The sick fairies spared John Bear and I the vomiting but left us with severe headaches and congestion.
Benjamin pukes like a champ by the way. It frightens me. It’s like the kid is built or designed for college parties. As soon as he feels a squirm in his stomach he runs to the bathroom, puts both hands on the toilet seat, braces himself and then…
Like a pro.
I can hear his future friends cheering him on now as he emerges from the bathroom and declares, “Give me another one!”
I can sit here and hope that’s just a vision, but I’m bracing myself for a time in Benjamin’s life when he’s working hard and playing hard, like his mother used to be. Used to be. Now I can’t have more than two beers without wanting to call it a night and head home.
One shot of tequila is all it takes to make me forget my limits. And then boom – I wake up with a hang over that lasts 48 hours. I’m a light-weight now, what can I say? Drinking and I just don’t get along anymore.
At some point this week, being stuck in the house with my little sick, puking goblin I tested out a new camera lens on my fridge. In this winter darkness of never ending snow and flu, my refrigerator is the brightest thing in the house. An impromptu scrap book, my fridge is where I stick memories I unearth while cleaning or dusting in odd places.
There’s the photo of my sister and I. Our faces warm from spending days by the pool at our apartment in Texas. We were in the back seat of a friend’s car when I took that, moments away from hitting a bar in Austin.
My Athens block is holding us up, near some notes Anna sent me just a few weeks ago. Love my sister. So much.
To the right there’s the picture of John Bear and I, the one I tore it out of a scratch copy of Ms. Single Mama Uncensored. I look like I’m going to maul him or something but I still like that picture. Taken on such a good weekend.
On the bottom right is a picture of my father’s family – my dad is one of the little guys in the front. My grandmother, a single mother to four boys during the 50’s and 60’s is on the top right. I never met her. Like my father, she died of cancer when she was 50. Damn the cancer.
And on the front is Mr. Germ Doctor, always packing a new illness to infect Mommy with.
He hides them so well. The germs. But they’re in there…
But on every Sunday there is a moment of divine intervention in our apartment when this cottage cheese pancake makes it to my lips. Crispy, fluffy, and perfectly light they have actually brought tears to my eyes before.
My parents made them for us when we were little and I’ve been making them for Benjamin for as long as he’s been old enough to eat them. I don’t even put syrup on them, just powdered sugar. And when they hit our plates they look like this…
I wanted to share the recipe because making these pancakes is a little secret to my happiness. When the world is constantly spinning around you, when you’re not sure what will happen next or how you’ll make it – the little things save you.
So here you have it, one of the things on Earth that always makes the rest of the world disappear.
[Don't let the cottage cheese part scare you, once cooked you can't even tell it's in there, so don't even bother telling the kids if they're older and hate the cottage cheese].
SIDE NOTES: if you think by posting a recipe I am avoiding telling you about some other things, you’d be absolutely right. I just don’t want to jinx them. Also, if you live in Ohio or nearby, check out my two upcoming events. You’re all invited.
Keep voting on your favorite necklace, I’ll be announcing the winner and unveiling the final necklace this Friday.
Because today was Benjamin’s first and his last third birthday and because I didn’t buy him a single present in Austin I spent my lunch break on a mission.
My mission was to buy everything I would need to transform his room from a nursery/toddler room…
[Click to continue, although, be warned - there are TONS of photos in this post and a video - although I think you won't believe what you see. I still can't believe I pulled it off]
Feel free to cheer me on. I need it. Because on the inside this is how I feel:
Also on my list of shit that’s really messing with me:
Benjamin is sick as hell. He’s had a fever for three days. Now I’m feeling sick.
I had to work from home today. Huge projects due. I’m frustrated. Wishing I could do it all and knowing I can’t.
I just opened iPhoto and realized that I lost over one month of photos including tons of pictures of Benjamin. At least my favorites are on Flickr, but still, this is not cool.
Slightly random but cheerful stuff to make you smile…
Here’s an article I wrote for Single Minded Women.com on being a single mom over the holidays. I wrote this weeks ago – hadn’t read it again until now. And, it actually just cheered me up. Odd. Me cheering myself up. Any hoo… I’m completely insane – just ignore that part – and hopefully you’ll find some great tips on how to get through the holidays while being solo and childfull.
And this, my lovelies, is an absolutely fantastic piece writen by Kristin on Work It Mom. She found a study actually proving that single moms spend just as much time, if not more time with their kids, than married moms. Reading this just gave me some kind of closure I didn’t even know I needed.
A picture of our Christmas tree, which I managed to actually get up early this year. Yes, now, is early. I caught Benjamin gazing into the lights the other night – mesmerized. A few hours later he was smacking it with a pillow though, so I’m not quite sure how he feels about our new friend.
On a completely unrelated note (did I already tell you I’m crazy), there’s a production company out in fancy schmancy Los Angeles looking for an instant family. If you know a childless man or woman who is marrying a single parent with kids (the more the merrier) who would like to be on national TV e-mail ally_weinberg@pietown.tv. You can live anywhere in the U.S.
And last but not least…
a Merry Christmas to you all from my adorable and very practical toddler (sorry I held the camera sideways and I can’t rotate it back around in iMovie without losing half of the picture).
Still priceless though and proof positive that two stockings are better than three!
UPDATE: He’s dressed like a girl (tights and a sparkle shirt) because he had just gotten home from his best friend Sydney’s house where he plays dress up. Can’t believe I left that out before. Um, yeah, crazy.
