It's been a long time

I was surprised to look at this blog and see that it's been over a year since I last blogged. A lot has changed in my life. I failed at my start-up, got a job as a project manager, left that job after a few months and starting working for a company called Convertonet, I'm an optimizer for casino.com and several other of our brand sites.
I'm also doing some work for my father new site, for those who don't know he is a home care eye doctor in the Detroit area.
I guess the biggest change is that I no longer work from home. After 6 years of always being at home, I am generally out of the house from 7am to 7pm, which is tough. All in all, life is good, I wish I could be home more often, but what can you do

Today was rough

Outside of the night that Nat left us this evening was probably the roughest, and I'm not sure why. I decided that when the boys came home from school we would play XBOX, I thought this would be a nice afternoon activity. On the way home from school, and before we actually started playing, I gave a great big speech about how I don't want any crying, not over which games we are playing, and not over when I decide that XBOX time is over.
Sadly, my speech/plea fell on deaf ears. Jonah was unhappy with the racing game that was chosen, mostly because Sammy got to choose. Last time we played Jonah chose Hockey, and Sammy wanted racing and we played Hockey. I told Jonah that we would play some racing and then he can choose a game, if he stops whining.
Generally, the way XBOX time works is I play a game and pretend that the kids are helping. Lately, however, when I play Madden, with Jonah, he is the running back and he is also able to play hockey. I pass him teh puck and tell him to shoot. He's scored a few TD'S and a few goals.
Racing is not really a game he can play. The first few races I was in control and both boys had an extra controller and all was fine. Then I decided that I would let Jonah control a car, and I would control a car, and this is where everything went to hell. After explaining how to use the controller and which buttons he needed, we started racing. Jonah realized that he was in control of his car, and he couldn't keep it on teh road. He had a huge melt down, I'm not positive what his issue was, but I think it was that we weren't on the same team. I explained that of course we aren't on teh same team, there are two cars on the road one is mine and one is his. But I'm not trying to win, I'm trying to help. Well, he was inconsolable for a while, then I got really mad that he was crying yanked the cords off the system, and told him to stop crying or it will be a long time before he sees the XBOX again. He cried more and told me that he couldn't stop crying.
In teh end he finally stopped, and actaully apologized to me without me asking, which may have been a first, gave me a picture that his friend colored for him and colored me one of his own.
Then I gave them dinner and after all was calm, I brought teh XBOX back out.
Bedtime was also a disaster, but that's enough bashing on my eldest.

I really needed some grown up time, so I set up a play date for myself with a friend and we played XBOX for a few hours this evening. I don't want t brag, but this guy is Canadian, and I won the NHL2K6 hockey tourney that played 2-1

But Mommy Lets Me

After getting Sammy dressed this morning he walked into the kitchen with a gleam in his eye. I asked him if he wanted breakfast, he said, no he wanted something else. He went straight for the snack cupboard, pointed to a bag of Bisli, and said "I want that." I told him that he can have breakfast and Bisli later. He threw a nd fit and kept saying "Mommy lets me, Mommy lets me" I told him that mommy wouldn't let him, but he didn't believe.
Finally we reached a compromise he had breakfast and I gave him a bag of bisli to take to day care with him

Day 1 - What a day

There are few things worse then receiving a phone call from a franti,c hysterical wife who is on the other side of the world. The feeling is very useless. Sadly, I got to experience that today. Nat called today to say she landed, but the flight was not great, Kayla wasn't as dreamy as her older brother on airplanes. But she managed, unfortunately she had to fly into a blizzard. Her connecting flight to STL was cancelled, and she was told that she wa sbeing rerouted to Dallas and from there she will fly to STL, I can't imagine how long of a day this is for her.

Before she left Israel she went to the cell phoen stores and asked them to unlock her cell phone, so she can use an American SIM card. They said it was no problem, she would recieve a text message with a code, and this will unlock the phone. In addition to that, as a backup she brought a prepaid cell phone, that a friend gave her, which still had some time left on it.

However, when she landed she discovered that the code she was sent didn't do anything, and despite being plugged in before leaving Israel the prepaid phone did not hold a charge. Luckily a stranger lent her a phone so she could call me and let me know what was going on.

Before she hung up with me, she heard that the flight to Dallas was delayed at least a half hour. I assume that she went to Dallas, or she would have found a way to call me, but I don't really know.

As far as my single dad-ness, today wasn't a bad day. Jonah woke me up in the morning, then I woke up Sammy and took them to school. Work was very lonely (I work from home) I had GI Joe on, so I would have some noise, but it was a bad movie. I picked teh kids up around 4, worked for a little longer, and then played NHL 2K6 on XBOX with Jonah and Sammy, a bribe from teh previous night. Then I made dinner, hot dogs and fries, which they sort of ate. We followed that with a game of Candlyland. I told Jonah that we would play orry afterwards, but some friends came over with Pizza, and it was really nice to talk with old people again. Jonah didn't think that was a good reason to not play Sorry, so at 7::00 instead of getting into bed, we started a game of Sorry. The plan is to finih it tomorrow.
Bedtime was normal, after I finished singing to Boys, Sammy called out "Mommy, it your turn" SOmeone should really tell him that she is gone for a while.
In sucky news, I came down with a cold this evening, I hope I don't get sick now, that would really annoy me.

Chronicles of a single father

For the next two and half weeks I will be running the house all alone, Nat took Kayla and skipped off to the good ol' US of A, leaving me at home with the two boys. It was a hectic evening, as Nat scrambled to finish packing she taught me how to use the washing machine.

Then she was off, and I was left with one very sad boy, who is crying that he misses mommy, and he wants to go with her. Sammy also claims that he wants to go with her, but he isn't as vocal; as Jonah is yet. Jonah is laying in bed wailing "Mommy, mommy" is all very sad. I hope things get better quickly.

mystical powers?

Sammy was refusing to go to sleep tonight, he stayed awake in his bed even later than usual. A few minutes before 10 I told him that mommy was going to sleep and I was going to shul, so he should lie down.
"Why are you going to shul daddy?" He asked
"To daven to Hashem that you go to sleep" was my awesome reply.
"You should daven for rain"

I walked outside and lo and behold the sky had opened up and rain was falling.

The three little pigs

We bought Jonah "The 3 little pigs" and it was a version I never heard before. The big bad wolf huffed and puffed and blew down the first two pigs homes, and ate them. There is even a picture of the second little pig in a roasting pan with an apple in his mouth. He obviously couldn't blow down the 3d little pigs house, due to the bricks, so he tries to get teh pig to come out apple picking with him, then to the fair. At the end of the book (Spoiler Alert) when Big Bad tries to come down the chiminey, the pig boiled water, the wolf fell into the pot, he quickly covered it and boiled Big Bad and ate him.
Have you ever heard that version before? After Nat read it to Jonah for the first time he said " That's not what really happened...right?"