Braving the Supermarket

Today, after gan, I decided to ask the kids what we were going to eat for supper. This was mostly because I had no idea what to make. They came up with the idea of making spaghetti for supper, which made me realize that I didn't have sauce (we usually use the jarred kind). I decided to take the kids to the supermarket. I've never done this before. I've never taken them without a stroller. I've always had at least one of them restrained.

I was fairly terrified.

My list was very limited. Tomato sauce, tivol "ground", cheese, cinnamon gum if they had it (they didn't). That's it. We walked to the supermarket pretty much without mishap. Ephraim stuck with us and didn't run away. The kids obviously asked for cookies. And here's where the fates aligned. Two things happened. One, I happened to have both cake and cookies at home (provided by Kelli), and two, my kids happened to be angels. So I said "we have cookies at home" and Kinneret said "but I want cake" and I said "we have cake at home. Kelli brought us a cake." and wonders will never cease, she stopped asking. It even worked with cereal. She wanted the cookie cereal and I said "we buy corn flakes, and we have that at home," and she didn't ask again.

The kids asked for chocolate milk and I said "another day. not today" and they accepted that... Kinneret wanted to hold the sauce, but she accepted holding the cheese instead. Ephraim wanted to hold the cheese but he accepted holding the butter instead (how did that get on the list?) It was like miracle after miracle. Which is why, when I handed Kinneret her tivol ground to hold and Ephraim asked for one to hold too, I decided I wasn't going to press my luck, and we now have an extra package in the freezer. It won't go to waste.

The line was short and the kids didn't get crazy fidgety in line. The kids carried their share of the groceries part way home. They even almost sort of walked home decently. Times like this, I think maybe parenting isn't only for the absolute strongest and bravest. I think maybe it's something I'm actually capable of doing.

For the first time since the toddler phase started, I'm starting to feel like going out with my kids doesn't leave me feeling harried and worn out. I think I actually enjoyed going out to the supermarket with my kids. I might have even laughed a little. 

A Finland State of Mind

This time last year, I was dealing with Ephraim's fourth surgery and preparing for our family trip to Finland. I've mostly repressed the whole surgery thing. I've been thinking about the trip a lot. I didn't really write about it much. I meant to. It was a mixed bag as trips go. Some of it was absolutely fantastic. But some of it wasn't.
For example, eating blueberries and lox and crusty fresh bread was great. Taking a boat to the island zoo was great. Having Kinneret stung by a bee for the first time on Shabbat in a campground in Helsinki - less good. Managing to pull the stinger out and giving her Children's Advil and having her calm down pretty quickly and her breathing remain even for the next several hours - better.
The worst moment was in Russia. (Remember, we flew into St. Petersburg, spent an overnight there, took the train to Joensuu, spent a week there, took the train to Helsinki, spent a week there, took the train back to St. Petersburg, spent three days there, and took a flight back to Israel) We had two strollers. We'd loaded our luggage on one, and Kinneret in the other. Ephraim was on my back. We walked several blocks looking for a taxi, going over several large curbs. One of the wheels popped off of the stroller that the luggage was on, and everything spilled into the street. We hailed a taxi and told him to take us to the hotel. He took us to what was clearly the wrong address, dumped our stuff out on the sidewalk, demanded his money, and pulled away. I cried.
People came out of the apartment building we'd been dumped in front of and asked what help we needed. One lady spoke some English. She helped us call the hotel we were supposed to be staying at, and the hotel sent a taxi to pick us up. The taxi came and took us all the way to the hotel. We managed the rest of the trip with the backpack carrier and the stroller.
We never did get that stroller fixed, though we did bring it back to Israel.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the trip a lot, thinking about blueberries and thinking about swimming in icy water and living in a little cabin. I miss Finland. I miss three weeks of undivided family time. I even miss cooking in a tiny little travel cooker and eating sandwiches for most of my meals. I miss the adventure. I can't wait for our next family adventure. I know it won't be next year in Lublin (EJC 2012), but maybe the year after... In the meantime, I'll be in a Finland state of mind.

Mind the Jap

Today I woke up and had coffee and went to my Tai Chi class.
Then I stopped at the fruit stand for fruit and the mall for a yogurt drink.
Then I played on Twitter and blogs and Facebook for a few hours (ok, so that was actually working)
Then the maid came and cleaned the house.
I picked up my kids and took them out for chocolate milk.
Then my husband came home and took us out to dinner.
On the way home, we stopped and bought me two new hats.

I feel like such a JAP :)

Food
Breakfast: Coffee + yogurt drink
snack: coffee
lunch: lentil soup, peach
snack: fireball, coffee,
dinner: hummus with meat, 2 pitas, salad, apple-water drink.
after: fireball

Doggy Potassium

So Poofy's kidneys are functioning well. His potassium is high. For now, I was told to try to keep him from eating anything that's not his dog food. There's the possibility of putting him on low potassium food. We'll see.

Today was a medium day. Overall, I think it was decent. The coffee is starting to get out of control...

Breakfast: 2 cups coffee,
Snack: fireball
Lunch: coffee, 1 slim-fast shake (vanilla)
snack: coffee,
snack: celery, 1 cracker
dinner: 1 chicken neck, 3 bowls lentil soup with lentils, celery, carrots, onions, and soup nuts (about 1/4 cup total of soup nuts)
snack: 1 apple

Passed Test, Blood Test, Diet

So today's big news is that I took my written (theory) driving test and passed it. It took two tries, but I have the official pass on that, which means I just have lessons and a road test and then I can get my license. This would be a big move toward my feeling like an adult, so it's good to feel like the process is moving along.

I took Poofy to the vet today, and he got a shot of tranquilizer so he could have a blood test. I'm expecting to find out that he has chronic renal failure... which is both good news and bad news. Animals can live for years with it - that's the good news. The bad news is that his peeing on the floor is likely to get worse rather than better. I'm currently taking him out 5-6 times a day and he's still having accidents. It's not a nice situation.

On the diet front, today was a decent day. Here's the food:
breakfast - 2 coffees and a slim-fast (chocolate)
snack - coffee & peach
snack - fireball
dinner - 2 chicken breasts & 1.5 cups of rice
snack - neviot + raspberry vanilla flavored water.

Another day.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm addicted to coffee. I used to limit to one cup a day, and now it's crept up to three and sometimes four cups a day. I've also discovered that if my posts aren't posted to Facebook, nobody sees them. Since Facebook is now glitching and not allowing me to post anything, I guess I'll go back to having the notes function import my blog. It worked before.

Today's food:
Breakfast: coffee & slim-fast shake (vanilla)
snack: coffee
snack: coffee, 1.5 nectarines, 3 squares chocolate
dinner: 1 smoked beef sandwich (not quite corned beef) on light bread, w/ ketchup, many pickles,
after: fireball

One, Two, Skip a Few...

When I was a kid, there was this thing we used to say - "I can count to 100 really fast. One, two, skip a few, 99, 100." So I'm skipping a few days and talking about being back on track.

Thursday night was a really fun night out with my siblings and parents for my parents' 45th anniversary. It was also all-you-can-eat. For my mouth, it was just shy of heaven. For my diet, complete disaster. I gained a whole kilo since I last wrote. Seriously.

Today, on the other hand, was better.
pre-breakfast: coffee
breakfast: slim-fast (chocolate)
snacks: coffee, fireball, 1 bite of peach, 1/2 a passiflora, more coffee, yet more coffee
dinner: 3 veggie burgers (100 cal each), big bowl of mixed frozen veggies, microwaved, with about 1 tbs Italian dressing
snack: diet ice cream sandwich (54 calories), fireball

I know that's actually unbalanced and messed up and I'm drinking entirely too much coffee, but I'm pretty sure I kept it under 1200 calories, and I'm not starving, so it's a success.