My Real Life

1.  Pie

Pie is one of those things that seems to be SO much better in theory than in actual practice.

I was home with a sick Monkey Girl on Tuesday, and we spent the day snuggling, reading, and watching old episodes of iCarly on Netflix.  One of the episodes, which we had seen before, was the one where Mr. Gallini, from Gallini’s Pie Shop dies, and no one has the recipe for his pies.  Throughout the episode, people are eating pie, talking about pie, making pie, smashing their faces in pie…you get the picture.

Since then, all I can think about is pie.

Whenever I see pie on tv, (and there really is a lot of pie on tv and in the movies.  Someone in a diner is always getting a slice of pie, and it always looks delicious), it’s all I can think about for days afterward.

Particularly coconut cream pie.

Coconut cream pie.

Just writing it gives me the pie jones.

I’ve never actually eaten a coconut cream pie, but lord knows I want to.

And I want to throw one in someone’s face.

Because, apparently, that’s what you do with a coconut cream pie.

But, pie in real life is never quite the same as pie on tv or in the movies.

The insides spill out onto your plate.  It’s flat.  It’s burnt.

I love cherry and blueberry pie, but I have to steel myself, every time I eat it, for the reality that it will not live up to my expectations.

To prove my point, Monkey Girl and I bought a Key Lime Meringue Pie.

It was beautiful.

It tasted…eh.

So, pie.

Love the idea.

Not always the reality.

2.  Real Man was setting up Netflix on the Play Station the other night, and it had “Amy’s Top 10 Recommendations.”

So, we were assuming, that based upon our viewing habits, it would have some recommendations for us.

I use Netflix and the kids use it for streaming, constantly.

So, imagine our surprise when two of their top 10 recommendations for me were “Confessions: Animal Hoarding” and “Buccaneer,” a black and white film from 1938.

Hmmmm…

3.  You know what I’d like to invent and patent?

Soft ice cream that has sprinkles already built in.

That way, you can’t like the sprinkles off before you are finished with the cone.  If they are spread throughout, there would be sprinkles in every bite.

That would make me happy.

So very happy.

4.  There is nothing…nothing like a trip to the pediatric center at the hospital to make you realize just how lucky you are.

Took Monkey Girl for a chest x-ray and blood work and just saw so many sad and scared parents.

And saw so many brave and courageous little kids.

Broke my heart and inspired me, all at the same time.

And made me count my blessings again and again and again.

Donate, volunteer, do anything you can to help out the pediatric wing at your local hospital.

Helping children.

No greater cause.

5.  I love a good thunderstorm.

Nothing better than sitting inside, looking out a big window, watching a storm.

Except being OUTSIDE in a storm.

Gimme rain, gimme thunder, gimme lightning and let me be out in it, and I am good to go.

There’s just something very untamed and natural about a storm.

You can’t stop it and you can’t control it.

Very cool.

6.  My mantra for the week is “Don’t be part of the problem…be part of the solution.”

7.  Along those lines, 5 of my FB friends posted, yesterday, about paying it forward, random acts of kindness, and giving back to the community.

I think I know some pretty darn good people and I’m proud of each and every one of them.

This weekend, I spent my time outside.

I walked, explored, played, chased, laughed.

I did not, however, write or even have the computer on for an extended period of time.

So, today, I’m taking a “No Post Day,” in honor of one of the nicest weekends I’ve spent in a very, very long time.

The following events took place between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

Lots of baby crawling and acting like he was going to take a step, but didn’t.

Lots of rolling down the slight incline of the backyard.

Lots of kickball with the 5 bigger people in the family, while watching out for said baby.

Lots of footraces.

Lots of dancing on the deck to music.

Lots of laughing.  Lots of loving.  Lots of fun.

I have this picture on my desk, at home.

I love looking at it.

It was taken the summer after we graduated from college.

Real Man and I went to Great Adventure with Kim and our friend, Joe.

Real Man is wearing his ripped off jeans shorts.

I loved those shorts.

He also used to wear a hat every waking minute of the day.

That was my intramural sports t-shirt from college.

I played rugby in college.

I loved it.

Can’t say I was very good at it, but I loved it.

I loved that t-shirt, too, because I had no athletic ability and it was the only sports shirt I was ever going to have.

I wore it until it began to shred.

There’s just something about that picture.

Maybe it’s because it’s the four of us, and it was the four of us at lunch, when Real Man and I met and started dating in high school.

Maybe it’s because we look so young and unencumbered and carefree.

Maybe it’s because I still don’t get Joe’s shirt.

I don’t know…I just really love this picture.

We have so many pictures from our early days, and this is the one that I have framed.

Don’t know why.

Don’t care.

Just really love it.

1.  Addendum to Truthful Tuesday:

Can’t believe that I left my favorite show off of the Truthful Tuesday post from this week.

How I Met Your Mother.

I will never delete this show.  Makes me laugh like crazy.

Neil Patrick Harris is unparalleled, and the rest of the cast is equally as hilarious.

(Yes, I realize that he actually IS paralleled if the rest of the cast is EQUALLY as hilarious.  You know what I mean, though.  I know you do.)

Love. That. Show.

2.  Being awakened at 2:15 am from an 8 year old with an ear infection wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t have to get out of bed to get the Tylenol.

Because, everyone knows that once you get out of bed, you are done with sleep for the night.

3.  Have seen the Hunger Games twice, now.

Once with Real Man, once with my 8th graders.

Peeta was miscast.

There should have been much more of Gale.

MUCH more of Gale.

4.  Heading to Washington, D.C. with my 8th graders next week.

Preparing myself for the verbal beatings I will endure from my fellow chaperones over the fanny pack I wear every year.

5.  The monkeys have discovered a new app for the iPad called “Happy Snowflake.”  It lets them cut snowflake after snowflake after snowflake, and save them all to a gallery.

I love this app because it feeds their creativity, they are actually using some geometric principles while playing, and, most importantly, I don’t wind up with a bag of snowflakes or a floor full of cuttings.

6.  Real Man’s cell contract was up last week.  In getting a new phone, he decided to try to get us a new plan, as well, because I go over my 200 texting minutes every month, and he is always way under.  We have over 2,000 rollover voice minutes, though, because we rarely talk on our cell phones.

In his conversations with AT&T they tried to tell him that he had to upgrade our voice plan in order to upgrade our text plan.  He said, “So, you want me to pay $10 more for something I don’t use so I can pay $20 more for something else?”

It took over an hour and three different cases to be opened before they finally “found a plan” that would allow us to lower the voice and raise the text.

Nonsense.

7.  I love when babies learn a new word.

This week, Michael learned “yellow.”

He was holding a yellow toy and said, “Yellow.”

We clapped and cheered and made a big deal and were calling Harvard about scholarship opportunities.

And then he picked up his blue toy and said “yellow.”

Parents are silly.

8.  I love Zumba for the Wii.

I’m currently borrowing Zumba and Zumba 2 for the Wii from some colleagues.

It totally rocks my socks.

I’ve made a few custom playlists, and when I get to it, I am a Zumba-ing fool.

I love a Latin beat, and I love that there are elements of Indian dance in there, as well.

It’s a great, fun workout if you love to dance.

Which I do.

9.  Michaela has a new page on Facebook that I’d like you to check out.

It’s called “Bites of the Big Apple.”

It’s stretching her creative legs and sharing her love of all things NYC.

She’s amazing, and I’d love for you to check her out!

10.  I’m wondering if anyone else has ever had to have this conversation.

Child:  “It’s not fair.”

Me:  “What’s not fair?”

Child:  “That you get a Mother’s Day and Daddy gets a Father’s Day, but there is no Children’s Day.”

Me:  “Honey…every day is Children’s Day.”

Child:  “No, it’s not!”

Me:  “Believe me.   It is.”

I know I can’t be the only one.

11.  I wouldn’t have slept for the rest of my life.

Check it out.