Whew- glad that's over!

We survived the New Orleans family wedding only slightly worse for wear.

Our next family "vacation" is on the horizon. I think I'm going to have to take special vitamins to make it through.

Yoni and Yael made a few special appearances at the family events such as the evening deseert reception and the Sunday morning brunch before everyone left town.

Luckily Sam and Carlye were guests at the hotel for the duration of the weekend otherwise I would not have survived the wedding. I came down with a severe (high blood pressure induced-I'm sure) migraine that was only worsened by the reverberating of the bass of the cover band in my chest. I had to retire upstairs 3 different times because I came down too early so that my husband would have a chance to enjoy the festivities.

family tree

In light of Carlye & Sam's request for a quick rundown on the family of who might be at next week's wedding, and since I couldn't reach you again to find out exactly what you wanted, I put together a little flowchart of the family tree. This is only one side of the immediate family - for those who might be attending the wedding in New Orleans [And of course I left out the skeletons in the closet and interesting tidbits like the wives and children we don't talk about-we'll save that for an in person discussion]. Hope this helps - excpet for the few blanks I drew, I did this off the top of my head with a headache. Study and learn!
And if you wanted to know where Ellen and Perry and Marla fit in, they are all on Mom's father's side of the family...I can do that next week if you want, but Ellen knows more details...

stop the world - I want to catch my breath

These last few weeks have been BUSY.
After I got my wake-up call from the doctor that I need to take better care of myself if I want to be around to see my kids grow up, we've had all kinds of things going on.
We have the Ladies Luncheon Salad Pool which originated with me complaining that we were eating out way too much at work and wouldn't it be fun if a bunch of us pitched in and brought a few items from home - around a $5 per person contribution. The idea was that we could have a healthy alternative and that it would last for a few days and it wouldn't go bad and we wouldn't waste it - what a jewish mother I am.
It has taken off. One lady made humus to go with her cold tuna and chicken salad and that was a big hit. The salads have grown into themed luncheons. This week it was Mexican in honor of Cinco de Mayo.
We had nachos (with all the differnt fixins - pico de gallo and guacamole and sour cream and cheese and beans and and and....)
Next week we are having smoked salmon (lox) and spinach with asparagus.
It has become a real treat and we even had one of the VPs join us for lunch before our weekly staff meeting. He's been the only male brave enough to join us. Fun, fun, fun!

There were some industry "events" lately that I mostly skipped out on - crawfish boils and evening socials and the like (partly because I don't eat those things and why would I want to be around them and smell like that all day and partly because I truly cherish the few hours I do get to spend daily with my kiddos and my family)...but at one of these functions, some co-workers ran into one of the former ladies I worked with and she informed them that my nemisis is still jobless. I'm sure its because her reputation preceeds her. I really don't wish her any ill will, but its funny how things tend to work out if you just wait it out long enough. Guess you could call it all part of the divine plan.

I think I finally may have gotten a handle on using this program to do my reports.

And it seems Yoni may have turned a corner as far as his health is concerned. He did recently have one incident - we'll call it a spell -where he threw up, but then he was better and we got back on schedule with his meds and it seems to be controlling things better.

And of course the daycare ladies and my mother have started feeding my Yaeli Gerber foods.

I would have waited at least until she was 6 months to even start her off, but I have to rationalize it to myself that they have done this much more than I have...They are professionals and this is what they do and they haven't killed one yet. She has tried applesauce (mixed with her yucky rice cereal), squash, sweet potatoes and peaches. Good thing babies are resilient. I have only just mastered the art of the bottle and she has only tried eating cereal with me when she had another spoon to play with.

Maybe the medication has finally hit the correct levels because it doesn't make my head spin anymore (that I notice) and I am much calmer about lots of the mains stressors in my life. We'll see tomorrow when I go for some tests.


Yoni and Yaeli and I watched the impending rainstorm for about 45 minutes outside on the porch at the top of the stairs. I sat down on the concrete and fed Yaeli and watched the lightning show with Yoni. I explained that it is not at all scary as long as we are safe and dry. And isn't it a beautiful light show that Hashem made for free for us to enjoy? It was truly one of those moments where you hope it is meaningful, but it was beautiful anyway.

Recent Yoni-isms:
He wants to get married and he wants to be a doctor- I am a happy momma :)
"Mickey House" is still tops - He loves to watch the Easter special disk.
He has grown taller and filled out in his face a little...pictures don't do the transformation justice
Stop stop stop and chicken nuggets aer some of his favorite phrases
Understands Hebrew - still won't answer back
I noticed on some of his art projects - both stand alone and in comparison to other kids' work - he likes to have the whole surface area covered and won't even consider moving on to something else till he is satisfied with it - a little compulsive???
This morning out of the blue on the way down the stairs he told me it was a beautiful day - and it was!

ummm...trendy news?

My mother and I have started a trend.
I let her enjoy time with her grandchildren, but we take a leisurely walk around the neighborhood.
Once we stopped at the neighbors and once we took Yoni with us. So is 2 times enough to call it a trend. I hope the trend will continue cause its good for both of us.
It also only works because in Houston it stays light till almost 8 PM.
Otherwise we wouldn't be having so much fun. We did this once before with Jonathan so I could show her that it is possible to do this for her with Mr J only because you can easily distract him if she gets tired.
And it gets us both out of the house and off the couch. I can't speak for her, but I like it cause I feel good about having walked - if only around the block and only for a little while. That first step is the hardest one sometimes.
And we're eating healthier at work too. A bunch of us ladies have been bringing in a variety of salad fixings. This week's theme was Cinco de Mayo. This is now the 3rd week we've done it. It isn't going exactly as we envisioned it -I thought we would eat on it throughout the week, most people are doing it on Mondays and then not so much on Tuesdays and the rest of the week.
"Not so much" is my newest catch phrase lately.
The end.

Medication, and dry contacts, and a general stressiness at work and a lack of sleep makes me little less than coherent a lot of the time lately. . . oh well.
Love