It has been a really long time since I last posted.
Lots have things have happened and I basically forgot about this blog. For some reason, I have recently remembered it and was thinking about it...

One of the biggest things that happened was that I had a baby!
This was a surprise to me. Well, by the time I had the baby I wasnt surprised anymore, of course. But when I discovered the pregnancy I was-- very. I just didnt think it was going to happen. Well, it did. (let that be a lesson to all of you! )
My daughter, born last December is, of course, beautiful and adorable. And cute. She rounded out our family nicely, now three boys and three girls.

I have learned several things.
Number one: when you are in your upper thirties, they use the term AMA alot. This stands for ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE.
Yes!
ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE
That term was applied to me. repeatedly. At first I was a little insulted. But I consoled myself with the thought that if i was really that advanced an age, I wouldnt be at the obstetrician.
Today I heard a new term for this. It's called GERIATRIC OBSTETRICS. Coming soon to a frum neighborhood near you.
Funny!

Lesson number two: you cant fully appreciate a newborn until you have had a fifteen year old.
Think about it. When you have your first, second or third, etc... your kids are all young and adorable and cuddly. You take it for granted that your kids will always be that way.
NOT TRUE!
That is a stage that gets outgrown just like onesies and sippy cups.
When your child is fifteen, hormonal, and thinks he knows everything, is taller than you and weighs more than you, not to mention he has facial hair, you take your little newborn baby,
who doesnt argue and talk back and you can fit her into the crook of your elbow, you just squeeze her and say "AHHHH!"

Lesson number three: It is really really hard for me to cope without sleep.
Okay, I always knew that, but I had five kids in five different schools with five different schedules, not to mention two part time jobs and a house to run. That is a lot of logistics. I have had to relax my already low standards vis a vis housework temporarily until I had more energy. Yes, after the baby I did regain some of my energy but the baby turned out to be quite a difficult one. So the temporarily relaxed standards are still quite relaxed... and the baby just had her first birthday.

...and here's another thing I just dont get... my husband got in touch with an old friend who he hasnt spoken to in years. He now lives in Israel. When he called, the guy's daughter answered the phone so he shmoozed with her for a couple of minutes about her father when he was a kid. When the guy came on the phone, my husband said to him, "I told your daughter what you were like as a kid, what a great basketball player you were." the guy's reaction was all like "Oh I hope you didnt tell her I played basket ball. She is not allowed to know. " I guess in Israel that is considered like the big three cardinal sins. This reminds me of articles I have seen in Parenting magazines about when you talk to your kids about drugs, and they ask you if you did drugs as a kids, should you tell the truth or not. And Clinton's famous line, "I didnt inhale". Then Obama's line (yeridas hadoros) "I inhaled plenty". I guess this guy should tell his daughter "I didnt shoot (the basketball)" There are alot of problems with Israeli culture is all I am saying... Maybe some of them can be straightened out by everyone going out there and shooting some basketball.

Back in high school we had a literature teacher who, after every short story we read, made us do a little report on the story, including coming up with a theme for the story. Since we had not too much interest in this, we had a few lines down pat which applied to most stories, and would just use those.
The most popular one was "Man's Inhumanity to Man". It usually worked for most stories.

IN the past three weeks, I have heard so many horrible, tragic stories from the people around me, and it occured to me that this is yet another example of Man's Inhumanity to Man. It is really getting me down because so many of these problems were caused by people treating their fellow people in ways they would not want to be treated themselves.

-- A young teen passed away who had been battling drug addiction. Sadly, his drug problem was a result of him having been molested.
--A couple I know has gotten divorced, I dont know the exact cause, but the kids are going to suffer...
--A young divorced mother is having a very tough time financially because her ex husband hasnt given her a penny in child support. His family refuses to help her despite the fact that they have plenty of money. Everyone (Rabbanim) she turns to for help tells her they cant get involved or have no power to help.
--A newly wed couple got divorced within sheva brachos.
--The kalla's father had a heart attack and is in the hospital.

All these people suffering and their problems caused by other people being inconsiderate and heartless.

The other day I was in the car with my fourteen year old son, and I turned the radio to the classical station.
The was some woman opera singer hollering away, and my son says "HEY= Helfgott's wife!!!"

Happy Spring!!

I took a picture of the snow this morning to post here, but the flakes didnt really come out. And I just put the boots up in the attic when I cleaned the closets for Pesach!!

Went for a long walk in the park today and I saw seven deer. Nice, but not such a thrill to me cuz last week when it snowed, some deer must have been traipsing around my front yard and they left major deer droppings. I had to clean them up off my front patio. (like I dont already have a bunch of kids to clean up after! Now I have to sweep deer droppings!)

I was talking to someone about an issue which really concerns me, that I mentioned in an earlier post and that is general idea of the government really getting in our personal space. The example of the chip being installed in people's car so they can track mileage and then tax us on it is very insidious to me. It starts with being about taxes, but it is really about keeping track of where we go and what we do. They can probably also generate a ticket if a car speeds or goes thru a traffic light etc. This is very scary and why am I the only one who finds this horrific. The person I was talking to said she heard that they want to put a chip in EVERY PERSON (like under the skin) so they can track us! what are they going to do, tax us on every breath of air we take? CAN THIS POSSIBLY BE TRUE???? WHY IS THERE NO OUTCRY??? THis sounds like something out of a horrible science fiction book. Also a total infringement of our personal liberties. The founding fathers would roll over in their graves!!

MY daughter who just turned four, who is more than likely one of the cutest kids around came into the kitchen today for lunch. I asked her if she wants cottage cheese on her macaroni and she answers " NO, sorry- dude!" FUNNY!

Couple of thoughts: On the bailouts/stimulus package--- This reminds me of the time my kid made a mess by dropping a bottle of ketchup on the floor. The entire thing cracked and started oozing ketchup all over. SO my kid says Dont Worry- I will clean it up and grabs my clean towel and starts smearing the ketchup in circles, spreading it all over the place far beyond the original spill area. Finally I yelled at him to stop fixing the damage- he is causing more damage. Just get out of the way and let me handle it. So much like the govt, who caused alot of the damage with the original subprime mortgage business. Now they want to "Fix" the problem, thus spreading the damage to areas which were originally untouched by the crisis. NICE. Just STOP fixing it already!and get out of the way. Shalach Manos--- Someone I know was niftar and I am really depressed about it and I feel like it's appropriate to tone things down. Can I get away with a much simpler one this year? I really dont want to go all out. (not that I ever do)

Here's another money saving tip for the tough economic times:

Red Peppers: NPGS: 3.99 lb

Yellow peppers: NPGS: 3.99 lb

the farmers market on RTE 9, same plaza as Burlington coat factory is a great source for fruits and vegetables, they have nice stuff and the prices are amazing. Maybe not worth a special trip just for fruits and veggies, but if you are heading in that direction, definitely worth a stop.

Red peppers: .89 lb
Yellow Peppers: .99 lb

I ask you, how is this fair? Is this not fully taking advantage of the good people of Lakewood? difference of THREE DOLLARS a lb? YES, yes, I know that there is nobody holding a gun to my head forcing me to buy red peppers and yellow peppers, which can be construed as a luxury item. But still.

I just redd another shidduch.

I know I have sworn off of getting involved with another shidduch, (see earlier posts) mainly because I found it very hard to let people down - how nicely can you say "This guy doesnt like you?"

Anyway, on Shabbos I thought of this shidduch, which, again, sounds really good on paper so instead of dithering around, I got the resume right after Shabbos and called the guy's mother.

That conversation alone is enough to put me off again.

Let's face it, when I call to redd a shidduch, I am doing a nice thing. I thought of them, I got off my couch to follow up, etc.

SO why was this woman giving me attitude? I dont want to be overly sensitive, but instead of being all "Thank you for calling, tell me more" in a nice friendly tone of voice, she was all brusque, and like "OH, this name just came up. And then went on asking me questions with this accusatory tone of voice, like I was trying to kidnap her precious son for this undeserving girl.

Not that any of the questions were outrageous (none of the paper or plastic, stacker or scraper crap) but it was more her tone of voice that I found offensive.

Hey, maybe its just her personality, I dont know her that well. But I still felt more like instead of me doing something nice for her, and she appreciating it, it was like her questioning me, and I needed to defend myself.

And what's this OH, this name came up? Was she trying to tell me, dont think you are doing me any favors, I already know about this shidduch? Is this so she can later say, you're not the shadchan, I heard of it before, so dont expect any shadchanus? (not the first time this woman gave me that line)

Also, when I gave the name of the girls grandparents, she's like "Yeah, I know her grandmother." again me getting the feeling that she is telling me again, -you're not doing me any favors

We'll see what happens.

two reasons why I sometimes go awhile before a new post.

1- There's not much going on in my life, so n0thing to write about

2- There's alot going on in my life, so not alot of time to sit down and write.