I Have No Idea What It's Like To Do Only One Thing In A Weekend

Busy busy weekend, tired tired me. But let's do a quick recap for the record, shall we?

Friday night we went to Shabbat services at the synagogue, because 1) it was a special "welcome to religious education" blessing night for Kindergartners, and 2) it was Simchat Torah (which turned out to be a far more festive and fun holiday than we'd imagined--we're definitely going to do it again next year!). It was a little tough wrangling the crazy toddler during services--I spent a lot of the evening outdoors in the courtyard watching Isaac climb up and down the concrete steps--and Eli was feeling shy and tired and didn't want to dance and run around very much, but overall it was a relatively successful temple-going experience.

Yesterday (Saturday) started with a morning full of kid-wrangling while simultaneously house-cleaning (a combination that requires the ultimate in non-linear multi-tasking skillz, since you never really get to fully finish any one thing before you've followed the toddler into another room, and it can be minutes or hours until you pick up that particular task again--but somehow it all gets done eventually) and moved directly into an afternoon full of hostessing for the 7th annual "Swap 'n Shuffle". I don't think I've ever written about this event before on this blog--it's basically a women's clothing swap, where you invite tons of people and everyone cleans out their closet and brings over all those fabulous things that are just never going to fit or be worn, and then you all try on and take each others' stuff and whatever's left goes to charity. It's a very fun and supportive atmosphere--like shopping with a huge group of girlfriends, but with great backstories about certain items and the squishy good feeling of seeing your beloved skinny pants (or fat pants) going to someone else who will appreciate them. I got rid of a whole bunch of stuff (yay!) but didn't get too much back, I think partly because this time there weren't many people who were my size, and partly because I got distracted by hostessing and by baby-wrangling (Isaac inconsiderately woke up early, right in the middle of the event, and Josh was off at a playdate with Eli). But I did get some cute things and I know that other people really scored, so it was all good.

After all that swapping was over and the leftover clothes were all bagged up, Josh and I took the boys over to the Panda Room (kids' haircut place) for haircuts. It was Isaac's very first haircut, and he bore it stoically like the tough little dwarven prince he is (as opposed to his brother, who screamed and cried and threw an absolute hissy fit the first time he got his hair cut…and for a couple of years thereafter). He had a great time playing on the castle-with-slide and with the toys there while Eli was getting his hair cut, and then he was easily distracted by the basket of toys and soothed by the gentle manner of the hairdresser, so the whole thing went very smoothly. Whew! Eli was a total trooper too--his haircuts are sooooo much easier now than they used to be, and I am extremely glad for that.

After the haircuts were over we took our newly shorn boys out to the California Pizza Kitchen, which also went very smoothly. (It helps that they're a very kid friendly restaurant.) It was great to go out to dinner just the four of us, and the food was even decent (mmmm spinach artichoke dip). After that it was home, bedtime, and then cozying up on the couch with a good book for me. I've been reading a lot lately, which I always feel vaguely guilty about (I should be blogging! Writing! Processing pictures!) even though I try not to. I've needed the quiet downtime, I guess--and getting lost in someone else's words and stories is a great way for me to get it. (The only problem is that my eyes are not as strong as they used to be, so when I've read for an hour or two my vision starts to get really blurry. Eeek, I think I'm getting old(er)!)

Today I slept in a little and then Josh went off to a lecture and I had two playdates with the kids, one here at our house with two neighbor girls, and one at the park with a new friend of Eli's from Kindergarten. Both were much more entertaining for Eli than they were for me, but that's ok. Then we came back, met up with Josh, put Isaac down for a late nap, and just as I was getting myself some lunch, Josh's parents arrived for a visit. We spent the whole afternoon with them: we hung out around the house (Eli was very enamored of his Baba this visit and wanted him to color, do puzzles, play swords, and play board games with him), went for a quick visit to the local pumpkin patch, had a yummy elaborate Josh-cooked dinner and then put the kids to bed and visited a bit more before they left. And guess what? Now it's my bedtime. Miles to go tomorrow and a whole busy week ahead, of course. I really should be stricter about getting more sleep this week--this past week I didn't get more than 6.5 hours a night until the weekend came around, and it really started to take its toll. (I even had a cup of coffee on not one but two different days! Yikes! The long downhill slide back towards the daily caffeine habit has begun…)