It's been a hard days' night...

"Be careful what you wish for." That tired old cliche comes to mind this incredibly hectic and surreal week. Typical day... the 4 of us... Minna, Michelle, my mother (unwitting innocent accomplice visiting from New Jersey) and I are awoken before dawn by phones ringing with baritone voiced drive time DJs from the East Coast on the line. After an hour of this, things calm down and we grab a quick breakfast, followed by an hour of downloading the newest web site orders. Minna goes off to pre-school, and Mom and Michelle walk down to the barn and start packing orders while I answer the emails. Most people are extremely supportive, but then there are the angry ones. Sometimes, if I have the time and the spirit, I'll try to answer and explain my point of view as best I can... explaining that Chrismukkah is not a real holiday.. . it's more a happy state of mind which we interfaith families share during the month of December... that it's not a mixing of religion... unless one considers "Frosty the Snowman" to be a Christian icon, or "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer" an insult to Judaism. It's very depressing to realize how angry and intolerant some people are. We spend the rest of the l day pulling and packing orders, with me doing the last minute 20 mile rush to the Livingston post office and UPS Store to drop off the day's orders. Then, as the light fades, it's back on the phone doing another interview or two, followed by several hours going through the newly arrived orders and emails. It's after midnight before we go to bed. But isn't this what we wanted? To change the world even if only in a small but positive way. To make a difference. To get people to talk about things they haven't talked about before. To spark people so that there is an exchange of ideas, points of view, opinions. The word Chrismukkah seems to be entering the national conciousness this holiday season. They were talking about it on Good Morning America and NPR and CNN. Fox news is covering us. The AP story has apparently been run in over 1500 newspapers around the country. For our tiny little home based venture... that's something to absorb. For many, Chrismukkah represents ideas which may be the polar opposite of religious fundemantalist belief and the religious right. Intermarriage among religions is one of the few remaining hot spots in American social culture. Anyway, I digress. It's time for dinner. Mom's made Goulash over wagon wheel noodles. One of my all time favorites to be enjoyed while she's still here.