The Widow Family Avatarded

I know these were the rage a few weeks ago but I just had to do something to take my mind off of the never changing same story fear mongering GOP.

The Chef, Biggie Smalls, & I lounge in Sandusky

This week has been a tsunami.  Sunday started the week with a bang.  The Chef & I worked a wedding party at Cento and about halfway through the Chef came down with a super virus.  When we got home (@ 4am) he was a wreck.  Monday morning rolled around and I let him sleep and picked up the kids to get ready to head up to the lakes (aka Sandusky).  When I got the kids, they were also sickies.  We decided to still head up to the lakes to hang with my family.  The Chef ended up sleeping for the day and the boy learned how to fish in between bouts of sickness and crankiness.  Biggie Smalls was generally angry the entire day although she did perk up when dinner was served.  Sickness or not my girl loves to eat.

Catcher fishes.                                                              Louisiana eats.

 

We drove home and everyone went to sleep before 10pm.  Something that rarely happens in the widow household.  I woke up at 5am for my 5.45am Boot Camp Class.  That’s right friends I am a nutcase.  The girl who never works out signed up for a class at 5.45am, two days a week.  Much to my surprise the class was fantastic and I was strangely energized.  After boot camp I raced home to get ready for the Young 3’s orientation at Catcher’s new school.  When I got home I found my family in shambles.  All three were miserable, coughing, sweating, and being grumpy asses.  I immediately called our Doc and made an appointment for the three of them to go while I was at orientation.  The Chef was none too happy about having to cart the kids and his sick ass to the doc’s but what can you do?  It happens and action needed to be taken.  Welcome to my world Chef.

I got back from orientation and the Chef let me know that all three of them had ear infections and a virus.  Yippee!!!  Happy Anniversary to me (Tuesday was our 2 yr church anno)!! The kids and I headed to Border’s, bought the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (a personal fave) and went home to snuggle and watch Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael kick some foot solider ass.

 

Happiness Is…

Wednesday, the kids still under the weather, was the first day of school for my boy.  The family packed into the Prius and headed south towards the valley.  The drop off was a bit emotional but my pride overcame any tears that I thought I would shed.  Catcher was so grown up about it and seemed genuinely happy to be there.  

His program is only three hours so the Chef, Biggie, and I went to Mustard Seed for some groceries and then drove around the valley looking at bad ass houses that we can’t afford.  We picked up the boy who was super HAPPY to see all of us and headed home for some much needed family time.  We played and ate and sang and climbed until I had to go downtown for my LEED class.  The kids seemed to be feeling better and the Chef actually had a little color back in his face.  Whew!

Celebrity Stylist D & J get down and dirty on Ev & Aren

After my class I headed home to get ready for our Wednesday night Haircutting party.  Some friends and stylist friends stopped by to drink wine, play with the kids, and cut hair.  Not in that order of course.  At 10pm we watched the Chef & the Iron Chef rock out Seder Supper on the new episode of Dinner Impossible.  If you missed it you should definitely check it out.  Totally great and entertaining.  The show is a HIT!  The Chef in a Yamika really does it for me:)

Yes I am totally THAT GIRL  You know the one who pauses TIVO to take a picture of her Chef on TV

This morning my ass was back in Boot Camp @ 5.45am.  I even had the privelege of finding out my fat:muscle ratio.  And it was awesome.  HA! I wanted to kil myself.  

5am gave me my fat ratio but it also gave me this beautiful sunrise

The Chef took the boy to school and Biggie & I snuggled with Potato & Vito.  After some much needed girl time we headed down to get the boy.  He was a little off and still kind of sickly.  I think today may have been a tougher day for him at school.

So basicaly my week was filled with the sickness, a wedding anniversary, a first day of school, 5 am boot camp, lno sleep, good friends, and some awesome Cantillon.  Can’t wait to see wha’s in store for next week!

My little man joins the ranks of students everywhere with his kick ass recycled soda bottle backpack.

I have been a Stay at Home Mamma for 3 1/2 years and I don’t regret a day of it.  My decision to stay home with Catcher at first stemmed from the fact that I didn’t want to do day care.  Nor did I want to pay for it.  The fact was when Catcher was born my salary in NYC was next to nothing and day care would have taken it all.  The cost of a nanny ($100,000/yr) was out of the question.

I have thoroughly enjoyed staying home with my kids.  It has MADE my life!  Everyday I see something new in each of them and I everyday I am taught something new by each of them.  It is like university all over again minus the vodka and zannies.  I love having the freedom to educate my children and take them to places most kids have yet to see.  I am proud of the fact that I can do the parenting thing on my own.  I can pack up the Prius with 2 kids, their double stroller, and head downtown to spend the day at the Science Center.  I can take both kids grocery shopping and be out in under an hour.  I somehow manage to get Biggie Smalls bathed & fed & in bed every night by 8.  Each night I lay the boy down by 9 and I find myself reading 30 book straight until 10.  And I am happy. So so happy.

My days can be stressful, my days can be perfect.  But at the end of said day all I need to do is look at there way to cute faces and know I made the right choice.

But sometimes choices are taken away.  Sometimes the choice is no longer an option.  Sometimes your choice leads to a bigger choice.  When the Chef & I moved from Brooklyn to Cleveland we knew we were going to open a restaurant.  And we knew that I was going to work in it.  The Greenhouse Tavern project has been moving forward weekly and I need to get involved.  I need to play a more active role with the rest of the time.  Starting next week I will attend the weekly project meetings on Tuesdays as well as take a 4 week class about LEED on Wednesday night.  I am also writing this blog, updating the Chef’s blog,  and writing for About.com and Cleveland.com on a weekly basis.  And I am trying to shed some FAT before Paris so I have decided that I am going to sign up for a hellacious class called Boot Camp.  Apparently it is designed like the actual Boot Camp one goes to if they sign up for the war.  Doesn’t sound fun but sounds very effective.  Did I forget to mention that  also have two kids under 3, one super allergic to everything pitbull, and one pug who loves to sneak under the fence and run away at the most inopportune times?

So yeah.  That’s my crazy life.  And to help out with my vida loca the Chef & I have decided to hire some help.  We started looking for a grad student/nanny/mother’s helper last week to help us out every Tuesday.  I have gotten a few responses and even set up an interview this morning.  The girl who responded sounded great, her resume rocked and she even offered up a background check.  The problem…she no showed and no called.  Until now.

As I began to type this post I was angry.  The Chef & I wasted all morning waiting around for our potential sitter and she no showed.  I had set up the appointment for 10.30am.  By 12.30pm we knew that we probably were’nt going to see her.  Then about half way through this post, she called.  It was 1pm.  She said that she got stuck at the doctore’s with her son and didn’t have my phone number to call.  We chatted for a few minutes and we rescheduled for Wednesday.  My question is this.  Should I have evn bothered to reschedule?  Is her not showing up a sign of things to come?  How did you find help for your own families?  I could use all the advice I could get.  I am so NERVOUS about leaving them in someone’s care but I have to do it.  I have to be able to leave them.  It’s just a matter of time before GHT is open and I am putting 25 hours in.

These two super ridiculously cute crazies turn my frown upside everyday no matter what.  And that’s why I am one lucky mamma!

Biggie Smalls & CatcherCrazyFace attempt to play with a balloon while fighting the sickness.

My poor kids.  Both have fevers and poor Lou is so sad.  My heart is breaking (as well as my back as I fell down the CMA steps yesterday).  The chef & I pulled an all nighter.  Biggie won’t eat, won’t sleep, won’t smile.  Damn you influenza!  Damn you!

*****UPDATE*****

After a grueling day of no sleep and very loud crying Lou has finally gone to sleep.  It is now 10pm and she had been awake for over 24 hrs.  The docor told us that not only is she cutting 2 more teeth, she also has a superbad ear infection.  I am now drinking a very LARGE glass of red wine (w/ ice…don’t tell the chef).

“The Summer looks out from her brazen tower, Through the flashing bars of July”

is making mamma crazy. In the Night Kitchen is fantastically surreal (and apparently controversial) childrens book about a boy named Mickey.  Catcher got it for his birthday on Sunday and I swear to god, I have read it to him at least 10 times a day.  Our bedtime routine used to consist of me reading 10 different books, now I have to read him In The Night Kitchen over & over & over & over….I want to shoot myself.  But the kid loves it, so I’m game.

***It is a really cool book- I had never even heard of it before and you think I would have had the chef kid’s book market cornered.

Louisiana shows off her new moves and her rockin’ Beatles do (circa 1960).

Louisiana, Potato the Pitbull, and Catcher ham it up for mamma.

Because I am still trying to recoup from all of last week’s festivities, I am not much for writing.  Here’s why:

Wedding #1, five of us drank 10 bottles of Proseco in less than 4 hours.

Catcher’s 1st TBall Game, the morning after the 10 bottles of Proseco were drank.

Wedding #2, Beautiful & amazing, although a bit lonely as I slow danced by myself due to the fact that the chef was in NYC filming Iron Chef.

Fourth of July.  3 am.  PBR’s & Hotel Pool.  Life is good.

Fourth of July.  11am.  Family, food, and this crazy contraption.

Fourth of July.  6 pm.  Symon’s new digs.  Kids everywhere.  Pig & Clams in my belly.  Yums.

Orange You Glad Catcher’s 3 Birthday Party.  All day.  All night.  Fantastic fun, friends, food, & orange.  It looked like an ocean of Tang drowned us all. {more pics to come}

As you can see, my 7 days were a bit hectic.  Hopefully this week will be a little bit calmer.  Or at least without a wedding or two.