My Real Life

February 7, 2010

Super Bowl Sunday

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 11:41 pm
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Today was a good day.

Baby Monkey and I started out the day snuggling together, watching Thomas the Tank Engine and randomly bombarding each other with kisses, while Real Man and the big monkeys were at church.

Then, we headed to Walmart and picked up something we had ordered and then hit the pharmacy to pick up my preop medications.

We came home, chilled out for a bit, and then headed to my newest nephew’s christening.

There is nothing like a baby.

The nice surprise at the church was that there were three other babies being christened that day, and one of them was the baby of a high school friend, so it was great to get to see her son baptized, as well.

After the ceremony (is it called a ceremony? service? session?) we headed to a local restaurant for a celebration of the little guy.

Monkey in the Middle sat with his cousin/partner in crime.  At one point, my sister-in-law and I glanced over at their table (table for four…Monkey in the Middle, Baby Monkey, Partner in crime, and Partner in crime’s little brother) and found them like this:

The shore is going to be interesting this year.  They are a little older, a little wiser, and a little more devious. 

Love those kids.

While there, I got to hold my new nephew for awhile.

Be. Still. My. Heart.

I’d love another baby.  Seriously.  Would love one.

Holding a baby is dangerous for me.

Yet still…

I held him and smelled his baby wonderfulness.  We smiled at each other and bonded.

I think I’m his favorite aunt.

Alas, we eventually had to leave and I had to turn him over to his mother, but we whispered to each other that we’d hang out again.

We headed home and I immediately got the boys in a bubble bath where they soaked and played for about forty-five minutes.  They got out and jammied up and then Monkey Girl got a fresh bath where she soaked and read for about an hour.  Then, she jammied up and by that time my father-in-law was here and it was Super Bowl time.

We had bought some snacks for the SuperBowl, like Doritos, Cheetos, Pringles, etc.

What did Baby Monkey choose?

A bowl full of melon.

Makes his Mommy’s heart sing.

And I hate melon.

It was a little difficult to pay attention to the game, because after every play, Monkey in the Middle had to act it out for us in his own, personal instant replay.

Every. Single. Play.

At the end of the first quarter, I was $50 richer.

That was VERY exciting for me.

At half-time, we put the monkeys to bed and watched the rest of the game.

I like football, as a game, but to me it’s SuperBowl, Schmuper Bowl, so truly, I watched for some good football and for some great commercials.

By the end of the game, however, we were fans of the Saints, as Real Man was $225 richer.

Tee-hee!

Holding a baby, fruit eating monkeys, instant replays in my family room and winners all around?

Now that’s a great day.

Entertain Me

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 9:20 am
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I’m going to be having some reconstructive surgery on my sinuses next week, and have been advised that I’ll need to be resting and still for quite a few days afterward.

I’m nervous, but if it stops these sinus infections, it is so worth it!

I have my shelf of books to be read, however, I’ve also been advised that my eyes might get tired more quickly as I heal, and that television might be a better option, particularly because if I need to, I can close my eyes and listen.

So, I’m asking you…what’s the best show on TV that I’m not watching? 

It’s got to be a show that has at least one season on DVD so that I can get it/them from Netflix.

I don’t care about the genre…I’m happy to give anything a try.  I’m not a good rester, so I will need to be distracted from the fact that I’m not doing anything.  So, make it good!

So, please, please, please give me some recommendations of shows with which I should fill my queue!

February 6, 2010

Instinct?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 5:31 pm
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What is it about snow, or the threat of impending snow, that causes people to eat?

I mean, I understand the need to shop and stockpile before a storm. 

I get that survival instinct.

But when we get home, and the snow is about to fall, what causes us to eat everything in sight?

At least, causes me to eat everything in sight?

We had large amounts of snow predicted for last night, heading into today.

Monkey Girl and I went to ShopRite yesterday to do the food shopping for next week, figuring we’d never make it back over the weekend, once the storm hit.

ShopRite was swarming with people, which was to be expected.

People were just randomly throwing things in their carts, with panic-stricken looks on their faces.

Not me.

I had a list.

Until I passed the Archway Iced Oatmeal cookies and had visions of snuggling under a blanket, while the snow fell, reading and eating these cookies while drinking hot cocoa.

Until Monkey Girl reminded me we needed some snacks for the Super Bowl, and their wouldn’t be time to get them on Sunday because we have my nephew’s christening.  So, we bought some Doritos, Cheetos, and Pringles.  They were 2 for $4.  So, we got two of each.

Until we passed the Entenmann’s doughnuts, which the kids love, and I thought would be a fun snowy morning treat for Saturday morning, when they woke up and the world was white.

Needless to say, I left with a cart that rivaled every other snow-panicked shopper in the store.

Yet, again, I kinda get that. 

The “what-if” of an impending natural event.

What I don’t get is how it is now, approximately, 24 hours after we left ShopRite and we have eaten through both bags of Cheetos, both boxes of the Archway cookies, a box of doughnuts, the cannister of Pringles (which I forgot to mention), and half a bag of Doritos.

I’ll take credit for both boxes of cookies.

The rest, I share with the family.

So, why is it?  Some instinct that we share with bears?  A modified hibernation instinct?

Really, though…do I care?

It was good.

Oh, and it didn’t even really snow.

February 4, 2010

Must Read

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 9:25 pm
Tags: , , ,

Every night, after the boys go to bed, Monkey Girl and I read together. 

Usually, she reads her book and I read mine, and we snuggle up next to each other in literary bliss.

However, last week she saw the commercial for the new movie The Lightning Thief.  She thought it looked like a good movie and asked if we could go see it when it comes out.

Flashback to a few years ago.

I was teaching 8th grade Social Studies and when teaching my unit on Ancient Greece, I stumbled across the book, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

I read it and fell in love with it.

Then, I thought, it’s an excellent book, full of ancient Greek mythology.

I’m going to read it to my class.

So, I started reading this book aloud to my 8th grade Social Studies classes.

My students, 13 and 14 year old boys and girls, were completely rapt.

They literally ran to class every day and sat at the edge of their seats to hear more of the book.

I was in heaven.

I started getting phone calls from parents saying, “I don’t know how you did it, but my son, who has never read a book for pleasure in his life, asked me to drive him to Barnes and Noble last night because he wanted to buy the book, as well as the sequel.”

The next year, I extended what I was doing, a bit, because I knew that the truth of the matter is that reading aloud to the class isn’t really best practice in teaching.  Instead, by this time, quite a few of the kids had read this book, and perhaps the second in the series, but the third had just been released.  So, in my Social Studies class, we started book clubs where the kids chose what book in the series they would read and then had excellent, in depth discussions surrounding both the story, but also the mythology involved, and what mythology did for ancient civilzations…what purpose it served.   We got the literary piece and the historical piece and had a great few weeks.

That grew, and we eventually created an enrichment class called “Mythology” where we went into even further depth into Greek mythology and did book groups on the entire series (which grew to five books) and connected to the ancient Greek studies we did in Social Studies.

I loved those days.

Anyway, that was a really long story to say that when Monkey Girl asked to see the movie, I said, “Actually, we own the books.  Let’s read the book before we see the movie.”

And so, we do.

After the boys go to bed, Monkey Girl and I now read, together, aloud from The Lightning Thief.  She brings it to school with her, and during her free reading time, she reads it and carries Post-It notes with her, on which she writes questions she has for me, or thoughts that the book is evoking from her as she reads, then we talk about it at night.  (To clarify, she suggested the Post-Its, as it is what they do in school.)

Harry Potter, The Lightning Thief, The Golden Compass… all of these, books that have inspired kids to read.  They have inspired kids who have never read before to read, and in the instance of The Lightning Thief, to learn along the way.  I don’t care how old you are, I suggest that everyone pick up one of these books.  Currently, I’d recommend The Lightning Thief, since the movie is on its way.  Kids book, adult book…who cares?  If it’s a good book, why not pick it up?

February 3, 2010

Birthday Month

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 9:36 pm
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February is birthday month at the monkey house.

Baby Monkey was born on 2/11/06.

Monkey in the Middle was born on 2/15/04.

Monkey girl was born on 2/23/01.

Before you ask, (because you will…everyone does), no, this was not planned.

Long story there, but let’s just say that we were incredibly grateful each time to have had a child, after long periods of waiting.  Planning a birth month never entered the picture.

Having a birthday month has it’s pros and cons.

Pro: You get all of the birthdays out of the way in a little more than a week, and then you are home free for the rest of the year.

Con: Three birthdays in a little more than a week means three parties, three cakes, three times as many gifts on your credit card. (Although, we do try to do birthdays in cash.  This year, that’s a definite.)

I’m sure you can imagine many more pros and cons.

I choose to embrace birthday month and make February the most fun month ever.  We all get equally excited for everyone’s birthday, as they approach, and it’s just a good time to be a monkey.  (Or a monkey Mama, as the case may be.)

Anyway, gearing up for birthday month always makes me nostalgic, so be prepared for pictures of the monkeys in their younger years.  Unfortunately, our computer crashed a few years ago, and we hadn’t gotten around to backing up the photos we had stored there, so we’ve lost forever the photos of Monkey in the Middle when he was first born until he was almost a year old, and the pictures of Monkey Girl from about 2 and 1/2 to four years old.  However, we still have many, many to share.

Like this:

My 100%, all time favorite picture of Money in the Middle, which I am only now realizing must have resized itself when I posted it to Facebook, and I cannot find the original.  Shoot.

Anyway, the look of pure exhiliration, joy, nervousness, and childhood on his face in this photo is priceless and sums up the purpose of amusement park rides for me in a way that words never could.

So, brace yourself for some walks down memory lane in the coming weeks. 

I promise to still regale you with tales from regular, real life around here, but you’ll have to bear with me on the other, as my babies are growing up.

February 2, 2010

Putting it Out There

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 10:56 pm
Tags: , ,

I entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest today.

For those of you who don’t know, a few years ago, I wrote a novel.

(You can read the synopsis and about the book at my novel blog here.)

I’ve sent a few queries in, but haven’t really marketed and searched for an agent or publisher like I should.

The truth is, trying to sell your novel is a full-time job.

I’ve already got a full-time job.

And a part-time job.

And three children to raise.

So, it’s been tough. 

I’ve sent all of my e-mail queries in, but to be honest, I’ve been lax with sending in snail mail queries. 

However, I feel pretty strongly that I need to start seriously marketing this novel if I really want something to happen.

Yesterday, a friend of mine, Matt, shared with me the Amazon contest.  He suggested I enter, so I checked it out and felt like it would be a good match for me, so today, I submitted all of my information, including my full manuscript.

That’s the scary part.  Turning my work over to someone else.

Some of my closest friends have read the novel, but other than that, I play it pretty close to the vest with the novel.

Stupid strategy.

You want someone to publish the book?

You need to let someone read it.

So, today was a step in that direction, and it reminds me that it’s a good novel and it deserves to be read.

Nothing may come of it, with regards to the contest.

However, I’ve been re-inspired to pursue this dream, and to me, that’s better than winning.

Well, maybe not better than winning, but it’s important. 🙂

February 1, 2010

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:37 pm

I’m not going to write about this battle that occurs in my house.

I assume that it goes in on many of your homes, as well.

I’ll just let the picture speak for me.

Can I get an Amen?

January 31, 2010

Real Help

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 9:10 pm
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Previously, I have shared with you my distaste for the chore of laundry.

I despise it.

I’ve created some routines to help me manage it and not move us all to a nudist colony, but it is still on the bottom of my chore list.

Today, however, my boys offered to help.

To lighten my load.

To ease my burden.

I hugged them and kissed them and thanked them profusely for wanting to help Mommy.

The each brought in a laundry basket and proceeded to help.

…or make boats out of laundry baskets and pillows.

“Help” is such a relative term.  Don’t you think?

January 30, 2010

Been Gone So Long

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 4:51 pm
Tags: , , , ,

Okay, technically, I was only away for one night, but I didn’t have internet access in my hotel room, and then I was pretty exhausted the night I got back, and so although it’s only been a few days, I feel like I’ve been gone from the blog for a month!

I returned, yesterday, from a trip to Atlantic City, where I was asked to present at the New Jersey Association of School Administrators Techspo 2010 Conference.  It is a fabulous conference that centers on educational technology, which is kinda my thang.  Love it!

So, I was asked to share my presentation called Social Studies 2.0:  How to Effectively Integrate Technology into Your Social Studies Classroom Without Having to be a Guru.  Long title, but it helps to be specific.  I presented a few years ago, but haven’t been able to make it back until this year, so I was thrilled to be invited, once again.

I left home around 6 am on Thursday morning and arrived in Atlantic City around 8:15 am.  I checked-in with conference registration (hotel check-in wasn’t until 4 pm) and then had a bite to eat from the conference buffet.

The first speaker was Alan November, one of the biggest leaders in the educational technology movement today.  I’ve heard him speak 3 times already, so although he is always a delight to hear, I had heard the schtick before.  Nothing really new, except for an online solution finder WolframAlpha.com.  Basically, you type in any equation and it solves it for you, and shows you the steps.  An absolute dream, I think!  Kids can check their own homework online and work through the problems on their own.  Love it.

Then, I went to another presentation on the use of Moodle in schools, and while my district is already using Moodle, there were some neat additions that I hadn’t heard about, so it was informative.

After that, I grabbed the box lunch that was offered to participants, and then went to set up my laptop and projector.

As I’m putting everything together, I realize that I don’t seem to have the power cord for the laptop.

Panic sets in.

The people who had presented in that room before me were still packing up, so I asked them to watch my stuff while I ran to the car.  They said, “No problem.”

So, I ran to the elevators (we were on the 6th floor) and took the elevator to the 3rd floor, where I had to cross the hotel to catch the elevator to the 8th floor of the parking garage.  Follow that?

I opened up the van and…

…no cord.

No cord!

My laptop had been in hibernation mode in the car, so there were no batteries for it to run from.

I walked (not ran) back to the presentation room and thanked the people for waiting.  I stood with my hands on my hips (my thinking pose) and tried to figure out what the heck I was going to do.

Then, I said to myself, “Amy…you dunce!  This is the TECHSPO conference!  Every vendor out there is hawking some type of educational technology, and they ALL have laptops!” 

So, I went out to find a vendor that was selling a type of laptop that I thought I’d be comfortable with, and offered the guy a deal.

If he lent me his laptop for my presentation, I would name drop his company name throughout my presentation, and even add a slide in my PowerPoint thanking them for helping me out.

He agreed and my problem was solved.

Wait.

Hang on.

Rewind.

I opened up the van and…

…the cord was there!

The rest was just one of the thousands of stories I made up in the elevator on the way to get the cord.  I’m a huge “What if” story-teller, and every time I’m faced with a possible crisis, I imagine a gazillion different scenarios.

Thought you might enjoy that one.

I did.

Anyway, I got the cord, went back and thanked the people who watched my “stuff” and got everything set up.

Cute little room in the Atlantic City Bally’s.

I also love the little digital sign outside of each presentation room.  My flash mucked up the picture a bit, but I figured I’d still share.

I was in the Lincoln Park room.  Not the Link’n Park room…that would be quite a different room.  Not a bad room, just a different room.

The presentation went great.  My audience seemed quite receptive.  Lots of head nods and smiled as I spoke.  One man came to ask some questions afterward, and another asked for extra copies of my handouts to share with his colleagues.  It went well, but I was glad to be done.

After packing up my equipment, I went to another workshop that was informative, and by then, it was 3:30.

So, I went through the cross-hotel elevator trek again, got my suitcase out of the van and checked in.

Ahhhh…

All mine.  No chance of little monkeys crawling in at 4 am and waking me.  King-sized nirvana.

It was about 4 pm, so I kicked off my shoes and turned on the tv, thinking I’d watch Oprah, who I haven’t seen in years.

Turns out, she was interviewing Jay Leno who was, in my opinion, acting like a bit of a jerk, so I decided to check out the bathroom and perhaps take a bath.

I’m sure my neighbors were concerned about my squeals of delight as I flipped the switch in the bathroom.

I don’t get out much.

This was all very exciting.

My favorite part?

…because you never know when you might need to make an important call from the toilet.

So, I decided to haul out my book and soak in the tub and read for a while.

I realize this may sound mundane to many, but you need to remember that I can’t even remember the last time I had a shower without someone sitting on the floor outside the tub, “keeping me company.”  It’s usually Monkey in the Middle, because he’s the only one up when I’m getting ready for work.  Heck, half the time he’s the reason I’m up, and I let him come in so he doesn’t wake up anyone else.  He sits outside the shower and just chats away, on his side of the curtain, about whatever is taking over his five-year old mind at the moment.

So, the idea of a bath?  Wonderful.  Reading while in the tub?  Delightful!  Doing so without feeling guilty because someone is on the other side of the door needing something?  Positively unheard of!

I soaked and read until the water got cold, then I hopped out, donned my sweats and headed back to the room.

I realized that I hadn’t opened the curtain yet, so I decided to check out the view.

Not really the most beautiful scene in the world, but it took my breath away, as I don’t get a lot of ocean view from my part of New Jersey.

Looking down, I saw this view, as well…

So, I chose to look up, instead.

At this point, I realized I could either go downstairs and grab something from one of the hotel restaurants, grab something to eat from gift shop, or order room service.

I looked at my sweats and decided room service it was.

Yes, that’s right.  I wouldn’t pay $12.99 for internet service in my room, but I did order room service.

I deserve it.

So, I ordered soup, salad and a cheesecake.

I ate the soup and salad, and had about half of the cheesecake.

I snuggled up under the covers and watched “You’ve Got Mail”, then a repeat of “Two and a Half Men,” a repeat of “Family Guy.”  I called the monkeys to say goodnight, watched “The Vampire Diaries,” then chatted with Real Man when he called after putting the monkeys to bed.  Finally, I turned on “Fringe,” and was out by 9:30.

I’m so wild.

The next morning, I woke up at 5:45, but when I realized that Monkey in the Middle wasn’t there sniffing me, I went back to sleep until 8:00.

I took my shower, packed my bags, and took everything to the van.

I headed back to the conference where I grabbed some breakfast, and then listened to Gary Stager, the Friday morning keynote speaker.  After he finished, I stayed for his informal chat workshop, and was really impressed.  He’s a total no-nonsense kind of guy and I really appreciate that in a speaker.  Particularly when the topic is education.  New Jersey is headed for tough times with our new Non-Public Education Friendly governor.  Forget getting kids engaged and involved in their learning.  Let’s just test them to death.  Ick.

Sorry…didn’t mean to get political.

Yes, yes I did.

Anyway, after that was over, I looked through the brochure and saw that the remaining workshops didn’t really apply to myself or to my district, so I checked out.

Let’s flashback for a moment to Techspo 2008.

I had only been to Atlantic City once before and am not a gambler, by any stretch of the imagination.

However, I figured that I couldn’t be in AC and not try my hand at a little gambling.

So, I walked over to a $5 slot machine, stuck in a $5 bill and won $500. 

Yes, that’s right.  My first $5 ever and I won $500.

Never happened  before and will never happen again.

I don’t win stuff.

That’s just not my general luck.

I pulled out my tickets, jumped around like a loon, all by myself in the casino at 10:30 am, cashed it in and got the heck outta there before I could gamble it away.

So, this time, I knew I had to at least try.

The odds were against me, but to not try would be admitting defeat without even giving it a chance.

After checking out, I went to the same casino room, found the same $5 slot machine, put in my $5 bill and…

…no, I didn’t win $500.

But, I did win $55!

So, again, I cashed out and practically ran to the van, with the slots calling my name, daring me to win bigger.

Now, I’m home, $55 richer, and oh so happy to be woken up at 4 am by both Monkey in the Middle and Baby Monkey who needed to be as close to me as possible. 

I had an incredibly relaxing night away, but I miss Real Man and the monkeys when I’m not with them.

Away is fun.

Home is always better.

Oh, and if you’d like to view my presentation, here it is:

Presentation

January 29, 2010

And the winner is…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 3:54 pm

True Random Number Generator Min: Max:

Result: 4

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Comment #4 submitted by Alicia!

Your gift card will be coming soon.

And as for those of you who didn’t participate?  I don’t believe you’ve never gotten the lyrics of a song wrong! 

So there!

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