So ever since I started blogging, I've gone through many waves of insanity and a level of comfort with that insanity. I know there are harder things than having two kids so close together, but I'm definitely not the type of person who can handle much more! So, often, I feel a lot of stress about parenting, being stuck at home, and not having 'adult time'. A lot of things have helped this, like belly dancing, nicer weather, and most importantly, the kids getting older and listening somewhat more and growing into little people with a schedule (somewhat) and conversation skills. It's actually sort of neat. :)
But I know I have to work. If I want to or not. Chaim's unemployment did end, and while he's still a student right now and I have to be home to watch the kids while he studies, we do need to make ends meet. Chaim has a summer semester to do, and I don't know how much we can really work during that time, but once that is over with we'll have a year of no-school to make some money. After that, hopefully, he'll get into a nursing school for fall 2012.
The thing is, I do want to make money and not be paranoid about needing it, and some jobs even seem a little fun, though I'm not planning on getting a dream job anytime soon, just something for now. Another big milestone happened, I registered Zalah for nursery school. She's so smart, and definitely needs it, but it was scary to think of paying anything extra. So of course if she's away all day there's even less of a reason not to work. The hope is that I'll do mornings for example, and Chaim will do nights. We'll never see each other, but Lyla will be home with us and we'll save on babysitting costs. Then next year we hope to get a UPK program which is half off regular price for a full day so both kids will definitely go, and by that point they'll really need it with the way today's kindergartens are set up in the city.
But I think I'll actually miss being home. Part of me got used to making things at home from scratch and gardening and being able to be green and go out with the kids. During the winter it's just so easy to take being home for granted, because it almost feels like prison. But with the ever impending idea that I may have to spend 40 hours a week at a Stop n' Shop cash register is really starting to bum me out. I guess I should be thankful for all the small blessings we're able to have when we have them.
Showing posts with label husband. Show all posts
Showing posts with label husband. Show all posts
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
One Quick Thing. . . then again, it's me we're talking about
I just have one quick tip I'd like to share. Put your scallions and herbs in a wet paper towel, fold it around the base and store in the fridge in a produce bag (I reuse mine, and actually I hardly have them since I buy my produce loose). The water keeps them fresh and I think even growing. These scallions are a few days old and are firm and luscious.
I love scallions!
Come to think of it, remember when I mentioned Chaim's other other night job? And how I started this blog the day he got fired? So it's been about two years since then and we found out his unemployment is ending in two weeks. :( This is after an error in which they held about three weeks, which we had to go in in person and refute and still are waiting for it to come through. But it doesn't really matter so much because it's basically over. So now what? I have no idea. We're trying the gardening thing again, have a nice compost started, but something tells me we'll need more than that to live on. Hmmm.
The heat and hot water isn't on, which is a pain but hopefully the oil truck will come again tomorrow.
And children, why don't they sleep?? Do they want to be zombies? It's after 10, and I still hear Lyla in the room. Meanwhile I'm ready to pass out!
In case I didn't say so on here yet, Z is basically officially potty trained. So that's awesome! Lyla is officially in the middle of TERRIBLE TWOS!! NOT AWESOME!!!
I'll keep you posted on the news.
I love scallions!Come to think of it, remember when I mentioned Chaim's other other night job? And how I started this blog the day he got fired? So it's been about two years since then and we found out his unemployment is ending in two weeks. :( This is after an error in which they held about three weeks, which we had to go in in person and refute and still are waiting for it to come through. But it doesn't really matter so much because it's basically over. So now what? I have no idea. We're trying the gardening thing again, have a nice compost started, but something tells me we'll need more than that to live on. Hmmm.
The heat and hot water isn't on, which is a pain but hopefully the oil truck will come again tomorrow.
And children, why don't they sleep?? Do they want to be zombies? It's after 10, and I still hear Lyla in the room. Meanwhile I'm ready to pass out!
In case I didn't say so on here yet, Z is basically officially potty trained. So that's awesome! Lyla is officially in the middle of TERRIBLE TWOS!! NOT AWESOME!!!
I'll keep you posted on the news.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Hood Life (Or something like it)
As most of you may know, we've moved to an area that's not quite the ghetto, it's just next door. Well there are many things I like about living here, such as sidewalks, shops we can walk to and overall friendly people. My mother in law says I get a sick thrill from walking through the hood. Oh? I think I just like to get my stuff done. But even the hollering boosts your self esteem even though you really know you look like shit and they guys are just constantly practicing with any and everyone 'to keep their game up'.
But there are some down sides, not the first of which is that Chaim's bike was very early on stolen from our back yard. (Don't worry, we hopped in the Batmobile down to the hood and found it ;D)
One thing that super sucks is that we don't have laundry access. I probably complained about this before because I knew it would mean the end of cloth diapering, which I was really upset about. (Though Chaim surely isn't...) It costs a hell of a lot more and we frequently run out of disposables. And I don't think I'll ever feel ok with throwing so many diapers out either. AND maybe Z would be potty trained too. :'(
But another two things that suck about it is the COST and the LOCATION. Granted, there are tons of laundromats around. Probably to be within walking distance of just about everyone. And they are. BUT with a double stroller I just can't make the distance. We finally dropped the $30 and bought a cart with wheels to bring our stuff around (everyone here has them-everyone!) but I can't push that and the stroller at once. I've tried to carry one baby and have the other walk, but that was before we even had the cart and even with it its still hard to have one walk and not run into crazy traffic while steering those bulky things. I've even thought of bungeeing the stroller and cart together! Now, when Chaim is around OR if I have the car, there is no problem. I just put all the kids and laundry in the car and go. Yea, its a pain to do laundry with the two little ones but there's no choice there. Or, if Chaim is home and I have the car, I can just go without them. That's the best. OR when we have car problems and therefore NO car, which seems to be the case often enough, we go with the stroller, the cart and two parents. BUT if there's no car and no husband, I can't go at all. Not unless I had a sitter and you can guess how often that's happened. When we lived upstate, we could never walk to a laundromat. As a matter of fact, I've never even been to one before moving here. But I didn't have to. We had machines in the house. They didn't always work and they were always full of our landlords stuff but at least they were there. Now if we have a barf crisis it really can become a crisis. Add that to the fact my cat is sick and peeing on EVERYONE'S bed WHILE the car is busted, and yea. Problems.
The same goes for food stores. We have a few bodegas but they sort of suck. Even the closest kosher store is one of the furthest walking-distance food stores and its not great. I can now carry some stuff in the stroller thanks to the new stroller having a basket on the bottom, but I can't get so much that I'd need the cart, because again, I can't push it while I have the kids. And stuff does get a bit beat up on the ride. :\
Another thing that sucks is that in this area you'd think there would be awesome public transportation. After all, so many people rely on it and we are the last few stops on the A train. But no, that too fails us. The stop closest to us only works going east, to the ONE LAST stop after it. Point!? So we can walk to that one or better yet, to the one further up, one stop closer to the city. But on the weekends, they are ALL closed. Yep. Not only is it the weekend schedule which takes about three hours to get anywhere, but they have to shuttle you all the way up the Rockaways to get on the subway. Now with kids, the shuttle bus becomes an ok-lets-stay-home-instead. Often, when the car worked, we just drove it to Brooklyn or Queens proper and took a train from there. Speaking of trains, they are so not stroller friendly. The city and Brooklyn are bad, but the Rockaways don't know the meaning of the word 'elevator'. I'm hoping to get a job in the city, and its good that at least I can get to the train without a ride, and the ride is probably just as long as it was from upstate, but its clearly far from seamless. At least if its for work there won't be kids with me and I can actually USE stairs. Gosh I miss those sometimes. Maybe that's why I'm getting portly.
This isn't really the fault of moving, but its really amazing how we walk or bike everywhere. You'd think I'd lose so much weight, yet I haven't lost a thing. Before I was just doing stuff at home and occasionally using the treadmill there. Here, I've walked FAR more than I ever did upstate, biked more, and even ran more the few times I've gotten to the gym (which I bike to). I still do those small workouts in my room and stretch, the only thing I don't do is breastfeed. Well apparently that's the kicker. I'm back at my pre-pregnancy weight which is normal I guess but I was hoping I could stay where I was while nursing. I remember before I was pregnant I couldn't lose an ounce either. Not while eating at least, and I like eating. :D
We totally are into biking and its a good thing that so many things are close, or at least in biking distance, including Chaim's job at night when we really don't have a car. But as with the doing-ANYTHING-without-a-husband situation, I can't bike to any of these places without someone home with the kids.
Some things like a car or washer and dryer are definitely a huge investment and upfront cost. But sometimes I think not having them is even worse. At least if you have a washer you can use it as often as needed and though the water and energy bills will go up, at least you don't have to pay the same standard price for the machine. Not having a car means you have to pay for EVERY little ride/train/subway you take to get anywhere past walking distance. Often there is no way to get to where you need to be and car services are crazy. I don't even know if you can bother with car seats in them or how costly it would be for them to wait for you so you don't have to take the seats out while at an appointment or shopping. It becomes impossible.
Two in one sidetrack combo: The car, by the way, really does go on you when you need it most. I've had such a stressful week with not having the car while I needed to get my cat to the vet for a UTI. I wanted to BIKE to him if it meant getting there. He's about 6.5 miles away (and there's a stupid toll) but without a sitter (or car) I could not do it with the kids. Side track #2, you REALLY can't do anything with kids. Wow. When people say life as you know it is over, I assumed having fun and doing things for you. But no, it means being able to LIVE and go where you truly NEED to go. I feel like having kids makes me too busy to even be able to take care of kids. For example, the laundry situation coupled with the other problems we had today makes it impossible to get the kids peed on sheets washed for them. Chaim missed class to get it taken care of but that was all we could do. We just could not have time to do laundry. Or money really. I'm really surprised and thankful and PROUD that they were fed and changed while dealing with the car-cat-crisis situation today. That's how hard it is some days. That's how much it sucks.
As a plus, there are TONS of car shops around here. I don't know why, since so many people rely on public transit (good luck) but I guess many people have cars too. I guess there's just a whole lot of many people out here.
Another thing that bothers me about the lots of many people, is that SO SO SO many of them use the "N-word". We don't say the N word. We don't even JOKE about it. And even if I was plastered drunk and going native and saying it "in a friendly way" it still won't be uttered in front of the kids. Its just not something I want them to say. Well, now that they hear it 1,034,984,352,986,429,034 times a day, we'll have to see how that turns out.
It's actually pretty sad. There were little kids at the park the other day and they kept calling each other crack heads. Not everyone here is irresponsible/on drugs/bad parents etc, but its really sad that you hear it from the mouths of babes. :(
I also feel like its so expensive to live here, or anywhere really. But to be "broke" and in an economically disadvantaged area...yea its not so great. There are obviously not a lot of jobs close by, and you have to pay for EVERYTHING like laundry, rides etc. and almost always in cash. But more than that, when you're really broke, you get the crappiest stuff. Like we've had breathing issues since moving here since its more of a basement than the last place, but the last place had it too. We keep our apartments very clean, but there's always stagnation and sometimes mold in basements so I really feel like poor people just can't get good health. Never mind health CARE, which we have (when we can get a WAY to the office....also never mind that clinics seriously take all day. You can't do ANYTHING else.) Just that poor people aren't allowed to be or STAY healthy. Now that's fucked up. Some people don't believe health care is a right. I disagree, but we *should* all agree that people shouldn't get fucked over for not having more money. There are laws against it, but yea, no one cares. Maybe if everything was taken care of, from peeling paint to affordable healthy food, there wouldn't need to be such high bills for health care in these areas. And its sad but true, soo so so so many people here have a limp. I always thought that was a stereotype...but they do. (Shootings too but that's different. Maybe related. I don't know.)
Other things include broken glass everywhere, the pain in the ass of switching information over here, finding new doctors, getting to/dealing with the medicaid/food stamp office, people's dogs etc. And maybe its a fucked up stereotype and I'm usually so against them that people call me naive, but I do also worry about people around here especially if we're talking about daycare or something like that. And I don't mean one group I mean ANYONE. Even a Jewish place. The best ones of course I can't afford, so it would have to be peoples houses. And just in general I'm so used to being with the kids that I worry about ANYONE with them, but a daycare/full time babysitter would really have to feed them and deal with them on a longer term basis. The only people I know and trust work during the day lol.
I'm sure there is more but I just felt compelled to write about that for now.
But there are some down sides, not the first of which is that Chaim's bike was very early on stolen from our back yard. (Don't worry, we hopped in the Batmobile down to the hood and found it ;D)
One thing that super sucks is that we don't have laundry access. I probably complained about this before because I knew it would mean the end of cloth diapering, which I was really upset about. (Though Chaim surely isn't...) It costs a hell of a lot more and we frequently run out of disposables. And I don't think I'll ever feel ok with throwing so many diapers out either. AND maybe Z would be potty trained too. :'(
But another two things that suck about it is the COST and the LOCATION. Granted, there are tons of laundromats around. Probably to be within walking distance of just about everyone. And they are. BUT with a double stroller I just can't make the distance. We finally dropped the $30 and bought a cart with wheels to bring our stuff around (everyone here has them-everyone!) but I can't push that and the stroller at once. I've tried to carry one baby and have the other walk, but that was before we even had the cart and even with it its still hard to have one walk and not run into crazy traffic while steering those bulky things. I've even thought of bungeeing the stroller and cart together! Now, when Chaim is around OR if I have the car, there is no problem. I just put all the kids and laundry in the car and go. Yea, its a pain to do laundry with the two little ones but there's no choice there. Or, if Chaim is home and I have the car, I can just go without them. That's the best. OR when we have car problems and therefore NO car, which seems to be the case often enough, we go with the stroller, the cart and two parents. BUT if there's no car and no husband, I can't go at all. Not unless I had a sitter and you can guess how often that's happened. When we lived upstate, we could never walk to a laundromat. As a matter of fact, I've never even been to one before moving here. But I didn't have to. We had machines in the house. They didn't always work and they were always full of our landlords stuff but at least they were there. Now if we have a barf crisis it really can become a crisis. Add that to the fact my cat is sick and peeing on EVERYONE'S bed WHILE the car is busted, and yea. Problems.
The same goes for food stores. We have a few bodegas but they sort of suck. Even the closest kosher store is one of the furthest walking-distance food stores and its not great. I can now carry some stuff in the stroller thanks to the new stroller having a basket on the bottom, but I can't get so much that I'd need the cart, because again, I can't push it while I have the kids. And stuff does get a bit beat up on the ride. :\
Another thing that sucks is that in this area you'd think there would be awesome public transportation. After all, so many people rely on it and we are the last few stops on the A train. But no, that too fails us. The stop closest to us only works going east, to the ONE LAST stop after it. Point!? So we can walk to that one or better yet, to the one further up, one stop closer to the city. But on the weekends, they are ALL closed. Yep. Not only is it the weekend schedule which takes about three hours to get anywhere, but they have to shuttle you all the way up the Rockaways to get on the subway. Now with kids, the shuttle bus becomes an ok-lets-stay-home-instead. Often, when the car worked, we just drove it to Brooklyn or Queens proper and took a train from there. Speaking of trains, they are so not stroller friendly. The city and Brooklyn are bad, but the Rockaways don't know the meaning of the word 'elevator'. I'm hoping to get a job in the city, and its good that at least I can get to the train without a ride, and the ride is probably just as long as it was from upstate, but its clearly far from seamless. At least if its for work there won't be kids with me and I can actually USE stairs. Gosh I miss those sometimes. Maybe that's why I'm getting portly.
This isn't really the fault of moving, but its really amazing how we walk or bike everywhere. You'd think I'd lose so much weight, yet I haven't lost a thing. Before I was just doing stuff at home and occasionally using the treadmill there. Here, I've walked FAR more than I ever did upstate, biked more, and even ran more the few times I've gotten to the gym (which I bike to). I still do those small workouts in my room and stretch, the only thing I don't do is breastfeed. Well apparently that's the kicker. I'm back at my pre-pregnancy weight which is normal I guess but I was hoping I could stay where I was while nursing. I remember before I was pregnant I couldn't lose an ounce either. Not while eating at least, and I like eating. :D
We totally are into biking and its a good thing that so many things are close, or at least in biking distance, including Chaim's job at night when we really don't have a car. But as with the doing-ANYTHING-without-a-husband situation, I can't bike to any of these places without someone home with the kids.
Some things like a car or washer and dryer are definitely a huge investment and upfront cost. But sometimes I think not having them is even worse. At least if you have a washer you can use it as often as needed and though the water and energy bills will go up, at least you don't have to pay the same standard price for the machine. Not having a car means you have to pay for EVERY little ride/train/subway you take to get anywhere past walking distance. Often there is no way to get to where you need to be and car services are crazy. I don't even know if you can bother with car seats in them or how costly it would be for them to wait for you so you don't have to take the seats out while at an appointment or shopping. It becomes impossible.
Two in one sidetrack combo: The car, by the way, really does go on you when you need it most. I've had such a stressful week with not having the car while I needed to get my cat to the vet for a UTI. I wanted to BIKE to him if it meant getting there. He's about 6.5 miles away (and there's a stupid toll) but without a sitter (or car) I could not do it with the kids. Side track #2, you REALLY can't do anything with kids. Wow. When people say life as you know it is over, I assumed having fun and doing things for you. But no, it means being able to LIVE and go where you truly NEED to go. I feel like having kids makes me too busy to even be able to take care of kids. For example, the laundry situation coupled with the other problems we had today makes it impossible to get the kids peed on sheets washed for them. Chaim missed class to get it taken care of but that was all we could do. We just could not have time to do laundry. Or money really. I'm really surprised and thankful and PROUD that they were fed and changed while dealing with the car-cat-crisis situation today. That's how hard it is some days. That's how much it sucks.
As a plus, there are TONS of car shops around here. I don't know why, since so many people rely on public transit (good luck) but I guess many people have cars too. I guess there's just a whole lot of many people out here.
Another thing that bothers me about the lots of many people, is that SO SO SO many of them use the "N-word". We don't say the N word. We don't even JOKE about it. And even if I was plastered drunk and going native and saying it "in a friendly way" it still won't be uttered in front of the kids. Its just not something I want them to say. Well, now that they hear it 1,034,984,352,986,429,034 times a day, we'll have to see how that turns out.
It's actually pretty sad. There were little kids at the park the other day and they kept calling each other crack heads. Not everyone here is irresponsible/on drugs/bad parents etc, but its really sad that you hear it from the mouths of babes. :(
I also feel like its so expensive to live here, or anywhere really. But to be "broke" and in an economically disadvantaged area...yea its not so great. There are obviously not a lot of jobs close by, and you have to pay for EVERYTHING like laundry, rides etc. and almost always in cash. But more than that, when you're really broke, you get the crappiest stuff. Like we've had breathing issues since moving here since its more of a basement than the last place, but the last place had it too. We keep our apartments very clean, but there's always stagnation and sometimes mold in basements so I really feel like poor people just can't get good health. Never mind health CARE, which we have (when we can get a WAY to the office....also never mind that clinics seriously take all day. You can't do ANYTHING else.) Just that poor people aren't allowed to be or STAY healthy. Now that's fucked up. Some people don't believe health care is a right. I disagree, but we *should* all agree that people shouldn't get fucked over for not having more money. There are laws against it, but yea, no one cares. Maybe if everything was taken care of, from peeling paint to affordable healthy food, there wouldn't need to be such high bills for health care in these areas. And its sad but true, soo so so so many people here have a limp. I always thought that was a stereotype...but they do. (Shootings too but that's different. Maybe related. I don't know.)
Other things include broken glass everywhere, the pain in the ass of switching information over here, finding new doctors, getting to/dealing with the medicaid/food stamp office, people's dogs etc. And maybe its a fucked up stereotype and I'm usually so against them that people call me naive, but I do also worry about people around here especially if we're talking about daycare or something like that. And I don't mean one group I mean ANYONE. Even a Jewish place. The best ones of course I can't afford, so it would have to be peoples houses. And just in general I'm so used to being with the kids that I worry about ANYONE with them, but a daycare/full time babysitter would really have to feed them and deal with them on a longer term basis. The only people I know and trust work during the day lol.
I'm sure there is more but I just felt compelled to write about that for now.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
It's been a long while.
So in May we moved to Bayswater. The mosquitoes here suck. I graduated with a BA and it means nothing. But I've learned I can clean practically anything. Not out of skill but out of repetition. The kids are completely insane. I really wish I could get out of the house and have some sanity but that hasn't happened thus far. I've learned a few recipes but even cooking counts as "me time" meaning the kids don't let you do it.
Because of the move to a more 'urban' area, we don't have access to a washer and dryer anymore. I'd been using friends but just yesterday went to a laundromat for the first time ever. Zalah likes to call it the laundry-pants store. That shit is expensive. I still take darks home to line dry. Also, I'm not opposed to some light tub washing. BUT because of this, we don't cloth diaper anymore. Chaim is tickled pink, but the cost of diapers sucks. While we cloth diapered for those few months, I had a huge Costco box of diapers for Lyla and hardly made a dent. Since moving I think I've bought two at least, maybe three. I'm actually upset about it. :(
We also haven't composted, though I thought about it. We brought five of our six attempted tomato sprouts and out of five that grew short, four grew well for a while. But they were started too late and never made fruit, and just keep wilting in this terrible humid climate. :(
A bonus is that we live close to the beach and far from other bullshit, but everything has its complications. The apartment is nice, big, fairly decent but boiling hot. Except when we don't have hot water but I never shower in it anyway. I've made new friends and try to see new and old, but its tough to get it all done. I think I could manage to see people and run errands, but its the unexpected things and getting kids to get ready, eat enough, and have enough with you to handle the everyday basics and the random Oh-shit moments, like Lyla barfing in the car seat.
The kids. Ah the kids. They don't eat well, they don't sleep well, and then they try to say they want to eat when it's time for bed. 'Terrible ones' eat your hearts out. Zalah can really throw them now that she's two. Lyla can also still have her moments, but I do think much is personality and Lyla seems more calm. Zalah is very serious, even though she's sweet and likes to help, and gets frustrated easily and is very bossy. She says very funny things though, such as "Don't make me mad!", "Don't tell me no!", "I like people. We have to be nice. We can't fight.", and "Seriously!?". Lyla is talking more too, saying "gubby" for "Buggy" and little things she repeats after us. Z won't potty train, and Piotr has decided to pee all over the bath mat and outside his box. Fabulous. I gained weight that won't go away, yes, even with diet and exercise. Even with living in a sauna and chasing kids til you sweat, every single day. Must be that I can't Zumba every day... Piotr's not so slim either. Chaim just started working at a gym though, so that should help him, and it would help me if I ever had a babysitter. At least I'm not pregnant.
I'm not sure what else to say, though I bet there is more. I'm currently exhausted and have to pick Chaim up from work. The kids FINALLY went to bed after trying for a good two hours. :P At least the place is fairly clean, if not boiling hot.
Because of the move to a more 'urban' area, we don't have access to a washer and dryer anymore. I'd been using friends but just yesterday went to a laundromat for the first time ever. Zalah likes to call it the laundry-pants store. That shit is expensive. I still take darks home to line dry. Also, I'm not opposed to some light tub washing. BUT because of this, we don't cloth diaper anymore. Chaim is tickled pink, but the cost of diapers sucks. While we cloth diapered for those few months, I had a huge Costco box of diapers for Lyla and hardly made a dent. Since moving I think I've bought two at least, maybe three. I'm actually upset about it. :(
We also haven't composted, though I thought about it. We brought five of our six attempted tomato sprouts and out of five that grew short, four grew well for a while. But they were started too late and never made fruit, and just keep wilting in this terrible humid climate. :(
A bonus is that we live close to the beach and far from other bullshit, but everything has its complications. The apartment is nice, big, fairly decent but boiling hot. Except when we don't have hot water but I never shower in it anyway. I've made new friends and try to see new and old, but its tough to get it all done. I think I could manage to see people and run errands, but its the unexpected things and getting kids to get ready, eat enough, and have enough with you to handle the everyday basics and the random Oh-shit moments, like Lyla barfing in the car seat.
The kids. Ah the kids. They don't eat well, they don't sleep well, and then they try to say they want to eat when it's time for bed. 'Terrible ones' eat your hearts out. Zalah can really throw them now that she's two. Lyla can also still have her moments, but I do think much is personality and Lyla seems more calm. Zalah is very serious, even though she's sweet and likes to help, and gets frustrated easily and is very bossy. She says very funny things though, such as "Don't make me mad!", "Don't tell me no!", "I like people. We have to be nice. We can't fight.", and "Seriously!?". Lyla is talking more too, saying "gubby" for "Buggy" and little things she repeats after us. Z won't potty train, and Piotr has decided to pee all over the bath mat and outside his box. Fabulous. I gained weight that won't go away, yes, even with diet and exercise. Even with living in a sauna and chasing kids til you sweat, every single day. Must be that I can't Zumba every day... Piotr's not so slim either. Chaim just started working at a gym though, so that should help him, and it would help me if I ever had a babysitter. At least I'm not pregnant.
I'm not sure what else to say, though I bet there is more. I'm currently exhausted and have to pick Chaim up from work. The kids FINALLY went to bed after trying for a good two hours. :P At least the place is fairly clean, if not boiling hot.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
New addition to our "Green List"!
Home grown scallions! Just keep the white part in fresh water and voila! :) I hope we can add to this soon, since we've had seeds lying around for months. The planter came to hold Chaim's paperwork! Lol! Some day we might even have a yard! Gosh Golly! :D
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
HOT HOT HOT!
Chaim made a home made hot sauce (finally!) from Rick Bayless. He has a crush on him. :)
It has to marinate for a day, but it tastes so wonderful already! Zalah tried it and said "Yummy!" She loves hot stuff! He is also making me salmon tonight rubbed with the left over seeds and husks, probably because I'm mad at him! :) You can see his home made salsa in the back. I'm not sure what we'll use that for, maybe the salmon too. He also made a marinated steak Mexican style as well, but I think the hot sauce is going to be the winner of all this hot stuff! Try it!
It has to marinate for a day, but it tastes so wonderful already! Zalah tried it and said "Yummy!" She loves hot stuff! He is also making me salmon tonight rubbed with the left over seeds and husks, probably because I'm mad at him! :) You can see his home made salsa in the back. I'm not sure what we'll use that for, maybe the salmon too. He also made a marinated steak Mexican style as well, but I think the hot sauce is going to be the winner of all this hot stuff! Try it!
ZALAH!!!!!
Last night I was finally going to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, since I am very behind in the series. I tried to put it in the DVD slit (we don't have a door that pops out on this computer) and it would NOT. GO. IN.
We turned off the computer and when it rebooted, it accepted the DVD, but then spit it out. We turned it over to see how it looked underneath and maybe if there was a way to open the door. Then we heard it. *slide*
"What was that!? I heard something moving in there." I said. Something was sliding around in our computer. PANIC!
We called Dell, and went to Dell Chat, and were put on hold and in queue and transferred and on hold and in queue. I chatted with someone who transferred me, turns out our computer has the OLD computers code, which is another issue. We searched all over for something to prove this computer was sent to us in replacement since they made us send back the old one. I was about number 5 waiting to chat and suddenly it was 29. We restarted, we waited on the phone, etc. I finally got someone who connected to our computer and tried to shut it off and check things out. Of course it didn't work. He called Chaim's phone but was dropped, with no extension to call him back on (we asked). He was just telling Chaim to take the battery out and 'open the computer'. The computer does not open just from that. He started to unscrew the whole thing when I panicked and asked him not to do it. All this time we were starting to surmise that Zalah might have stuck something inside of it. I was sick of being up and have been trying to get to bed earlier, so I went to sleep. I don't even know when Chaim went to bed but he mentioned that they couldn't send anyone until he received a correct code for the computer.
Fast forward to this am; After I fed the kids, I thought, let me post on Facebook and see if anyone has ideas. Some people suggested I stick a paper clip in the hole that ejects the CD door. We don't have a hole, or a door. I told Chaim I think Zalah might have put in the plastic "memory card" that comes with the computer to keep dust out of that slot, since she sees us putting ours into the computer to upload pictures. I mentioned this while also trying to use something firm to coax it out. My friend Kristen suggested I use strong tape, like we used in photo processing to grab the film out, while others suggested I shake it. Well, I tried a little of both. And then I saw it. A small, black corner sticking out, barely visible. I shook a little firmer and this is what I saw:
ZALAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We turned off the computer and when it rebooted, it accepted the DVD, but then spit it out. We turned it over to see how it looked underneath and maybe if there was a way to open the door. Then we heard it. *slide*
"What was that!? I heard something moving in there." I said. Something was sliding around in our computer. PANIC!
We called Dell, and went to Dell Chat, and were put on hold and in queue and transferred and on hold and in queue. I chatted with someone who transferred me, turns out our computer has the OLD computers code, which is another issue. We searched all over for something to prove this computer was sent to us in replacement since they made us send back the old one. I was about number 5 waiting to chat and suddenly it was 29. We restarted, we waited on the phone, etc. I finally got someone who connected to our computer and tried to shut it off and check things out. Of course it didn't work. He called Chaim's phone but was dropped, with no extension to call him back on (we asked). He was just telling Chaim to take the battery out and 'open the computer'. The computer does not open just from that. He started to unscrew the whole thing when I panicked and asked him not to do it. All this time we were starting to surmise that Zalah might have stuck something inside of it. I was sick of being up and have been trying to get to bed earlier, so I went to sleep. I don't even know when Chaim went to bed but he mentioned that they couldn't send anyone until he received a correct code for the computer.
Fast forward to this am; After I fed the kids, I thought, let me post on Facebook and see if anyone has ideas. Some people suggested I stick a paper clip in the hole that ejects the CD door. We don't have a hole, or a door. I told Chaim I think Zalah might have put in the plastic "memory card" that comes with the computer to keep dust out of that slot, since she sees us putting ours into the computer to upload pictures. I mentioned this while also trying to use something firm to coax it out. My friend Kristen suggested I use strong tape, like we used in photo processing to grab the film out, while others suggested I shake it. Well, I tried a little of both. And then I saw it. A small, black corner sticking out, barely visible. I shook a little firmer and this is what I saw:
ZALAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Toys of Today (and Parenting Methods)
For the most part, I think a healthy mix can be a great idea. My philosophy is similar to that of my friend, Sarah Fader, that old school advice and new school attitudes can mesh pretty nicely. The problem is, the old school is hard to find.
Lyla just had a birthday party. Now I've been a mom for about two years, but Chaim and I noticed how there really are hardly any toys that don't beep blink and sing. I appreciate that my family wants to buy fun toys for the kids, but where have all the natural toys gone? We have a few books and stuffed animals that the kids love. They also have some blocks that range from excellent (stacking board blocks with numbers and animals that fit into each other) to sort of crappy (foam Lincoln blocks!? Maybe for the bath, but they don't stand up!). I worry because the more the kids see these toys, the more they want only that kind. That was demonstrated last night when we tried to put Zalah to bed and she flipped out because she wanted to play with Lyla's new toys. She is usually pretty well behaved, brilliant and sweet, and she turned into the terrible-two's modern day brat. I don't like to see that AT ALL! She even asks for TV now that she's seen a very little bit of it. Sometimes these toys or shows can be educational, which is great. Zalah has learned all of her letters from a few toys that repeat them, and I don't mind an occasional PBS kids program. But something is missing.
When I was a kid, my mom used to get us educational toys from a number of catalogs. I think one was MindWare and HearthSong. I miss these kinds of toys and I want my kids to be excited about learning and problem solving as well. I believe there needs to be some straight up fun in life too, even in addition to fun that is functional. But when it causes so many tantrums and a snowball effect of needing mind-numbing electronics, some balance needs to be restored.
As a sort of off shoot that is inspired by a few sources today; I know many people think that if you are in the least bit natural you are a snot and rigid. Well I happen to be neither. I know things won't always go my way, they'll have tantrums and other people will give them junk food. I don't flip out over these things and try to be pretty easy going. But I know my kids will be better behaved if they don't get spoiled with junk (physical and mental) 24-7. And I know that every one else around them wants that too! No one wants to hear kids screaming out in public because they don't get what they want. While this is bound to happen, some kids and parents are more prone to it than others. And besides from all of that, people should also relax a little and let others do what they want to do. I try to keep my criticism of other moms to a minimum. (For a well written discussion about this and a great blog in general, feel free to visit my wonderful friend Amanda's blog.) What works for one doesn't always work for another and its hard enough just to make kids into decent people to begin with, and it isn't always the parents fault. Sometimes kids are bad, sometime good plans backfire. With all that said, I want to have some control as a parent over what my children have in their lives, but to be strict on it means other people think you are too inflexible and kids feel stifled. Yet a parent is in control (or should be) and children don't always know what is best for themselves. They don't have an excess switch, and sadly, many adults don't either. Everything is a balance anyway, but it sure is hard to find one that works for everyone in the best way. (See this Sirens article for some more of my inspiration today.) This is why I urge people to do what they think is best, and please don't criticize other methods. We need a little more understanding and harmony in the world today.
Lyla just had a birthday party. Now I've been a mom for about two years, but Chaim and I noticed how there really are hardly any toys that don't beep blink and sing. I appreciate that my family wants to buy fun toys for the kids, but where have all the natural toys gone? We have a few books and stuffed animals that the kids love. They also have some blocks that range from excellent (stacking board blocks with numbers and animals that fit into each other) to sort of crappy (foam Lincoln blocks!? Maybe for the bath, but they don't stand up!). I worry because the more the kids see these toys, the more they want only that kind. That was demonstrated last night when we tried to put Zalah to bed and she flipped out because she wanted to play with Lyla's new toys. She is usually pretty well behaved, brilliant and sweet, and she turned into the terrible-two's modern day brat. I don't like to see that AT ALL! She even asks for TV now that she's seen a very little bit of it. Sometimes these toys or shows can be educational, which is great. Zalah has learned all of her letters from a few toys that repeat them, and I don't mind an occasional PBS kids program. But something is missing.
When I was a kid, my mom used to get us educational toys from a number of catalogs. I think one was MindWare and HearthSong. I miss these kinds of toys and I want my kids to be excited about learning and problem solving as well. I believe there needs to be some straight up fun in life too, even in addition to fun that is functional. But when it causes so many tantrums and a snowball effect of needing mind-numbing electronics, some balance needs to be restored.
As a sort of off shoot that is inspired by a few sources today; I know many people think that if you are in the least bit natural you are a snot and rigid. Well I happen to be neither. I know things won't always go my way, they'll have tantrums and other people will give them junk food. I don't flip out over these things and try to be pretty easy going. But I know my kids will be better behaved if they don't get spoiled with junk (physical and mental) 24-7. And I know that every one else around them wants that too! No one wants to hear kids screaming out in public because they don't get what they want. While this is bound to happen, some kids and parents are more prone to it than others. And besides from all of that, people should also relax a little and let others do what they want to do. I try to keep my criticism of other moms to a minimum. (For a well written discussion about this and a great blog in general, feel free to visit my wonderful friend Amanda's blog.) What works for one doesn't always work for another and its hard enough just to make kids into decent people to begin with, and it isn't always the parents fault. Sometimes kids are bad, sometime good plans backfire. With all that said, I want to have some control as a parent over what my children have in their lives, but to be strict on it means other people think you are too inflexible and kids feel stifled. Yet a parent is in control (or should be) and children don't always know what is best for themselves. They don't have an excess switch, and sadly, many adults don't either. Everything is a balance anyway, but it sure is hard to find one that works for everyone in the best way. (See this Sirens article for some more of my inspiration today.) This is why I urge people to do what they think is best, and please don't criticize other methods. We need a little more understanding and harmony in the world today.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Cloth Diapering Hell
So I started cloth diapering part time in the beginning of the month. I really want to like it, I do. But I HATE it!! :( This morning is a great example of WHY. Last night, I thought I should put them both in cloth diapers. I want to use them as much as possible, and I find that I'm actually either away from the house a lot or the covers are not clean, so they end up in disposables. So I went with it. I had done it before, but this weekend we were WAY too exhausted. I woke up to screams at about 7:30, which to us is far too early than what we'd like. Zalah has been in our room so that Lyla can learn to sleep through the night. But Zalah has been waking up around 3am and not going back to bed with us, even when we try. Last night she did just that, after we went to bed at 2am! I wouldn't even mind getting up at 7, which I have to do for days I have class anyway, but I try to get to bed at 12 or so. Also, its harder when I'm awake at night, and I think so far they've both slept through the night together only once or twice. :P So at 7:30, it was Lyla's screams that woke me. She had a 'light' poop stuck onto the diaper so while half asleep I changed her. I went to try to clean it off with a plastic knife that I keep for the purpose and then rub it off under running water in either the sink or bucket. I also used to clean the toilet and sink with cleaner after each time because of the fact that it gets where people, especially the kids, can touch. I can't do that anymore. I then added it to my pail with ample baking soda (I think I went through a box in a week or so...it doesn't really help). Zalah was up soon after, full of pee. Chaim has been complaining it reeks like a urinal, and he's not really wrong. So now I rinse those, over and over, as the water turns a little less yellow. My hands reek from doing this. My hands are in water so much of the time anyway, which of course hurts in the New York winter air. I constantly get sprayed with water that is full of excrement. The poop smell never seems to leave me. This morning could have been even worse with double poop duty. Before I used to fold the diapers in a way that the poop got on all the edges and scraping it was a battle. Now its a little better, but I'm always dumping the water with poop bits in it, to get them clean enough to sit in a bucket for a few days before I can get to the laundry. And since I don't use that many, I don't want to do a load that's barely full. This morning was so bad for us, we forced them to go to bed early and we slept on and off until one. :\ After having little sleep all weekend, and basically we don't get much to begin with, we really couldn't take it.
Here comes the second problem: The covers. If they go to the bathroom in them, pee or poop, even without leaks, they REEK! I tried to hand wash them and air dry them, with detergent and baking soda, and they STILL smell. I don't even think they are so fresh after the washer has a go at them. Because I only have two covers, they don't last so long without smelling so once that happens and I wash them, I have to use the disposables again. And there are times I've tried to hand wash all of it, only to put it in the washer anyway because it just doesn't come clean. Today I finally did my load of maybe 12 of them, the covers, the one FuzziBunz I have and some socks for filler. I did it TWICE and still found poop bits afterwards. The second time I used bleach, because I really needed it. The stains have never come out before. After the bleach load, they looked cleaner, except for the one Lyla made this AM. Better than nothing. The covers still smell a little, but its not so bad. (I didn't bleach those.) The kids also HATE being put into the cloth diapers. I asked Zalah if it hurts her and she says no, so maybe it is just the folding and pulling or maybe its how they feel different to them. I don't know. Lyla is in the age where she can NOT sit still for any diaper, which is super annoying.
Despite all this, I keep trying, though every time I hit a "poop" bump in the road it becomes so overwhelming. (They both just pooped, and I'm so GLAD they're in disposables!!) I know it might help if I had more access to a washer, or a sprayer or liners or more covers or all of those things. But that all costs money and I'm not sure if its worth the investment so far into it. Also, I wanted to do this when Zalah was first born, and maybe it would have been easier to start when she had those little mustard squirts for poops. Now I have two "big girls" who have BIG poops, and lately none are the kind that come off easily. This is gross, but they are sticky, tarry and wet. It is a constant battle.
I have to say, the FuzziBunz is THE BEST. I wish I could have a whole supply of them, even from day one. They are SO easy, I haven't had a leak (with the prefolds either really, which is great!). Fuzzibunz are smaller and I think that keeps them easier to clean. It seems like the material is also easier to rub the poop out of. Also they seem to be easier to put on, the bulkiness factor is less and they feel nicer.
I still think cloth diapering is great for the money factor, but all the time I spend cleaning them and how gross I feel afterward really subtracts from that. The kids have less of a rash in them, which is important, but they hate how they feel. They are better for the environment and don't really leak, so in a way they are functional, but depending on the type they can be quite difficult. I wish it was easier!!!! Someone send me a doody nanny!!!
Here comes the second problem: The covers. If they go to the bathroom in them, pee or poop, even without leaks, they REEK! I tried to hand wash them and air dry them, with detergent and baking soda, and they STILL smell. I don't even think they are so fresh after the washer has a go at them. Because I only have two covers, they don't last so long without smelling so once that happens and I wash them, I have to use the disposables again. And there are times I've tried to hand wash all of it, only to put it in the washer anyway because it just doesn't come clean. Today I finally did my load of maybe 12 of them, the covers, the one FuzziBunz I have and some socks for filler. I did it TWICE and still found poop bits afterwards. The second time I used bleach, because I really needed it. The stains have never come out before. After the bleach load, they looked cleaner, except for the one Lyla made this AM. Better than nothing. The covers still smell a little, but its not so bad. (I didn't bleach those.) The kids also HATE being put into the cloth diapers. I asked Zalah if it hurts her and she says no, so maybe it is just the folding and pulling or maybe its how they feel different to them. I don't know. Lyla is in the age where she can NOT sit still for any diaper, which is super annoying.
Despite all this, I keep trying, though every time I hit a "poop" bump in the road it becomes so overwhelming. (They both just pooped, and I'm so GLAD they're in disposables!!) I know it might help if I had more access to a washer, or a sprayer or liners or more covers or all of those things. But that all costs money and I'm not sure if its worth the investment so far into it. Also, I wanted to do this when Zalah was first born, and maybe it would have been easier to start when she had those little mustard squirts for poops. Now I have two "big girls" who have BIG poops, and lately none are the kind that come off easily. This is gross, but they are sticky, tarry and wet. It is a constant battle.
I have to say, the FuzziBunz is THE BEST. I wish I could have a whole supply of them, even from day one. They are SO easy, I haven't had a leak (with the prefolds either really, which is great!). Fuzzibunz are smaller and I think that keeps them easier to clean. It seems like the material is also easier to rub the poop out of. Also they seem to be easier to put on, the bulkiness factor is less and they feel nicer.
I still think cloth diapering is great for the money factor, but all the time I spend cleaning them and how gross I feel afterward really subtracts from that. The kids have less of a rash in them, which is important, but they hate how they feel. They are better for the environment and don't really leak, so in a way they are functional, but depending on the type they can be quite difficult. I wish it was easier!!!! Someone send me a doody nanny!!!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Green List
Many people differ on their opinions of "climate change", what creates it, or if its even happening. Despite this, we can all agree that cutting back or changing some of the things we do can actually save money, and have other benefits as well. And some are even easier than what we are used to. So in a nonpartisan way, I bring you The Green List: things my family does to save a little green that also, at the very least, doesn't hurt the Big Green and at best, is good for her. Hopefully, this list will grow, but for now I just like to see visually where we stand.
-We don't have a dishwasher. We wash most of our dishes in a small bucket that we fill only a little with soapy water, wash the dishes, and fill with rinse water and then dunk them.
-We use reusable bags at the store. I still have so many plastic ones that even with bathroom and diaper garbage pails along with cat litter, I still have too many!
-We recycle.
-We guerrilla recycle!!
-We shut off lights.
-Compact fluorescents baby.
-We don't use a ton of heat or AC, or at least we try. If you need a sweater in your house in the summer or wear tanks in the winter, maybe you should consider using less heat or AC!
-We turn down the heat or AC when we leave.
-We don't have a microwave, and I hate them.
-We have a TV, unfortunately, but we hardly watch it and I try to leave it unplugged. We use it the most to watch movies from our computer that we connect with a cable.
-I try to cloth diaper while at home, a sort of part time affair. To me, this is difficult, but I try.
-We line dry most of our dark clothes to prevent fading.
-We wash dark clothes in cool water, and if we do warm for light clothes, the rinse is cool.
-We don't use dryer sheets, fabric softener, and I try to use even less detergent than it suggests.
-We wear most of our clothes more than once before washing, if we can. And we use towels etc more than once too!
-We fix our clothes when they rip and give them away when we don't need or want them anymore, so they can be reused. Many of our baby clothes are hand me downs too!
-We don't use disposable dishes, EVER!
-We have one car, a "Low emitions vehicle". It gets an average of 30mpg.
-Chaim car pools or takes the bus to class.
-I don't eat meat, only fish.
-Chaim doesn't eat too much meat either, though not a vegetarian.
-We refill water bottles and we don't really buy them unless we're thirsty and have to buy a drink.
-We use old glass containers for grains and beans and things (Rubbermaids work too, but we need those for the fridge sometimes!) The reason this is good, other than re-using and buying less containers, is because our grains and beans were getting a lot of bugs in them, so this stops that! :)
-We rinse and reuse Ziploc bags.
-We have a gas stove. (I'm not sure how 'good' this is, but I prefer it. I can still cook in a black out, if I have a match.)
-We don't drink milk treated with hormones, though we don't get "organic" for the price factor.
-We don't let the car idle.
-We don't leave the water running when we brush our teeth.
-We let that yellow mellow. A few ounces of urine is not worth 1.6 gallons of water to me.
-I cut down on toilet paper (for #1 only!) by using my Peri bottle to rinse and then towel dry. I actually feel cleaner as well!
-Bye bye tampons! I now have a Mooncup!
-I hardly use paper towels.
-I switched to rags instead of sponges for the counter.
-We hardly use harsh cleaning products. Maybe once a month on average. Usually we wipe messes with water only or with soap. I use vinegar and baking soda when necessary and just got a few bottles of Seventh Generation cleaner and dish soap. The house still stays clean enough though, with just the right amount of germs for us to hardly get sick.
-I take longer showers than I could, but I also don't wash my hair more than once or twice a week.
-I don't blow-dry my hair, and I hardly use any products in it.
-We're broke, so we can't buy as much useless junk! LOL!
-Chaim plants trees. :)
-We try to stick to organic bananas.
-Sometimes Chaim uses me as a tissue. :)
-We don't have a dishwasher. We wash most of our dishes in a small bucket that we fill only a little with soapy water, wash the dishes, and fill with rinse water and then dunk them.
-We use reusable bags at the store. I still have so many plastic ones that even with bathroom and diaper garbage pails along with cat litter, I still have too many!
-We recycle.
-We guerrilla recycle!!
-We shut off lights.
-Compact fluorescents baby.
-We don't use a ton of heat or AC, or at least we try. If you need a sweater in your house in the summer or wear tanks in the winter, maybe you should consider using less heat or AC!
-We turn down the heat or AC when we leave.
-We don't have a microwave, and I hate them.
-We have a TV, unfortunately, but we hardly watch it and I try to leave it unplugged. We use it the most to watch movies from our computer that we connect with a cable.
-I try to cloth diaper while at home, a sort of part time affair. To me, this is difficult, but I try.
-We line dry most of our dark clothes to prevent fading.
-We wash dark clothes in cool water, and if we do warm for light clothes, the rinse is cool.
-We don't use dryer sheets, fabric softener, and I try to use even less detergent than it suggests.
-We wear most of our clothes more than once before washing, if we can. And we use towels etc more than once too!
-We fix our clothes when they rip and give them away when we don't need or want them anymore, so they can be reused. Many of our baby clothes are hand me downs too!
-We don't use disposable dishes, EVER!
-We have one car, a "Low emitions vehicle". It gets an average of 30mpg.
-Chaim car pools or takes the bus to class.
-I don't eat meat, only fish.
-Chaim doesn't eat too much meat either, though not a vegetarian.
-We refill water bottles and we don't really buy them unless we're thirsty and have to buy a drink.
-We use old glass containers for grains and beans and things (Rubbermaids work too, but we need those for the fridge sometimes!) The reason this is good, other than re-using and buying less containers, is because our grains and beans were getting a lot of bugs in them, so this stops that! :)
-We rinse and reuse Ziploc bags.
-We have a gas stove. (I'm not sure how 'good' this is, but I prefer it. I can still cook in a black out, if I have a match.)
-We don't drink milk treated with hormones, though we don't get "organic" for the price factor.
-We don't let the car idle.
-We don't leave the water running when we brush our teeth.
-We let that yellow mellow. A few ounces of urine is not worth 1.6 gallons of water to me.
-I cut down on toilet paper (for #1 only!) by using my Peri bottle to rinse and then towel dry. I actually feel cleaner as well!
-Bye bye tampons! I now have a Mooncup!
-I hardly use paper towels.
-I switched to rags instead of sponges for the counter.
-We hardly use harsh cleaning products. Maybe once a month on average. Usually we wipe messes with water only or with soap. I use vinegar and baking soda when necessary and just got a few bottles of Seventh Generation cleaner and dish soap. The house still stays clean enough though, with just the right amount of germs for us to hardly get sick.
-I take longer showers than I could, but I also don't wash my hair more than once or twice a week.
-I don't blow-dry my hair, and I hardly use any products in it.
-We're broke, so we can't buy as much useless junk! LOL!
-Chaim plants trees. :)
-We try to stick to organic bananas.
-Sometimes Chaim uses me as a tissue. :)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Commune livin'!
Since the last post, my sister had some trouble with her rented room in someone else's apartment, and needed a place to stay. About the same time that I said she could stay on our futon (finally a new couch! Couldn't have come at a better time either!) we had friends who also needed a place. They would crash 'randomly' on the futon, but I realized it was becoming more of a problem for them when prospective apartments didn't work out. So I kept telling them to stay with us, too. Then my sis could stay in our extra bed in our on days they stayed over. Well that became every night and our family of four became a family seven (plus an extra cat!) I have yet to take a picture of all of us that everyone approves of being released... but yes, seven people to two rooms. Other than Princess Z of course, who has her own room at night. Lyla stays in our room still, but as I've noticed over the past few days, she does NOT like to sleep. I used to put Zalah out in the living room at night to get her used to sleeping alone. I can't do that now as there are people there, so we usually put her to bed in our room before we go to bed ourselves. Sometimes we forget, and she sleeps ok with us. But lately its been a massive undertaking to get her to sleep at night, with her persistent Capricorn self screaming for hours at a time! Unless I'm right there next to her of course. That being its own difficulty, I rather like living with a lot of people. We all have different schedules so its not usually too crowded, though we do still often have company. I like that I have help from EVERYBODY and no longer have to pick up my sister from the train or be the only one to drop of Chaim. He also gets a ride some days with our roommates to school. They all help with food, dishes and cleaning, and I actually had time to clean the bathroom (while giving my kids a bath at the same time, nonetheless...) but its something I wouldn't normally have too much time for. I kept the place pretty clean on my own, but with two babies and all their work plus house and school there was a bit of dust here and there. I do feel badly when we stay up late in the living room and the mates are tired, or when we go to bed late and my sis is already trying to sleep in there. Many people can't tolerate that kind of living, and it is difficult at times. But I think the women like each others company (at least I need it!) and we all get along fairly well. We haven't fought too much, at least not with each other. I like the idea of communal living, and I like that it's working out for me. We take care of each other, and because we have shared responsibility, it isn't a crisis if someone else leaves something that needs to be cleaned because we all clean up after each other. We don't keep tabs because we see it as fair since we all share work evenly. It isn't regimented and strict, actually the way I see real communal living is laid back and just having the respect to help each other out. I think its when you give everyone too specific of a chore that it becomes "YOU didn't do YOUR job". While my husband usually took out the garbage (or at least I tried to get him to) we've all done it in turn, and try to not complain too much that we did his job. The only time that happened a lot was when I was alone with him and felt like I was doing 99% of the domestic work, even when he no longer had a job. While I still think I do much of the work, I get help from people who really mean to help. We don't give them a deadline to leave or make them pay for things, and I try not to ask too much from them and not do anything myself. Maybe because it is relaxed, they volunteer their help more readily. This helps relieve some of my stresses and we all get time to study (sort of).
Friday, June 12, 2009
Carlos & Gabby's!
I have to start by saying, yesterday was amazing. Chaim was a sweetheart and bought me a day at the spa, which was so wonderful. He is the best! After that I was supposed to meet a friend in Brooklyn, so we decided to try out Carlos and Gabby's afterward. We had tried their nachos before because they have a location by our friend Jack's house, but wanted to try more.
I'm not writing a review, but I thought the food was great. They gave a lot for the price, which for kosher food was pennies. (O yea! Its kosher!) What I did want to write about is the experience with the other random diners that night.
When we got there, Zalah was already pretty grumpy and over tired. I immediately stole bells and maracas off the counter and then asked if I could give it to her to play with. I was dressed a tab bit old school for me, including knee high combat boots with skulls on the toe. I had to do a quick transformation earlier, but what a difference a skirt makes! I wondered if people would think I was just a rebellious kid, but I didn't focus on it too much. Besides, I'm not trying to be rebellious, I am rebellious! And the clothing just happened to be situational, I don't do it everyday anymore. Zalah got anxious and wanted to walk around a few times, and being herself, she just went right up to random people at their tables and would babble and wave. So many people were nice to her, talking back and saying how cute she was. She climbed the stairs and got angry when I took her back down to go home, and had a screaming fit including throwing her maraca across the room. I looked at the table next to me and apologized because I thought she might have hit them with it. The woman said "Its ok, I came out here to escape this kind of thing!" I laughed and said I feel bad that she didn't avoid it in the end, but she was cool about it. I strapped Zalah in and said "If you don't behave, we'll marry you off to gypsies when your 13!" I noticed the woman with a blonde shaitel and a Bugaboo stroller a few tables up started to laugh. As we were passing her table, I tried to maneuver our double stroller through her stroller and the nearest tables. She tried to move it for us, but there wasn't room so just moved the tables. Since I try to be nice, and we were already so well acquainted with the whole dining room, I asked if she had a girl or a boy and the age. She said it was a boy who was three months old. He was adorable, laying down sleeping in the stroller. (Now I see why they are so desirable! No need to pack a crib! Though you could probably buy a much cheaper knock off.) I told her the girls ages, and then she gushed "You guys are like, angels! You're so chilled out, you don't get mad." I was totally taken aback! I didn't even think about how people were watching our reaction to the kids behavior, let alone how she could think that with Miss Goth Queen of the Universe as their mother! I felt like that was very nonjudgmental of her to see past the image to what was really happening. But of course I had to snap back to reality, so I replied "Oooo no.... we get mad!" "I know! Sometimes you just want to scream!" She said. "Yea, there are days when I just have to put them down somewhere and go outside to really scream or something." I reassured her. I wish I had some snazzy blog cards like Sarah to hand out at that moment! But I didn't, and maybe my blog would have scared her, so we said good luck and good bye. And you know, I really felt good after we left. That's such a great compliment for us. Even though we know its not always true, it feels good to know that maybe sometimes, we can handle it. We weren't trying to impress anyone there, we just wanted to keep the kids happy for themselves and everyone, and we do that a lot with jokes and being silly. So many people criticize your parenting style or don't understand your sense of humor with them, so its such a great relief to find people who do. It was so sweet of her to admire us and say something about it. And kids are great for causing conversation among cool strangers!
Then I had a nightmare about hipsters who didn't give me any ice cream! >:(
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
A Little Bit More About Us
Let's start with Zalah.
Zalah just turned 16 months old. She is beautiful, precocious, quirky and my little drama queen. She's at that age where she makes funny excited faces when she sees something she likes. That's fun. She also screams instantly if I leave the room. That's not fun. This includes the bathroom or shower, so she likes to come along. >:( She makes an "Mmm" sound and rubs her belly if I make something she likes. She especially likes olives. Fun. She also throws food on the floor or rubs it all over herself. Quasi fun. 
She explores and climbs on everything, even though she didn't want to walk until she was 15 months! Now she's all over. I tried to let her go in the drugstore, but she had a new medication every time I turned around to put back the previous one. It would have been funny if she had reached the condoms. I wasn't kidding about telling her not to eat the lube. She's learning how to say some words, with her favorite being "Lyla". She also likes to attack the cat, who takes it so well!
Piotr Lev!
Just now as I was looking for a good picture of her with the cat, she crawled under the cat fence, played in his food and water and took a big poop. Maybe that's because she decided to eat all of my prunes...now when she has a stomach virus and I have to hose her off so often from butt explosions.
Lyla! Lyla is overall a great baby. She is about to hit 5 months. She slept 6 hours at night from only a few weeks old. She doesn't cry too often, considering that I forget she's there while Zalah is awake. She's smiley and sweet and laughs at things that aren't really funny, but it makes me laugh that she does it! 
Sometimes she does cry, and after a day of Screaming Zalah, its hard to take a peep from Lyla. She enjoys making sounds and screeches, but its cute. Also, she's small and can't really move from where I put her, which has its benefits!
This image describes them perfectly!
This outfit also doubles as a costume for his other other night job.
Zalah just turned 16 months old. She is beautiful, precocious, quirky and my little drama queen. She's at that age where she makes funny excited faces when she sees something she likes. That's fun. She also screams instantly if I leave the room. That's not fun. This includes the bathroom or shower, so she likes to come along. >:( She makes an "Mmm" sound and rubs her belly if I make something she likes. She especially likes olives. Fun. She also throws food on the floor or rubs it all over herself. Quasi fun. 
She explores and climbs on everything, even though she didn't want to walk until she was 15 months! Now she's all over. I tried to let her go in the drugstore, but she had a new medication every time I turned around to put back the previous one. It would have been funny if she had reached the condoms. I wasn't kidding about telling her not to eat the lube. She's learning how to say some words, with her favorite being "Lyla". She also likes to attack the cat, who takes it so well!
Piotr Lev!
Lyla! Lyla is overall a great baby. She is about to hit 5 months. She slept 6 hours at night from only a few weeks old. She doesn't cry too often, considering that I forget she's there while Zalah is awake. She's smiley and sweet and laughs at things that aren't really funny, but it makes me laugh that she does it! 
Sometimes she does cry, and after a day of Screaming Zalah, its hard to take a peep from Lyla. She enjoys making sounds and screeches, but its cute. Also, she's small and can't really move from where I put her, which has its benefits!
This image describes them perfectly!Sexy Chaim, my hubby. This hot youngin' is 23 and all mine. He was just working for a shitty ticket company, but really wants to go back to school in the fall for science or bio. He might be a science teacher, or go on to Occupational Therapy or Nursing. We're not sure yet. He's sweet and great with the kids and our favorite hobby is fighting. Relax, I'm only half joking! We're both pretty firey, though he seems very mellow and quiet. He's the kind of guy who says "THE BABY POOPED!" Thanks darling. Some nights he snags a waitering job.
This outfit also doubles as a costume for his other other night job.But its much easier to talk about me. Where to start. Well, I'm 25. I like to read,when I can. I like to create things, like a goth chick knitting isn't the coolest thing you've ever seen. Really though, I always liked to create clothes and other things even if they were not so great, out of need and creativity and boredom. I also like to rant and talk about important things and I'm sure I'll do some of that on here. I can't imagine seeing something morally wrong and not saying something about it. I love to listen to cultural, gypsy, bellydance, arabic, and world music along with many other styles like regge, electronic and of course some rock and metal and all that old jazz I used to dig. I love to dance, and if I may be blunt, my most favorite activity in the world ever is to have sex (with my husband ONLY!) Can you tell?
At night, when the children are asleep, we like to do puzzles.
(Photo Credit: Daniel Murtagh)
I like to work out, I'm not sure if I like to cook, but I don't buy pre-made foods, and I do like to try something new and experiment. I can't stand to waste, I recycle and reuse. I guess I reduce too. I don't eat meat either. I've always been partly hippy, you just can't see it. I can hardly pass by something if it needs to be done and not do it, even if I'm already doing a few other things, like diapering a baby. Then I have to clean the carpet from baby pee too. I'm always cleaning. I clean when I'm stressed or angry too. I guess I work well under pressure, but not too much of it. I'm still in the middle of a Sociology degree and I love it, but I don't know when I'll finish. Now I stay at home because it would barely pay to work and send them to daycare. I won't even make the argument that I can do it better because I don't know if I even believe that! But it is nice to have a parent around, that part I agree with. I'm quite silly sometimes and when the mood strikes I burst into incredibly chorus class show tunes, dance moves and all! Hey, I find it amusing! Even though I'm often tired, I have an energetic personality. I guess the term "goth girl" never did fully capture me.
Some people ask me why I'm so insane as to plan two kids so close together. Who said anything about a plan!?
I'm sure there is more that I can't think of now. I will try to keep my posts short and sweet, which is a stark difference from the suffering I usually put people through with my long rants that make the eyes bleed. :D
At night, when the children are asleep, we like to do puzzles.(Photo Credit: Daniel Murtagh)
I like to work out, I'm not sure if I like to cook, but I don't buy pre-made foods, and I do like to try something new and experiment. I can't stand to waste, I recycle and reuse. I guess I reduce too. I don't eat meat either. I've always been partly hippy, you just can't see it. I can hardly pass by something if it needs to be done and not do it, even if I'm already doing a few other things, like diapering a baby. Then I have to clean the carpet from baby pee too. I'm always cleaning. I clean when I'm stressed or angry too. I guess I work well under pressure, but not too much of it. I'm still in the middle of a Sociology degree and I love it, but I don't know when I'll finish. Now I stay at home because it would barely pay to work and send them to daycare. I won't even make the argument that I can do it better because I don't know if I even believe that! But it is nice to have a parent around, that part I agree with. I'm quite silly sometimes and when the mood strikes I burst into incredibly chorus class show tunes, dance moves and all! Hey, I find it amusing! Even though I'm often tired, I have an energetic personality. I guess the term "goth girl" never did fully capture me.
Some people ask me why I'm so insane as to plan two kids so close together. Who said anything about a plan!?In the Beginning...
Back when I thought being Jewish was cool.Anyway, my good friend Sarah has her blog at oldschoolnewschoolmom.
Oy Vey! Can you believe this one had kids!?
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