My Real Life

June 24, 2012

Facebook – Collective Memory

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am
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So, I was on Facebook the other night (the other morning, the other afternoon, the other 3 hours a day I spend there) and I came across a picture posted by someone I am not Facebook friends with, but that tagged my friend, Shane.

It was a Little League picture from our childhood, (1984 National All-Star Team) and I smiled, looking at all the faces and remembering all the boys, now men, on the team.

What struck me most, though, were the comments.

The guys on the team started commenting about how many games they had won, who they defeated, who defeated them, certain players on other teams, from other towns, remember who kids were on the team, etc.

Each man had a different piece of the puzzle, and from reading all of the comments, you got a true feeling for the whole season.

I know that there are pits and traps with Facebook.

Particularly for younger people who don’t think before they post.

However, I think that Facebook can also serve as a collective memory for us all.

If the man who had posted the picture had simply found the picture in a drawer and looked at it, he may have remembered some of the kids on the team, and some of the info, but by posting it, he now gets to remember all of it, and everyone else who was tagged also gets to remember it, as well.

That’s what I love about Facebook.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the silly and the mundane stuff, as well, but this…this remembering…this sharing of lives…this collective memory…that’s what gets me.

Right. Here.

June 23, 2012

Love Letters

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am
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People who don’t really know me think I’m a tough nut to crack.

I’m hard to get close to.

I’m a little cold.

A little unfriendly.

People who take time to really get to know me know that none of that is true.

I’m efficient, a task-master, goal-oriented, and I get the job done.

However, I’m also a big, huge smush-ball of emotion.

And…

I’m a sucker for love.

Which is why, years ago, when I found this book in the Columbia book club catalog (because, before we were married, I used to have a serious issue with book clubs, movie clubs, cd clubs, and I don’t want to talk about it right now) I had to order it immediately.

And when it came, I sat on my bed and soaked in every word and cried and cried and cried and cried.

Because, again…

I’m a sucker for love.

The book is called “Love Letters.”

(and again, I apologize for using Photo Booth for recent blog photos…I am honestly too tired this week to take a picture and later have to download it, so this will have to do)

Love Letters is a collection of actual love letters from famous people.

They are replicas of said letters, many times, in envelopes, folded up, sealed with wax, as they were found.

These are the true words of these people, written to the objects of their affection, desire, lust, love.

The cover of the book has a little envelope on it, and if you open it, there is a little card which reads “It is not only necessary to love, It is necessary to say so.”

And from there, I was hooked.

“You soothe my soul, you fill it with so tender a sentiment that it is sweet to live during the time that I see you.”  Julie de L’Espinasse to Comte Hippolyte de Guibert 1774

“All my soul follows you, love-encircles you-and I live in being yours.”  Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett 1846

“Sometimes I have a rush of feeling, that seems like the passage of a spirit through me, and ought to flow to you like a blessing.  This is the most beautiful feeling I ever experienced; it is indeed divine, and too much for mortal force: there is no music for it; it can never, I fear me, be expressed…Like sunset it cannot be remembered.  Margaret Fuller to James Nathan 1845

“…you can’t come into the room without my feeling all over me a ripple of flame, & if, wherever you touch me, a heart beats under your touch, & if, when you hold me, & I don’t speak, it’s because all the words in me seem to have become throbbing pulses…”  Edit Wharton to W. Morton Fullerton 1908

Call me soft, call me a girl, call me what you will, but I am now and always shall be a sucker for love.

June 21, 2012

Thursday Thoughts

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

1.  Me: Larry Hagman is really creepy looking these days.

Real Man:  Yeah…being dead will do that to you.

2.  We’re embroiled in a years-long debate, over here.

I believe that the first day of the week is Sunday.

Real Man believes that the first day of the week is Monday.

My thought is that calendars start on Sunday and I have always thought of Sunday as the start of my new week.  Saturday night was the end and you could leave the old week behind.

Real Man does things like quote the Bible, “and he rested on the 7th day” and calls it Sunday, and talks about Saturday AND Sunday being the week end .

Thoughts?

3.  I love my children.

You know I do.

But once…just once…I’d like to be able to hear a favorite song on the radio all the way through without having to turn it down twenty times because someone needs to tell me something.

Just. Once.

4.  I fell out of bed on Tuesday.

Our bed is kinda high and I was climbing in and reaching for something, and when I sat back, I misjudged just how “on” the bed I was.

Turns out, I wasn’t really on the bed at all.

I fell backwards and sideways, crashing and then scraping my back into and along the edge of my nightstand.

It hurt.

Monkey Girl and Baby Monkey came running saying “We heard a bad word and a thump and knew something bad had happened!”

Fantastic.

I thought for sure I’d be aching the next day.

However, I’m surprisingly resilient for 40.

Yeah, me!

5.  Graduation was Wednesday night.

It was awesome.

The kids did great and now they are gone and now I am sad and now I am missing them.

However, they are on to bigger and better things and I’m so excited for all that lies ahead of them!

The bad news is…

I think I have to retire my “graduation dress.”

I’ve worn this dress to every single graduation I have run since coming to the school, 8 years ago.

Except last year, because I was still carrying a lot of Tiny on my body, despite the fact he’d been OUT of my body for four months.

I’m back down to my fighting weight, but I think it’s safe to say that some parts of me will never be where they once were.

My graduation dress was actually purchased 13 years and four children ago, and I’ve got a different shape, these days.

Oh, I wore it, and I wore it well.

However, I couldn’t really make any large movements and stairs were a bit of an issue.

And, putting on my shoes?

Almost wore flip-flops.

So, I’m not giving it away or selling it, and if my hips finally realize I’m not birthin’ any more babies and decide to go back from whence they came, maybe I’ll bust it out again, but for now…into the back of the closet with you, my friend.

We had some good times.

6.  I’d like to ask you to help my Real Man out and go vote for him in the “Mr. Wonderful-est” contest at My Little Life, a blog that I read frequently.

Please click this link, then find the link to “My Real Life” (that’s this blog, folks) and click on the “like” button (it’s link #9).

He’s totally Mr. Wonderful and I’d love for the rest of the world to know it, too!

(And to win him a $100 Visa gift card)

I’d surely appreciate it!

June 20, 2012

Wednesday…With a Few Words

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

Sometimes, if you ask a man to try that picture one more time, after the thirtieth time of taking the photo, he may get fed up.

And make this face:

Or this one:

And when you switch position and say “This one will be perfect,” but it’s not, and you ask him to take “just one more,” he may make this face:

But, if the guy loves you, then he’ll make this face:

And all will be well.

June 19, 2012

Ft. Lauderdale, Baby!

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am
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This past weekend, Real Man and I left the monkeys with their grandparents (who did an amazing job, with the rest of the extended family, tag-teaming so we could go) and headed to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to witness my brother-from-another-mother, Mark, marry the love of his life, Rob.

Here’s Mark in 1998.

So yummy.

Here’s Mark today:

Yummy still.

Doesn’t age.

The wedding was beautiful.

It was held on a rooftop, so it was a bit windy:

But, truly, no one seemed to care.

It was so evident that we were in the presence of a deep, abiding love, the wind was forgotten.

Rob’s brother is a minister and performed the ceremony and had such beautiful words about them both and about marriage, on the whole, and how they embody what it should be.

And they do.

Then, the reception:

Who could have a bad time in a room that looked like this???

Not us!

There was a touching wedding video where they were both interviewed about how they met and about their relationship and the proposal and everything in between.  It was awesome.

There was a photo booth and the photos that were being taken inside were being displayed on the big screen outside.

Hours of entertainment.

There were props and rockin’ music and just really great people and really great times.

There were also presents.

Oh, you think I mean presents for the grooms.

No.

I meant presents for me.

Because, apparently, my brother-from-another-mother decided that the middle of his wedding reception would be a perfect time to give ME gifts.

He walked over with an armful of wrapped boxes and said, “These are for you!  Let’s go open them.”

What was inside?

Seasons 8-9 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Comics and Angel and Faith Comics.

Be still my heart (but not really still, cuz then I’d actually BE a vampire).

I want to lock myself in my room and not come out until I’m done with them.

But, I won’t.

Because I’m responsible and all that.

AND…

An “Eat, Sleep, Write” mug.

Because he reads my blog every day and found a mug that meets my criteria.

And, because he loves me. 🙂

Such good stuff.

So, it was a beautiful, fun night celebrating Mark and Rob.

The next day, Mark and Rob were off on a cruise with Mark’s parents and his sister and her family, so Real Man and I slept in, went for a long walk, took a long nap, went to the beach, and went out to dinner.

Our dinner companion?

Can’t figure it out?

Let me zoom in.

It was Barack Obama.

Okay, technically, it wasn’t Obama, but let me tell you, this guy was a dead ringer for Obama!

And, he didn’t seem to appreciate my taking pictures of him, despite the fact that I tried to disguise it by pretending to show Real Man pictures from my phone.

Tip:  If you ever go to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, you must eat lunch at the Casablanca Cafe.  And when you do, you must order the chicken quesadilla.  And, then you must go back there for dinner (we find something we like, we stick with it) and you must have the Angus Burger with cheddar cheese, and you must put their special mango-chile aioli sauce on said burger, and then just enjoy.  Seriously.  That place rocks our socks.

I took shots of us, throughout the two days, also.

Oh, and I was totally channeling Vanilla Ice when I saw this sign, and poor Real Man had to listen to me sing “Ice, Ice Baby” for the rest of the weekend.

It was a truly wonderful weekend, but, by the end, we were both ready to fill our empty, aching arms with our monkeys, and homecoming was oh-so-sweet.

Congratulations to Mark and Rob.

We love you both!

June 17, 2012

Coming Home

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:11 pm

You’ll have to wait until tomorrow for my next post. Right now I’m enjoying the view and will be coming home tonight. Ft. Lauderdale, it was fun!

Real Men

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

Real Men wear homemade, paper Father’s Day hats in restaurants because it makes their sons proud.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Real Men in your life.

June 14, 2012

Thursday Thoughts

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

I apologize, once again, for the frequent randomness of the blog, lately.  Lots going on, and my mind is scattered.

That being said, here are my thoughts for today.

1.  Someone posted this link on Facebook.

It’s meant to make you feel old.

It works.

Check it out, then come back for the rest of my randomness.

2.  School ends tomorrow.

Yes, we have to come back for graduation next Wednesday, but the day in, day out of school is over tomorrow.

I’m excited to spend the summer with my babies.

I’m so sad to say goodbye to my students.

Over 100 kids who have absolutely wormed their way into my heart.

I love them, I worry about them, I’ll miss them.

The hardest thing about being a teacher is that you fall in love with your kids year after year after year, and yet, they always leave you behind.

You are consistently saying goodbye.

You know they are destined for great things and that it’s the circle of life that you teach them what you can and then they move on, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

It’s just hard to say goodbye.

3.  Speaking of growing up, I’m finding that I’m liking this new stage we’re in, at home.

Monkey Girl is now old enough to watch Monkey in the Middle and Baby Monkey for a few minutes while I run to pick up Tiny or take Tiny with me to the bank.

It means that every trip out of the house doesn’t have to be a major production of 5 people in the car, out of the car, in the store, out of the store, in the car, out of the car.

It’s nice.

She’s not quite old enough to watch Tiny, but soon enough, soon enough.

And the boys love it when she is in charge for a few minutes.

And, apparently, they are angels for her.

All good stuff.

4.  If you blink, it all passes you by too quickly.

Two weeks ago, I was worried that Tiny wouldn’t be walking by the time we went to the beach this summer.

Today, you can’t slow the kid down.

He falls, but he walks everywhere.

One minute, he’s a baby.

The next, he’s a toddler.

The next, a little boy, going to school.

It’s June…you gotta forgive me all the “people growing up and making me weepy” talk.

It’s what June does to me.

5.  So, remember my quest for simplicity and purging?

It’s going well.

I’ve Freecycled an infant car seat, some books, have tossed some broken toys, given the kids grocery bags to fill up with trash from their rooms.

I’ve cleared off a counter that used to be a collection spot for things when they come in the door, and have set up some Rubbermaid drawers to collect the stuff, out of sight, to be gone through once a week, thus leaving the counter open and free.

I’ve donated some clothes, and plan on going through my closet next week and pruning that, too.

Also planning on moving Tiny from the highchair into a booster seat at the table, next week, so we can get the high chair out of here, also.

That one is sad, but I’m thrilled with the path through the kitchen that will be opened up with that particular piece of furniture removed.

6.  We recently bought Monkey Girl a laptop.

I know how much she will use it in middle school, next year, since I work there, and we decided we’d get it for her now so she could get familiar with it over the summer.

I guess that was silly, because she’s had it for a few days and she already works her Mac Book Pro better than I work mine.

I am consistently amazed at how easily kids pick up technology stuff.  I realize it’s because they’ve grown up in a tech world (digital natives) and it is just part of what they know, but it still amazes me.

It also makes me excited to see what they’ll all invent when they become adults.

7.  E-cards.

I kind of hate them.

They are everywhere.

Particularly Facebook.

And Pinterest.

But, some of them.

Funny.

Really funny.

So, I try really hard to hate the e-card.

But I really can’t.

June 13, 2012

Not My Words Wednesday

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

Oh, how I absolutely love all these boys in my house.

Being a mommy of boys is awesome.

June 11, 2012

It’s Not Easy

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am
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Monkey in the Middle was in his class play, last week.

The theme was “Heroes” and Monkey in the Middle played Neil Armstrong.

He did great.

He was so nervous, as he is about so very many things, but he made it through, remembered his lines, and did just fine.

At the end, the kids all came out in super hero capes with their initials, and they sang the song “It’s Not Easy to Be Me,” by Five for Fighting.

Some of the words were changed, but the message was the same.

For those of you unfamiliar with the song, the last line is, “It’s not easy to be me.”

Real Man and I both teared up at the line, because it’s not easy to be Monkey in the Middle.

But he’s working on it.

And we are so very, very proud of him.

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