#frum

For people who were here in March, you'll remember I did a little trial run of frum life. There were some parts I couldn't really follow through on after it was over, but I really liked keeping Shabbos. Now that I'm officially in a conversion class (an Orthodox one this time), I actually need this to become my life. But if there's one thing I hate, it's faffing around trying to find stuff. So I've come up with a solution that works for me: a basket that serves a dual purpose by holding everything I need for Shabbos during the week, and holding my electronics and writing materials during Shabbos so I don't get tempted. And here's what I put in it:

(Note: I have little glow in the dark stickers on each of these so I can easily find them to put back in the basket after Havdalah.)

toothbrush and case - i use an electric one during the week

baking soda in a small container instead of toothpaste

tissues (for avoiding tearing toilet paper)

spray bottle of deodorant

makeup remover wipes

small lights you might only plug in on shabbos (eg: nightlights)

thermos(es) for hot water

a book of lessons to be learned from each parsha (or another book)

a board game or deck of cards

a necklace/bracelet with house keys as a pendant/charm

low tech disability aids (eg: aac)

timer plugs for fans or heaters

a laminated checklist of what needs to be prepped - have a shower - put covers on light switches - plug in nightlights and turn on designated lamps - put fan/heater on a timer - turn off fridge light/move necessary food to the shabbos fridge - fill and turn on urn/boil water and fill thermoses - set up hotplates - cook/prep any food for tomorrow and put them in containers - put away electronics, notebooks, and pen/cils - get dressed for shul

How do y'all stay observant in places where walking to shul on shabbos is a whole ordeal, kosher food is prohibitively expensive, and working a job makes davening (especially davening with a minyan) difficult?

Dear Future Husband,

It’s 4:45 in the morning and I need to go to the bathroom.

But I can’t go to the bathroom right now.

Because I don’t have a bathroom right now.

Now, that doesn’t seem possible. I must have access to a bathroom somewhere, right?

Well, sure, you know, just the one I have to walk through my mother's room to access.

Which I obviously can’t do right now because she hasn’t fallen asleep yet tonight and has the world’s worst startle response to even something as simple as trying to ask her a question when she has headphones in (which is like 92% of the time), let alone opening her door in the dark middle of the night when she’s wide awake, because FML.

Oh, and how do I know that she hasn’t gone to sleep yet tonight?

Because I too have not gone to sleep yet tonight.

Because I had a couple of things that I wanted to take care of when I knew that she wouldn’t be awake to make a comment about me doing said things. And that still has not happened.

Because just sitting on the couch in the living room, I can hear her. Awake.

And yes, I do have to be up for work in about two hours. Because FML.

But don’t you worry your pretty little head, the why I don’t have a bathroom story is coming. I just need the energy to write it, which is not right now, at almost 5am, when I just have to go to the bathroom.

From Star Wars: Doctor Aphra – Chaos Agent #005, “Aeturna at Last”

Art by Steven Cummings and Mike Atiyeh