Because I Need To Blog SOMETHING

I had a bizarre dream last night...


Oprah Winfrey had an audience full of women suffering infertility and at the end of an hour long tear jerkier of a show she had a surprise...


"LOOK UNDER YOUR SEATS .... YOU GET A BABY ...... AND YOU GET A BABY ..... AND YOU GET A BABY....



EVERYONE GETS TO TAKE HOME A BAAAAAAAAAYBEEEEEEEEE"


I woke up in a cold sweat. I can't believe Oprah is giving away babies.



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Ro is quite shrewd. She somehow managed to come home from school with money that she did not have when she left to school.

She was showing off her conquest to So in the evening and placed her dollars and coins on the kitchen table.

Ro turned away for a few moments and when she looked back she was uncertain if her collection of money was still the same value it was moments ago.

Ro - "So, did you take a dollar from me?"

So - "No."

Ro - "Are you sure?"

So - "Yes!"

Ro - (with a conniving look on her face)
"Do you want to give me a dollar anyway ....... just in case?"

Kids HEAR & REPEAT The Darndest Things

I am not kidding when I tell you that the following conversation took place as I was putting So and Ro to bed.



Me - Goodnight.



So - Mommy, I really don't find this pillow comfortable because when I put my head on it my head sinks all the way down like it's just laying on the bed and like there is no pillow at all.



Me - That is why you have another pillow with a sham on your bed. Put the sham covered pillow underneath and then it won't feel so flat.



So - Or Mommy, you could buy that special pillow that never gets flat and has a special space in the middle for your head and it remembers your shape.



Me - (dumbfounded) So, those pillows are very expensive.



So - No they aren't, just 19.99.




And for the special limited time, TV offer it's 17.99




And if you call and order in the next 10 minutes they will throw in another pillow free






That's a 40 dollar value for just 17.99 Mommy.










Me - with this look on my face -













SERIOUSLY!!!!




When did PBS and Sprout become more like the QVC and Home Shopping Network??




I mean, they still are ONLY watching PBS and Sprout ....




RIGHT?

Happy New Year - Jewish Style

I have not been back to blog. I am mostly still waiting for Ate to go back to school which happens Monday. But I have also been sick for 3 weeks and I wasn't getting better.

I started having pain on the left side of my face and figured it's probably a sinus infection.

I just started me some anti bi otics...

And I will spare you what is now, FINALLY, draining from my sinus passages.

At least I can nix that Dentist appointment (which would have been my next try due to the tooth pain, which was really sinus pain).

Green is sooooo NOT my favorite color.


Tonight is Rosh Hashana - the Jewish New Year.

Time to pray and reflect....

as much as I can in between nose blowing and tissue reaching and


ATE!!!!

Monday .... just around the corner, just around the corner, just around the....


Sorry, tissue reaching and nose blowing...


Happy New Year to my Jewish friends and Sweet Wednesday to all my other friends.

HORN TOOTIN'

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ME



I'm getting there ..... I'm getting there!!!


Girls off to school today. (Ate has a few more days)

We are tooting our horns ...

I ... WANT ... TO ..... BLOG ....


NEED .... TO .... BLOG ...


CREATIVE ENERGY .... IS .... SUFFOCATING .... ME...


CHILDREN WITHOUT ..... STRUCTURED .... ENVIRONMENT ..... SUFFOCATING ..... ME!!!!


MUST .... FIND ... TIME...

I .... NEEDED ... THIS .... QUICK .... FIX....


WILL .... BE .... BACK ..... SOON!!!

It Can Change On A Dime

This is not the way I expected to return to my blog, but my blog is a place to RELEASE my feelings and that is what I need to do.

I was having a really great summer. I was focusing on the joy of being a mother. I have been spending time outdoors with children, with children and spouse, with spouse, alone, becoming one with nature, with my thoughts, reflecting.

I did not really spend last summer so invested in "moments", as I was busy taking care of a newborn. And when taking care of a newborn, one loses track of time. Each day seemed to end and begin at the same moment and time became blurred. There was only sleep to dream and rejuvenate. Any time to reflect was absent. Even as a good friend lost a beautiful young child, suddenly, I could only reflect until my own newborns cries would pull me away from my thoughts.

This summer I have four children who are more predictable and I am able to "schedule" moments to spend. And it has been joyful.





And then suddenly and unexpectedly -


THIS -






There is no explanation, and certainly none that would suffice.

Moshe Menora was a contributing member, not only of our community, but of society as a whole.

I did not know him extremely well, but my parents knew him better. He, along with his wife have three children.

Miriam and Kelly were in school with two of my sisters and my family knows the son Shalom as well.

Kelly lives in a neighborhood in Israel where my sister who attended school with her lives and they share in each others celebrations and events.

I had been to Israel last summer and two summers before that, each time my sister made a Bar Mitzvah and their family was in attendance. I would see their family whenever I was in Israel, including their beautiful daughter Sara. She was on the plane as well.

Also on the plane were 3 of her cousins. Rikki and Racheli did not survive. Yossi (Netanel Yosef ben Simcha Sima) needs our prayers as he fights to recover from burns over 50% of his body.

The truth is, one does not need to know this family on ANY level in order to feel the impact of this most tragic event. I have heard stories of the like, unfortunately, all over the news and immediately, the coldness envelopes your body and you can only ask, "why"?

But this specific story obviously hit my own community with an intense breeze of eeriness.

Even I did not feel the "eye" of the storm until I realized, when attending the funeral, that I was attending a funeral for four family members at one time.

Who does that?

Who finds themselves at a funeral for four people at one time?

It's so far beyond what is supposed to be NATURAL to this world.

The human being was not built with the equipment to comprehend this sort of travesty.

We can try all we want, but we can not wrap our little human brains around it.

There are people involved who lost a parent and children in one day. A woman who lost a husband and precious grandchildren in one swift moment. Children who lost siblings and a beloved Grandfather in one fell swoop. And so on.

It's unconscionable.

The funeral was emotional, moving, draining, abounding with attendees spilling out the door into the street.

Everything said can resonate with someone in that room.

And then, to hear "Kel maley rachamim" (Prayer for the deceased) said FOUR times in a row, once for each of the departed, brought chills to my spine and made the room seem to shudder.

We will never have the answer to the obvious question of,

"WHY".

But each one of us can come to our own determination of what lessons we should walk away with. And we can each prevail by choosing to live our lives in a way that will honor those who can no longer live life for themselves.

I am grateful that I was able to spend my summer wrapping myself in moments of blessing given to me by my Husband and children, and I will continue to do so.

Life is so fragile.

It can change on a dime.

Call Child Services, I Dare You

The fact that I am writing this post at this very minute, very clearly implies that I am neglecting and utterly ignoring my children.

I have to explain to them that my blog is like a baby. And this baby, much like them, requires attention and nurturing from time to time. My poor blog baby is looking a bit malnourished and tenuous lately.

My lack of blogging also means Mamma has had lack of many happy hours as of late.

Let's backtrack in time, shall we???

I forced myself happily took it upon myself to train for another half marathon. My training began the day after passover. Between the beginning of February and Passover in April, I was spending every waking moment preparing for aforementioned Holiday. Before that, I was training from November of 2009 until January 31 2010, when I ran my first half marathon and before that I pushed out a nine pound three ounce bundle of joy to add to my collection of three other bundles of joy.

I'VE BEEN BUSY!!!

So, two Sundays ago, I ran my second half marathon and I am proud to say, (while my time still sucks) I did shave off 13 minutes from my first half marathon to my second.

AND I GOT ME A MEDAL!



(Nevermind my post race puffy look. I retain much fluid after 13.1 miles)

I actually recovered much quicker from this race than last. I only was walking like I just got off a horse for a few days as opposed to the 6 weeks of practically all out hip RE - location (no not dislocation) that I felt last time. Yes, last time my left hip felt like it had packed up and moved down south.

I thank my new found Chiropractor for that. As well as my massage therapist.

In fact, I felt so good after this last race, I was able to get my groove on later that night with my running friend (in the above picture) at a Sheryl Crowe concert.

So I was finally looking forward to a Sunday that did not involve kids swim lessons and myself taking off to run more miles than any human should run at one time, but of course that Sunday of pure rest and relaxation would have to wait.

My friend Rayli made a Bat Mitzvah at 11:30 in the morning, 45 minutes away from my house. It was a really fun and exciting and Beautiful Bat Mitzvah, (you hear me Rayli?) but it did not factor into my Sunday so well. I was making a birthday at 3:30 for Ate and Bam in my parents backyard that required pool inflating and hose configuring and water filling.

I had to get out of bed on a Sunday at 7:30 am (which I should consider a treat, since the previous Sunday I had to wake at 3:45 am to get to my race) but I am not really a morning person.

I drove to my parents with a crapload of stuff (it's times like these I wish I had a backyard) including one older kiddie pool that I surprisingly discovered was NOT placed into a black garbage bag after last years use, before it was placed under my deck for the winter. CRUDDY, can not even begin to describe it.

So there I was at my parents thinking it will all go smoothly. Then I realized they had no outdoor outlet for my pump to inflate the pool. So I had to find the nearest outlet to the backdoor, which had the pump literally being pulled right up to the screen door. I inflated that cruddy pool and two other pools. I was hoping that my newer pool would fill while I cleaned the crud up, but that would be too easy.

My parents hose did not reach from the water line all the way to the backyard, but it did reach the deck. So I spent 20 extra minutes, pulled from thin air and scrubbed that crud with dish detergent and rags and only became ever so slightly SATURATED and SOAKED with water.

I was running waaay behind and still needed to pick up the cake, some balloons and drinks. Oh, but first I had to go back home and get my hose to attach to my parent's hose to fill the damn pools, so the water would be warm for the birthday.

My "set it and forget it" birthday was taking a bit longer to set.

I got home, failing to complete ALL my tasks, at 10:15. I showered, dressed and finally made it out to the Bat Mitzvah with Hun at 11:15. We arrived shortly after 12 and there was some mean dancing going on, which Rayli made me join so that I could make a total fool of myself. Thanks Rayli.

I had to leave by 1:30, which ended up being 1:40 (after I took the not yet open sweet table hostage - for my kids, of course).

The drive home, uhhhh, did not go so well.

All I'll say is that it included a wrong turn and cutting off a cop who was none to happy.

We did not get to our house until 3, and I had to grab the kids and paraphernalia and get in the car and GO!!!!

I still had the food to put out and one pool to finish filling and bubble supplies and water guns to open....

I never did sit down, I was constantly "setting it" and never really had a chance to "forget it".

The weather was great though.

(PICTURES TO COME!!!)

The kids had a great time. They all agreed it was the best birthday party EVER! And then Ro asked with her sweet little voice, "can my next birthday be like this"?

Oh, poor, sweet Ro

YOUR BIRTHDAY IS IN FEBRUARY!!!

Do 7 year olds ski?

Until we I cleaned up and got everyone home, fed, bathed and in bed it was 8:30 and I was spent.

Monday morning I woke up as if I had a bottle of Jack with some Rufies slipped in the night prior. I had such a birthday hangover and very little memory of what actually occurred, except the image of some sweet smiles and the sounds of incessant giggling.

And now I need to stop neglecting my children, so we are off to the pool.

And by pool, I mean the free one at my friends condo that I neither need to de-crud or inflate. Because that is the way I roll.