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Originally posted at: Sutton Stracke’s Blue Bee Sweater

Originally posted at: Kyle Richards’ Pink Logo Sweater

Sometimes I have to ask myself, how lazy can one woman be? It all started when Alexa became affordable. I placed a unit in every room of my two-story, three-bedroom home. No matter where I stood, sat, or lay down, Alexa was within reach. That’s when I stopped googling. If I had to type in the question I wanted answered, that was too much effort when instead I could casually ask: “Alexa, what time is it?” “Alexa, tell me about…” or “Alexa, please find the best recipe with these ingredients.”

I got comfortable with that level of laziness. To keep it interesting, I strategically chose the call name “Echo” for some devices and “Alexa” for others; postulating this would boost my mental acuity by having to remember which room had what named device. I often got it wrong. No worries, it was a one-word mistake. “Echo, tell me the temperature today.” No answer. “Alexa, tell me the temperature today.” Mischief managed. I was back on track with only a slight course correction.

Is It Comfort or Is It Laziness?

Alexa wasn’t the only thing I got lazy over. My clothing choices are the same-ish every day, black yoga leggings with a black top, though I changed up the neckline and the fabric. Now that the debate over whether gym clothes can be worn all day long has been solved with the explosion of the active and leisure wear market – not to mention the mushrooming of virtual meetings – there was no need to worry about that.

My cooking routine was summarily boring. Almost the same day in and day out. After a visit to my daughter’s house, there was no doubt that pizza heated on air fry, which came out the perfect ready-to-bite-in temperature, moist and chewy with a bit of crunch in the crust was something I could not live without. Now it was time to get an air fryer.

I must disclose, I do not, repeat, do not, have a microwave. Several reasons for that: my Italian Aunt Dora would rise and beat me down; My kitchen counter space is limited; I am short and hanging it over the stove doesn’t work for me. Finally, I am a cancer survivor and although I do make some risky moves, no microwave is an easy one to accomplish.

Besides, how much unplanning and hungry can I be that I need it NOW? Well, truth be told, I am always trying to eat more mindfully, hence I am sans microwave. My appliances are great and very new albeit, I am one person and don’t need all that cooking real estate on a given day.

If you haven’t tried an air fryer; I am not sure what you are waiting for. I bought an extremely reputable machine for under 50 USD. Almost the price of one dinner out, for a machine that will likely last several years. The crispy factor on veggies is outstanding and there is no oil! Knowing that an air fryer is a good decision it all comes down to how lazy can one woman be.

Shortcut versus Workaround

I decided the workaround is an air fryer combo thing. This is not a shortcut because I believe shortcuts do cut us short. A workaround is a way of achieving an almost impossible end goal, how to reheat food without engaging my full-size oven or a microwave, as opposed to a short cut which is trying to get there faster or in an easier route.

Now the real conundrum begins, which one do I buy? A quick Google search on air fryers yields about 1,290,000,000 (that’s over a billion) results in 0.43 seconds. That’s quicker than a microwave works.

So many choices! Capacity, functions, door style, color, size, and price.

The One Touch Conundrum

Apparently, all 10-function Air Fryers are not created equal. For one-touch options, some go by mode, such as air fry, roast, toast, bake, and dehydrate. Others go by food products: bagel, pizza, chicken, beef, veggie, pasta. And still others, have some combo of the two. This means that first I had to classify my cooking habits and food intake.

There was no guide, or experts to provide advice. No app or AI tool to tell me which I would use more based on my cooking preferences. The reheat button seems to be the only thing they may all have. I had to decide which one-touch buttons I wanted. And while I love pizza, it’s not a common food group in my repertoire. Seeing the word on my machine every day may be too triggering of needing a pizza. I decided function was the way to go for me.

Rotisserie or Toast

Whew, one decision made, and, on its heels, another comes at me fast. To toast or not. I love toast. And I love to toast, proposing a few words to honor someone with a beverage. Toast is not a regular function. Now I don’t know about where you live, but for me, kitchen counter space is at an all-time premium. I cannot have the coffee maker, blender, toaster oven, teapot, and knife holder all out on the counter, I just don’t have that kind of space.

The 10-function air-fryer thing was supposed to be the workaround so when it didn’t offer toast as a function I was perplexed. How could I streamline when one of my used functions was not a one-touch? And then I saw it. Only on a few models. Rotisserie. Game over. My fondest childhood memories include rotisserie turkey wings, ribs, and kabobs. I love Rotisserie anything.

After extensive research, calls to the customer service line, and deep web searches to find the exact temperature a one-touch toast button commands, I decided I could survive a three-touch process to toast, it was a necessary trade-off to get the coveted rotisserie function.

Where Else Does Lazy Show Up in My Life?

We know I am okay with putting on comfy yoga clothes and never going to yoga. I would rather ask Siri or Alexa than stop to text or type a question to find an answer. I can live with three touches to toast my gluten-free bagel or bread if it means not sacrificing the rotisserie function.

How far does this laziness go? Do I buy new underwear instead of walking downstairs to the basement and doing the laundry? Do I settle for a bad cup of coffee because it is too much effort to rebrew and make it right? Do I sacrifice what I truly want because there is a shortcut or a one-touch solution that is easier? Is close enough enough for me?

What’s Next

If you haven’t made the plunge to a 10-function, air fryer thing, I suggest you do. Just decide how many buttons you want to press on any given day.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you consider yourself lazy? About what things? Have you stopped to consider why that is and what you gain or lose because of laziness? Or do you look for workarounds that make your life easier?

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1st Photo: @kylerichards18

Originally posted at: Kyle Richards’ Black Tank Top and Leather Pants

It is not unusual for folks of retirement age to complete a bucket list visit to one’s ancestral home. My husband initiated this practice even before he knew me. In those days before the internet, on a trip to Scotland, he relied on the common phonebook to connect with folks who shared his last name.

Even after we married, I accompanied him to the Dublin neighborhood where his great grandfather worked as a barrel maker at the Guinness Factory. We also explored his Scottish roots in Argyle, delighted to see there was a pub called The Langmuir Tavern.

Benefits of Studying One’s Ancestry

There are many valuable reasons why pursuing one’s family history is so popular today. Our generation was introduced to the idea in 1977 with Alex Haley’s popular program, Roots. As the captivated American audience watched, popular ideas about the origin of African Americans in our country were overturned with each weekly episode, replaced by the shocking reality. In fact, all of us probably share disturbing events with our ancestors, we just don’t always know about them.

There are 22 million people who have tested their DNA and pursue their own stories through sites like Ancestry.com. It is a common retirement pastime. Benefits include finding new family members, clarifying health issues, personalizing history, developing richer and deeper cultural understandings, and gaining government benefits such as obtaining a passport from their country of origin. More importantly, genealogy seekers develop compassion and appreciation for the struggles of ancestors who paved the way for a better life. Undoubtedly, everyone’s relatives sacrificed for our easier lifestyles.

What Were My Family Origins?

My own DNA test from Ancestry.com revealed my heritage was 100% linked to the Ashkenazi Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. No surprise there. Being of a certain age, it was time to travel to Prague, Budapest and Krakow. A visit to the specific city of Zamosch, Poland, my grandparents’ city of origin, was vetoed because of its proximity to Ukraine.

Migrationpolicy.org tells us that it took approximately 3-4 generations for Europeans arriving in America in the 1920s to assimilate. I am a member of Generation 3, and before this journey, I considered myself fully assimilated. Writing in the New York Times Magazine, Laila Lalami defines assimilation as becoming like other Americans, gaining fluency in the dominant language, attaining some degree of educational or economic success, and having a familiarity with the history and culture of the country.

I checked all these boxes and furthered the assimilation process by marrying outside my religion. I also consciously chose a new spiritual practice for myself which did not involve keeping Kosher or weekly synagogue attendance. I am in good company with the large number of lapsed Christians and Jews in the US.

Bearing Witness

Our travels took us to Auschwitz and the Jewish Quarters, as they are known, in all three cities. I learned that King Casimir the Great invited the persecuted Jews of Western Europe to Poland and the surrounding areas in 1343. The Jews thrived for almost 600 years, until the Holocaust.

I was no stranger to Jewish history. I grew up in an ethnic neighborhood which was almost entirely Jewish. Merchants in my neighborhood had tattoos on their arms from the camps. I was forever feeling left out of all conversations between my mother and grandmother, because they were conducted in Yiddish. I remember meeting my grandmother’s sister at the docks in New York when she arrived in the US in 1960, after emigrating from Israel. I went to Hebrew School until I graduated from High School.

I was not prepared to be shocked, in any way, with what I experienced in Eastern Europe. That was not the case. In every Jewish Quarter, synagogues from the Middle Ages remained, along with eerie, crooked, ancient tombstones. Magnificent new synagogues were built in Prague and Budapest in the 19^th century, but just a very few families are current members. In perfect condition, one even seats 3000!

The infrastructure of homes, book and Judaica stores, restaurants, and even Schindler’s factory remain, but chillingly, the places are completely devoid of their original residents. The emptiness is what still resonates with me.

The story is the same in all the cities. Property was systematically confiscated, ghettoes and walls were erected, and the Jews were sent to the 23 main camps or 1000 satellite camps for work or extermination.

When Trauma Is a Component of One’s Ancestry

This legacy trip was obviously so different than my travels to Ireland and Scotland with my husband. Curiosity about one’s past is a healthy activity. It can’t be minimized, as it seems to be an essential missing ingredient from adoptees’ lives. Knowing where we come from, our cultural traditions and history seem to be a basic human right.

However, when trauma is involved, the healthy curiosity takes an unexpected turn. This type of travel becomes quite visceral. Surprisingly, it is possible that there is a genetic component to one’s past. Dr. Rachel Yehuda of New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital has discovered an “epigenetic inheritance” in a study of 32 Holocaust survivors.

Epigenetics is the study of how one’s environment can affect the genes of future generations. Her groundbreaking work discovered that the trauma of ancestors can be passed to future generations. Her work has great implications for any sufferers of trauma, and for all of us whose ancestors suffered in their homelands.

By being physically present at Auschwitz and the Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, I developed a crisper focus of my family history. At Auschwitz, a large photo depicted the residents from my grandparents’ town being exiled by the Germans. Among the hundreds of suitcases which were marked for expected reunification with their owners at the camps, I saw one marked “Sara,” the same unusual spelling of my mother’s name.

The study of genealogy and heritage travel can be sobering experiences. Although we are not privileged to all the stories in our past, undoubtedly, they quietly exert their influence on us today.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Have you studied your ancestry? What was your motivation? Did you uncover any surprises? Have you visited your ancestral land, town or home? What was the feeling?