My Real Life

1. I have been watching Parenthood in the past few weeks.

Friends had suggested it ages ago and I just never got around to it.

So, I DVR’d the season premiere and have been hooked ever since.

If you want an honest, bold show about family relationships, this is it.

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2.  I wonder if DVR will ever become a verb.

Like when I said, above, I DVR’d Parenthood.

Maybe in the slang dictionary.

Maybe if we all use it, we can get it to happen.

Like when Kim would go into bars and order the Rose Kennedy, which wasn’t really a drink, but she would pretend like it was, and tell them how to make it, in the hopes that it would eventually become a drink that bartenders all knew about.

Or, maybe not.

Because most people just say “recorded.”

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3. On Saturday, Baby Monkey and Monkey Girl had friends over.

And, as always, I told them ahead of time to stick to their own parts of the house and not bother each other.

I just always have visions of them screaming “Mom!  Tell them to leave us alone!”

But, just like always, they all wound up playing together anyway.

They played Sardines, a backward version of hide-and-seek, for quite some time, and then did their own thing, then came back together again for some more play.

I don’t know why I worry, except my memories from childhood of girlfriends who had brothers involved a lot of yelling “MOM!  Make him leave us alone!”

My friends with sisters?

That didn’t really happen.

Erin and I used to play with her sister, Kristin, quite a lot.

Anyway, Monkey in the Middle eventually came home and I found myself thinking, “Wow…6 kids isn’t so bad!”

And then I dove back into the endless pile of laundry I was doing and thanked my lucky stars that I only have four.

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4.  It’s candle season.

When it starts getting colder outside and darker earlier, it’s time to start lighting my candles.

I light them in the summer, as well, but not as often, and they just don’t have the same effect.

I find that low lights and candles make for a quieter home, as well.

It’s as if the low lighting makes the monkeys more…reverential?

Remember the experiment I did with eating dinner by candlelight?

Same premise.

It’s just another reason why I love this time of year.

As if I needed any more.

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5.  These shopping carts?

A lot more fun in theory than in practice.

You need a commercial truckers license to wield one of these suckers around the store.

As the Student Council co-advisor, I’m in charge of fundraising for our school.

We do fundraising in 6th and 7th grade to help raise money for those classes for the 8th grade trip and in 8th grade, we do fundraising to support a variety of 8th grade activities, as well as to provide financial aid for the 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C.

I spend a great deal of time asking people for money and coming up with ways to make money for the kids.

Our annual Dinner and Sports Night is coming up at the end of the month, which is the evening where we host the teacher/student basketball and volleyball games.

In addition to a pasta dinner and the games, this year, we are auctioning off the opportunity to cut Mr. Bigas’s hair (one of our gym teachers).

And.

My hair.

Yes, I am auctioning off the chance for a middle schooler (or their parent) to take a pair of scissors to my hair.

I’ve blogged before about the fact that I think that women put a lot of self-worth in their hair.

Bad hair days can mean bad days all around.

And I am setting myself up for the mother of all bad hair days.

However, I felt like I needed to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, and put myself on the line to help raise funds for the 8th grade.

And it will grow back.

Right?

So, I’ve been researching short do’s.

Right now, this is the leader:

I realize I will have to style it to make it look this way, but I think, in general, it’s a cute cut.

I’m not going super short.

I did that once and cried for days that I looked like a boy.

I know a lot of people who can pull that off and I am not one of them.

However, as short as the picture above…I think I can do.

I’m always open to suggestion, however.  I have two weeks before the chop date, so if you come across any styles or suggestions that you think might work for me, share them here.  I can use all the help I can get!

Don’t worry…I’m not about to get political on you.

Michaela has made a video and entered her kitties, Vuvu and Zela, in a contest at PetPlan.com.

If they win, they are donating the $5000 prize to the Clifton Animal Shelter in Clifton, NJ, which was their first home.

So, please, click this link, watch the video and vote every day!

Doesn’t cost you a thing!

Adorable video, great cause!

I feel like I don’t take enough pictures of what goes on around here on a daily basis, so this week, I tried to remember to have the camera out a little more often.

So, here are a few scenes from last week.

It was a good one.

There was a lot of homework this week.  Some of it was regular old homework.

But, some of it allowed her to dream and create her fantasy bedroom.

Baby became fascinated with the calculator and it is his new favorite toy…

…second only to the cardboard boxes that were delivered to the house this week.

Monkey Girl had her first field hockey game.

Tiny went to jail.

Monkey Girl got her fur on.

And they are still playing with the boxes.

You’ll notice that Monkey in the Middle is largely absent from these photos, but that’s because if he wasn’t in school, he was pretty much at hockey or football practice every second of the day this week.

And, man, did that kid sleep well.

It was a good week.

1. Did you have any homecoming traditions?

Yeah, homecoming isn’t really a big deal in our area.

So, no, no homecoming traditions.

However, I went to homecoming with my college roommate in Ohio and wow…that was something.

2. Do you ask your spouse before spending money?

On something enormous, like a car?

Yes.

We don’t spend a lot of money in general, so it’s usually a moot point.

However, we’ll usually run something by the other like, “I need some more pants for work…I’m gonna run to the store.”

Yet, if we’re at the store and see something we need/want, we aren’t going to call each other to get it “approved.”

3. If you could be famous for something what would it be?

I’d love to discover something, but everything has pretty much been discovered.

I’d love if I could do something big and major for others, but I don’t think I’d want to be famous for it, because that’s kind of like doing a good thing just so others can think you’re a good person, and I’m not down with that.

So, I guess the most obvious answer would be that I’d love to be a famous author.

4. Have you ever seriously thought you were going crazy?

Not seriously, like, “I wonder if I should be committed” but yes in a way like “There’s too much going on right now, I can’t stop my brain, I’m going crazy.”

5. How do you eat your steak? Burger? (as in, well done, medium, still moo-ing…)

I like my steak and burger well, well, well, well, well done.

Burger like a hockey puck.

Steak – no evidence that it was ever alive.

I was thinking, the other day, about places I want to visit, which led into my thinking about the places I’ve been.

Which are not many.

In fact, I think it’s pretty pathetic when I look at the list.

NY – born there, lived there ’til I was 3, went back to visit while growing up, and go into the city often to see my girls.  We also went to Dunkirk, NY for a work project when I was a freshman in high school.

NJ – grew up here, live here now

Massachussetts – Real Man and I went to Salem for our 12th anniversary.  I also took the 8th graders to Boston in 2011, as they wouldn’t allow us to go to DC that year, for obvious reasons.

PA – it’s right next door, so I’ve been there quite often to visit and drove the entire length of the state, more times than I can imagine, on Route 80 on my way to and from college

Delaware – I hit Delaware when I was chaperoning a bell choir tour one summer, but I also went to Delaware for a job interview, once.  I applied for a job in the Duck public schools.  Didn’t get it.

Maryland – I hit Maryland on the same bell choir tour that I chaperoned, but we go there to visit Real Man’s aunts every now and again.

Washington, DC – I’m in DC at least once a year with my 8th graders, but we also visit DC when we visit Real Man’s aunts

North Carolina – My one venture to North Carolina was when Real Man and I took the monkeys, a few summers ago, to Topsail Island for a week.  Loved it and can’t wait to go back.

Ohio – Aside from college in Wooster, Ohio, I spent a good portion of every summer in Ohio visiting my Grandparents.  We have also driven out a few times to visit my college roommate and her family, and have also driven out for two weddings and a few Browns games.

Indiana – My college boyfriend lived in Indiana, and I drove out for a week one summer to visit him.

Iowa – My other college boyfriend’s grandparents lived in Iowa and he stayed with them during the summer, and so one year I drove out to visit him at their house.

Virginia – Again, chaperoning the ringer tour, but it’s a beautiful state and I’d love to get back there.

Tennessee – I went on work projects my sophomore and junior years to Tennessee.  Beautiful country.

Florida – Real Man and I went to Disney for our honeymoon.  That was fun.  We’ve also been back to Florida twice for weddings…our friend, Gail, and then recently, for Mark’s wedding.

Michigan – When I was in high school, our handbell choir toured in Michigan and gave several concerts throughout the state.  MUCH fun was had.

Aside from driving through some states, I believe that is it for the states.

Out of the country, however:

Canada – Niagara Falls with my grandparents as a kid

Mexico – last spring with my girls…ahhhh…fabulous

Bermuda – one year, in high school, our handbell choir toured in Bermuda.  Absolutely beautiful.

And that’s it.

The verdict?

I need to travel more.  Real Man and I always talk about traveling and how we’d love to just stick everyone in an RV and go, but then reality intervenes and another year passes with us staying right here.

Gotta get on this.

Originally, I had nothing to write about today.

But then I woke up.

Around 3, Baby Monkey came and joined us in bed, so when the alarm went off, there was already a snuggler in the room.

Then, after the alarm went off and while I was in the shower, Monkey in the Middle came and joined the snuggle crew.

While I got dressed and got ready for work, Baby and MitM just delighted me with their chatter about Halloween and possibilities for costumes and how excited they were that it was almost here.

What started out as a slow and sluggish day quickly turned into a lovely morning filled with possibility.

Looking toward a great day.

1.  There was a rumble in the Monkey House on Sunday.

We are a football family.

Normally, we root wholeheartedly for the Giants.

I am a fan.  A big fan.

Real Man and Monkey in the Middle are bigger fans.

Because, they’ve always been Giants fans.

Me?

I grew up in a Browns household, and so while the blood in my boys veins runs true blue, my veins are an interesting mixture of blue and white and brown and orange.

And yesterday was the Giants/Browns game.

By now, you know it didn’t go well for me, but anyone who follows football also knows that we Browns fans learned a long time ago how to deal with disappointment gracefully.

2.  Real Man had a bout of insomnia the other night.

So, the next morning, he recounted some of the shows he watched while he was up.

“It was really terrible,” he said, and then began to tell me the plot.

It sounded pretty awful, and then about halfway through, he said, ‘Wait!  I can tell you exactly how bad it was.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Joey Lawrence was in it.”

I nodded.

“Say no more.”

3.  I was watching “Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo” while I was folding laundry the other day.

I believe the quote of the week for me was “Bingo is a sport.”

Now, I have played some serious Bingo when I was in college and would go home with my roommate, DeeDee, some weekends.

We would go with her Mom and play and it was serious business.

And it was fun.

But, a sport?

I’m gonna have to draw the line there.

4.  Okay, I just watched another episode.

I have to change the quote of the week.

Honey Boo Boo’s older sister just had a baby and the baby was born with two thumbs on her right hand.

The new quote of the week is “I wish I had an extra finger…then I could grab more cheese balls.”

5.  My favorite thing about cooler nights?

Footie jammies.

6.  I have become more than a little obsessed with Pitch Perfect since I saw it with Erin and Michaela on Saturday night.

I don’t think this is a spoiler to share.

It’s one of my favorite scenes.

Oh, and I think I may have a new favorite actor, as well.

Skylar Astin

Such a cutie and a great singer, to boot.

Yesterday was Kim’s bridal shower.

It was absolutely lovely.

I’ve never seen such an entertaining and perfect bride.

She made the rounds to the tables multiple times, each time, having entertaining things to say to the entire table.

Before opening the gifts, she gave a speech to the room introducing Kerry, her maid of honor, Michaela, Erin and I, her mother-in-law to be and her mother.  It was quite lovely.

As she opened her gifts, she would not only read the card aloud to tell us who the gift was from, but she would also tell us how she knew the person and told a small anecdote about the person.

She would also tell us why they had registered for that particular gift.

It made the present-opening portion of the afternoon, normally the longest and most boring part of any shower, delightful.

Of course, when her friend, Jess, did push-ups in the corner, that was pretty entertaining as well.

My favorite part of the afternoon was simply the opportunity to celebrate Kim for awhile longer.

In her speech before opening gifts she mentioned that she has been a bridesmaid 13 times and can’t stop crying over the fact that it’s finally her turn.

And I’m so very glad it’s her turn, because it’s an honor to finally be able to celebrate someone who has been busy celebrating us all of these years.

After the shower, I headed to Monkey in the Middle’s football game and spent the evening with the family, but at 9, I hopped back in the car to pick up Erin and Michaela (Kim was all showered-out by 9) and we went to see Pitch Perfect.

Which I loved.

Movie review portion of the blog ahead.

This movie made me smile.

Big.

I wanted to just stand up and starting belting out the tunes with the group and harmonize with them right there in the theater.

Which might have been okay, because there were only about 15 people in the theater.

Many people call it Glee for college, but it was quite different than Glee.

It was edgier and I loved the songs that the groups were doing and the way they all mashed together.

Although I couldn’t stand Anna Kendrick in the Twilight movies and was surprised at the choice of her as the lead, she did a great job with the role and I really enjoyed her character, as well as almost every other character in the film.

It’s not a film for kids, so I won’t be taking Monkey Girl to see it, but man, did I love this movie.

As they knew I would, after dropping off the girls, I plugged in my phone and started belting out the tunes.

So, great day to celebrate Kim, great night to hang with the girls.

Congrats to my Kimmie.

So very, very glad it’s your turn.