My Real Life

October 8, 2009

Real Relief

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:27 am
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Three days in the hospital and the results are good.

EEG clear.  MRI clear.

This means we don’t know anymore than we did on Sunday, but we do know what it isn’t, and at this point, that’s major.

I’m not going to bore you with every detail of the stay, but I do have a few things to say.

First of all, the bravery of Baby Monkey leaves me speechless and moves me to tears.

Despite the fact that he is terrified of loud noises (remember this post?) he didn’t even flinch when they hooked him up to the 20 EEG wires with glue and a loud dryer.  He just lay there, like this…

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..and occasionally made silly faces like this…

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Once the wires were on and the head was wrapped in bandages and he was tethered to the wall for three days, his smile never left his face.  He stayed busy with the toys they brought him and the books and game we brought from home.

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QUICK PLUG FOR HOSPITAL FOOD

So, let’s be honest…any food that I don’t have to prepare tastes fabulous.

However, the food at this hospital was unbelievable.

Here’s Baby Monkey and his breakfast from Day 2.  Waffles covered in whipped cream with strawberries, bacon, vanilla yogurt, an orange, milk, blueberry muffin, orange juice, and corn flakes.

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And here’s my lunch from the same day.  Is this not one of the most beautiful fruit platters you’ve ever seen?

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Yeah, it was all fantabulous.

Back to our regularly scheduled brag about Baby Monkey.

On day 3 when they used a very smelly solvent and scissors to get it all off of his head, he smiled his way through it.

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Every doctor and nurse and hospital staff member that he came in contact with said that he was the most laid-back, best behaved patient they had ever treated.  They couldn’t believe that, at 3, he took it all in stride.  I was so freaking proud of that boy.  Particularly when they couldn’t find a vein for the IV and they just kept jabbing away until they got it and while he didn’t smile at that, he also didn’t make a fuss.  Just snuggled into Mommy and dealt.

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And, of course, in the end, he smiled all the way home.

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October 6, 2009

Day One

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:52 am
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So, day one is done and Baby Monkey did great.
We played games, read books, did puzzles, watched movies and had a mice day together.
He’s a trooper.
They wanted him to be sleep deprived as that often triggers seizures, so we were up until 2 am.
The only bad part was that his pulse oxygen monitor kept coming off of his finger while we slept, waking me up with loud beeping every half hour. So, I’m more than a little sleep deprived! The good news is that once he was out, he was out.
We’ll be here until Wednesday. It’s a nice hospital. I’ve only been in the one where I gave birth to all the monkeys. They sent us here because they said thee wouldn’t be as many sick kids and it is quieter. They were right
So, I’ll let you know how today and tomorrow go. They decided to do the MRI last, so I won’t know those results for awhile.
Thanks to you all for your well-wishes. They are much appreciated!!!

October 5, 2009

Girl’s Day Out

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:34 am
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So, Monkey Girl and I had a “Girl’s Day Out” on Sunday.  We hopped on the train and headed into NYC to the American Girl Store.

Here, she waits patiently for the train…

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…and here she is ON the train.

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We got off at Penn Station and started walking the 16 blocks to the store.  Turns out, there was a Polish pride parade along 5th avenue, so we were entertained on our walk by Polish dance music.  Loud Polish dance music.

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It was a BEAUTIFUL day in the city and we were pretty darn thirsty by the time we got to the store, but before crossing the street, we turned left and went to Rockefeller Plaza instead. 

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I showed her where the Today Show is filmed (even though she has no idea what the Today Show is) and we went inside the NBC Experience Store.  They had a little fridge and we bought a Snapple to share.  Of course, I also bought myself a “Property of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital” t-shirt since I am the world’s BIGGEST House fan.

Needless to say, Monkey Girl is an enormous fan of NYC.  She talked and talked the whole time, telling me that we need to go back to the city and we need to see this and this and this. 

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She definitely wants to go see the Empire State Building and head up to the top.  I can’t wait!

Anyway, we got to the store and she literally gasped and said “Mommy!  It’s a girl’s dream here!  I couldn’t have dreamed something better than this!”

We walked around and she looked at every single outfit on every single floor.

She looked at every book they had.

She looked at, and explained to me, every single doll in detail.

Then, she saw the “Just Like Me” dolls.

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She wants doll #39 which really does look just like her.  She knew better than to ask for it right then, however, we talked about the fact that Christmas and her Birthday are coming up.  Of course, she doesn’t realize that I’ve already finished my Christmas shopping for the kids.  Perhaps for her birthday…February isn’t that far away, although those puppies are expensive!  Anyone got a used one I could buy?

So, then we went upstairs to the café for our lunch reservation.

When you walk into the café, they ask how many dolls you have with you.  Then, they give you a little booster seat that attaches to the table for your doll to sit next to your girl.  It was freaking adorable.

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First course…Cinammon buns…

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Monkey Girl ate those.  Even though I’m willing to cheat with the occasional peanut butter chocolate ice cream cone, I knew for sure that my diabetes wouldn’t survive a frosted cinnamon bun.

Second course…cheese, carrots, grapes, celery, pretzel things…

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Good stuff.

Main course…we both ordered macaroni and cheese, applesauce, carrots, and a fruit kabob.

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Delicious!!!

Dessert was a heart-shaped cake, a star-shaped cookie, and a chocolate mousse.  Forgot to take a picture of that.  Too busy eating.

The most charming part of dinner was this little box.

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It was a little box full of questions that the girls and their parents could ask each other.  Well, Monkey Girl was ALL over that.  She asked me half the questions and I asked her the other half.  It was a lot of fun and a neat bonding experience.

After lunch we needed to hit the loo, and while I normally would not take pictures in a bathroom, I just thought this was the coolest thing ever.

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What is it?  It’s a doll holder that is attached to the wall of the bathroom stall.  It’s so you don’t have to put your doll on the floor or on the wet counter outside while you go about your business.

Here’s Monkey Girl’s doll, Mia, hanging out in the stall.

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Sorry…but I found this incredibly cute and incredibly creative.

So, we bought a ballerina outfit, a pair of pajamas, and a witch costume for Mia.  Monkey Girl was thrilled.

On our way back to Penn Station, we stopped at the NYC Public Library.

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I’ve seen the outside many times.  I’ve never been inside before.

I almost wept.

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My God.  It is the most magnificent building I’ve ever been in.  Ever. 

Okay, well, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is something else, as well.

But…but…this building is built for books.  It’s purpose is to house books.

Who can stand it?

Now I know why I’ve always wanted to live in the city.  That building calls me.

We had to leave, however, because we were going to miss our train.

So, I said goodbye to my new best friend and we headed toward Penn Station.

Oh, and the parade was still going on…3 hours later.

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On the way home, Monkey Girl dressed Mia in every outfit we had bought (which I will not subject you to.)

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It was probably one of my most perfect days, you know?

October 4, 2009

Real Loss

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:34 am
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I had a dream last night about a good friend of mine.

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When I got my first full-time, public school teaching job, I met a woman.  Her name was Anita.  She was a special education teacher and she reached those kids like no one else.  She was no-nonsense and tough, but those kids knew she loved them, and they worked for her.

Anita was like a second mother to me.  She was more than helpful as I worked my way through my first year of teaching.  She mentored me in so many different ways.  Much of the teacher that I became was because of Anita.  Much of the adult that I became was because of Anita.

Anita was all about others.  She cared deeply for her friends and loved her husband and two children more fiercely than you could imagine.  She would do anything for anyone.  The phrase, “She’d give you the shirt off her back” certainly applied to Anita.

Anita came to the hospital when Monkey Girl was born.  She was one of my first friends to hold my baby.  She actually gave us the baby name book from which we chose Monkey Girl’s name.  I still have that book with her inscription on the inside cover.

Anita’s biggest fear was that she would develop cancer someday.  And one day, she did.

She fought bravely for a very, very long time.

With her chemo pack on, she came to the hospital to see Monkey in the Middle when he was born.  She held him and reveled in our joy.  It was the last time I saw Anita.

She passed away two months later.  I have never seen calling hours or a funeral more packed.  The line went on forever and the grief was real.

I still miss Anita all the time.  I miss her smile, her laugh.  I miss her no-nonsense approach to life.  She was warm and wonderful and everything that we should all strive to be.

So, today, I’m thinking about Anita and thanking my lucky stars that I had her in my life, for as brief a time as I did.  My life was definitely better for having known her. 

If you have someone you are missing today, think about what their best qualities were.  Try to embody those qualities yourself today.  What better way to honor those we have loved and lost than to let them live on through you.

October 3, 2009

Once Upon a Time…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:08 am
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Isn’t that how every great story begins?

Well, I have a great story for you today. Once upon a time…

…there was a girl

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who met a boy

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He was athletic…

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He was smart…

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He asked her to the junior prom…

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They dated, they broke up, they remained friends. Eventually, they got back together again.

He proposed and they got engaged…

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She bought a dress…

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Her Dad rented a tux to give her away…

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…and on October 3, 1998…they got married…

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…and they lived happily ever after.

October 2, 2009

Big Love

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:55 am
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On July 1st, Ree Drummond wrote this post on her blog, The Pioneer Woman.

I just wanted to say, I get it.

beautifulgirl

October 1, 2009

Repurposing

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:43 am
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I’m a big believer in repurposing items in the home.  You know, things that you used to use in one capacity, but now use in another.  It fits with the whole reduce, reuse, recycle thought process.  My motto, at the Frugal Village, used to be “Use it up, Wear it Out, Make it Last, Do Without.”  So, you see that this is a big deal to me.

We’ve recently come into a lot of free books for Monkey Girl.  She has a desk with a bookcase attached that is basically full.

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Speaking of repurposing and reusing, Monkey Girl’s desk/bookcase is actually the desk/bookcase my parent bought for me when I was twelve.  I’m 37.  For that matter, she’s sleeping in the bed my parents bought me when I was 13 and her dresser is the dresser that my parents bought when I was 7.  So, we practice what we preach.

She also had a tiny bookcase that was in my father-in-laws house.  It was full of books, and had books stacked on top and in piles in front of the books that were lining the shelves.  There were books spilling on to the floor, sitting on her dresser, her nightstand, her bathroom sink…you get the picture.

In the foyer, we had a bookcase we bought for $20 at a garage sale when the people across the street moved a few years ago.  I had family pictures, my grandfather’s beer steins from Germany and a few candles on it.  It was basically a display piece.

I decided to make it functional. 

I moved all of the photos up to the living room and distributed them around to the mantle, the end tables, the bookcase.  The steins joined the other steins in the kitchen and on top of the piano.  The candles have been dispersed around the house as well.

And now?

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She still has a small pile of books that doesn’t fit, but this is a MUCH better solution.  She has her write-on, wipe-off board up top, as well as her “bed” she made for her American Girl doll.  She likes it being up higher so the Monkey boys can’t touch her “stuff.”

I think it’s important to take stock of what you had when you find a need.  So often you’ll find that you already have what you need.  You just need to be a little creative.

September 30, 2009

Real Sleepyhead

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:19 am
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I know I’ve touched on this before, but as I went through more pictures, I realized Monkey in the Middle’s penchant for falling asleep anytime, anywhere is quite pervasive.

Obviously, he can sleep alone.  Who can’t?

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He loves to sleep with (or on) Baby Monkey.

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He loves to nap on Real Man on a lazy Saturday afternoon. 

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(Note how I’ve gotten a picture of Real Man here.  It was approved. 🙂 )

However, I think my favorite picture of Monkey in the Middle asleep is the following picture, because it shows my sleepyhead, but also, his extremely tolerant sister.

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You gotta love a girl who will let that happen, and then will lay there for the next two hours until he wakes up.  That’s what I call a good sister.

September 29, 2009

20 Questions

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:00 am
Tags:

Some of the blogs that I regularly visit are playing twenty questions, and they are encouraging other bloggers to do so, as well.  As I was already in an answering questions frame of mind, I thought it would be fun.

Obviously, I read their blogs because they are smart and witty women.  Thus, their responses were smart and witty. 

Mine?  Well, they’re mine.  Smart and witty?  Eh.  True?  Absolutely.

1.  Show us the inside of something cute.

See, right off the bat I’m at a disadvantage.  I’m snuggling in bed with Baby Monkey and he’s the cutest thing I see at the moment.  Rather than cut him open or scope him, I think I’ll skip this one.

2. What’s the last homecooking you had?

I made spaghetti last night, complete with meat sauce that simmered all day long in the crockpot.  I cooked and cut up sausage and browned ground beef, threw in some spices.  Good Lord, it was delicious.

3. What do you miss?

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Haven’t bought a book here since last June.

I miss you, baby.  I miss you.

4. What makes you laugh often?

Duh!

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5. What’s your favorite word?

Antidisestablishmentariansim.

Not the word itself, but what it does to kids of a certain age.  No one is immune.  Once kids hit the right age, it becomes a right of passage to be able to pronounce this word.  They have absolutely no idea what it means, but they say it for the coolness factor.  I love that, for just one moment in time, pronouncing a word correctly makes you cool.

6. What are you trying to quit?

I’m trying so hard to walk by the Turkey Hill Peanut Butter Chocolate ice cream at ShopRite.  SO HARD.  However, so far, I have been unable to resist.

 20Q7

7. What’s your favorite commercial right now?

I laugh out loud, every time, at the Justin Timberlake/Peyton Manning ping-pong Sony commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE9-gnCViEM

 8. Whose style do you dig?

Jennifer Garner.  Without a doubt.  I’ve never seen someone so incredibly comfortable with herself.  She’s just as beautiful in jeans and a t-shirt as she is on the red carpet.  She just strikes me as a beautiful, happy woman who enjoys life.  So, the style I admire isn’t necessarily fashion, but her style of living.

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9. Link to a great blog you’ve discovered lately…

I’m enjoying SouleMama’s blog quite a bit.  Beautiful Mess is pretty funky as well.  I just discovered these two over the weekend.

10. What’s the last craft you made?

I’m assuming that I can include the scarf I’m knitting for Monkey Girl.  So, yeah…it’s this:

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11. A photo of the last happy mail you got :]

Do you get “happy mail?”  Because, I don’t get “happy mail.”  I get bills and junk mail.  I haven’t gotten “happy mail” since I was 8 and got invitations to birthday parties.  You wanna send me “happy mail?”  I’d love it!  I’d take a picture and post it here!  However, until then, I have to skip this one, also.

12. Something you’ve got lately?

I got rhythm, I got music, I got my man, who could ask for anything more?  (Surely I’m not the only one who knows this song, right?  We’ve all seen Girl Crazy (1943), right?)

13. What are you looking forward to?

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Next Sunday, I’m taking Monkey Girl to the American Girl store in NYC.  We are going to take the train in, walk around and check it out, then we have reservations for tea at 4 pm.  Can’t wait.

14. Post a recent snapshot of yourself.

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Just don’t ask…because really, I don’t know.

15. Recent Favorite Movie?

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16. Something you’re working on right now?

I’ve been working on getting representation for my book http://bozzawrites.wordpress.com  and I’ve been working on finding some freelance writing jobs.  It’s slow going in both arenas, but I’m working on it!

17. If a movie were made about you, who would play you?

Reese Witherspoon.  I’ve been stopped in stores and asked if anyone had ever told me that I looked like her.  Several times.  I think it depends on the day for me, and in which movie you are thinking of her.  So, Reese it is.

20Q17

18. What gives you goosebumps?

The new American Girl Doll.  She’s homeless and they are only making the outfit she comes with.  No accessories.  Nothing extra to buy.  Just the doll.  I think kids can learn a lot from it.

Gwen

However, let me be clear.  I would have a lot more goosebumps if they would donate the proceeds from Gwen to homeless charities or offer some free dolls to homeless children.  Kinda pisses me off that they aren’t going that route.

Still, I think it’s a good lesson for kids to learn.

19. Share a new obsession.

20Q19

20. What’s the meaning of your life?

Dream as if you’ll live forever; live as if you’ll die today.

September 28, 2009

Your Questions Answered

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:33 am
Tags: , ,

Diana writes:

“I am the most unorganized person. How do you keep it all together?  I get so lost in my everyday life and I have no kids.”

Diana, let’s be clear.  There are many days that I don’t keep it all together.  We have days where I’m racing out the door at the last minute.  There are days when I’m up way early because I just didn’t get to the laundry the day before.

Most days are good, but that’s because I’m an organization freak.  I have to be.  With three kids, if I’m not on top of things, no one is happy.  I think I mentioned before that I actually was always quite interested in being a professional organizer.  I find a certain kind of calm in organizing things.  (I’m actually very good at organizing other people’s things. 🙂 )

So, I do a lot of pre-work to keep our days running smoothly.  I’m like the man behind my own curtain.

I make the lunches the night before.  Toss in the laundry in the morning, switch it to the dryer when I get home, fold it when the kids go to sleep.  I do a lot of cooking on the weekend so I don’t have to do much during the week, or I do a lot of easy meals that are nutritious, but not time consuming.  The kids have chores and responsibilities that help keep things going, but not so many that they can’t enjoy being kids.

The most important reason I stay organized is so I can really be with the kids when I’m with the kids.  I want to be able to do the housework on my time so that I never have to say “Not now.  Mommy’s busy.”  That is really what’s most important to me.  They will only be little for awhile.  I want to create some lasting, loving memories now, while I can.

So, even someone without kids can get some pre-work done to set the stage for smoother days.  Planning ahead, knowing what needs to be done…that’s the key.

And…that’s the only question I got.  So, maybe we’ll try this again sometime.  Save up those questions. 🙂

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