Swimming toward the light

You know how you have certain knick knacks around the house that remind you of the past? I have a certain framed picture in the laundry room next the the garage that has great significance for me. I reminds me of a time so very far away.

Once upon a time there was a woman who married a man and they did not get along. At all. In fact, things were so bad for the woman that she found herself shaking in fear whenever her husband was due to come home from work. She even forgot how to smile. Her friends and family refused to talk to her until she got out of her marriage because they did not want to hear any more about her suffering.

One day this woman was going for a walk around her neighborhood. She passed a garage sale and saw some framed artwork sitting on the pavement. She saw a certain piece that made her eyes grow wide. Recipe for a Happy Kitchen. This was a piece all about love and loyalty and happiness. It was a strain of music from so very far away, it almost sounded alien to her. Happy Kitchen. Happy home. Hmmm. Is it possible? Is it possible to ever live like that again? Am I worthy of a life like that? She went home and got the $2 they were asking for the picture and put it into her van under the seat. She was not going to soil the picture by taking it into her house. She would hang it in her new apartment as soon as she found a place for herself. It was her secret.

One day when her husband left for work the movers arrived and helped the woman move all her things and her children's things into her new apartment. She hung up the picture. She now lives in a new home with a husband and more children and continues to gaze at the picture from time to time. Yes, many of the statements now apply to her home. While no family dynamic is perfect, her present family is a good place to raise children. And a good place to live.

Random updates

We have had yet another virus making the rounds here. It hit my 3-y-o the worst. Probably because he is the youngest and Baby A doesn't count because he is breastfed. The 3-y-o had the cough after a cold but developed a fever and couldn't eat much at all for the past 6 days. I took him to the doc's yesterday and he ended up getting a chest x-ray. No pneumonia, but he showed more "air bronchograms" than the doc wanted to see, so he assumed it was bronchitis. He took his first dose of Zithromax yesterday and within 3 hours the fever broke and all afternoon he was clamoring for food and actually eating it. I hope he puts his weight back on quickly. In his bath I noticed his little arms and legs were SO thin. Amazing how quickly the little ones lose weight when sick. He had bad diarrhea as well, but that is better now. I woke up with a sore throat, but that is a good thing, so I can make antibodies for Baby A.

I am aggravated that the baby carrier I ordered on March 28th has not yet arrived. I emailed the company with a copy of the PayPal payment email (I never received a confirmation email directly from the company). They wrote back "Of course! This
carrier is right on schedule to be shipped this week. Kimber wants me
to tell you that she loves what you chose and thinks the colors are
beautiful. She would love a pic when you receive it and she hopes you
enjoy it.Thank you Ginny Customer Service". THIS WEEK! I wrote back a polite email saying how relieved I was that it was not lost in the mail. But GEESH!!!! WTHeck? I am getting flashbacks to the story of the Little Red Hen. First we need to plant the wheat. Then we need to reap the wheat. Then we need to grind the wheat. Then we need to bake the bread. What exactly is taking SO long when the website stated that the carrier I ordered was in stock?????? BTW I am referring to a Mei Tai type carrier called Ball Baby Overalls in a floral print.

Additionally, I have already lost the usual pound of weight that I normally lose during Passover. I don't really like the food. It is plain and I can only eat so much of it. And Passover is not "over" until Sunday night at 8:11pm Pacific daylight time. Ugh! Somebody give me intravenous pretzels PLEASE???????

Earth Day with Robo Pet

Here are my 4-y-o and 9-y-o boys enjoying a moment between homework pages. DS received a Robo Pet from the Sharper Image for his birthday. It is very impressive. It can sense if something is in front of it, so it doesn't run into things, even if the operator of the remote control tells it to. And it rolls over, scratches itself, and lifts its leg to do its business. My 4-y-o made the headband at preschool in honor of Earth Day and he insisted on wearing it all afternoon. Awwwww!