Three weeks, 1 client, 17 more months left

That's right, I only have 17 more months until my lease is up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to be done with my rent. I'm simply looking at how long we, the Raiches that is, have to live on the street. I'm pretty confident now that the house will be the next thing to go. We are trying hard, though. We've cut our spending drastically. We've cut way down on things like food. Whereas we once each had our own plate of food at dinner, we now share. The biggest person gets to start the meal - that's me. I eat what I want, then Andrea, then Mia, and then Jonah, who by then is getting mostly crumbs. Dixie gets the lick up what's on the floor.

We've also cut in other ways. Thinks like gas for the car have become a comfort item and had to go. The way I figure it, I have two children and at least one of them can walk. So now, thanks to extra clothes and things in the garage, I have hooked up a harness to the front of the car that is a perfect size for Mia and she pulls us where we want to go. Don't worry, we live on a slight hill and park facing down so it's not that hard for her to get started. I mean that would be just cruel to have her pull going up. It is hard for her, though, to try to get up to highway speed, but she tries and we're proud of her for that.

We've also cut the heating out. Really this is just a comfort item. I figure we can burn most of the items we don't need thereby cutting down our footprint on the environment. Also, it forces, I mean allows, us to get close to each other. The other bonus about getting close to each other is that we can pick the nits out of each other's hair and thus cut down on water usage.

Really, in the end, this has been a real family builder. I just hope my kids see it that way when we get them back from child protection.

The Little Cherubs

I haven't done much blogging about the kids lately and thought it was time for a quick update. Jonah is changing so much every day it is difficult to keep up. He has been crawling for almost two months, he has four teeth, sleeps from about 7pm to around 4am most nights, eats every kind of solid food imaginable, and has really taken off with his communication. Every day there is something new! He now says mama and dada. He can wave goodbye. He points at everything and says "Dat!!" "Dat!!". It is amazing to see him communicate so well. At dinner time he will communicate very loudly about things that he likes and dislikes through his facial expressions and baby babble. He has such strong feelings about food! Show that kid an orange and you will see the biggest, happiest smile you could ever imagine. If he doesn't like something he doesn't get too angry though. He just picks it right up and throws it on the floor and then looks at us like "bring on the next dish, please". He does get frustrated when we don't understand him, though. He will kind of scream at us in his baby babble and when he finally gets that we don't understand he will screw up his face in frustration or lay his head down on the ground as if he is exhausted from trying. It is so sweet.

Mia is also doing well. She is really excelling with her French. She is also making amazing strides in her speech now that she is working with a private speech therapist. I don't know why we didn't go that route before. I can't believe how big she is getting! Just tonight she confided in me that she "loves" an older boy that rides her bus. I asked her what she loves about him and she was so matter of fact about it all. She said "I just love the way he looks and the way he acts." Apparently she confided her feelings to him. I guess he doesn't love her back but they are still friends. She seemed just fine with that outcome but is still going to keep loving him anyway. Can you believe this stuff? It just kills me. Mia's big passion right now is Hannah Montana and we spend a lot of time having pretend rock concerts. She is at such an in between age. She is interested in boys and pop music, but is still scared to go potty by herself and needs someone to brush her teeth for her. You never know what you are going to get from minute to minute with that one.

Here are a few new pics:

My happy little guy

King Jonah

Mia pretending to breastfeed her stuffed cat

First day of work

Well, I never did get back to the blog the other day to give my big news, and by now it really isn't news because everyone already knows--I got the job. Tomorrow I start my first day as Associate Director of Recruitment, Orientation, and Admissions. I am seriously excited--although a bit nervous. I just checked my calendar for next week and I already have 19 meetings scheduled. Yikes. Who has 19 meetings in one week? That is crazy, and so now I am like "What in the world did I get myself into?" But, too late to turn back now. I'm excited. It will be great.

In other news, Mia spent the entire weekend at her Grammy and Grampy's house. That was a big deal! She has spent the night before, but this was practically two full days. They took her to dance class and religous school, shopping and pizza. Needless to say, it was like a spa weekend for Jeff and I with only one kid to cart around. I forgot how relaxing one child can be--although Jonah seems to have learned how to throw a tantrum now. Fabulous. The best one was today at Bread and Chocolate when the way I cut up his croissant seemed to piss him off royally and he started screaming at the top of his lungs while throwing said croissant on the floor. Yeah. That was great. On top of it all, he seems to be getting another tooth which has made him as cranky as I have ever seen him. It should be a fun week. I guess those 19 meetings aren't looking so bad afterall!

One client and counting

I had my first client. Actually, I was supposed to have two, but the second one cancelled. So the one I had went well. I was very theraputic. I sat there and listened. I responded with my usual responses. I fell asleep. I don't think he noticed as I have learned to sleep with my eyes open. This comes in handy for times like this or other times as well. One of the times I have used it, and don't tell Andrea, is when she is talking to me about why I should be the one to clean up Dixie's pooh in the yard. At these times I find I can catch up on a little cat nap and just snooze away for about a minute or so, depending on how many reasons she has.

Here are a few pictures of the little ones.

Just our little Mia

I can see you

Hungry seal

Well, how about that

How does that make you feel?

This is my standard response. I have found that it works well. Think about it. 'Dammit, Jeff, you didn't wash the dishes again?' How does that make you feel? Or 'can't you just get up and take care of Jonah again, I'm so tired?' How does that make you feel?

I do have some other ones too. I can't imagine how hard that must be for you, or tell me more about that, or one of my favorites mmmmm, tell me more. Yes, I am a true therapist now. No more Mr. Mean. Now I am Mr. Empathic. I am caring, considerate, and kind. Cheryl, I'm sure you knew this all along.

I've been absent from writing for about a year, it seems. I'm sure my throngs of followers have missed me . . . similar to the rally that Ms. Palin got while speaking at the Tea Party convention yesterday. But I'm back, well at least for today.

A lot has been happening lately. As Andrea pointed out I've started my own therapy business. I have a space, some furniture, rent to pay, a front office staff, and no clients. Thankfully I won the lottery, so those costs should be not much of problem. I am advertising on multiple websites, I have my own web site, and have an ad campaign on google and facebook which costs money every time someone clicks on my ad. Still no clients. I am hopeful however. I am going to start a group too. It's going to be especially for Jews. We are trying to think of names. Andrea likes Jew on Jew. I think it sound like an odd porn movie. I can just see it now. The movie starts with a delivery man bringing over lox and a shmear and bagels. The door opens and the woman says 'oy, your late. Can we twalk about the price.' Perhaps a better name would be kibbitizing with jeff (kibbitz means to talk). Anyway, it's a work in progress.

So that's our life . . . I quit one job and went to half-time in my other, started a buisness with no clients so far, and my mother has offered for us to stay there when we loose our house to foreclosure. Did I say I was happy that we made these changes?

Very quick...

I seriously have a lot of exciting things to report, but it is 10 pm and I am exhausted. So for the moment I am only going to put a link to Jeff's new website. Please click on it! We need lots of people to click on it to help us get higher up in the Google ratings. And, if you happen to know anyone in need of some mental health counseling--please refer them!!

http://www.jeffreyraich.com