Wonder-Butt

I went out last night with girlfriends. It was a last minute choice to go. Paul has been working so hard, and has been so tired, that I had originally said no. But when he got home, it was just about 7pm, the kids were bathed and fed and homework was done. Paul gave his blessing, though I think he may have regretted it. So off I went to meet some friends at H2O, a wonderful Seafood restaurant in town. A glass of wine, yummy dinner, and laughing so much that, 24 hours later, my cheeks still hurt. It was almost worth it. Or maybe it was worth it.

Paul put the kids to bed. But Nathan, who is the ultimate Mama's boy, was none too pleased. He did finally sleep, but he was up at 2 and didn't sleep again till 5. From 2-4, I was mad. But around 4 am I realized that he just wanted me to hold him tight. How much longer will he want that? Now, we just got him to stop spending the second half of every night in our bed. We did this by putting a crib mattress on the floor next to me, and Just Saying No. So, I couldn't just pull him into bed, and my back hurt from lying on the floor next to him. So we went down to his room and I held him. I held him as tightly as I could, and eventually, after many tears and much tossing and turning, he slept. I smelled his sweaty head and felt his heart beat, and tried with all my might to push my fears of being exhausted out of my head, and do what??? Oh yes, count my blessings. Drink him in, the way he drinks me in.

So we were both tired today. But we muddled through. I picked them up from school, we went to Karate and then to Friendly's for dinner. The kids were surprisingly good. They enjoyed their ice cream and Sophia even did her Homework with Nathan's "help". She is such a great big sister.

Nathan got some new books at a book exchange for school, so I convinced them to let me read to them both together when we got home and I have them both asleep by 8pm. One of the books was about Robots and the main character was "wonderbot" We all giggled quite inappropriately at that one and I think my new nick name may be wonder- butt. But, I love when they make me laugh.

So now, I am drinking a glass of Yellow Tail Chardonnay, eating a Reece's Peanut Butter cup Sundae and going upstairs to watch my DVR'ed American Idol auditions. Some days are better than others, and I am not too tired to notice.

Craziness all around me.

Why do the strangest things always happen to me?

I always go to the same gas station. Full serve and self serve prices. The nice man who owns the station was gone for a few weeks so I asked if all was well, and was told he'd had a baby. Since he has been back I always ask about the baby. Today he asked if I wanted to see pictures. Sure, I said, who doesn't want to see pictures of babies? ... click click click on his IPhone... baby in the high chair, baby with a bottle (sigh), baby in a stroller, and then... wait for it....then comes one of his wife and baby, naked... Both Of Them! Standing in the bathroom, wet from a shower, naked as jaybirds.

It was one of those days where I felt like I was floating above myself watching a movie of me.

I am all out of white wine, so I may resort to a glass of the red my mom hasn't finished.

It's 6:15 and the kids are done with their baths. One good thing about Tax Season nights when Paul works late is that the kids are ready for bed much earlier. It is because we don't wait for him for dinner and also, there is no "daddy's home!" play time.

And really, if they don't go to bed early tonight, I may need more than red wine to sooth my nerves.

So, here is my agenda for the night, get the homework done and earrings back in Sophia (Today was Karate so they are out), keep Nathan calm, dole out bribes, I mean prizes for good behavior (smencils? heard of them?), watch a short video, read books to each one in turn, put them to bed, drink that wine and eat the Mozzarella sticks I got at the Pizza place where I fed the kids, grab a weight watchers ice cream and go watch some American Idol off my DVR. Try to get the image of the naked gas station owner's wife out of my head. ;)

Tax Season Monday

The Shrimp scampi I made last night was this one:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/linguine-with-shrimp-scampi-recipe3/index.html

It was good. I would double the sauce next time for a whole box of Pasta. I tried to eyeball it but I didn't add quite double and it was a little dry. I would also use smaller shrimp. I had jumbo and it was too much.

Next time I think I will try this one:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/baked-shrimp-scampi-recipe/index.html

It's "Tax Season Monday" around here. Bye Bye Daddy, see you in 13 weeks! Luckily Grandma is coming over today and staying for dinner. Every year it gets harder for Paul to leave the kids for so long, and harder for the kids to miss him so much. But quite frankly, each year gets a little easier for me. The kids are older, they understand that there is only one of me and I can't do everything Daddy does around here. They know how to take care of themselves a little better each year. I miss Paul, but the sacrifice is do-able.

Today is a school holiday, so we are all off to the gym and food shopping together I guess. Hopefully they will behave in the store. I much prefer food shopping alone.

Oh and I wanted to mention something, last night on the news they had a story from Haiti where they showed a back hoe lifting dead bodies into a dump truck. Then a story about that actress from the Eminem movie who died. Brittany Murphy, I think. They were interviewing her husband and her mother (who look like they should be married to each other, incidentally.) The two stories together, it just made me crazy. The way we place value on a single human life is so odd. Shedding tears over a single celeb death and the same tears over the devastation in that faraway place.

How can I blog about my lovely Sunday night, when the blinds close in my warm loving home, while people, mothers just like me, tuck their children (the one's they could find) in on a cardboard box surrounded by rocks to keep the UN tankers from running them over in the streets. Just praying that they will get some clean water in the morning, or worse that their baby wont die before he gets the chance to have his leg amputated with a rusty hack saw.

I guess it is important to be thankful, to be aware of the enormous gifts I have been given. And to do what you can to help. I sent some money. Seems woefully inadequate, but how could I not?

I could so easily be paralyzed by these things. I owe some debt here that will need to be paid back at some point.