Reaching beyond the box

I am so flattered. Christine has tagged me for a Thinking Blogger Award for this post. I'm enough of an exhibitionist and an attention-hound that I need to know people are reading my blog to really enjoy writing it, so I love any and all comments, but to be told that something I wrote actually made someone think in a new and different way is a compliment on another scale altogether. Thank you Christine, you've inspired me to reach higher in my writing.

It's now my turn to pass the award along to 5 other bloggers who've made me think and opened my eyes in a new way. It was hard to choose just 5, but these 5 posts really stood out for me, each in their own way:

Dorit for seeing the light that shines out of the darkness

Poppy Fields for the post Scooby Dooby Doo, Je t'aime on the unforeseen turns our lives take

SpaceMom for this post on teaching alcohol responsibility to teenagers, and on what our role should be as the shapers and teachers of these future adults

Planet Nomad, I mainly lurk on her blog, but she never fails to open my eyes. This post in particular made me stop and give thanks for so many of the little conveniences I take for granted.

.

Susan from West of Mars for her incredible ability to bring fiction to life. She paints a scene with such depth that you are hard-pressed to remember that it isn't real.

Happy reading everyone.

How participation works:

If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

Optional: Display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

WFMW Car Edition - The Entertainment Bag

My tip is an "activity bag". I always keep a zippered tote bag stocked with various books, travel games, small toys, stickers, magic markers, paper, etc. right in my trunk. That way if we're out somewhere and decide to go out to eat we've always got something to keep the kids occupied while we order our food, wait for it, linger over coffee (ok, we don't actually make it quite that long very often, but a girl can dream can't she?), etc. It's also available if we need it for medium-sized trips if the kids' music has lost its appeal or if we find ourselves in unexpected traffic (I'm not a martyr, for long trips we break out the dvd player). I rotate the contents of the bag periodically so that it includes both current favorites and things they've managed to forget about long enough for them to become interesting again.

Go visit Shannon for Rocks in My Dryer's special Works For Me Wednesday Car Edition for more tips.

1am emergency room run

It's one am and my husband just left to take himself to the emergency room. A few hours ago he and Itai were playing nerf soccer in the living room and surprisingly enough what they apparently managed to break was not my breakfront with all the fragile ceramics that I kept warning them about but my husband's toe.

They were both playing barefoot and I have no idea how, but somehow they managed to kick each other as they both went for the ball and Jay ended up doubled up in pain on the floor. He waited a few hours to see if it really was in fact broken, and now that it looks like it may well be he's gone off to get it x-rayed. He figured that might actually be quicker now than tomorrow morning, and if he can make it he's got plans with the kids for the day while I work.

Oh, and just for good measure Itai has a goose egg on his forehead from cracking his head on the floor five minutes before the big foot crash. I'm going to have to buy stock in arnica cream.

I'm not going to bother saying I told you so. I'm just the mother. What do I know anyway.

Update: He got lucky. It's not broken, just very swollen and very painful.

Part-time pitfalls

Working part-time from home is fantastic for me, and an option that I know I am extremely lucky to have, about 95% of the time.

Today however is part of the other 5%.

The entire country is off for the Passover holiday today, with many people off for the entire 8 days. Unfortunately, because I work part-time by the hour, if I don't work, I don't get paid. And because I have some major family vacations coming up in the next few months I can't afford to take this extra week off. So, while my husband and children are off gallivanting around the country having fun I am home working. Phooey. I'm going to put in two lonnnng days today and tomorrow though, so that I can then take the rest of the week off and enjoy the remainder of the holiday with my family.

Off now to go put my nose back firmly on the grindstone...

On the bright side of things, we only have one seder night here in Israel. No need to spend 4 hours escaping from captivity in Egypt only to waltz right back into slavery the following night!

Happy Passover

A very happy Passover to all who are celebrating!

The Laundry Fairy Came!

My dearest darling most wonderful and exalted husband did all the laundry yesterday (with a lot of help from Itai, who was bucking to earn some money LOL).

I stand humbled in his presence (and yes, he's reading over my shoulder and asking me whether I've let the internets know that he did in fact do all the laundry).