Holidays Happened

Obviously I haven't updated in awhile. I just sort of didn't know what to write about after twenty kids, not much older than mine, and their teachers/administrators got gunned down in the Newtown, CT shooting. Was I going to talk about holiday gifting? Food? Lament on how to fill these days off for my own kid who is alive and well? I don't think so. Nothing seemed...seems?....appropriate. But I'm at work today while B took E to the American Museum of Natural History today. So I thought I'd just try to dive back in.

Hope everyone had nice holidays- whatever it is you may celebrate. For me, it actually came and went in a blur. I didn't even get to take advantage of the "holiday hours" in the mall(s). Normally, I just like the frenzy of it all. I just wasn't motivated this year. I didn't do the Black Friday thing like I usually do. I never "need" anything and sometimes I don't even buy anything. It sounds crazy, I know, but I just like being part of the energy. I opted to sleep instead. We didn't really have any gifts to buy, except for E, and we didn't even have that much to buy for him either. I feel like I was at work most of December.

I definitely was at work that fateful Friday of the shootings. I'm not going to say a lot about it- it's already all been said, meme'd on FB, argued, debated, and I'm tired. I'm just sad. Sad for those who lost their lives, for the parents and families, and just in general. I've never been a scared or neurotic person any day of my life. I don't fear dark parking lots, I don't worry about driving through "bad" neighborhoods...I've gone anywhere I've needed to go, alone if need be, anytime I needed to and never even thought twice about it. It's just been life. I've always been on the go-go-go. I don't have time to wait for an escort. When I was eight months pregnant, I got it in my head that I needed a mannequin. I wanted to sell my clothes and I felt they'd look better displayed on a mannequin. The only place it looked like I'd be able to get one was Newark. I just said to B- hey, by the way, I need to go to Newark to get a mannequin. It's not like he'd tell me that I couldn't go and if he did, I'd look at him like he lost his damn mind. If I need something, wherever it is, I'm going. The only thing I'd say I'm scared of are bugs. BUT, NOW, I also can't say that anytime I'm sitting in a movie theater I don't have a fleeting thought of, "Wow. People came to a movie, innocently, there to relax...only to lose or almost lose their lives...". Or just wondering what it would be like if I was in one of those life-threatening/altering situations. It would have never even occurred to me prior to the movie theater shooting. It's jarring. I hate that I even have that though. We can all point fingers, needing to find somewhere or someone to place the blame on. But the bottom line is that innocent people lost their lives suddenly, painfully and unfairly. I hope we, as a nation, are able to come up with some solutions, quickly, to stop all the madness.

I didn't do anything different by the way. I don't do anything different. I didn't run to get E from school that day. I wanted to see him of course, but I didn't run out like a lunatic. I didn't change his routine or buy him gifts just because I was thankful for him. For me, the best way to honor those who were savagely murdered was to just live. Live like we always do. On the go. Not let my world be rocked on the outside even if I was crying on the inside. I can't let situations like that change me. I'm not going live scared. I'm not going to let my kid live in fear or in a bubble. It's easy to succumb to sadness and fear but it's not my way. It never will be. Not after 9/11 and not after these crazy, random rampages. They will not win. The only way for me to feel some sense of control is to go on, business as usual and just make sure my kid feels happy and secure as usual. People have been discussing where to turn to get through this type of nightmare and for me- I just turn inward to my own strength reserve. Through my own life experieneces, I've learned I have a wealth of it to draw from.

I'm going to lighten the mood a little, talk about what we were up to and do some reviews. Work has been crazy the past few weeks. It SUCKED after Hurricane Sandy- SCARY sucked. I think though, with that storm, people weren't really ready for Thanksgiving or couldn't host it. We're usually slow right AFTER Thanksgiving, when everyone else picks up. But I think people decided Christmas was going to be their Thanksgiving this year and wanted their homes to look good. We had more chandelier orders than usual that people NEEDED for the holidays. It was crazy trying to get them done, but we did- EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. And they all looked fab if I do say so myself. There are some pics on our FB page. If you're not friended to us- by all means, click that like button. www.facebook.com/shadesofsoho We were really excited for them because we'd visited the homes prior, knew where they were going and couldn't wait to see them hung and lit.

We had a very low-key Jewish Christmas. We did nothing on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we went to the Edgewater Multiplex Theater to see Wreck It Ralph at 12:50p. It was the perfect time because people were still home doing whatever is their holiday tradition, so the place was pretty empty. It was crazy there by the time the movie ended. E liked the movie. I fell asleep in the first fifteen minutes, so I have no idea how the movie was up till about the middle. I didn't LOVE some of the name-calling in it but other than that- it was pretty innocuous. I always spend the whole time in those animated movies trying to figure out who the voices are. Dinner was at Kiku in Paramus not long after the movie ended. E ate pretty much nothing as predicted but hibachi was a compromise between B and I. I know it's in my DNA to want Chinese food on Christmas but I don't really LIKE Chinese food. I really need to be in the mood for it, not forced because that's what the rest of the Jews are doing that day. It was fine. I knew I also had a Pam special (A la Cupcakes) "chocolate chip cookie cupcake" waiting for me at home so dinner really didn't matter to me. My friend Margaret also dropped off a box of homemade holiday cookies so I knew those were there too. But that was it. Like I said- low-key.

Someone asked me about Miller's Ale House the other day and I realized I forgot to write about it. It's the new place next to 24 Hour Fitness- where the Tenplex used to me. We tried to get in there once, but it was already like an hour wait at around 6p. We bailed that time. But on Black Friday, I think everyone had already been to the malls in the morning and had too many Thanksgiving leftovers to bother going out to eat. We were able to get in right away. It's HUGE. I guess it would be considered THE Bergen County sports bar now. I'm not exactly sure what constitutes the title "sports bar" but this place has like 100 tv's, all over, all tuned into sports. I know they play sports on tv at the Allendale Bar & Grill, Glen Rock Inn, and I'm sure many smaller-type pubs in every town. Even TGIFriday's. THIS, though, is a sports bar. It's just gigantic with a menu to match. They have a HUGE menu. Now, I'll admit- I think I made a personal mistake with my food choice. I ordered lobster tails. But they were broiled, like it said on the menu and I didn't really like them. BUT that was my own fault. I think I just don't like broiled fish. I forget what E and B had but they both liked their meal. That's saying a lot when talking about E. It also was fairly inexpensive. The service was good and all in all I have no complaints. I'd go back if there wasn't a huge wait. I'd just pick something else to eat. It's definitely kid friendly. It looks like a young crowd and it's definitely a "hang out" for the college (over 21's) and early to late 20's crowd. I can't say I didn't feel a little old. http://www.millersalehouse.com/location/paramus-ale-house

My friend also mentioned taking the kids to Kid-netic in Montville during this break from school. I have actually been there. Just for a birthday party in the spring. I put the address in my GPS and was stymied to learn that it is only twenty-five minutes from Glen Rock. I didn't believe it at first. I went to pick up a train table from an old high school friend who lives there and I felt like it took me at least forty-five minutes to an hour to get to her. Maybe Montville is really big? At any rate, I meant to write about it after the birthday party and never got to it. It's a great kid place. I'm a little afraid to write about it because it seems like every time I do write about somewhere, they close. Hello, that means you Cutie Patooties. Kidnetic is clean and they serve food- like for lunch, to daily patrons. The food thing is a huge bonus. The only other places I've encountered that does that are Funtime Junction in Fairfield, NJ and Wee Play in Nanuet- which I don't even know if it's still open. They have one of those huge climbing jungle gym things like at Kids U but it seems more manageable for the littler ones for some reason. I didn't have to go in there for E at all. Then they just have open floor space with things to climb on and a zip line thing. It's good for getting out all that energy for sure. It just looks nice in there too. I've never been there for an open play but I'd definitely go if I had the time. It looks like they have some cool classes too. http://www.kidneticnj.com/

I don't know what I'm going to get to do the rest of this week. I'm not sure how many days and when I'll be at work vs home. But if I go anywhere cool, I'll let you know. Happy and healthy to you all!