My Real Life

November 21, 2009

Real Weekend

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 10:45 pm
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It’s been a busy one, for sure.

First of all,   New Moon was great.  So much better than Twilight, and I really enjoyed it.  Still hate Bella, but loved that movie.  I’m ready to see it again, already.

What was not great was that we had to stand in line, outside the theater, approximately 3/4 of the way around the building (okay, maybe 1/2way, but it felt longer) in the rain waiting to get in.  We had our tickets, but had to wait until they let everyone in.  Then, once inside, there was no rhyme or reason and so we just ran from room to room, trying to find seats together.  In the end, Tara and I sat in one theater, in the top row, but at least together.  Matt and Ashley sat in a different theater, in the second row, not even together.  So, the theater management was not impressive.  However, I was able to forget that as the movie began (after the 10 previews). 

The parking lot was a mess, so we got home around 3:30.  Monkey Girl had heard thunder and so was in my spot in bed when I got home, and as I lifted her to take her back upstairs, the thunder boomed again, so the three of us it was.  That meant I didn’t actually fall asleep until 4:30, and that alarm went off at 5:45.

My own fault.  I’m 37, not 13.  Keep forgetting that.

I had a workshop all day at work, and then went to teach three piano lessons. 

I got a call from daycare during one of the lessons that Baby Monkey had a 101 fever and had to be picked up, so I called my Mom and she got him.  My Dad was already at the house, having met Monkey in the Middle off the school bus.  Got home around 5, then at 5:30, the other directors of the spring musical came over to do our casting list. 

We held auditions this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday night was casting night.  We had a great time and got the show cast.  This year we are doing “Back to the 80’s”, which is a total cheesefest and lovefest for the music of the 80’s and I CAN’T WAIT!  After we finished casting, the girls stayed for awhile and we chatted.  They left around 11:00. 

I came to bed and as soon as I lay down, the coughing and sneezing began upstairs.  By midnight, the second floor of my house sounded like a cholera ward or a nineteenth century orphanage in the heart of NYC.  I was surprised people didn’t show up with Hazmat suits.

So, I got up and medicated and rubbed backs and sang and eventually the monkeys fell back to sleep, but the coughing really did continue all night.

However, despite their lack of sleep, they were all up at the crack of dawn.  🙂

So, I got up and went and taught five more piano lessons, then came home for awhile, tossed in some laundry, and then had to head out to get my haircut.

I’m in the chair and having a nice conversation with the stylist (I usually don’t talk when getting my haircut…it’s one time I can just be silent, but this girl was pretty interesting) and we were talking about the fact that she dyed her hair blonde, but it ruined her hair and that I was lucky I didn’t have to dye my hair, just freshen it up with some highlights because my base is still pretty light.  Then, she steps back from my head and says,

“You know, you are really lucky!  You don’t have ANY gray hairs yet!”

WHAT?!?!??!?  Excuse me?!??!?  Gray hairs?

I wanted to say “What exactly would make you think I am of an age that I would need to be worrying about gray hairs?”

What I said was, “Yeah.”

Gray hairs.  Ugh.  Please.  I can’t even start down that road.

So…finished up with the haircut and came home.  The monkeys were watching The Smurfs, which we got through Netflix, so I sat down with them and enjoyed that immensely.

Then, we headed to my parents for dinner.  My Mom makes a mean spaghetti with meat sauce.  It was scrumptious! 

While there, I gave my Dad a haircut, as he’s preaching the Thanksgiving service at church tomorrow.

The monkeys played with my Dad’s 1950’s legos, which are actually called “Block City” and were my FAVORITE toy at my Grandma’s house when I was growing up.  There is something immensely satisfying about seeing your kids enjoy something that you enjoyed as a kid.

Around 7, my parents started getting a nervous look on their face as the coughing and hacking started to take on stellar proportions.  I think they probably wanted us to get the heck outta there so they could decontaminate the place, but were reluctant to say goodbye to the monkeys…cuz they’re awesome monkeys. 🙂

Around 8, we left and came home.

We live five minutes away.

Baby Monkey was completely knocked out by the time we pulled in the driveway.  I got him out of the car and into jammies before he woke up.

Then, we lined the monkeys up in the kitchen and gave them Benadryl and Robitussin.  They came and snuggled on our bed for 15 minutes and finished watching “Smurfette’s Dancing Shoes” (LOVE that episode) and then up they went.

Right now, it is quiet and peaceful in the invalid ward.  I haven’t heard a cough or sneeze or sniffle in 15 minutes.  I think it’s a record for the weekend.

And, I’m on my way out.

A friend from high school plays in a band and they don’t hit our area very often.  They are in town tonight, so I’m going to go for awhile.  Not late, considering I haven’t actually slept in days and I have to be at chuch by 8 am tomorrow to ring and sing.

I just keep looking forward to Wednesday at 12:45.  After that, it’s smooth sailing, maxing and relaxing, and chilin’ like a villain.

I also plan on arming myself with the camera, so be ready.

 

November 19, 2009

Thought You Might Like to See

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 10:45 pm
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So, as I strive to stay awake for the midnight show, I came across a link to my handbell choir performing last year.  So, if I mention choir on Tuesday nights in the blog, this is my first stop.  First handbells, then Chancel Choir, then my Chamber Singing group.  I have no video of the vocal groups, but here is a little something for you to watch, if you have the time.

You can find me in the last row with the little bells, second from the end with the blonde hair.

Enjoy!

http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2008/10/handbells.html

Yep…I’m a Teenager

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 9:14 pm
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I am trying desperately to stay awake tonight, because I have plans with 3 of my friends to go see New Moon tonight.

I loved the Twilight series of books, and loved the first movie.  I absolutely cannot wait to see this one tonight.

Now, many girls are what they call, “Team Edward.”  In fact, most Twilight fans are “Team Edward.”  This means that they want the main female protagonist, Bella, to end up with the vampire named Edward.

I, always looking to buck the norm, am totally “Team Jacob.”  Jacob is the werewolf friend of Bella’s.  New Moon is Jacob’s book.  Edward leaves Bella, granted for her own safety, and Jacob is there to pick up the pieces.  Oh, be still my heart!

So, I’ll let you know how it went, and now that my new laptop is all up and running and Monkey Girl is happily using my old laptop, I will be back to Monkey stories by the weekend.

Oh, and I want to throw out a hearty congratulations to my high school friend, Jen, who had a beautiful 6 pound baby boy, Rocco, today.  Big, BIG congratulations to Jen and her family!!!

November 18, 2009

First Webcam Pic!

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 10:32 am

Tee-hee!  How exciting!!!

November 17, 2009

New Laptop!

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 10:37 pm
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So, you may have noticed that this week’s posts haven’t really had many monkey pictures.  That’s because Real man found a laptop on slickdeals.com that was a FABULOUS deal, and I’ve been in need of a new laptop for quite some time.  My laptop works, but is, quite possibly, the slowest computer in the world.  You’ve seen the blog.  I can type a blog entry in five minutes or less.  The problem?  Copying it from Word and pasting it into WordPress and adding the pictures took about a half hour every morning.  In reality, it should just be another five minutes or less.  So, you can sense my frustration.

So, for the past few days, I have been cleaning up and cleaning out the old laptop.  I pulled all of my pictures off of the desktop and saved them to a flashdrive.  I deleted things that were no longer needed and just generally got it ready for its new owner: Monkey Girl.

As you can imagine, she is beside herself with excitement.  She has just started typing her weekly homework writing assignments, (Monday night she brainstorms, on Tuesday she writes the rough draft, on Wednesday revises and edits, and on Thursday writes the final copy…she loves typing it all, except the brainstorm, and turns off spell check so she can edit her own work…she’s becoming quite the little typist…can’t imagine where she gets that from) and while she liked to use Real Man’s desktop, the idea of having her own laptop to type on was extremely exciting.

Anyway, the new laptop came while I was at choir tonight!  I’m typing this entry on the new laptop, and will, hopefully, get back to our regularly scheduled programming soon. 

Oh!  And the exciting news!  It has a webcam.  Perhaps I’ll give you some video entries every now and then!!!  Oh the possibilities!

So, for now, bear with me while I adjust to the new technology and perhaps make a few more entries about non-monkey related issues.  Trust me…I’m saving up.  There is still lots of monkey business going on around here! 🙂

 

November 16, 2009

In the wee small hours…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:24 am
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I made a comment the other day, on Facebook, to a woman I work with who is much younger than I.  She mentioned that she woke up at 4:45 am each day and I said that she needed to sleep in because those of us who have kids that wake up at the crack of dawn need to sleep in vicariously through our friends that don’t.

She laughingly apologized and then said “Yeah, but we don’t have a kid to snuggle with at 6:30!”

She makes a point.

Around 4:30 am, every single morning, Monkey in the Middle wakes up.  He comes downstairs, very quietly so as not to wake the other monkeys.  He thinks I don’t hear him, but I hear him the minute his feet hit the floor in the bedroom above me.  I’m a master of the “Mom sleep.”  Dead to the world until one of my monkeys makes the slightest sound.

Monkey in the Middle stealthily climbs into our bed, and snuggles in between Real Man and I. 

It is my favorite time of day.

Monkey in the Middle is not necessarily built for snuggling.  He is all bones, elbows and sharp angles.  There isn’t an ounce of fat on that kid.  And yet, he’s the biggest snuggler I’ve ever seen.

I love when he snuggles in.  He nuzzles up against me and slowly falls back to sleep for another hour of dozing.  I love the feel of his little legs as they gently jerk as his mucles relax and his little head rubs against the pillow and up against my arm.

I don’t fall back to sleep again after he comes into our room.  At least not any meaningful type of sleep.  However, I can’t turn him away.  I realize that someday, probably soon, there will be no more snuggling.  And while I realize that is completely developmentally appropriate, I mourn that loss in advance.

So, for now, I’ll take my 4:30 snuggle sessions with Bony Magoo (another name for Monkey in the Middle).  Rachel was right…it’s way better than sleeping ’til 10.

November 15, 2009

National Diabetes Month

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 10:55 am
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So, November is National Diabetes Month.  It’s also the first November that I’ve dealt with diabetes.

I was diagnosed with diabetes last March, and since then, I’ve been walking the tightrope of trying to find a balance in my diet so that I can control this disease with diet and exercise, and not have to use insulin shots.

When I describe it as a tightrope walk, please know that I am not exaggerating.  Too little carbs and I become a blathering idiot with no energy or brain power.  Too many carbs and my blood sugar shoots through the roof.  Then there is the issue of good carbs versus bad carbs and how do you know which is which?

I’ve spent more hours researching this disease than I did researching for both of my masters degrees.  As is always the case in this information age, there is way too much information for me to even make sense of most days.  Also, the information is always contradictory.  One website says apples are an important source of fiber while another says they are too high in sugar for a diabetic.

What’s a girl to do?

I’ll tell you what I do.  I persevere.  I’ve got three small children with a lot of life left in them and I plan on being there for every single step along the way.  Those who know me well would agree that I’m a total control freak, and dealing with this disease is no exception.  I will not let it get control of my life.  Instead, I work hard to control it.

I think I’m doing a pretty good job, thus far.  It doesn’t affect my daily life in any major way.  I quietly check my blood sugar throughout the day and make adjustments accordingly.  I do my best to eat right and to help my family eat right as well so that my children do not follow the same path.  The truth is, I know it doesn’t matter how I help them…they may inherit it genetically, just as I have.  So, if I teach them young, they may be able to keep it in check, as I do, with diet and exercise.

This is the first holiday season that I am facing with diabetes.  This is going to prove to be a big challenge for me.  After the diagnosis, it wan’t candy and sugar that I was missing. 

It’s been the big carbs.  I love potatoes and pasta and bread and all things lethal to a diabetic diet.  So, here comes Thanksgiving with all of it’s carby goodness.  I’ll make good choices…I will.  Yet, it won’t be easy.

Going into the New Year, I know the biggest change I need to make is exercise.  It’s not a vanity thing.  I look just fine.  However, the more exercise I get, the better my pancreas can process all that it needs to process to keep the diabetes in check, and yet, that is the area where I need the most work.  I need to learn to carve out that time for myself without feeling guilty.  The truth is, exercise is more than “me time” in my case.  It’s important in terms of keeping me healthy and functional with my family.

So, even if you don’t struggle with diabetes, as we move through November, I encourage everyone to really look at their eating and exercise habits and see if there isn’t something that they could do better.  I think, as Americans, we can all stand to be a little healthier.

Next year, I plan to walk in the Diabetes Walk in the beginning of November.  I hope to do so in better shape and health than I am in today.

 

November 14, 2009

Flash Forward

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:42 am
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Today, I thought I’d share a new tv show that I’ve been watching lately.

Flash Forward

The premise is that on October 26, the entire world blacked out for 30 something seconds.  In the time that everyone was blacked out, they all had visions of what they would be doing at a certain time on a certain date in April, six months in the future.

A creative premise, to say the least.  However, it’s a show that is really making me think about a lot of things. 

Many people had happy visions of their futures.  Others had terrible visions of their futures.  Some had no vision, indicating that they were dead by April.

The people who had happy visions are convinced that the visions are true and that this is where they are headed.  The people who had bad visions are trying, desperately, to do things to change their future so whatever they saw does not come to pass.  As you can imagine, the people who saw nothing are walking around, hopeless.

So, it’s really the whole argument of “Do you decide your own future, or is it already set in stone, decided by fate?”

I’ve always wanted to go see a psychic.  I’ve just always thought it would be a neat experience.

However, I also truly believe that when a psychic tells people something about their future, whether consciously or unconsciously, they begin to act in a way to fulfill the prophecy. 

For example: Imagine a woman goes to a psychic who tells her that she will die in a horrible car accident.  One would think that she would stay away from cars in order to prevent that future.  Yet, what many people do is begin to engage in the behavior even more frequently.  She not only drives more often but begins to talk on her cell while driving or not wearing a seat belt 100% of the time.  Again, perhaps not a conscious choice, but there it is.

The show focuses on these FBI agents who are trying to figure out the cause of the blackout.  Most of them had some pretty bleak visions of the future.  They ranged from killing people, to being attacked, to having affairs.  One man on the team envisioned a phone call where he was told that a woman had died, and that it was his fault.

He carries around this guilt and tries to find this woman.  However, in the end, he jumps off a building in order to completely prevent this woman from dying because of him.  Before jumping, he gives his FBI friends a big speech about taking charge of the future…that it isn’t set in stone…that they can change the future by taking matters into their own hands.  Then, he jumps.  He becomes the Jesus figure in the story…dying to give others hope.

I just recommend the show because it’s a great show to make you think.  There are so many different angles, and it is so interesting to watch little things, outside of the control of the characters, add up to make their vision a greater possibility.  One woman has a vision of herself in a house with another man that she calls “Sweetie” or “Honey.”  She had never met the man at the time of the vision.  Well, she has met him now.  And although she never told her husband what she was wearing in her vision, in the last episode, he buys her the lingerie that she was wearing in the vision, as a gift.  She throws it away in order to make the vision impossible.  Will it come back?  Who knows?  But, it’s got me thinking.

So, if you have some extra time at 8:00 on a Thursday night, you might want to tune in to Flash Forward.  I really am enjoying this show and think that most of you might, as well.

November 13, 2009

Back to the Home Depot

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:54 am
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We had another trip to the Home Depot last night.

It was much less eventful, and yet, much more dramatic.

I don’t have much to say except that the monkeys kept the entire staff, as well as the customers, entertained.

Enjoy.

HD 003

HD 002

HD 001

November 12, 2009

Real Pressure

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:30 am
Tags: ,

So, as I said, we stayed with Real Man’s aunt and uncle in Maryland on our DC trip.

The kids love Beth and Warren.  I’ve already explained how Monkey Girl talked Beth’s ear off at the museum, and Monkey in the Middle keeps asking “When can we see Aunt Beth and Uncle Warren again?”

We’ve decided to call Warren “The Toddler Whisperer” due to the effect he had on Baby Monkey. 

Baby Monkey was just worn out by the end of each day, and that’s about the time that he got to be with Warren.  Poor Warren must have thought that he was the whiniest kid around.  However, Warren worked his magic and got Baby Monkey to do things that we just couldn’t.

Baby Monkey didn’t want to eat his dinner.  Warren somehow convinced him to eat his dinner.

Baby Monkey wanted to leave the table when he was done.  Warren convinced him to stay until everyone was done.

Baby Monkey was terrified of the dog and would let out these loud screams every time the dog (friendliest dog in the world) would come near, but Warren not only got him to come close to the dog but to not make a sound as the dog went past him.

Now, let me give you a visual.  Warren is easily 6’5”.  Baby Monkey is maybe 2’6”to 3’ tall.  It was hysterical to watch Baby Monkey traipsing after Warren through the house.  If Warren wasn’t in the room, the question was “Where’s Uncle Warren?”

The real star of our visit, however, was Gunnar.

DC 037DC 039

The sweetest dog in the world.  Seriously. 

Monkey Girl was smitten.  Monkey in the Middle was fascinated.  Baby Monkey was terrified, but intrigued.

So, now the pressure is on.  Monkey in the Middle told Real Man that he is asking Santa for a puppy for Christmas.  Monkey Girl has been coming up with possible dog names. 

Baby Monkey doesn’t want a dog. 

Unless it’s little.

Unless it comes with Uncle Warren.

So, we’re doing our best to talk about the responsibilities attached to owning a dog, and how much work they are, etc, etc, etc. 

However, my talk is halfhearted.  I want a dog, too.

So, we’ll see how that all play out.

Oh, there was one more star of the visit.

DC 038

The sombrero.

Aye-yay-yay.  El es un muchacho hermoso.  Amo a ese bebe mas que el sabra nunca.

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