Happy Halloween

I haven't posted in a long time, because life has been busy and extremely challenging. (When I say Colic was Easier, I"M NOT KIDDING!!!!)

Anyway, I had to share this amazing video made by a co-worker of my hubby. He is an incredibly talented (and extremely nice) guy who carves pumpkins every Halloween that will AMAZE you.

How is it that some people are so gifted??????

Enjoy!

Survived

We survived Hayley's birthday party.

The kids, spent their evening jumping on the trampoline, playing on the swingset, bouncing balls in the basement and throwing food.

(Note to self, next time I let my kid have a party, I will not place an unsupervised buffet in the basement).

There is Chex Mix in every crevice of the Berber Carpet in the Basement. There are grape tomatoes in between sofa cushions. There is celery stuck to the ceiling.

According to Hayley, it was the greatest party ever. Why? Because they had a huge food fight.

Glad we could oblige.

On the plus side, I limited my daughter to the number of participants, and she complied. In fact, as the parents were picking the kids up, I spotted a couple of party crashers in the front of the house. ("Hi Mrs. Clark, we thought we should stop by") Who lets there kid prance around the neighborhood at 10:30 at night?

She received a TON of money. These kids were very generous, which was not at all necessary, but now she can pay for her own clothes.

Her friend Halle brought a 1/2 gallon of milk (meelk), and it was skim. Yay.

We got to spend the evening with Sam and Lisa, who helped chaperone. Thank G-d. We couldn't have done it without them.

So, except for the fact that our house lost some of its value due to the mess in the basement, and the fact that the neighbors probably want to strangle us, it wasn't to bad.

We made it.

One down, how many more to go????????????????????????????

Terrified

Happy Birthday to my Hayley who has turned 14 today. OY is right.

I'm getting the house ready for 20 of her closest 13/14 year old friends (boys and girls) to hang out with her.

I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared. What do I do with them? Do I have enough food? Are they going to play kissing games? I hope their parents pick them up on time. I hope they don't destroy my house.

Why am I so scared? I used to be 14 years old, and I wasn't nearly as cool as this group of friends. I hope I can handle this!!!!!

Arrrrrggghhhh!

Loopy's Big Day

I had the most wonderful weekend. My youngest played soccer on Friday night, my middle attended two Bar Mitzvah's (her first as a 7th grader, but she's been to five already), and I packed up my oldest and her pal and drove to Secaucus on Saturday Morning to attend an event my sister had organized. The guests were all families in the process of adopting babies from China, which is an amazing, but very slow process. I got the best job of the day, which was entertaining the children, who needed to be kept busy, so their parents could gather information from the three speakers my sis had lined up. (My sister is incredible).

About three years ago, I taught myself face-painting, and kept busy for a while at childrens birthday parties and fundraisers turning boys in to Spiderman, and the like and making princesses out of little girls. I even registered as a "certified clown" in order to obtain insurance. (My clown name, LOOPY) I gave up doing it professionally, as I had a lot on my plate with my other business, camp responsibilities etc etc.

But I was so happy to dig out my facepaints and work with these gorgeous little faces yesterday. They were such beautiful little girls, that I hated even covering them up. But they love it so much, and I think their parents got a kick out of it, too.

It's such a fun thing to do, I'm considering going back to it again, to make a little extra $$. I just have so little confidence in my skills, that I feel guilty accepting money. That's ridiculous, I know, its just how I am.

It was a great change of pace, it was great to meet my sisters wonderful friends, Susan, Audrey, Jean, Chris and Ruth (and plenty of others). It was amazing to be around people who are expectant parents, in the very beginning of their journey. (Maybe one day, they'll REALLY understand my "Colic was Easier" theory. ) I was told I look like Melissa Gilbert, which I've heard before, but really don't see). I got to meet Jeff Gammage, a Philadelphia Inquirer writer, and the author of an amazing book, China Ghosts. (I recommend it highly, heartfelt and beautifully written, I couldn't put it down). I can't say I've ever gotten to shake hands with an author whose book I've read. (Wait, I take it back, I got to meet Jennifer Weiner, In Her Shoes, Good in Bed, etc. but this was still really cool).

I got to spend some nice quality time with my oldest daughter and her best pal. They are so cute together, they laugh at silly things, stay up late, listen to music, sing songs and go on the internet constantly. They were absolutely adorable.

So, thank you to my sister, for including me in your endeavors, being supportive of me, my children, my business and my diet. l for the wonderful opportunity and fun day. It was perfect.

Lost Dog

Today started out like any other. The kids dressed for school, quick breakfasts, bus pick-up and then I came home to get myself organized. Today, like all days, I spoke first to my mother. The dogs were barking like crazy in the background, and she suggested I open the door and "set them free". I then sat down to check my e-mail and update my Nutri-System weight journal (I've lost 7 lbs after 2 weeks!). The dogs, Roxy the terrier and Freddie the bichon, were, as usual, out on our screened in porch where they enjoy barking at squirrels and laying in the sunny spots.

The doorbell rang. It was Sheryl, my neighbor. "Do you have Roxy?" she asked.
"She's out back," I replied.
"The lady down the street just saw a little brown dog running through her yard"

I slammed the door in Sheryl's face, (which I didn't mean to do) and found no sign of Roxy on the porch. Evidence of her escape, a ripped screen.

Okay, now what? I'll never find her at this point. We live in the woods, right off a major highway. She's either in the woods, or she's roadkill. I call my husband. I grab my other dog. I call her name. I offer her a slice of bologna (her favorite). No Roxy. I take to my car and ease my way around the neighborhood, asking the trashmen, the joggers, the contractors, the walkers if they've seen her.

Oh, joy. I pull around to my neighbors house, and see her. She's in the driveway, and the moment she spots me, she takes off at lightning speed. She has now crossed the street, and in major woods. I'm not going in there. She appears and runs away three more times. One man spots her in his yard, but she took off to the right. She runs across the street, two cars stop and offer help. I can't get her. I call Gregg again. This time he says he's on his way home. But we can't get her.

I come home deflated, and frustrated. I call three animal shelters and make a LOST DOG sign.
I tell Wendi. She starts to cry. She has such a big heart. I'm more angry at the dog, and concerned about how the girls are going to react. I hope Gregg will help me deal with this announcement, I don't think I can do alone. I think to myself, well, this is going to be a life lesson about grief. Their first.

I go outside to post the sign on our community bulletin board. A little embarrassed that we still haven't put up a fence. After all, this is the 6th or 7th time the dog has gotten loose. But she's never been gone this long. Its been three hours.

I slowly drive around to the street behind our house, knowing that this is futile and fearing I might see her little body wounded or worse on the side of the road. I hear a faint bark, that is familiar. Is that her? It's so high pitched and upset, I worry that she is hurt. The bark gets louder and louder, and I pull into the nearest driveway. I've found her. She's barking like mad at a little black cat perched in a tree. She attempts to run several times, but she's far too interested in this black cat to run away and disappear. I call her three more times. She won't come to me and if I approach her, she'll run, I know it. So I call "Here, Kitty Kitty", and the cat makes it way over to me. The CAT. At this point Roxy is so distracted, that she slows down enough for me to grab her.

When we return, she walks directly to her familiar water bowl, and takes a nice long drink. She snuggles into her comfy pillow in the kitchen, and settles in for her nap. DOES SHE EVEN KNOW HOW LUCKY SHE IS??? DOES SHE EVEN KNOW SHE COULD HAVE BEEN HURT, PUT IN A SHELTER, OR KILLED??

Of course not, just like my kids, the comforts and familiarity of home is taken for granted. She had her adventure. She had her fun. And now she's home safe.

Thank goodness for happy endings.

My life.

Mom
Homework helper
Laundress
Limo Driver
Nurse
Dieter
Cook
Personal Shopper
Accountant
File Clerk
Tutor
Story Reader
Beautician
Daughter
Sister
Friend

Busy

New Person

As mothers, we naturally put our the needs of our family in front of our own personal needs. That's okay. The problem is when our family's "wants" come before our needs. For most of my motherhood years, I have put myself on the back-burner.

As a single girl, I watched my diet, enjoyed shopping and putting myself together. Had my nails done weekly, spent a lot of time at the hair salon. As a mother, I skip meals, go to the hairdresser only 3 or four times a year, and manicures have become a rarity. My diet has consisted of whatever I can grab fast enough, or overeating to compensate for skipping lunch or breakfast. I stress eat, too. When I get frustrated, or sad, or angry, or bored, the refrigerator door pops open and I eat to comfort my soul.

I look at pictures of my younger, thin self and wonder what happened? I don't feel that much different that I used to. Yet, looking at photos of my current self is so surprising. I'll see a jacket or pants in the store, and think, "that's huge", but, it fits me. My sister is doing so well on Nutri-System and was kind enough to give me her "fat" clothes. I was horrified when I discovered that they were all way too small for me.

The girls have had friends come over, and when they see my wedding portrait, they always comment on how nice I looked. Ashamed of what I've become, I always joke, "Yeah, see what 15 years and three kids can do to a person?"

The problem is, I stopped worrying about ME. I worry about my kids, my husband, my house, my business, the bills, the dogs, the groceries, the laundry. But I stopped making the care and keeping of me a priority.

ENOUGH.

I started Nutri-System 4 days ago. I'm happy to be doing something. I want to look in the mirror and recognize myself again. So, I'm trying to find time to MOVE, and drink my water and take care of myself.

So that's it. I can't wait to be an "after". I'm not brave enough to post my "before photo", so instead I'm posting my, "before before photo". I'd like to look like that again, albeit, slightly more wrinkly and gray, but its a good reminder that, that pretty girl is somewhere inside of me.