I was at the beginning of my teaching career–after multiple career changes due to undiagnosed health reasons–when I had to stop working because of my fibromyalgia which was then diagnosed as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. I then tried to find work that worked around my condition but that proved futile and caused more pain and long-term… Continue reading Disability for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome

A “L’Shana Tova” from ALL the Hausmans BIG and small! A happy, healthy and prosperous year to all! May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year. I don’t know about you but my wish for the new year already came true! With love, Aliza, Rabbi Yehuda and “Itsy Bitsy” Hausman

I know most people are preparing by Rosh Hashanah by making up menus and cooking up a storm and making sure they have tickets for services. (There are always free services for those who cannot afford to pay.) But this time of year, always brings back…bad memories. You see, during the High Holidays most synagogues… Continue reading Happy…oh, wait, you don’t belong here! Do you? On Being a Jewnited Nation

In Romeo and Juliet, my favorite poet and one of my favorite playwrights has dear Juliet say: What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet Babe, that’s because your parents weren’t Dominican and they named you Juliet. Okay, William Shakespeare named you Juliet but I digress. … Continue reading "What’s in a name?" on Shavuos

Belated for my great-grandmother’s first yarzheit (4/3/14): Charles W. Bartlett, “Hawaiian Mother and Child” It’s just a blip quote but my family thinks it’s hilarious that I ended up quoted in Good Housekeeping magazine. Okay, it IS kind of hilarious. The first thing people think when they think about me is NOT housekeeping, especially considering that awful… Continue reading The Good Housekeeping Quote: Complaining to a Friend Who Is Grieving

During the past holidays, I gave an interview to The Lakewood Shopper that I’ve been meaning to post on here. You can see the two parts of the interviews here: “Jewminicana Part I” See pages 64-68 October 4 Issue 19 Volume 9 Illness & Health Women Speak by F. Adams AND… Jewminicana Part II See… Continue reading Jewminicana in Lakewood

(I was at home for both photos but yes, that’s my hair uncovered. May you never suffer from the multiple conditions that cause my head, face, scalp to constantly hurt. I am likely one of the few women to get a heter for hair covering due to severe health problems.) T-H-I-N. THIN.  In high school… Continue reading I have always been…

Okay, as if it wasn’t shocking enough to find out that I was significantly English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish Catholic as in Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland and French when I thought I was strictly half Iberian Peninsula and half African in ancestry, Ancestry.com discovers yet another interesting tidbit. I have always joked that I’m… Continue reading Wait, I’m what?! Putting the Anglo in Anglo-Saxon.

someone asks (very infrequently) in Los Angeles: Where are you from? Where are your parents from? Where are your grandparents from? What’s your maiden name? What’s your background? I’m either going to recite from my blog or tell them: “If you REALLY want to know, you’ll have to Google it.” 🙂

So after the whole Earl thing, my husband decided to refer to me only as Princess Aliza, Lady Aliza and Duchess Aliza and said that it explained my noble (read: holier-than-thou, I’m right, you’re not, bossy) behavior. Not. Cool. My friends and fans on Facebook on the other hand were confused because the current Earl… Continue reading Where I Come From (Part 4) aka MY WORLD TOUR