This is what Carlitos says whenever my husband returns from work, the store, the bathroom, you know, anywhere. What precedes this is him clapping his hands to his face (à la Home Alone) and saying, “Agghhh! I lost daddy!”
Well, today we reaaaallly ‘found’ daddy. He has been studying for the CFA for about 8 months and the last few weeks that studying literally took up every spare second that he was not at work or in class. (Did I mention he is also in grad school? My man knows how to pack it all on that plate!) Yesterday he finally had the exam…and we now have him back all to ourselves! (Minus his liaisons with aforementioned work and school, of course.) We were so proud of all of his hard work and dedication that the boys and I spent all day yesterday making him a feast of his favorite foods. Manchego and crackers to start, braised short ribs, cinnamon white sweet potatoes, bok choy, lemon squares, rhubarb pie and champagne. (Yes, I am patting myself on the back that I purchased and prepared all of that by myself with two little ones!) I completely forgot to take a picture of the table or the food ahead of time, but I do have one shot of the lemon squares…
Oh! So pretty! …But wait, why are there are only 13 when it is supposed to make at least 24? Well, I will tell you why. Or even better, I will show you why:
I’m not sure if you can tell, but there are complete fried eggs in the middle of those lemon squares. This ‘fool proof’ recipe that my best friend promised I could “do nothing to mess up”? I messed it up. I guess I didn’t mix everything well enough and had some big sections of unbeaten eggs. It’s right there on the fence in between Gross and Cool Science Experiment. In any event, it certainly works as an example of my mental state yesterday. Frazzled.
And that is why, along with celebrating my husband’s hard work yesterday, we were also celebrating having him back in our lives. It was no accident that I chose a Congratulations card that used the word ‘Hallelujah!’ I know I sound dramatic, but honestly, these past few weeks have been so hard. The truth is that I have absolutely no idea how single parents do it. No idea. At all. I mean, I was not even truly a single parent, as my husband did technically come home between about midnight and 6 am each day to sleep. And, it was only for a few weeks. And, I actually had a lot of help. We went to my parents’ one weekend and my best friend spent a lot of time with the three of us on our excursions to the zoo, aquarium, lunch, etc. See? If she had not accompanied us to the aquarium the other day I would not have been able to have this wonderful memento of me and my boys in front of the jellyfish tank.
Hmmm, I mean the photo of us in front of a bunch of grubby hand prints. Oh, and look at how nice and ‘sausage-like’ my legs look in those leggings! And what beautiful smile, Carlitos! Yes, this is frame-worthy. Okay, so this photo doesn’t highlight her photography skills, but honestly, she was enormously helpful on numerous occasions. In fact, I think Carlitos was starting to get confused about her role in our lives and think that he just might be part of a ‘two mom family.’ And still, I was so drained and exhausted and irritable. I wish there was something stronger I could do or say, but at the very least let me shout it from the rooftops that I truly admire all single parents for what they do each and every day.
So, thank goodness my husband is back. He has already started helping out again by attacking the recycling area that was about to become a living, breathing member of our family.
(Upon seeing this picture full size, I now realize that it may actually be the most personal picture I have posted to date. I mean, showing the world (or at least the few people reading this post) what products our family consumes feels really intimate. Maybe it is just the Cultural Anthropologist in me, but trash says a lot about a person…)
In any event, he has wrastled (yes, I meant to write ‘wrastled) that there recycling pile to the floor…and now you can see the floor. Amazing. He has also already done at least two loads of laundry. Thatta boy! These are his two household contributions because he loves to tie up the recycling cardboard (I’m not kidding) and because he is better at laundry than I am. He actually reads the tags first. Cahrazy. Oh, and most helpful of all, he started using his first ‘Beer Brewing Kit’ this morning…before breakfast…in an already messy kitchen from last night’s dinner. Okay, you caught me. I’m being sarcastic. That one is not really very helpful. But I know he is in heaven doing it, so I am leaving him alone about it. Because that whole time that I felt like a single mom? My poor guy was out there studying his arse off just so he could take an exam that might help him be an even better provider for our family. So, if he wants to make some beer, he can. We are just happy we found him again.
