The brand on the frozen kosher for Passover dinners is Mon Cuisine.

I couldn't even find boxes of cake mix this year. Pretty bad. Probably if I crossed a bridge or two there would be more on offer.

I've got a Wegman's near me, and they seem to order the same selection of Passover stuff for all their stores, whether there's a big Jewish community in the area or not. They don't have a huge selection of brands, but they seem to sell a pretty good selection of the things made by the few brands they do use. They even had a few of the Kitni products this year. (Manischevitz, a few years ago, finally acknowledged that not everybody follows Ashkenazic rules, and started selling a few things like peanut butter and canned beans with a "Suitable for those who consume Kitniyot during Passover," under the Kitni label. I'm actually fine with a regular jar of peanut butter with no Passover label, but I buy the Kitni stuff just to show that there is a market for it.)

My legs are requesting a divorce. I was fine when I got up, reasonably sore, but not bad. And then I sat at my desk for 90 minutes. When I stood up, I had to grab onto the wall and stand there, swaying until I was somewhat sure I could walk. And even then, it was a shuffling stagger. Whoa. Once I was moving for a bit, got more limber, but everytime I sat, pure reversal (but sitting isn't painful.) Swimming felt like I was dragging cement bags behind me (and was significantly slower.)

Kinda blown away, because I didn't wake up this broken.

This year, Wegman's also had stack of packets of coupons for Passover stuff, which was nice. It's actually somewhat ridiculous -- we get everything that's listed here with a price (rather than "available in select stores) [link] in a town where there's just one synagogue within fifty miles in any direction, and that synagogue usually just barely has a minyan for Shabbat.

(And that list is definitely not complete. I notice several things I bought -- Osem soup mix, some packets of chestnuts, chocolate covered matzo with rainbow sprinkles on top, peanut butter, and mini matzos -- that aren't on the list.)

Thank you for the birthday wishes! There was breakfast out with Sara, a massage, a tattoo, and a lovely dinner, and there is cake! Plus flowers! Feeling very blessed, and like I really don't want it to be tomorrow anytime soon.

Tattoo? More details please.

That sounds very nice, and I am willing to let it keep being today for longer than usual for you.

I am pretty sure that I've never lived further than ten miles from a synagogue in my entire life... and I'm not Jewish. How weird to be reminded what an actually small demographic "Jewish" is, when it is such a essential feature among my family, friends, and acquaintances.

(Around 30-ish years ago, my cousin visited the northern part of Florida, and was astounded to find people who didn't know what bagels were.)

(OTOH, I was fair distance into adulthood before I encountered actual Grits.)

Double Chocolate Milano: Thanks for the feedback on asking for help. Anyone who's done it, is there a difference between sites that let you do it? Is there a Dummies Guide to Begging Online out there somewhere that I should consult?

Nice day, Amy!

Theo: rule #1 is don't think of it as begging. Think of it as giving people the opportunity to help.