I'm grateful for: coherent email from MMF; good news from D1 on the kids and how it went in court; feeling slightly less awful.

I did get a lot of rest today. There was a huge party on the moshav, none of us went to it except for S3 for a little while in the morning. It really is too bad, but what can we do?

There was a news headline Purim Celebrations Ruined by Rocket Attacks, but the rockets came down in this region, and it didn't ruin our celebrations. A couple of rockets launched never made it over the border, and two or three landed in empty areas I believe. I'm not sure what they were trying to do with that headline - I don't see any particular shock value in it, and it's not true. Not that that every stops the news media...

D3 continues to mend. S3 was walking around clutching and furniture and moaning that he can't do things, in an almost perfect imitation of how D3 was a day or two ago. He DID fall, so I don't know if it's just imitation or if he is really hurting that bad. I go with it as much as possible, he got extra attention, and some things fetched and carried for him that he ordinarily wouldn't. He definitely needs the attention, whether he is hurt or not. It can be impossible to tell with younger kids. They scream bloody murder over nothing, and carry on with broken bones in almost equal measure. I wish I knew what to do with him. It would be different if I could be active and do things with him. As it is, he has the choice of being by himself, but able to run and jump and yell and all those things 8yo boys need, or to be with me he has to be with me, usually in my room, and barely move at all due to how crowded it is and how little room there is.

I'm feeling a little bit worn out by D2, who is unquestionably the most demanding of my children. She never actually demands anything, she merely acts as if she is entitled to whatever it is, including my time and energy and attention, and we all sort of end up giving way to her. It's not good, but at this late date it's too late to really change that part of the family system. It's not that I can't tell her to clear out or insist I need to give attention to someone else at any given moment. I don't know how to explain it better than to say that somehow she takes up more room than any of the other children, or any of us really.

I can't help but think that all of this would be easier if TH was older than any of his children. Things are better, and I am glad, that's not the same as things being good. *sigh*

I made it outside to feed the birds for the first time this week. So yippee for that. It was very nice. The chickens are laying again. The rooster has figured out how to cope with the two smaller hens. It was very funny seeing him trying to get on top of them, and they would just slip out from under him, being much smaller than he'd ever dealt with before. We have a white hen who took off on her own. We think she is setting on an egg or eggs. She comes out once a day, eats frantically everything in sight, and then vanishes again. I hope she brings us another chick, the first one, Leslie, is now a beautiful chocolate brown hen. At least I think she's a hen. The rooster was climbing in her, which I am taking as definitive, as I've never heard of a rooster successfully managing to get on another rooster. ;-7

I also managed to hose off in the shower, but not to wash my hair. The hot water situation is somewhat dire. TH refuses to think it in any way urgent, because he is not really affected by it. The fact that we have to turn the hot water heater on and off at the circuit breaker is no headache for him, and he has absolutely NO thoughts or worries for the future, so that fact that there are no more bandaids or stop-gaps means nothing to him. Sometimes you do have to have some thought for the future.

And that is NOT intended as any sort of comment towards anyone else who is working on NOT spending so much time in the past and future. 'Kay?

We ended up watching Knocked Up for a Friday night movie. It wasn't great, but it is a very fun and funny movie after the first half hour. I had WANTED to watch Silverado, which I haven't seen in a very long time. D2 said she wouldn't even stay in the room if we watched it. D3 suggested The Prince and Me, which was fine with me, but no one else would take it up. D2 was also against watching an episode of The Twilight Zone - we just got the third season. And so on. So, Knocked Up was what we settled on. D2 hadn't seen it, and I don't think S1 had either, but he fell asleep in the salon anyway.

We've started reading Danny Dunn and the Swamp Monster to S3 for a bedtime story. S2 and I listened to Mike and Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse together, and we listened to a bunch of Tay Zonday 'cause I got kind of carried away.

I'm going to fall asleep. Hashem willing, soon, as it is now almost 2am. Earlier than I've been managing, thank goodness.

I'm listening to Bob Dylan: Forever Young

:: Yesterdays : Tomorrows ::

~~~Last Five Entries~~~
Hi and goodbye - 2010-10-15
I'll be moving on - 2010-10-10
Gold membership and stuff - 2010-10-10
Decisions, decisions - 2010-10-07
Days to go - 2010-10-06