow?).

Why does it feel so good to be self-righteous, and why is it so easy to think that people are nasty, rather than realizing we don’t know everything?

It takes some real strength of character not to react in a typical fashion when we’re ‘wronged’ on the road, and elsewhere in life.

But hey, someone’s watching. It may be our daughter, and it may be our Father. So let’s behave.

I’m in middle of a life-changing book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, MD called Eat to Live. He suggests that to start giving your body vital nutrients, lose the FDA food guide pyramid (6 to 12 servings of rice, bread and pasta?!) and create a new one that has raw and cooked veggies as the base.

Two easy ways to get those veggies:

Eat two HUGE salads a day. (Here’s what my recent mix looked like: artisan lettuces, pepper rings, radish, mushrooms, snow peas, red onion slices. Seriously delicious and highly satisfying. I just squeeze lemon on it, but Dr. Fuhrman has recipes for nutritious salad dressings here: http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/recipes.aspx)

Make a large pot of wholesome, nutritious vegetable (bean) soup each week and serve often. (I make a new pot every two days and freeze leftovers.)

If you’re like me and don’t want people telling you to ditch the foods you enjoy, this is a sneaky way to start yourself on the road to success.

My own tip – change up the breakfast routine. Ditch the donut and coffee and find yourself some tea and fruit. Or whole grain oatmeal packets. Target makes a fabulous instant multi-grain oatmeal with absolutely no additives – just whole grains. I add blueberries and lots of cinnamon and allspice to sweeten (no sugar). 

It’s frightening to read about the obesity numbers in America, along with cancer, heart-attack, diabetes and other illnesses that are so prevalent today. Study after study has shown that green, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, onions, nuts, berries, seeds and other high nutrient foods fight these diseases.

The kinds of foods being eaten by most of us on a regular basis do not fight disease, they contribute to it. We all need to start doing the right thing by hanging out in the produce department for twice as long and selecting the best of the best to bring home to our families.

Yes, it takes a lot of work to create fresh dishes. But you’ll feel great eating this stuff and feeding it to those you love.

If you somehow find this blog and read my message, please add more leafy greens, other vegetables and fruits to your daily diet. Buy the book Eat to Live, read it and tell another ten people about it. Don’t doubt our ability to fuel a food revolution that will make a significant difference in the overall health of our society.

Change is very possible – there was a time when people thought it was crazy for doctors to wash their hands before and after working on a patient. And that drawing blood was the best way to cure any ailment. Today’s idiotic prevalent practice is to rely on the government to tell us the best way to create a balanced diet. We’re smarter than that – aren’t we?

My teenaged daughter took a look at this blog’s tagline and remarked that wasn’t that just a little bit egotistical? Well, child, ya gotta know the truth. The world was created just for me.

And here I am going to get really, really serious. Walk away now if you’re looking for humor.

The all-girls religious school I attended in Michigan was a wellspring of philosophy and advice for living a meaningful life. We were taught to keep two things in mind throughout our lives:

Memo to self:

1. The world was created solely for my sake.

2. I am dust and ashes.

One note in each pocket, we were told. The idea of message #1 is that we need to make something of ourselves, use the talents we were given, and make a difference in the world. We are strong, we are powerful, and we can affect people around us in a huge way.

At the same time, message #2 reminds us that when life is over the body is returned to the earth and none of the materialism that meant so much during our lifetime comes with us. No perfect figure, magazine-worthy home, fancy cars, jewelry, clothing. Only the difference we made in the world remains, and the merits that we take up to heaven.

The two messages seem contradictory at first, but they are actually perfectly suited to keep us in check and guide us through life with a healthy perspective on what’s important.

Child, you have your head on straight. I just chose not to include the second half of the dictum on this self-serving blog because really – does the time I spend posting here do anything for the world?

As a consolation prize for putting up with my ramblings, I’ll share a stunning photo taken by my daughter. (There’s a story behind the flowers, but that’s for another post.)