The windows of my house are completely fogged up because of the heat and humidity outside.  My kids got into my spice drawer today and managed to open and dump 3 spice jars all over my floor.  My 2 year old decided to try her hand at disassembling furniture today and took a shelf out of the television stand.  The same one she hid the remote under the other day and we couldn’t find it for ages.  My 1 year old is sick, and refused to nap at all.  My husband is still working at 7:30 at night.  He started before 6 a.m. this morning.  My basement is flooded and the carpet goes “squish” whenever I take a step.  The same 2 year old discussed above is refusing to sleep in her own bed, but is (Thank G-d) willing to sleep in the guest bed.  The sheets for the guest bed are in the washer right now, but she doesn’t seem to mind sleeping on a mattress pad, so okay.  The light in my kitchen burned out.

But, I have a lovely glass of Riesling, and am hereby telling the world it can go take care of its own self.  Mama is done for the day.

Sunday: Pasta with leftover lemon-oregano chicken from Shabbat, kale, onions and cream sauce

Monday: Lasagna, garlic bread, salad

Tuesday: Hamburgers and a variety of salads (bean, potato, green, etc) depending on my mood

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Grilled steaks, corn on the cob, caprese salad

Shabbat: Not my week to cook, I just bake the challah!

Monday: Sauteed chicken thighs in creamy leek sauce, brown rice, and collard greens

Tuesday: Whole wheat pasta, shrimp in garlic butter, sauteed bok choy

Wednesday: As always, the plan is SnB, the back-up plan is take out! I think I may also make a fruit cobbler

Thursday: Fish curry with pineapple, pea pods, and whatever is left in the crisper

Shabbat: Not my week to cook!    As the “Fiesta Shabbat” went over so well for my sister’s birthday, I think that plan is being revamped for this week with some minor alterations.  I love Mexican food, so no complaints here!

Sunday: Hamburgers on the grill, homemade french fries, grilled romaine lettuce, pickled beets, pickles, and grilled pineapple with cinnamon.

Monday: Grilled chicken with BBQ sauce, salad, pasta

Tuesday: four cheese ravioli with marinara sauce

Wednesday: Cinco de Mayo, so chicken enchiladas, homemade pico, guacamole, rice, black beans

Thursday: leftovers

Shabbat: homemade challah, wine, roast chicken, Aunt Syd’s potatoes (family recipe), asparagus, fruit pie

Saturday: up in the air right now, so I am not going to plan a meal that will just be postponed anyway

Oops, I missed week 17.  Well, we ate healthy dinners, I just didn’t plan them out ahead of time.  Instead of beating myself up about it though, I’m just jumping right back onto the wagon and away we go!

Sunday: Vegetable soup and bread

Monday: Dinner out with friends from 1/2 a world away

Tuesday: Crock pot chicken cacciatore, pasta, and broccoli with almonds

Wednesday: SnB night, which means I don’t cook! 

Thursday: Leftovers

Shabbat: My mom cooks this week, all I’m responsible for is the challah

Saturday: If the weather holds out, I think we’ll grill some steaks, throw some potatoes in the oven and have whatever veggies I have left.

It is a beautiful, sunny day in April.  We’ve had several of these lovely days in a row now.  I’ve been able to get my garden bed built, and my seeds sown.  Luckily for me, my 2 year old helped with the gardening, so my square foot garden plan has been chucked out the window as we get to see what seeds she strew, and where.  To help with that, my 1 year old decided that the raised garden bed is a much better place to play than the sandbox.

But really, that isn’t what I’m wanting to discuss today.  Today, we are talking about spring fever.  I have it. Bad.  According to my husband, I get it every year.  Or at least I’ve gotten a case every year he has known me.

In the last few days, I’ve wanted to

• have another baby
• open a yarn store
• open a quilt fabric store
• open a cloth diaper store
• write a novel
• move to a different city
• join and get very involved in a synagogue
• start our own egalitarian minyan
• go to rabbinical school
• just go back to school in general with no real goal in mind
• get a dog

Now, I love my life.  I love my children.  I don’t really want to stop being a Stay at Home mom.  It isn’t practical anyway for me to stop.  We’d have to find childcare.  My husband works ungodly hours (70 last week alone).  It looks like he’ll be starting to travel a lot more for work in the very near future as well.  I need to be here, to take care of the kids we’ve got.  The last thing I need is a new baby thrown into the mix.  Really.

I’m just bored.

I feel like I’m stagnating.  My children are wonderful, but at 1 and 2 years old, they aren’t great conversationalists.  There are very few other SAHM’s in my area.  There is only so much Dinosaur Train and Curious George I can take.

Something is lacking from my life.

It could be my husband, considering the hours he puts in to work, but that isn’t changing any time soon.

So for now, I brainstorm.  I leap from topic to topic, and make myself crazy.

I suppose this Spring Fever will pass.  What scares me the most though, is that I’m not sure I want it to.

Yeah, I’m a little behind this week.  I do not see how I’ll be ready for Pesach next week, but somehow I always manage.

Sunday: Sushi with my folks, which was fantastic!

Monday: Leftover pizza

Tuesday: Dinner at my folks house!  We are getting back to the regular routine and I couldn’t be happier.

Wednesday: Just the kids and I as Jason is going after work to buy a car, so probably mac n cheese.  Hopefully he’ll be home so I can get to Stitch n Bitch

Thursday: Our friend John is joining us for dinner, so I need to cook something yummy.  Gumbo perhaps?  Yeah, gumbo sounds good and is pretty easy.

Shabbat: Challah, Venezualean steak with onions and tomatoes, black beans and rice.  In other words, a chametz and kitniut fest before Pesach begins!

Saturday: Whatever chametz we have left in the fridge.

Last Saturday, Jason, Asher and I flew to Washington D.C. to go the funeral of our good friends’ baby. After going full term and then some, he never got to take a breath on his own. The funeral was monday, and went as well as a funeral can go I suppose. The parents were very strong, and I’m so impressed and proud of them. I hated having to leave, but we had to hurry home for Tuesday.

My mom stayed here at our house, along with Miriam. She’s 2 now, and just old enough to know that something sad was going on, but not old enough to understand. She also has hit a very shy stage, and likes to have everything her way, immediately (we are working on that). So Jason and I decided it would be easier for everyone if she just stayed home and got special time with her Bubbie and Zaydie. Dad also stayed here, as he has for the last few weeks since being released from the hospital.

Tuesday, I took Jason to the oral surgeon’s to have all four of his wisdom teeth pulled. The surgery itself took about 45 minutes. It turned out there was a lot of infection back there, and as the doctor put it “it was messy”. The anesthesia made Jason really funny, and he took direction very well, which was nice for a bit.

However, the bleeding didn’t stop the way it should have. After a few hours of constant, continuous, copious bleeding, I called the doctor’s office again, and they had us go back in. They gave him two more stitches, and Jason finally clotted, after losing about 2 pints of blood.

We came home, and I got Jason to drink a bit of milkshake, and managed to keep him conscious until the fear of actually losing him passed.

He’s still incredibly weak and tired – mostly due to the blood loss.

Wednesday he slept most of the day. I drove dad to and from physical therapy, took care of the kids, and don’t remember much else from during the day. My sister came over after work to pick dad up and take him for the evening, as she does every Wednesday, and I was able to convince her to stay here, watch both wounded men, and my kids. I picked mom up, and she and I went for margaritas and then hit Stitch n Bitch.

Thursday is a blur of taking care of the guys, the kids, and the house.

Friday Jason tried to work from home, which really overdid it for him. He was exhausted. Everyone came over for Shabbat dinner. Mom made her famous stuffed cabbage, My sister made mashed potatoes and brownies, and I baked challah during the day. We woke Jason and made him come to the table for Shabbat dinner.

Tonight is Asher’s first birthday party, as tomorrow is his actual birthday, and Purim (a fun Jewish holiday involving costumes, noise makers, and getting drunk).

So yeah, I’m a little tired.

Twas Erev Christmas, and all through the bayit, not a creature was stirring? yeah you can forget it.
The Bubbie and Zaydie came over for dinner, but all Mommy wanted was to hire a sitter.
The daddy worked late, for Christians vacate
At this time of year, Jews don’t celebrate.
The kids both had colds, and one ear infection
Mommy was starting a bourbon obsession
The munchkins were snuggled all nice in their cots, and screaming their heads off
Is it time for shots?
Now afraid this is sounding like alcoholism, Momma has to admit
There has been a schism.
She dreams of the booze, but doesn’t partake
At least not while the kids are awake.
The parents were grateful for their new snow blower
but mostly because, their holiday was OVER!

My day began (if you can say yesterday ever ended) with my darling husband refusing to get up and help at 4:30 this morning when our daughter got sick, because he “only had an hour left to sleep before the alarm goes off”. He’d been asleep since 11 p.m. Unlike me, who again, for the third night in a row was up nearly all night with the boy.

My day got better when the boy woke again at 5 to eat.

I climbed back into bed 2 minutes before DH’s alarm went off. Of course, he has to hit the snooze button.

Then, at 6:15, boy wakes up again to eat, and won’t go back to sleep (again), so I brought him into bed with me in the hopes that he would play or something, and I could drift off a bit.

Instead, he throws up all over himself, the bed, and me. Third time I’d gotten thrown up on since returning from SnB last night.

So, I’m up, and dressed. All my comfy jeans are in the wash, so I’m wearing my “skinny” jeans. It goes without saying that today is not a “skinny” day.

Oh, and today is also daughter’s 2nd birthday. Funny, I’m not in a mood to celebrate. It’s a good thing all the celebrations are planned for Friday and Saturday, and that she is too young to know that today is the actual day.

Can I get a do-over on last night? And this morning? Please?