Losing my salad virginity..

This week I became a lady who lunches….This is not strictly true but I did spend a grand total of 38 minutes on Wednesday, at lunchtime, eating salad with my lovely friend Baz who found herself, must unusually  child-free for a short while. I had always wondered what it would be like to eat at 27 Dressings, our local salad bar. I always make my own lunch, unless I’m at work and felt a tad guilty at the sheer indulgence of it all. Then I realised that there was a task to be accomplished- I had to decide from a vast array of ingredients, themselves divided into various different pricing options. I had to relay my selected items to the worker who was unable to understand my accent and fend off questions regarding my lineage to the other customers who wanted to know if I was related to the Windsors and whether or not I knew their family members who live in Manchester…Once I had selected my salad ingredients my ordeal was not over for I was made to choose between chopped and not chopped(I went for chopped and was delighted with my choice) and then had to opt for one of the eponymous 27 dressings(I chose pomegranate vinaigrette0 which did not disappoint. The resulting salad was delicious- a real treat marred only by the fact that it severely reduced my gossiping time with Baz who I only ever chat to for a couple of minutes directly before and after our spin class! Once I had eaten I decided that Daniel (still house-bound due to the ankle sprain) could do with a salad too and so recommenced the entire selection ordeal which was this time more difficult as I had to imagine what he wanted.  I think I did pretty well and lunch was enjoyed by all. And now I’m not so intimidated, I might well go there again sometime soon.

I paid two visits to the girls’ elementary school this week. The first was for the 4^th Grade Native American Day where I was delighted to see my once painfully shy daughter be selected as group spokesperson and feed back her group’s findings to the entire grade with not a hint of reddening cheeks. I was also lucky enough to celebrate Jemima’s birthday with her class. There were four November birthday girls in the class and they really enjoyed the ice-cream treats just before lunch! I love that we are allowed to go in and celebrate with them and was also relieved that she didn’t demand me to take her home with me afterwards!

Still on the topic of her ladyship’s never-ending birthday(and yes, call me a hypocrite!), I was tasked with making Jemima’s birthday cake. This was evidence of the linguistic barrier which has so many effects on our lives…We discussed the options a few weeks ago. I love making my children’s cakes and enjoy the challenge of a new design. I was upset last year when she had to have a shop-bought cake as it was in the middle of Hurricane Sandy and we were many hundreds of miles from home. She was a little stuck for ideas and eventually said she wanted a giant fairy cake. I couldn’t  decide whether to attempt a 3D model or just the outline of one but was in the craft shop and saw a cake tin for a large 3D cupcake. It was a tad pricey but I’ve lived in this place long enough to know that there is more often than not a voucher to be redeemed. I took it to the cashier who promptly gave me 50% off. I was pretty happy with the deal and despite feeling guilty at not making the shape from scratch(I have never used a shaped tine), was looking forward to getting creative with the decorations. So yesterday morning, I baked the cake in the mould and was surprised by Jemima’s confusion….Mummy, I wanted a FAIRY cake, not a CUPcake! Now to me, a fairy cake is what others would term a cupcake…oops!!! I was most upset with myself, and not wanting to disappoint my youngest child, I decided to improvise. By chopping away one small slice of the cup cake’s top, I was able to make a very passable fairy princess skirt. I took a Barbie from the toybox and made her some purple wings. I boldly stuck her into the cake’s middle, covered it all with purple icing, pink swirls and pink edible glitter and was satisfied with the result. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the cake makes it to the party tomorrow in one piece. It will be travelling on Daniel’s lap for the 25 minute drive to the museum….will let you know what happens!

In other news, the weather was so beautiful (if chilly) most of the week so I decided to take advantage of my newest method of transport and every non-spinning day  went for a bike ride. I particularly enjoyed my seaside ride with my friend Jordana and hope to do it again soon. I actually found my bike too easy to ride and ended up swapping with her so I could work harder using her 15 year old model instead of my brand new one! More hills needed next time- suggestions welcome. for new routes. Wednesday’s spin class was race day- we had been training for this for 6 weeks- each member of the class was given a number and the wonderful teacher provided an excellent commentary. I was a little miffed when she predictably announced that the winner was…..EVERYONE!!

The week ended with a really lovely(in my opinion!) Friday night dinner here with friends and a relaxing Saturday complete with child free evening out in Port Washington. I highly recommend the amazing Wild Honey restaurant – we will most definitely be returning.

Looking forward to Jemima’s party today and of course to Chanukah and Thanksgiving or Thanksgivingukkah as they are terming it over here. It amuses me to hear mainstream TV and radio channels suggesting that latkes would make an excellent accompaniment to Turkey!

Wishing you all a wonderful week of celebrations.

Until next time x

I Want to Ride my Bicycle……

My first week as a lady of leisure has, predictably not been too leisurely. I still have(and will always have) the mentality of a working mother. Even if i have nothing more to achieve with my day than caring for my children, making meals, doing laundry, going to the gym, food shopping, event organising I still feel the need to perform all of these tasks before about 10am and then just find more jobs which may as well be done too. I thought I might find a morsel of time in which to sit at my desk and pen this blog post; but once again it is but a hodge-podge of my stream of thought, recorded in the notes app of my iphone as I wait for appointments to be called, the kettle to boil etc. I feel a horrible lack of achievement. It is as if I have to be the best mum ever because i’m not being a teacher too. There are no excuses for my countless errors in this field and this frightens me no end. In short, I need a job; just not the one I just resigned from which was never the right fit. What I crave is my old(UK) job and i feel a great sense of loss and sadness when I think of it. I will continue to explore other possibilities here but am worried that I will never again have such job satisfaction and find this very debilitating.

 

So as I said,  despite the fact that I am no longer gainfully employed, I have been rushed off my feet and have had no time to achieve anything impressive. Clearly I have had to fulfill my nursing duties as Daniel’s ankle sprain is more serious than we would have hoped and he will be unable to walk for at least another few weeks:((. As my patient will attest( probably quite vociferously) nursing and sympathy are not my forte. 

 

So what have I actually achieved? It was only a four day week as Monday was Veterans’ Day and a friend and I took our daughters to the rather wonderful Long Island Children’s Museum where Jemima’s party will be taking place just one week from today. It was a fantastic day out and gave me some Hanukkah present ideas too. 

 

Tuesday was the day for the kids’ 6 monthly dental check-up. Jemima had to face her own decision making stress- this time the key question  was the choice of toothpaste flavour .In the end she selected chocolate Ice cream flavour. I fail to understand how this can improve the state of her teeth but I’ll have to have faulty in the ever-smiling, funny glasses-wearing Dr Mindy.

 

I made a trip to the mall on Wednesday. I am not exactly a shopaholic and the whole idea filled me with dread. It was of course a trip with the children in mind and I have now finished sorting out Chanukah and Zara’s birthday(including wrapping and labeling all the presents before taking my coat off on my arrival home) and making sure the family is geared up for the snow season. This week will be the fun trip back for returns…One of the lovely things about not working is being able to pick up the kids from school and being able to arrange spur of the moment play dates on the few days when we are not entirely overrun with football training, skating lessons, Girl Scouts, Hebrew School and tennis. We had a houseful on Wednesday and Friday after school and the kids had fun reaking havoc all over the house as well as making challah with me and generally decorating my kitchen with flour. That said, I was most impressed with Zara’s incredibly detailed challah turtle and Benj’s challah(male) bear and Jemima’s challah face…

 

And not working offers other advantages too. For example, my new found freedom enabled me to join Zara and the rest of the 4th Grade at their tulip planting activity at a nearby park on Friday. She is very green-fingered( unlike her parents) and loved getting down and dirty with the worms! Being something of a Luddite, she also rejected the shovel provided and insisted on digging with a stick she found and removed the purple washing up gloves in favour of her bare hands… She always likes to do things a little bit differently to everyone else… It was a lovely sunny morning by the sea and we can now look forward to seeing her tulips come into bloom in spring.

 

I was a little concerned that Jemima may end up digging up Zara’s tulip bulbs when she attended a Dinosaur bone party at the same park this morning but fortunately my fears were unnecessary and the tulips should remain unharmed!

 

This week I finally purchased my bike(having received vouchers towards it for my birthday)! This became yet another decision making process- which make? Which model? Which colour? Which accessories? Saddle size? The list, as ever goes on and on.. The miracle was that it only took me half an hour, including a  few test runs down the street and I took the bike home that very day and wasted no time in taking myself off for a beautiful ride in the unbelievably quiet roads of Saddle Rock, basking in the dazzling November sunshine and admiring the stunning sea views. Looking forward to many more such outings- both alone and accompanied.  

 

Ever since our arrival here in Great Neck I have been overwhelmed by the utter sincerity of the many offers of hospitality we have received. We have a multi-destination Thanksgiving to look forward to and just yesterday had the most wonderful Shabbat lunch at the home of someone I had met very briefly at the home of a mutual friend some time last year. I then met her again when she put her(very lovely) home on the market and we went to view it. Yes, we are tentatively house-hunting over here but the jury is very much still out on whether we take the plunge and buy a house here or not. Should we stay or should we go? This might be an interesting forum for your views on the matter although I may find the comments upsetting! Anyway, we got on so well when taking a tour of the house, that we ended up as friends and greatly enjoyed our afternoon there yesterday.

 

Last night I felt utterly exhausted, having spend the morning at Shul for Jemima’s special Hebrew School Shabbat service, the afternoon sitting around eating and chatting; shlepping Benj off to a party in the middle of nowhere(don’t you just love it when you have to deposit a child at someone’s house in the dark in a road where only two house numbers are visible and these are inexplicably #2 and #10 which are actually opposite each other and you need to find #9?!). To be honest, I wasn’t really in the mood for being sociable but one of the committees I’m on was organising a get together for 15 couples at a friend’s home. Once we had finally managed to get Daniel and his crutches up the inevitable doorsteps, I was spellbound by the beautiful havdalah service and guitar accompanied sing-along. We had a fabulous evening, enjoying a delicious Chinese take-away until I was called away to pick up my eldest child back at the numberless dark house at 1130..He then claimed not to be tired but was asleep within seconds. I’m not sure how I feel about Benj having a nocturnal social life- On the one hand I am always delighted if he is enjoying himself; on the other, I would rather not be the only driver in the family!

 

And so I bid you farewell for another week. 

 

Thinking of my lovely dad as he undergoes surgery tomorrow. it’s so hard not to be there for him and my mum, but equally impossible to leave the kids here without me, especially with Daniel only having the use of one leg. 

 

Until next time. x

 

 

 

 

—

G-d Save the…Tis of Thee!

 Another eventful week has passed in the Clayden household. Last weekend is all a blur- if anyone knows what I did, please let me know!

Not knowing clocks change is a good thing. In the past I have always planned for it and hoped I might avoid any ill effects and tried to minimise a negative outcome. This never works and I always end up having a bad night’s sleep. This year, I have no idea why, but I was oblivious that last weekend was one where we lost an hour- or did we gain? I think we gained but I don’t really understand. Either way, I woke up feeling perky on Sunday morning, glanced at the clock which has special magic powers allowing it to know when to change the hour( therefore proving itself more intelligent than I ) and was dismayed to see that once again I had failed to take advantage of it being a Sunday and had woken at 7.30. I then looked at my watch and it read 8.30. That sounded far more Sunday like and I went on to enjoy a productive day( although I have no idea what I did). 

 

Monday was a tad stressful due to the demands of work, Girl Scouts and having to prepare all of Benj’s dinners for his four day school trip given that they weren’t providing kosher food for the predominantly Jewish population of Great Neck North Middle. I have come to expect more from this area!! The Girl Scouts Veterans’ Day meeting was excellent and every time I attend such an event I learn something about this country and as I always say to my kids- it’s good to learn new things. Still on the topic of Veterans Day, we had an uplifting assembly at work when the ex-marine father of one of the students spoke to us about the Navy. This was followed by the second graders signing a mix of patriotic songs with such joy and pride in their faces it was truly uplifting. I have been confused this week, unable to understand why they keep playing G-d Save the Queen on the radio. I finally realised that they think of it here as My Country Tis of Thee..!

Tuesday was Parent’s/Parents’ Day at work (I put both options not because I am apostrophe ignorant but because I disagreed with the school’s choice of apostrophe placement!). This involved the parents of all the students accompanying them to all lessons for the morning and then enjoying a delicious buffet lunch which was my favourite part of the day! My lessons went well but I rather think I embarrassed one of the dads. I was teaching comparisons to my 7th Grade French group and when planning the session had decided it might be fun to involve the parents in my explanation. As my guests entered the room, my eyes could not fail to be drawn towards a very tall father. He was at least 6’5″ and I knew he would be up for the task in hand. I continued with the lesson and soon called him to the front and looked for a smaller parent with whom to compare him. Suddenly, all I could see before me was a sea of Japanese fathers. Not traditionally known for their great height, I chose the tallest of the bunch. He reluctantly obeyed my instruction to come to the front of the class and as he approached I realised that he was only just taller than me…All was fine when we said that Monsieur P was plus grand que Monsieur S, but I felt sorry for the latter when one of the students uttered the phrase; Monsieur S est plus petit que Monsieur P! His daughter quickly piped up with a supportive, it’s ok Daddy, you’re average height really! Both men seemed to survive the lesson unscathed but I was amused to see how one positively embraced his role at the front of the class whilst the other appeared to continue out of politeness whereas in reality he wanted it to be over as quickly as possible! It was as if one man was amusing because he chose to be and the other was yet more amusing in his utter failure to accept his fate.

I was having a really lovely productive Wednesday and was pleased to have thoroughly organised Jemima’s birthday presents and tea party to take place the following day. I had both girls in bed by eight and had enjoyed making a decorating fairy cakes with the two of them after school. Benj was still away, dinner was ready and waiting so I had plans for an easy, child free evening of TV watching with Daniel… But it was not to be. He managed to trip on an uneven piece of pavement( sidewalk) whilst running towards Penn Station to catch the train home…he thought he’d broken his ankle but managed to hobble on to a train and catch a cab home from the station. We consulted a doctor friend on the phone and decided to wait until morning to go to urgent care for an X-ray despite  his considerable pain. I was once again impressed by the speed and quality of the walk in clinic and thank gd it was a bad sprain and not a break as feared. It brought back horrible memories of his …. double break six years ago which left him unable to bend his knee for 6 months. I was not cut out for nursing as Dan will (unhappily) testify.

Jemima had been counting the sleeps until her birthday for about a month so was relieved that the day could finally arrive. The night before her birthday she asked me to remind her she was 6 when she woke up! Zara was clearly too excited to celebrate her sister’s birthday as she burst into our room at 5am asking if we could wake Jemima?! She managed to contain herself until a (marginally)more respectable 620 when we gathered on our bed for the traditional giving of presents and cards. Zara really understands the thrill of giving ( unlike Jemima who is all about the receiving!) and was so excited to give Jemima the colour it yourself bag she had been given herself the previous year but had never used. Jemima was over the moon but Zara was ecstatic! Jemima loved all of her presents and insisted on reading aloud the entire contents of most of the books she received until we had to stop her for fear of being late for school. She was full of giggles and smiles- just as a birthday girl should be. I made”English” pancakes and then allowed Jemima to scoot to school through the autumn leaves. As she went on her way, a car window wound down and someone called out “happy birthday Jemima!”. I waved and smiled but was clueless as to whose voice it was until the end of the day when Jemima’s teacher asked if we knew it was she who had waved that morning! After her dance class that afternoon, I bravely had 6 little girls over for a tea party. Zara was a children’s entertainer extraordinaire and we had a fantastic time. An exhausting day but worth the effort !

Friday was my last day at work. It still hadn’t sunk in that I am now unemployed as I haven’t had time to think about it yet… The day was overwhelming in many ways. My 7th grade class had organised an enormous and beautifully decorated ice cream cake which was delivered and consumed during my lesson. They had written me cards and bought me really lovely gifts including some technical gadget called a livescribe which I am yet to fathom. I was also the bemused but grateful recipient of cash gifts from various parents in the form of crisp new $100 bills which I most believed to be Disney dollars- so unlike they were to the money which normally resides in my wallet. The mother of one of my 7th Grade boys came to deliver her gift in person and said her son had spent the night crying over my departure 😦 she gave me a beautiful book of quotations entitled  If Only I Knew.and had bookmarked the page where the following was written:

If only I knew..

I would never hear your voice again, I would cherish your every word, every inflection of your voice with all my heart.

She also inscribed the book as follows:

My son said” I love her voice. How full of joy she is!” Clearly I cried and she cried too. It’s so lovely to be appreciated but I feel a bit of a fraud as I’d only been there for a couple of months. Further appreciation followed at lunchtime when the Deputy Head announced my departure and asked for a round of applause which became my first ever( and very likely last )standing ovation!

I sadly had to rush off at the end of the day as Benj’s school trip arrived back early. A friend kindly dropped him home for me and as I walked through the door he ran towards me and catapulted himself into my arms. This was a beautiful moment for me but less so for my dress as I was carrying a plate with the left over ice-cream cake which I had brought home for the kids to enjoy! He then regaled me about every moment of his wonderful trip for a whole hour before his joyful reunion with Minecraft!

Winter seems to be well on its way. I took the girls to the park yesterday afternoon whilst Benj played in his football match and despite the many layers I was wearing I couldn’t wait to get home for some warmth. Zara was predictably wearing a t shirt! The highlight of my day was snuggling on the sofa with the family post park and watching Strictly Come Dancing. Of course the other highlight was dinner out with lovely friends at the rather good Mint restaurant.

This week will be a not be a restful one. I have no idea when I would have found the time to work, given the myriad appointments, meetings, nursing duties and chores which require my time.

Enjoy your week and my apologies for another (unintentionally)long post.

X

Don’t Give Up The Day Job….oops, I just did…

Yet another week has gone by and it was far from uneventful. The big news is that I have resigned from work!!! This was a massive decision which in itself required many sleepless nights and countless chats with friends and my mother who were all entirely inconsistent with their advice; probably led by my persuasive arguments which took on a different viewpoint every five minutes. I have enjoyed much of the teaching and was lucky to meet some fabulous colleagues but ultimately it was becoming increasingly hard to juggle motherhood in a foreign country  with the demands of teaching in a private school where I was the only language teacher. I hated having to let my children down by not attending events in their school knowing that Grandma and Grandpa couldn’t take my place and I really hated the fact that I had to bring so much work home as I had to rush off after my last lesson each day to be back in time for the kids’ bus. Trying to get my schoolwork done in the evening whilst cooking dinner for everyone, preparing packed lunches for the following day, helping 3 kids with homework, ferrying them all to their myriad after-school activities, non-stop tidying(I can’t relax unless everything is in its place and this is a plate-juggling style act at the best of times!) and laundry etc just became unreasonable especially given the pittance I was receiving in return for my efforts.  My soon to be ex-students were very upset about my departure(which was good and bad for me) and one mother came to me crying and begging me to stay on! This is all great for my confidence but for once I know I have made the right decision. I have one week to go and I’m not entirely sure how I will fill my time thereafter but I’m sure I won’t be bored. I will return to helping the Daisy Scouts; will pull my weight more on the various committees  have joined; fit in a couple more spinning classes; cook more, buy my new bike and do some real cycling; volunteer for more PTA activities at the kids’ schools (and no, I do not wish to be President!!); be home for my kids; learn Hebrew etc as well as everything I was already doing. I will also have more time in which to write this blog, which at present is something of a rush. I imagine I will also start to do some private tutoring so please inbox me if you are interested. 

On that topic, the high-point of my week was helping at the Saddle Rock Elementary Book Fair. I was slightly panic-stricken when asked to operate the till(cash register) but coped (I think) admirably, thanks to the assistance of my lovely friends Jordana and Simone which was required when I had to void an unwanted item. I now have increased respect for the check out staff at the supermarket which is just as well-I now possess both of the necessary qualifications for a job at one of our local kosher food marts: I can speak Spanish and operate a till!

I am still relishing the luxury of having someone fill my car with petrol(gas) for me. And the service doesn’t end there: they also offer to check your oil, brake fluid, anti-freeze and whatever else is lurking beneath the bonnet(hood) of your car and to top these up if needed 🙂

Thanks to Zara’s exceptional work ethic and mammoth amounts of patience on my part, we are now the proud owners of one replica Iroquois water drum! Making it was rather stressful but my daughter is a trooper and I think it looks rather fabulous. I have also now gained a far deeper knowledge of Native American history and culture for which I am most grateful. 

Benjamin is off on his school trip to Ashoken(this relates to the previous paragraph as I just looked up where it was and discovered that Ashoken is Native American for Place of Fish!) which is in the Catskills and will be gone for four days next week. He is very excited and seems to have engineered the bunk situation perfectly. We spent this morning packing his bag and naming his possessions despite his protest that it was entirely unnecessary given that no one else at his school owns Arsenal clothes, pajamas, towels etc! I hope he has a wonderful time and makes the most of every minute. I also hope that the child he sits next to on the bus for the 2.5 hour trip has headphones- he has no off-switch as I know from experience…

And how could I fail to mention Halloween? We were excited for this year’s shenanigans especially given that our first American Halloween was somewhat muted as we were three days into our 2 week power outage due to Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy and couldn’t trick or treat after dark as the town was in total black out. The kids were also in bed by 7 as there was no heat or light in our house so it wasn’t exactly the best day of the year. (That said, I did enjoy having them all asleep by 7 and can now only dream of such a luxury!) Thank goodness this year’s celebrations were untainted by the weather and we had a fantastic time trick or treating in the main shopping street; where (almost)all of the shops and restaurants give out goodies to the kids in costume; and then in a nearby neighbourhood. We then went back to a friend’s house for pizza and candy swapping! They received a ridiculous amount of sweets and my children did exceptionally well on the swaps given their hatred of Hershey’s chocolate! They know they will never eat all they were given and have decided to donate most to kids in need. Zara actually had some left over from last Halloween! I loved seeing everyone in their costumes, even the dogs!!

We are having a fairly quiet weekend which is just as well as I have lessons to plan (for the last time !!!) but I was glad to enjoy a beautiful and unseasonably warm Saturday in the park with my lovely daughters whilst Dan and Benj were at the latter’s football match. 

That’s all for now folks- next time I write I shall be a lady of leisure…

Have a great week.

x