Wrapping Up

This week has been looong. It began with our final installment of the stomach bug (nice to drag from one week to the next!) with poor M staying home on Monday. She called me no fewer than 8 times and  left me little notes all over the house. As sad as it is when your kids don't feel well, they sure get more docile and sweet. F was kind enough to have his illness abroad and A and I emerged as the only unscathed family members. Week 2 of July camp wraps up today. Little M is over a week old now and seems to be sleeping like a champ and learning to eat. I hear from my mother, who is over in PA, that all she does is sleep and eat (not sure what other skill she could show off at this point but my mother seems to think she could cry more or something) and that her parents are happy and relaxed. As much as tía C denies it, I feel an overwhelming sadness at this distance, never to be shortened, that now lies between us. When I had M we saw each other every day and had the luxury of seeing each other more than once a day if we wanted to. Tía C was and is such an integral part of her life, that I understood her jealousy when she said "now she has to take care of a baby and I will see her less." I will do my best to visit as I am sure they will but I will never be able to be a fraction of who she was to my children. With no other sibling remotely close to parenthood and no chances on F's side of the family, it just doesn't look like I am going to have the chance to be a super (present) tía.

Home Sweet Home

There is nothing like being back home. No matter where you have been or how much fun you could have had, it is amazing to be back home. I would not mind skipping the unpacking, however. Sheer physics suggests that I need to gather up many bags of items to give away if we are not fit in this apartment. AAAAHHH too many objects everywhere!

My Answers to A's Questions- You Can Answer Too!

1. If you could choose any president, past or present, that you could date, who would it be? (men can answer too)

Sadly I used to be an US History geek and can barely remember the presidents at this point. I like Barack yo, I think I might choose him.

2. What collective year has been the best of your life/why?

Cannot choose. The best moments were those with family for sure and the three days my kids were born were amazing moments but I do not know about "best."

3. If you had to dress in just one color for the rest of your life, which would it be?

Easy. Black.

4. Which is the best holiday?

Christmas because of Christ. Actually, it is because of VT.

5. What worries you most (on a daily basis)?

Doing a good job at school and at home.

6. What’s your dream job?

I think it would be impossible to have. I would have to use my mind a lot, contribute to society, make money, and have a great schedule. I do have some of the above so I cannot complain.

7. If you were an inanimate object, what would you be?

Not a napkin. Maybe a car, they see a lot of action.

8. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

Buenos Aires

9. What’s your favorite word? (any language)

bruja, pepino, bugiarda (liar in italiano), liublu (love in russian)

10. What single item would you need to have somewhere to call that place home?

nothing. my kids. and i need a digital watch at all times.

11. How long do you brush your teeth for, on average?

too short. 30-45 seconds?

Last Summer Monday

next Monday is labor day, and then it is back to school. ooh ooh. MoJo got back from their first camping with F yesterday- they loved it. Trip included s'mores, lake swimming and scary stories in the tent. You cannot beat camping! I had a nice night with tía T and her fiancé and my sista and her man at my mother's. I am off to meet a good friend's newborn baby. Hasta la pasta.

Papi Is Back!

Yay! He is on a plane and by this afternoon, he will be home. Yippee! Tomorrow I am off to the Aids Walk and he will have quality time with all 4 kids for half of the day:)

Hate Note

I walked by the hairdresser today and left him one. It said something like "I know you think you made me look better or more fashionable but I hate layers, will have to wait YEARS for them to grow out and feel ugly." I actually was not that mean. I did suggest that he never again give someone a hair style without her approval. I do not feel or look better but I could not resist. I am tempted to shave my head.

Sprouts From Brussels?

Do you love them? Do they give you gas? Have you ever had 22 bags of them delivered to your home on a Saturday night? The combination fat fingers and IPad screen led me to write 22 instead of 2 in the slot designated for quantity. When I realized my error (no wonder my grocery bill was so big.. I had $52 worth of Brussel sprouts) I immediately called Fresh Direct and admitted my stupidity and begged for them to not bring me or charge me for an elephant portion of sprouts. Well, they just delivered them. Like Lucy in her freezer episode, I had to ask the delivery man to take it back. Thankfully he did. I tried hard not to laugh so that he would not think I was mocking him while he checked with his supervisor, "uh, this woman is trying to give me back a lot of brussel sprouts."

Exhaustion

I am eating too much, sleeping too little, blogging too little and my foot is better but I cannot walk normally. This weekend has been draining family-wise and it is only half way done. I hope to have time to do some thoughtful posts soon. Until then, buona domenica. PS MoJo is behaving much better- this was a rough week!

Adiós 2011 Hello 2012

Happy new year to all! Stay tuned for more posts soon.

Pageant Day

While tableau style productions and the birth of Jesus ar not my thing, I do have a soft spot for my school's annual pageant, featuring over 300 children (two shows). M is a shepherd for her second and final year and J is a lamb for his second and final year. Traditions are wonderful and in 2.5 hours the 2011 portion of this school year will be over. Amen.
PS Not sure if I should be offended that my 3rd and 4th babies were not chosen to be baby Jesus. We have a younger, but much larger (think 30 lbs) Jesus instead.

Indian Wedding

Last night's event, complete with tía S and F trying to dress me at home (came out okay I think- former Pakistani Prime Minister Musharraf complimented my sari:)) followed by two Pakistani women re-wrapping me in the bathroom of the Crest Hollow Country Club...unforgettable. Have not danced with F since our wedding. Actually we did not even dance that much at our wedding. The dresses were all so beautiful, so many traditions and so much champagne. What do you get a woman with everything on her 36th birthday? An Indian/Pakistani wedding:)

Good bye 35!

11 minutes left to be this age.driving back from Indian wedding. It has been quite a year. 36 here I come. Ouch, now I am closer to forty than thirty.

Still Wiped

I cannot motivate to blog.. the topics will continue to accumulate until I can focus.

Wiped

I feel like a truck hit me after last weekend. Only 1.5 more days of school until Thanksgiving break. Will blog when I can think. Babies came home in rubber underpants, we are not out of the shit woods yet!

Crappy Halloween

I mean Happy Halloween! Who is the genius who allows this to fall on a Monday? I have been celebrating this I do not know what the hell I am celebrating for over a week now. At least we can appreciate the effects of sugar on our students and own children for the rest of the school week. Ugh. Well, I did have four cute pirates and two scored lots of candy (the other two just got milk). I can send pictures per your request. For now I am signing off and grateful that this is semi over until next year. Oh yeah, I need to celebrate día de los muertos for the next two days at school, so this is never over!

Blue Hill- The Feast of a Lifetime!

A meal at Blue Hill at Stone Barns involves a 2.5-3 hour feast for the palate as well as all of the other senses. All of the food is from their farm as well as other local farms, with an emphasis on sustainability and local (Hudson Valley) food. The most unique aspect of a meal at Blue Hill is that you can never have the same meal twice, nor did anyone in the restaurant on Friday night, eat exactly what we ate. You let your server know if there is any food you do not eat (I am a ovo-lacto pescatarian and F does not do organs) and sit back as the flurry of delicious arrives. The only decision you need to make (other than wine) is how many courses you would like to have. The choices are 5, 8, and (a new!) 12. We opted for 8 courses (6 savory and 2 sweet) like the other two times we were there. You will be neither hungry nor "full" (I hate this expression) but feel just complete- as your body enjoys being satiated with delectable yet simple and fresh food. While their wine selection is impressive, we left the choosing to the sommelier (we were super lucky to have received a bottle as a gift!) and opted out of the wine pairing, amazing but costly and drunk -inducing. Believe me, you want to be sober to fully bask in the delicious experience. Our feast included (I am surely forgetting details but you will get the gist):
**Crudités and a V9 juice- A delightful wooden tray with little spikes upon which there perched were several mini raw vegetables. They had nothing or just salt or lemon on them, but eating this mini produce feels like a great way to whet your appetite and begin to taste food for the first time. The mini smoothie was comprised of 9 ( I guess) veggies. Note that the very small portions as well as the ingenious simple vessels in which the food is presented is part of the charm.
**Mini Tomato Burger- This adorable treat was the size of a quarter and had some goat cheese on it, but its flavor was so rich and delicious that you kind of wanted a regular sized one but also felt like you had eaten a larger one because it was so flavorful.
**Trio of kale chips, red potato chips, and white bean tempura- these were on a tree like structure- just two of each but full of flavor and a touch of grease (yum and almost totally absent in any BH dish0
** Tempura Squash- simple and flavorful (F's had bacon in it too)
**Mini mini radish in a shot glass with a buttery (think pinky nail amount) sauce placed in a bowl of dirt (again, simple but genius presentation) for me and two mini slices of charcuterie for F (pistachio something?)
**Smoked tomato soup that was poured on the spot into a bowl with mushrooms, that acted as a sort of barrier so that not the whole bowl was full. There was some caviar in this which was not interesting to me.
**Seared wahu (fish) with a cauliflower cream. This did not appeal to me visually (looked like raw fish) but was so damn delicious- three small melt in your mouth rich pieces of fish.
**Bowl with mushrooms (mushrooms and tomatoes were clearly the theme) with a lettuce foam (weird but good) and an egg that looked hard boiled but was in batter and actually poached when you sliced into it. How do they think of these flavor combinations?
**Purple potato gnocchi- soft and saporous
**Scone (not sweet made of some grain I cannot remember) with a swiss chard marmalade and a bowl of warm, scrumptious ricotta (apparently this is when cows fatten up for the winter and make their yummiest milk)
**Lobster with ?? I cannot remember (me) and lamb and pork cheek F
**Bamango sorbet (this fruit has another name, it is tropical-like but local and spoils easily so not popular but creamy like a banana) with chocolate cookie (tiny but rich) and chocolate covered hazelnuts
**Pastry filled with a creamy honey on warm pears and some grape thing (this was the only part I did not love). The pastry was the most perfect one I ever tasted- crunchy bottom and fluffy top while crispy and creamy and puffy. Whoa!
**Plate of fruit with some chocolate something
Are you hungry? Do you get the picture?
The service is impeccable and almost eerie in its precision (we were very entertained in watching the synchronized choreography involved in serving of a table of six nearby) and the food is the most flavorful you could imagine. You actually cannot imagine it, you need to save up and go!

Oh Come On Already!

SICK of hearing about this hurricane. Hope it is over soon. Media coverage and hysteria absurd. Off to bed!

Happy (Belated) Father's Day!

Spent a lovely day with the father of my children, my stepfather (am picnic) and siblings. Trip to the zoo with friends. Dinner with siblings and Miami. So nice to hang out with VH and my Miami sista. Missed my own father on this day but spoke to him and emailed. Hope you fathers enjoyed the day as well. XO

Film Fiasco

Went out three out of the last four nights to Open Roads and saw not one, but three !! bad films. Paying a sitter and wasting money on the train and the movie tickets to take an uncomfortable nap in the Walter Reade Theater has been disappointing to say the least. MONEY BACK!

Fennelmania

So I started taking a natural supplement called fenugreek to promote lactation. To my horror, I now smell like fennel. I hate fennel, finocchio, hinojo or anything like it (licorice, anise etc). I cannot believe that it is exuding from my pores. I guess the good news is that I do not smell like almond croissants or some of the other items I ingest. It also seems to work as far as the milk thing is concerned. Fennel oh fennel. I do hate you.