i'm home- puerto rico trip part 1

Well I made it back from puerto rico-- and I had an absolutely fabulous time- i planned on blogging before i left- but life was complicated at the last minute by the great jet blue fiasco- in which our flight was cancelled and we were told we couldn't get to my parents for 3+ days- problem was we had to get there within in 24 hrs of our planned flight to drop of the smart boys and make it to puerto rico. This all unfolded 4 hours before we left for the airport (mind you this is vacation week where we live- and everyone is trying to get out of town) at which time the trains were sold out, tickets to my parents one way were at the cheapest $711 per person- but we were bound and determined to get there- so we rented a car and drove to my parents (9 hrs with smart baby) and had to stop in scenic newark for the night and arrived at my parents in time to basically throw our children in the house, sleep for a matter of hours and get on our plane to PR. It was such a crazy feeling to get on a plane carrying only my own junk! To watch the in flight movie, read a book and drink my drink without it and other things being sloshed in my lap. We arrived in San Juan Monday and rented a car and drove to our friend's the H's house. We went for a stroll on the beach, had dinner, and just enjoyed visiting. Tuesday we drove to ferry and rode it in old San Juan- were i bought the cutest polka dot summer dress, visited galleries, ate lunch 2x- once at a puerto rican place (where i had pork, fried plantains, rice and beans, and mashed plantains) and once at a Turkish restaurant (where i had the greatest Turkish dish ever- iskindir kebab and elma cay) I used to live in Turkey and love love Turkish food and it is very hard to find and so i had to max out my turkish food experience. We went to El Moro, traversed all the streets, enjoyed the gardens at the white house, toured the governors mansion, and then returned to the Turkish restaurant for dinner where we enjoyed a great chat with the owner mustafa who gave me a website of a turkish grocer out of NY) and we feasted on adana kebab, chicken shish kebab, the best bulgar pilaf, coban slata, sigara borek, baklava. picked up some more cute things for me and took the ferry back and drove home. To be continued...

I have to get ready...to relax

So smart daddy-o and I leave this weekend for a 6 days in puerto rico without kids. I am feeling stressed out- why? When i should be so excited to actually get on a plane without a stroller, carseat, and schlepload of stuff. Because I am afraid of not being prepared enough to relax. See I am someone who always likes to be prepared- I have been told by friends that i could easily be chosen as "an ingenious person i would most like to be stranded on an island with (especially if if that meant I could bring all my worldly possessions)" because I always seem to have all the right stuff- you name the scenario I have got it covered (and that coupled with my McGuyver-ish skills- watch out). Thanks to this penchant for preparedness --I am a heavy packer- I cannot stand waking up and not having a choice of outfits, or snack options, or projects to occupy my time. (and no smart daddy-o i can't spend 30 min the night before haphazaradly tossing a few things and a pair of shoes in a bag.) So my packing process is complicated by days of imagining different scenarios and moods.
Currently I am mired in these dilemmas-Have I downloaded all the songs i want for my trip? (or is there one song i will just be wishing i had for beach basking?) Do I have some good books and magazines set aside? (or will i burn through what i have on one plane leg and be wishing i had some for my lounging hours?) Now that i will actually be able to enjoy those things. Have I planned the itinerary so as to maximize enjoying all puerto rico has to offer without putting myself on schedule and forcing myself out of bed when what i crave most in the world is relaxing and sleeping in? Do I have summer clothes that fit me, that i will feel cute and travelish in? Do I have shoes for all my various activities (i hate sneakers by the way)?
The irony of it all half the things i would most love to do without the interruptions of young ones would be a couple day painting marathon (i have been out of my groove but i am feeling a painting binge coming on) and a week of uninterrupted of total house sort and organization! but i guess i'll have to settle for island paradise!

time flies

How does it happen- how did I get so old? how did my kids get to be so grown up?

Here is a pic of smart son with his cake for the 100th day of school- yes kindergarten is half over- he seems so grown up- sometimes it is hard to remember he really is a little kindergartner (they seemed so much younger/smaller when I was a teacher a didn't have kids) and smart baby- well he has never looked his age but tell me does this child look 20 months- He has been hitting all sorts of milestones- He has learned how to walk on his tiptoes and loves watching his shadows. Being a mom is fun- but you have to be careful because if you blink you'll miss 1000 things.

what can i say

After all the hype and nominations- i don't blog for days-yes just when i was going to wow you with some fabulous writing- it happened-- Let's flashback to Friday- what i thought was going to be a quiet catch up day at home- that changed when my phone rang friday morning and I performed the superhuman feat of successfully occupying my 20 month old while engaging in a 2 hr phone conversation with a woman who was trying to develop the research plan of their dissertation and coherently debating the pros and cons of different instruments and study designs. After this i got smart baby fed and down for his nap and the phone rang - it was the school calling to tell me that smart son had just vomited and could i please pick him up- i really wanted to say "no- by the time i get there it is almost time to get on the bus-- can't you just send him with a plastic bag? It would really help me accomplish one thing today"- but i did the honorable mother thing- awoke my sleeping child after mere moments of slumber and hauled my unshowered, grubby mess of a self to the school to pick him up- we survived car vomited and by the evening he was fine. We awakened to smart baby vomiting Sat. morning and rounded out the evening with me becoming deathly ill- yes i could keep nothing down and literally sleep about 19 out of 24 hrs. Sunday night I was was beginning to hold down clear liquids- smart son vomited again- So Monday smart daddy-o returned to work- leaving me, subsisting on jell-o and ring o noodle soup, with 2 very unsick and overly cooped up rambunctious boys. Needless to say i am attempting to regain my strength while finishing a 15 educational profile, doing some educational consulting, baking a cake for the 100th day school celebration, getting ready for PR trip (renting a car is kind of important if i don't want to walk around the island) Anyway thanks for being patient- i wish i had something more inspirational to blog about today but i am afraid I have already used my "coherent thought" quota for the week and what remained beyond that was purged from my body along with the contents of my stomach- so pardon me while i regain my strength