Sara Strikes Again

Warning: Pure rant follows.

Is there no end to this woman's thoughtlessness? Apparently not. As predicted, we see about as much of said Inlaw From Hell as we did when we lived in Westerville. I think Osi's hopes were up that once we moved within 6 blocks of her, she would take more interest in a relationship- both with us and Jack. Riiiight. Self-involved people don't care if you move in next door, Sweety.

Osi decided to "pop over" to Sara's for a visit today - since we are rarely, if ever, invited. I like the element of surprise as much as the next gal - but only good surprises. He had heard rumor that she was making a favorite lunch of his (OK, and mine) this afternoon. Since we couldn't score an invite, we decided to crash. Bad idea.

Apparently in lieu of inviting us, she had invited a whole lot of Orthodox buddies over for quality time. We sat in the living room for 5 minutes while they ate before I had to leave or something really bad was going to happen. I left with Jack without a word. Osi make some excuse and he bolted too. It is rare that I am pissed into silence. But I don;t think I ahve felt this much of an outsider since about 7th grade.

Yes, we crashed the party, so THEY should be the ones pissed. Here's my take:

Osi wants so badly for the families to be close. They won't eat at our house, so we have to rely on invitations from them to get together. Osi, apparently, was sick of waiting. To know that we aren't geting the invitations, but that her religious buddies are, really hurts. It's like the minute we got engaged, Sara believes Osi is no longer a "good Jew" and so has as little to do with us as possible. The only thing worse than getting hurt yourself is watching someone you love get hurt.

I was really sick 2 weeks ago and, out of desperation, asked Sara to com stay with Jack for a few hours. BIG mistake (again). Now I feel indebted, she feels like the hero and I want to stick a fork in my eyeball rather than spend one minute more in her presence. Think I've made my feelings about her clear?

Big Day at Chez Zimmer

Well, my friends, it has been a very interesting 24 hours.

Let us start with the fact that J has gotten into the pattern of waking up in the middle of the night for anywhere between 2-3 hours straight. He screams bloody murder (if he could talk, that is what he'd be screaming, anyway) if you leave him alone. While I am completely fine with letting the little Banshee scream himself hoarse, Osi can't take it. So our nights have turned into 3 a.m. arguments about how to handle The Beast. Needless to say, no one is getting any sleep.

The Detroit Crazies rolled into town yesterday, too. We went over to take the girls' their (purchased out of guilt) birthday presents and give Shawna some clothes for the ever-expanding baby, Schmuel (yes, that is not a typo). In Target, shopping for said gifts, I found myself thinking "Well, I like the $15 worth, but definitely NOT $25 worth." Surely, I am going to hell. We are signed up for another "family dinner" on Tuesday. As Stimpy so eloquently stated: "Oh Joy."

Now, let's move to the fact that we found out today that the JCC pre-school finally has room for Jack. He starts August 27 - TEN DAYS. That is not enough time for me to get my head around it. I see Tuesdays will be my "Julie, can we go drink at lunch" days. Julie's daughter Chelsea is also at the JCC, but on Mondays and Tuesdays (J will go Tues and Thurs). Here's the thing: J is a pretty well-behaved kid. He doesn't hit, bite or scream (any more than the usual 2 year old on that last one). I am scared that my nice boy is going to hang with some mean kids and either pick up bad habits or get bullied. OY, Motherhood!

FINALLY, I am in charge of a 40 person dinner tonight at Temple Israel. No, you didn't miss the conversion announcement - I'm still not Jewish. But I have apparently been promoted to VP of marketing in Sisterhood with plans to be co-president in 2 years. Again, the Shiksa will be running the Temple Israel Sisterhood. I find this both highly amusing and more than a little terrifying. The dinner tonight is especially for non-Jewish partners and recent converts, so i guess it makes sense that I am in charge. It is in 3 hours and I still don't have remarks prepared.

Oh, also, my whole family is descending upon me tomorrow night for a football game (GO BROWNS!). Fun, but stressful.

OK - how is everyone else's week shaping up?


AAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh......

Tough Call

I got called back to the Builder's Exchange for a second interview. It was scheduled for 4:45 today.

You'll notce I said "was" scheduled. After reading the job description carefully, I realized about 50% of my time was going to spent on student outreach - an area I have less than zero interest in. I didn't want to waste their time or mine, so I cancelled the interview.

I've been having a hard time in the last week deciding whether my ambivalence about the job was because I really didn't like the job or rather I am terrified of going back to work and making this particular job the scapegoat. After studying the job description though, it is definitely the former. I don't like many other kids other than my own. A select few, but not many. So the thought of spending entire days with other people's kids does not thrill me.

So I am back on the hunt. I know I want an association gig, but those are slim pickins'. I do have a lunch scheduled with my former CEO on the 30th - those are alwys good for a) a laugh and b) thanking God that I no longer work for him :)

Party Planning for the Masses

Even after last year's labor intensive birthday invitations and 7-story cake, I find myself looking forward to planning Jack's second birthday. I believe - no, I KNOW - we are going with a musical theme. The way the child loves to dance, I want to throw him a party he will actually enjoy.

I've committed to making the invites once again. Crazy, I know, considering the excellent choices at Target and Hallmark. I am still suffering from a lingering case of "I am a stay at home mom and, so, I WILL be Martha Stewart" syndrome. Anyone who has been to my house knows I am not much of a housekeeper, so I have to make it up somewhere.

And now for something completely over the top: I believe Marc "The Marvelous Toy" Rossio will entertain the 8-10 kids at the party. It seems completely exorbitant, but Jack loves him and maybe he won't anymore next year. It seems completely ludicrous to me that I am even considering entertainment for a 2-year-old's party. Anyone else?

Anywho, I'll start making the invites in the next week or so. Expect yours soon!