Well, Hello

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I don't know what I've done the last couple of weeks but let me assure you, it's been vitally important. Right. For the interest of my blog readers, one of whom I happened to meet the other day (Everyone say "Hi Dave!"), I will try to jump-start my feeble, medicated mind and update you on my oh-so-exciting life:

• Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur happened. Rosh Hashanah was fun, except for the stress and the staying up late and the hyper kids and the cranky relatives and the heat. But there were beans (black-eyed peas if you're being persnickety) and tongue (how has Tannaz not blogged about this?) and the little cousins were so cute together. Yom Kippur was also nice. Julia attended her first Kol Nidre, in the rain no less. Both of these facts completely traumatized her but she conceded later that it wasn't as bad as she expected. Last year, when I was lucid, I wrote a Yom Kippur post that sums it up well. Go back and read if you care. I've learned that when you attend services once or twice a year, that you tend to get a little more out of them. It's either that or the rabbis at Valley Beth Shalom are truly phenomenal. Or, as my husband says, they have the direct line to God. Any of those are possible.
• Things are going well at school. Ethan is so "inciting" when he gets to go and Julia loves it. I could not be happier. Well, I could if preschool weren't so expensive, but then it wouldn't be so good. At least, that's what I tell myself.
• My mind seems to be percolating along in its new chemically enhanced state. Some minor adjustments may be necessary, but there has been a huge improvement. I might even graduate from therapy soon, which only means that either my therapist is not very perceptive or that I put on a pretty good well-adjusted act.
• Progress is afoot on the home front. We have floors!!! And new counters!!!! And the island is no longer in the back yard, though the toilet is. Baby steps, people. Today I went to the bowels of the San Fernando Valley yet again, this time to shop for tile. Tomorrow I get to do the same thing locally. I can't wait to be done! Plus, how much do I love saying "afoot?"
  
• We are in the middle of annoying Southern California fall weather, which I hate. We have cold mornings and hot afternoons, which means that at some point during each day, my kids will look like the person who dressed them is a complete moron. While this may be true, I don't appreciate the daily opportunity to advertise it. Pretty soon I'm going to have to knuckle down and drag Ethan to the mall to buy some sneakers. I will pay $20 to whomever would like to accomplish this for me. I'm tempted to start shopping online. Hmmm....
  
• My sweet friend Lissa is closing down The Untamed Scrapper. My heart breaks over this because I know how much of her time, energy, money and soul she has put into it, but I also know that it's the best thing for her family and that is what's important. I know she'll be up to something else in no time and I can't wait to see what it is.
  
• My baby sister turned 30 and we had a fun celebration with all her friends. This is turning into an annual event! Her friends are lovely and now I can make fun of her for being old like me. Totally a win-win.
  

Lucky 7

This is my second grader (!!!!) on the first day of school. She's wearing the shirt that she picked out herself, even though I liked the other choice better. She accessorized the outfit herself and I love that along with the big girl clothes is a Princess Jasmine necklace that tells me there's still a little girl wearing them. For the first time since she started elementary school, I am really excited about her teachers and so is she. I'm already seeing a big difference from last year, her class is filled with friends and I'm really optimistic that this will be a great year.


This is my soccer player at her first game. After our Parks and Rec experience last summer, I didn't think she'd want to play "real" soccer this year. Still, I encouraged her and it was her choice and she absolutely loves it. I couldn't be more surprised. As this is her first year playing - she's the only rookie on her team - everything is still new and fun. She works really hard (most of the time) and has a great time. The coaches are so positive and she loves her "highlighter green" uniform. Although her brother said today, "I wish there was no such thing as soccer practice," I think this will be a great experience for her.

The cutest part? She wanted to be #7 and she got it. Why? She says it's because she's 7 years old, of course. I say it's going to be a fantastic year.

The Before Pictures

I think I've hesitated to post these pictures before now because they were just too devastating to face. Even though we've been living in this construction zone daily, the photos just make it hit home and bring back the whole ordeal of the night our pipe burst. Now that the repair work has started and we can see some progress, I thought I'd post some "before" photos to put the "after" pictures I'll post later into context.

The first picture is our office, under a layer of water, before the carpet was ripped out. The second is the kitchen, after they cut out a foot of drywall to prevent water from seeping up into the walls and causing mold to grow. I think the ripped up drywall has been the worst part of this, visually. It has felt like our home had giant gashes in it. Interestingly, Julia mentioned that she thought this was the most disgusting part of the mess. I see what she means. Fortunately, it was also the first thing to be repaired and we all felt better once we saw our house healing. We also have our new floors almost completed. I can't tell you how good it feels to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel. Hopefully I'll have more pictures to come soon!