One of the things I must do to function is meal plan. It is just too easy to pick up the phone and order pizza, italian, diner, indian, sushi, chinese, burgers, peruvian…you get the idea. I usually spend some time over the weekend making lists and figuring out which nights Matthew will be here and go from there.

Its very hit or miss. I know it seems like I cook a lot and I do, but its completely out of necessity. Besides finding new recipes to try there is not one thing I enjoy about the cooking process. When Matthew is home he is the default chef but even when he is home for dinner its usually not until after dinner has to be made, or at least prepped so I am rarely off the hook. Cooking dinner is very overwhelming for me whether I am working or not and figuring out what we are having ahead of time helps with the stress.

I still have failures. I forget that I needed one last crucial ingredient that they dont sell at the bodega, or I am stuck on a conference call way later than expected. Things happen and I am quick to use any excuse to pop something from the freezer into the microwave for Asher, order myself a greek salad with chicken and call it a night.

I recently read this awesome blog post by Helen Jane – its about HOW to plan your meals and I highly recommend it to anyone else struggling with balancing kids, a job, and a food budget.

In all of my planning I never actually thought to plot out how I would cook all of these meals I shopped for. Considering that I plan things all day long for work its kind of amazing.

Now only if I had a freezer to store a pot of soup made Sunday to eat on Friday. Our tiny dorm freezer doesn’t hold much more than a box of toaster waffles, a bag of peas and a chicken breast so I am trying to figure out how to make room for a small chest freezer in my gigantic 2×8 kitchen. Wish me luck!

Tonight is the season 3 premiere of Justified and I am ready for it. I am watching it live, probably the 3rd time I have done this in the 10 years+ we’ve had Tivo.

If you don’t know it  – Timothy Olyphant plays a US Marshal/badass motherfucker/lawman of awesomeness in eastern Kentucky hill country. He grew up there and left and got sent back because he is a bad dude and its so crazy good. Its a total boy show but its really smartly written and not like anything else I watch. It does have some additional appeal for the ladies.

Ahem.

Raylan Givens!

(!!!)

Thankfully after an entire week of jetlag Asher started to sleep through the night, well 11-630 or so but I’ll take it! Last night I could not fall asleep until I got out of bed, turned the light on and wrote out my to do list at about 430am. Work was crazy with a ton of last minute changes coming in at 5pm that I absolutely had to finish before the morning. This is super typical the week or 2 or 3 before the event. Everyone wakes up and starts changing things that were set months before. Luckily Matthew was home (Matthew is almost never home before Asher goes to sleep) so I could work through bath and story time and actually finish by 10:30pm instead of who knows when.

I know people probably think I exaggerate about how stressful my job is but I don’t. My job is most likely more stressful than your job. Actually I am sure my job is more stressful than your job. I have to work on the weekend and answer emails at midnight and take calls during dinner. We can’t say no, ever, so every last minute request has to be fulfilled up until the second I walk out the door to the airport and then for 15ish hour days for a week at the event. Everyone wants us to come up with the ideas because we are the “experts” but they don’t want to use our ideas they want to use theirs so we have to convince them they came up with it so we can get things done or there will be no show. They can think ugly things are nice and super out of date things are hip and modern and sometimes they think a 9 or 11 minute video is ok but it’s really not because people will fall asleep and think we did a bad job so you have to convince them to cut it down but in a way that makes them think its their idea or they will fight with you and not want to work with you. If you know the clients well its easier and fun because they trust you but even if you are working with the same company on the 7th job its new people that have to be trained to do things how we need them to be done but they are the clients so you can’t tell them how to do anything or they will think you are pushy. If you are not pushy they will think you don’t know what you are doing. Its just constant problem solving on your tippy toes 24hrs a day.

Forbes magazine recently printed an article about the most stressful jobs of 2012 and guess what

My job is #6, after a bunch of people who save lives for a living. HAHAHA. The article is really about how few women have these jobs but I’d say 90% of the people I work with are women, sometimes 100%.

My friend Sarah refers to my jobs as “the prom” which always makes me laugh. We hang out with the kids a few times a week when I’m not working but I barely see her or anyone else when I get busy. People tend to understand the mad rush before prom because someone has to blow up the balloons and make sure we have enough streamers. That gal is me.

The hard part of the last few weeks is bearable because once the show is over I am done. I no longer work for a company who would have me back in the office the next day doing post-production on this and pre-pro on 3 other jobs. I am free. This time I have 6 weeks off before my next job and I just hope no one calls me. I can’t wait to take Asher to soccer and have PJ days and chill with the babyfriends. I can’t wait to unpack from our Vancouver trip and put away the channukah wrapping paper and organize all of Asher’s toys and clothes. Catch you on the flip side, blog! I’ll be back before you know it.

8:23 Wide awake and screaming hysterically so I go in. He is fine. He wants to go into the LR. I explain that is not happening and hug him. He screams and carries on so I leave

8:25-8:35 Screaming but I was in the shower. Still screaming when I got out but for “Daddy” who is on a work trip (lucky) I go in soaking wet in a towel and tell him Daddy isn’t home, try to get him to lay down. Tell him I’m going to put jammies on and he freaks out

8:36-8:44 Standing in his room calming him down by telling him what we are doing this week while he complains that my wet hair is dripping on his pillow. He is under the covers and cozy when I walk out

8:51- 8:56 making crazy weird noises, possibly when you put your pointer finger over your lips and move it up and down while humming very loudly

9:02 Screaming “ooooooooooh Moooommmmmy, ooooooooooh Moooommmmmy”

9:11 Screaming “Mommy” and alternatively saying weird shit like “Shaky Shaky!” over and over

9:14 “Jackie? Jackie? Jaaaaaaaackie? Jackieeeeeeee? Jaaaaaackieeeeeeeeeee?”

9:16 “Shaky Shaky!”

9:16:30 “Jackie?!!” (crying)

9:17 Wiggles medley consisting of “Hot Potato” straight into “Fruit Salad”, Itsy Bitsy spider in its entirety, ” Jackie? Jackie!”

9:18 Silence

9:19 “Mommy?”

9:20 crying

9:21-9:23 Silence

9:24 Sad ass crying/moaning

9:26 Weird cry-whine where he goes from low notes to high notes up and down the scale.

9:26:30 Silence

9:27 Belted out cry-scream mad/upset thingy. Very Loud. kind of cry-whining going on until…

9:31 Crazy scream continuing into cry-whine where it sounds kind of like he’s talking but not with words. More screaming and more of that up and down scaling which I have grown to almost enjoy.

9:35 Silence

9:36 Crying scales

9:38 Full on screaming as loud as possible. I go in. 1 of his 4 precious blankets is on the floor and he is pointing to it furiously. I feel terrible and hand it to him. He throws it into the crib and continues to scream. He tells me he wants to go into the living room again. I feel less terrible and try to calm him for a while by telling him the following stories, all upon request:

-when he was a little boy and went on an airplane (how timely)

-when he was a little boy and he met Otto (I met his mom for coffee, it wasn’t super long or exciting)

-when he met Mommy (slightly tricky and also now he has babies in his tummy, fyi)

9:51 I walk out saying goodnight

9:51:02 He starts crying hysterically again

10:00 Still carrying on

10:05 Crying really hard and screaming my name so I go in to calm him down. He wants me to stay in there so I talk to him until his breathing is back to normal

10:11 I convince him that if I lay in my bed and he’s in his bed with the doors open its just like me standing in his room

10:12 Silence…

10:14 Silence…

10:17 Silence…

10:20 Silence…

10:30 Silence.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. NOBODYMOVE!

11:00 Woke up crying

To be Continued

We had our little latke party on Saturday but I only took 1 pic. Its Asher and Tim doing Channukah sticker crafts.

Not sure who had more fun (Timmy)

Besides the latkes and insane amounts of food, including Matthews first ever brisket Asher received a few gifts. Without meaning to there was a bit of a musical theme as Danny and Jen got him a real drum and then Ramona showed up with a kazoo.

oh the kazoo. Its currently missing. as in -

“Mommy, can’t find my kazoo. IS MISSING!”

I think it might appear sometime after the new year, maybe when I’m away for work.

Tonight being the first night of Channukah we lit the menorah and he was pretty excited and wanted to light ALL the candles.

He got to open the first of his 8 gifts, which in reality should have been the last because it was BY FAR the nicest of the things we got him but we’re heading out of town and its also the heaviest.

Its this year’s Hess Truck and man, if you are still looking for a gift for a 2.5 year old truck lover go get one. He played with it until bedtime.

I had my regular coop shift today and since I also had do a make up because of a schedule change I did 2 shifts in a row instead of having to go back another time. That’s 6 hours of office work in an office I don’t work in. It was rough. After spending my day there I came home and saw this:

There is an entire blog made up of Ryan Gosling/Food Coop inside jokes. Its so hilarious it makes me happy I get the jokes.

Yes, all those are real actual rules at the coop. You aren’t allowed to eat food you haven’t paid for yet or have someone hold your spot in line while you shop. If you miss your shift without calling you have to do 2 makeups, not 1. It gets a bad rep because of the RULES but as long as you can manage working every 4 weeks there’s really nothing to complain about because the coop has the best, freshest, cheapest food on the planet. Ever have a checkout worker that actually wants to be there? At the coop we do and it’s kind of fun even though it could be S-L-O-W because I have to explain the diff between a mango and a papaya to the person ringing me up. At least they have mangos and papayas and they also have free childcare while you work and shop and I have to drag Asher out of the room crying every time. My favorite thing about the coop, besides the fact that they let every single person use the page system (most of the people there are exactly like you think they would be and its the best!) is that if you are looking for something on a shelf and someone else is also looking for something they say:

“Do we have any red quinoa or only the whole grain”

“WE.” Because its OUR store. Its so cute.

In cooperation!

(with Ryan Gosling)

Asher’s been in preschool since Sept and although he is only there a whopping 6 hours a week it has really been amazing for him. Lucky for us, he was not one of those kids that hates school. I was a little nervous because for over 2 years he was home either with us or with Jackie but ever since day 1 he has run into the classroom and ignored us when we try to say goodbye. 5 or 6 other kids could be crying and he doesn’t even want to throw me a pity wave. It was shocking but frankly, I think he needs time away from me as much as I need time away from him.

His class is made up of 13 2 year olds, the cut off is Sept 1 so he is among the youngest but it doesn’t seem to matter. There are 3 teachers and they are all warm and fabulous. His head teacher sends out a monthy curriculum outlining what they will do every day. Its so handy because according to Asher what happens in preschool stays in preschool. Until very recently he wouldn’t really talk about it.

Unsurprisingly they pack a lot of adorable activities into 6 hours a week. On the agenda for last class was:

• Making snow covered spruce trees for our winter season mural
• How do we know it’s winter?
• Fun with flubber -  making animals that hibernate
• Yoga with Jennifer

I mean, its pretty freakin cute. Yoga every week? I wish I got to yoga every week. And I totally had to google flubber. Considering if he was home with me during that time we’d probably be doing “build a train track, do the caillou puzzle again” its great that he is there learning about weather and seasons and holidays and all kinds of other crap. They always have a few play stations set up in the morning and he walks right over to the art project every single time. A few weeks ago I was hanging up his coat and checking his cubby for notes and by the time I turned around he was on the floor getting his body traced

The next time we went to school the same thing happened. I walked over to check his cubby and when I turned around he had a smock on and his teacher Sophia was asking him what color his hair was.

“Yellow!”

(these other kids were washing babies because that week they were talking about bodies. get it?)

I’m talking 30 seconds to hang up his backpack and he already has a paintbrush in his hand. I was shunned on my way out and when I dropped him off last week I noticed these on the walls.

I’m sure it will be rolled up by his cubby for us to bring home tomorrow. Last month they had a show and tell and I was completely stumped on what he could bring. He got pretty excited about this little plane I brought him from a work trip so off they went.

This is what Asher said about his plane: “A white airplane – LOOK! It makes noise and its going to an airport. I show my friends. Look!! My friends!!”

They sent all the parents a list of what the kids said and if only I could be a fly on the wall. Julian’s mom sent me an email saying they were laughing about Asher’s show and tell days later.  “Look! my friends!” She actually said it again to me the other day.  I think it stuck.

Tomorrow is another show and tell day and luckily I had the brainstorm to send his guitar (aka the thing he wont leave the house without) so I can only assume there will be comedy gold. Considering he ends every song with “THANK YOU BROOKLYN WE LOVE YOU!” I am thinking of planting a video camera in between the pom poms and the popsicle sticks.

We had a little parent teacher conference which I mocked up until we went there to sit on the tiny chairs and talk to Lindsay. I thought they would be like “oh he plays nicely, he can follow directions when he feels like it” but it was waaay more than that. She went through 10 or so different milestones and gave personal anecdotes about Asher, like she was actually paying attention to him. Hmm. Ok awesome. His report was great, they love him. He’s doing well as far as speech, language, gross and fine motor skills, and all that stuff. he knows how to use a crayon properly and can walk up and down stairs holding a railing. Isn’t that nice? At home we have a big, big problem with transitions but she made a point to tell me how GREAT he is with transitions and especially with cleaning up. OF COURSE HE IS. (wtf?) He also tells other kids not to play with toys when its circle time. What a nerd.

We found out last week that we got our 1st choice in classes for next year. He will be going 5 full days -  really 5 days until 230 – but still. I am so excited for him, he is going to have a blast. I am also excited for me. I think 3 years being home with him has earned me the odd day off to live my dream…a few hours in my house ALONE. Preschool FTW!

Better luck next month Internet Book Club!

There are a lot more things I’d like to do. Here are some of them:
watch every oscar winning film
go to graceland
learn passable spanish
bake a birthday cake
take a european vacation with asher
learn basic flower arranging
get a photo of me near a sign for bari, italy
see matthew win an emmy in lighting design
go to ellis island
organize every single photo on my computer
attend the academy awards
knit a sweater
eat dinner at the french laundry
spend a weekend in austin
buy a piece of vintage furniture for every room
see mount rushmore
learn photoshop
go to a taping of SNL
own a house
be a class mom
take asher to the statue of liberty
visit all 50 states
get a professional makeup application lesson
see the pyramids
cook an entire cookbook
take my mom to england
join a book club
make a quilt
see the opening ceremonies of the olympics
and ice skating exhibitions
vacation in hawaii
meet george clooney
learn to sail
sing karaoke
go to a drive in movie
own a karmann ghia
go to the albuquerque balloon festival
visit a state fair
learn calligraphy
fly first class
visit alison and her family in israel
grow vegetables
go on a spa weekend
make yearly album books for asher
take a foodie road trip
swim in the dead sea
get professional family photos taken somewhere other than NY
have another baby
make a gallery wall in the dining room
pass the beginner stage in yoga
read 100 books in 5 years