I am not too worried, any woman who has birthed 3 kids, isn't going to be too offended by some swear words. I didn't come up with those swear words on my own I was quoting! Estelle is very cool by the way. How cool can an 83 year old woman be you may ask. Well she stays up late enough to watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, when her grandchildren and great-grand-children are already in bed. And she supported womens' and gays' rights way before it became trendy. She also makes a righteous brisket.
So 4th of July was interesting. It coincided with Shabbat so we went to temple and hooked up with Judy, Jamie and Estelle and sat in an outside service. That's perfect for my squirmy monkeys. Service was followed by a bbq and then we went home to view fireworks.
We loaded the kids in the wagon and trudged up our hill. This is our first Independence Day in this house, and we were sure we would have an awesome view from the top of our street. As we climbed upwards a neighbor stopped us and asked if we wanted to watch from their lawn. Of course, how nice of them. It soon became evident that they had been imbibing for quite awhile and that the only sober people at their party were 2 fourteen year old girls who happily played with Michael. We eventually moved off of their lawn and back onto the sidewalk. A guest from this party was an autistic teenage boy who went across the street to throw poppers at a family that came to view fireworks. His mother reprimanded him from her friend's lawn but never went to actually physically intervene to save this family from having poppers thrown at them. So of course this family finally got annoyed and the next thing we know the father of the teen is having to restrain him and drag him up the hill and his mother is in the face of this innocent family. The father yells, "Get away from us you whack-job!", and then turns to leave. This middle-aged mother of the autistic teenager actually starts chasing them down the street and then starts kicking and punching the dad!!! By this time I am on my cell calling 911 and walking away from my kids. After being spoken to in Spanish and then being put on hold, I walk to my garage and picked up the land line and got right through.
I explained to the dispatcher what I saw happening before the trio dissappeared around the corner. After hanging up I trudged back up the hill and whispered to Erik that I had called the police and he told me that the father had loaded his son into their car and took off. They never came back and we finished viewing our fireworks in peace. After the kids were in bed Erik and I talked about how stunned we were that that had happened on our street.
It gets better, I sent out an email to the mom's club gossiping about the altercation and 2 moms wrote back giving me a perfect description of this woman and her family. Turns out she is infamous in the community for these types of situations and the 2 moms that wrote to me had interacted with her in a school setting. The next morning the police also called me back to take a more detailed report and the way the officer let her name slip out led me to believe he was on a first name basis with this hag. I am grateful she isn't our actual neighbor, but I still don't want to socialize with anyone who is friends with somebody like that.
The next day we took our monkeys to the zoo, and left them there. Just kidding. After paying for gas to get there, parking, entrance fees and lunch.........wow, expensive!
So I am in a mom's club, that has nothing to do with that other one, that I joined when Mike was 6 months old. It's been a lifesaver, the activities, the friends, the support. What kills me though is when people don't show up for stuff. I understand when things happen, motherhood is full of surprises, but why join a club and never show up? My friend Barb hosted July's Gourmet Gals and it was her, me and our new President M. Gourmet Gals is a goofy name for a fun potluck where you pick a food theme and bring recipes to share and it has nothing to do with any other group of that name. The theme for July was sneaky, healthy foods. I made my original Sesame Street muffins chock full of carotts, zucchini, raisins and apples. Healthy but better with butter of course. And it's a good thing my family likes them, since so many people flaked, we had lots of leftovers.
The weekend following the 4th, Estelle came to stay with us for an evening and it was wonderful having her here. It wasn't how I would have planned it, Erik was on-call and I had a baby shower to attend in Stockton but it turned out well anyways. Our friend Michelle C. from our Modesto gang was having a hard-won pregnancy and I really wanted to go to her shower to support her. I always feel a little guilty being around women like her since I can get pregnant just walking by my husband. I really wanted to celebrate a baby I know they "worked" hard for.
It was a nice, small luncheon at a Chinese restaurant and that night at home we ordered Chinese again and it paled in comparison to my lunch. While I was lunching with the ladies, I actually left Sarah in charge of the kids so that Estelle could just play with them and Erik could take call and run to the hospital if he needed to. Richard came to visit his mother and his grandkids, so my kids got so much love and play all day they were in heaven. The next day my Dad came to visit before his game and him and Estelle had a nice conversation over lunch.
The weekend of July 18th-20th we took the monkeys camping. My Dad and Cherie rented us a trailer with air conditioning which was a life-saver. We were up in the Yuba area and it was hot and smoky but we spent most of the time in the lake. Mike and Bekah loved their cousin Emily who they called Elmoly. Jake was a huge hit with his drunken, stagger and sense of adventure, otherwise known as a death-wish since he bolted out onto the campground road many times. By Sunday we were all exhausted.
While Mike's preschool was on summer break for a week I sent him and Bekah to day camp at Temple. I was nervous because when I sent Mike there at age 2 his teachers took me aside and tried to convince me that he only had a 4 word vocabulary, had a hearing problem and needed a behaviorist. Well none of that was ever found out to be true and I was afraid of him being discriminated against by the temple staff at this daycamp. I purposefully didn't finish the paperwork so I could stay and observe the staff interaction with my kids while I finished filling it out. Well those teachers weren't there and the staff that were present didn't seem to know who Michael was, so I was very relieved. Michael is such a sensitive person that even though I didn't say a word to him about anything, he knew something was up, he can read me like a book. When I got up to leave Mike yelled across the playground, "Bye mom, don't worry I am not going to cry.".
While Estelle was visiting, Merrill and Chris were busy moving out of their sold home in Fremont and getting ready to buy a new home in Pleasanton. Unfortunately it fell through and I am not smart enough to explain in writing what exactly happened. But it turned out for the best because now Merrill, Chris and the girls are temporarily moving into Chris's brother Matt's house here in San Ramon. This will give them the chance to save a ton of cash before hitting the market again for a new house. Prices are still plummeting so they should do very well.
Michael's preschool, The School of Imagination, had an end of the year show and my son is a super star. No really, he is a ham and was the only one who did not need a microphone. My mom, Jan, Merrill, the girls and our friend Natalie and her kids all came to see the show and Michael was thrilled! Afterwards we had beers and pizza and then walked to Sean and Carrie's house for dessert and more beer. The next day I took Michael to our little friend Jake's first birthday while Bekah and my Jake napped. Unfortuanately I wasn't feeling too great so we had to leave early. Michael had a wonderful time and was on his best behavior.
My life is getting easier. Dear Sarah took Thursday and Friday of this week off to go to L.A. to watch her brother graduate. So I was alone with the kids and it was no big deal at all. I know that sounds pathetic since I am their mother but when Jake was first-born that was really, really hard. And when we first moved into this house in October and I had no help, and was stressed and depressed to boot, I was ready to go to the corner for a pack of smokes and never come back. So when I manage to make it, 2 days alone with my kids with no yelling or crying (me crying, not them), I can see the light at the end of the stay-at-home-mom tunnel.
Before I had kids I would be shocked to think that I would write a paragraph like the one above. Now I just don't know who those women are that can stay at home all day with their kids and think it's the best damn thing in the world! Not every moment of a stay-at-home-mother's day is running rampant with shiny G-d filled miracles. What's even more frightening is that it's still the best option out there. I do have help, and I am so grateful for that privledge, because I now realize that mothers back in the day survived because they had grandmas, aunts and neighbors. The real successful mothers don't do it alone, they have help, whether it's paid for or family, they have support. As cliche as it sounds it does, "..... takes a village.". If you are doing it alone, you are either not doing as well for your kids as they deserve, or you are a martyr that will some day melt into a puddle of uselessness when you don't receive the gratitude you think you are owed. This is just my opinion.
So Thursday our family friend Laura took over while I went to this month's scheduled mom's night out. Jake had a fever but Laura is in nursing school and reassured me I was not a bad mom for still going out. And Kaitlyn and Haley came over to play with Mike and Bekah and Erik came home straight after his meeting. That's my village.
The mom's night out with an unofficial mom's club, was dinner and comedy at Tommy T's in Pleasanton. Only 4 of us showed up, and we have over 60 members in our club. Well the 4 of us, me, M.J. and K. had a blast and Mark Curry was really funny. We went out for another drink in Danville afterwards but we were all winding down.
Friday morning I had huge plans to take Bekah to swim lessons, take all 3 to the zoo, lunch and a family night at Primo's but Jake woke up with a 102 degree fever and that was that. Another village member, Auntie Merrill, came and got Mike and Bekah and took them to lunch with Nana Jan and Kaitlyn and Haley while I stayed home with my sick monkey. Jake is definitely not his self and didn't eat anything solid until dinner time. Afterwards he finally perked up and Erik and I were so happy thinking he was on the mend. Unfortunately this morning he was ferverish and lethargic again and gagged down some yogurt and a bottle before passing out again and has now been asleep for almost 4 hours. Poor baby. If he is like this again tommorrow I will take him to the urgent care in Walnut Creek.
I cuddled with Jake in bed this morning since he was hot and cranky. Erik took Mike and Bekah downstairs to eat breakfast and I told him if he made coffee I would get up. Well Jake and I both passed out until 9:30a! I am downright hyper now! I let Erik take a nap since he hung out with the Muscos last night and now he is at the gym with Mike and Bekah and I am blogging in my pajamas while Jake naps. After blogging I will be plagued by guilt so I will do laundry and clean the grout in the kitchen, woo hoo! We had tickets to a pre-season Raiders game tonight but since Jake is sick he needs his mommy and I am sending Erik to the game with Anderson. Those 2 will have a blast and Erik needs a guys night out.
Mike starts pre-K on Monday and Bekah-Boo starts preschool. My baby girl is growing up. In September I am cutting Sarah back to 3 days a week to save money and because I am more confident in my mothering skills. I also cut out year round swim lessons for the 3 kids to save money. Bekah won't miss it that much, but Jake and Mike absolutely come alive in the water so it breaks my heart to take them out. A cheaper option is soccer, for Mike and Bekah, and dance, for Mike, at our gym. The dance class is Hip Hop for boys and Mike can't wait. He has already taken soccer at out gym and excelled at it so I am continuing that and I am curious to see how well Bekah will do. I would have put Bekah in dance too but no classes fit our schedule.
Bill is being deployed in early September and will be coming for a visit next weekend, Laboy Day. I am very excited to see him and anxious about him going to Iraq. I really, really, hate George W. Bush.
Obama picked Biden has his V. P. today and the song Ebony and Ivory has been running through my head.
I gotta publish this posting it's way too long already.
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