We survived the High Holidays -- hurrah!! We discuss our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur experiences, as well as our sukkah fun, both at temple and in our own backyard. We've got some trips planned, including a trip to Atlanta to see They Might Be Giants and a jaunt to Vegas, baby!! Eric's heading solo to a local show by The Donnas in a couple of weeks -- we discuss the merits of The Donnas versus the Dead Milkmen. We're doing PR work for the March of Dimes, recording a 60-second video called "Sophie's Story" for their PSA contest. And, we try and decide the meaning of "crumitize," and eventually decide that it is a perfectly cromulent word. 40 minutes, 10 seconds of embiggening goodness.

We give a recap of the past couple of weeks, including our "Swim & Pray at the J" experience and Sophie's first week back at preschool. We got a little political this week, at a lunch for the local chapter of the National Jewish Democratic Council, featuring Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL). We celebrated eight years of marriage this past Wednesday with a night out on the town!! Raya's getting a team together for the NCCJ Walk as One, and there's a little controversy at our synagogue over a group for gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender Jews. 44 minutes, 24 seconds.

On this Atlanta-riffic episode, we talk about our trip to that giant traffic jam of a city. We visited the Georgia Aquarium, the new World of Coca-Cola (we discuss the New Coke fiasco), and the Imagine-It Children's Museum. We enjoyed excellent dinners at Max Lager's and Atlanta's Hard Rock Cafe, and had an amazing breakfast at The Flying Biscuit. No trip to Atlanta would be complete -- at least for us -- without a visit to IKEA, and we discuss our purchases from the big blue store. Raya gives an update on her health -- all good news -- and her ongoing battle with the Birmingham Water Works. We close with a little reminiscing about our experience at the Atlanta Olympics, some 11 years ago. 55 minutes, 6 seconds.

Our second anniversary episode is also our first show in over a month, and do we begin with a discussion of Raya's health? Of course not, we first have to talk about The Simpsons Movie!!! Then, we move on to discussions about Raya's health, including nephrotic syndrome, minimal change disease, shingles, and more! We discuss our June visit to Camp Ramah Darom, and guess what -- Sophie's walking!! Eric got a new iPhone, and we plan for a trip to the beach. We close with a discussion of upcoming stuff at Beth-El, as the "programming year" is almost beginning. 47 minutes, 36 seconds.

Hello JIA? listeners. Although our podcasting schedule has been hit-or-miss over the last 15 months (gee, wonder why?), you may have noticed a longer-than-usual absence, even for us. Here's what's going on.

Yesterday, Raya was diagnosed with minimal change disease, a kidney disorder. This is the primary cause of a condition she's been suffering for the past 3-4 weeks called nephrotic syndrome. Basically, she's got an inordinate amount of swelling in her feet, legs, and abdomen. This is caused by a malfunction in the kidneys that causes them to leak protein into the urine, rather than transfer it to the blood where it belongs.

However, the diagnosis of MCD was very good news. As her nephrologist put it yesterday, this is the "most treatable condition" which she could have had. He has started her on a course of steroids, along with some other medication. She will hopefully get some relief from the symptoms soon, and the condition itself should clear up within a few months. Future recurrences are possible, but she'll be able to recognize the symptoms much quicker if this ever happens again.

MCD is much more common in kids than adults; her doctor said that there was only a 5-10% chance that an adult's nephrotic syndrome would be caused by MCD. There are many other, scarier conditions that can cause nephrotic syndrome, such as diabetes, lupus, and some kidney-specific ailments. Also, the biopsy showed no signs of scarring or other permanent damage to the kidney tissue. So again, we feel very fortunate.

She had the biopsy last Friday, and so that combined with her swelling makes her pretty uncomfortable right now. There's just not any chance we're going to sit in front of the computer and record a podcast for a couple of weeks. We'll hope to get back in the saddle by July 27, which is the two-year anniversary of this show.

So, that's our update. Think happy thoughts for Raya, and we'll talk to you all as soon as we can!

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