12 things to smile about in 2012

I usually end up adding more to top 10 lists, so I decided to do 12 for 2012. These are the things that made me happy this past year.

1. My daughter's cochlear implant surgeries going so well and the amazing results since then. (She recently said "Abba, more blueberries!")

2. The Big Bang Theory...so many laughs...and still more to catch up on!

3. Making some new friends through Chick Lit Central (or through people I met through it).

4. My BFF's visit this past fall. We had such a great time hanging out and baking pies. (And also getting to see some friends I hadn't seen in a long time...one as long as 13 years.)

5. Jennifer Weiner calling me BY NAME when I went to her book signing (and later mentioning my twitter handle). Also connecting with a girl from my community because of a shared love of books, after seeing her at this signing.

6. Seeing some comedy shows, even though one of the comedians was the same for both shows and did the same act....it was still hilarious!

7. One of my close friends having her first baby.

8. Chick Lit Central reaching over 900 followers.

9. The fun bonding evening with my mom when we went to see Jodi Picoult. (Not only that, but Jodi is an amazing speaker!)

10. Our beautiful, new kitchen that never fails to impress. It was so worth cramming in the corner of our living room and eating out of the microwave for two months.

11. My younger son learning how to read. It's so exciting to see how proud he is when he figures out the words on each page!

For my final choice, I thought I was going to say "FINALLY getting to see the movie of Les Miserables after waiting all year for it to come out." However, I saw it and was moved, but also miffed by a few things. I still think they did a better job of making it a movie than the person who brought Rent to the big screen. However, I don't think I could sit through it more than once. Anyway...drum roll please...

12. Finding out that someone I admire is going to be living in a nearby city for the next four years!

Have a wonderful New Year! May we all have more than 13 things to be happy about in 2013!

THREE YEARS!!!

Happy blogoversary to me! :)

If you're reading this, then the world did NOT end last week. Guess it means we still have to be productive after all.... Still, after hearing Rebbetzin Jungreis tell us we're all doomed, I'm paranoid for what the future holds. :P But at least the Mayan calendar was proven wrong.

This year has been slow in terms of blogging. I think the one thing anchoring me was the blog project. We're going on almost TWO years. I love writing about the different topics and coming up with my own topics every few weeks. We're a fun and diverse group. I do hope to write other posts for this blog, as I remember writing it in so frequently in the past. I even e-mail one of my friends and seem to have a blog post to share with her about almost everything we discuss!

It's also been a hard year for people in different parts of the US. While the events didn't personally affect me, they still left their mark. While I was trying to keep my son from being born on 9/11 (after the fact), ironically enough, a tragic event on a smaller scale took place on my birthday this past year...the shooting at the movie theater in Colorado. Then there was Superstorm Sandy, which we prepared for after we lost power for almost a week in July. Thankfully, our preparations were in vain, but I can't even imagine living the horrors that people did in NY and NJ. I'm hoping that things are coming back together now, but it still sounds like a long road for some. I'm just glad our community reached out to offer their homes and meals for some Shabbat weekends. We signed up too, but our community outreach was so huge that our help wasn't even required. And finally, there was the recent shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I spent most of Christmas (not that I celebrate it) thinking about the families who didn't get to spend it with their children and loved ones because of one horrible act. My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.

On the positive side of the past year....my daughter's speech development has been flourishing since she got her cochlear implants. She repeats what we say and also sings her favorite songs. It's so cute to hear her talk and definitely something I don't take for granted. Chick Lit Central is flourishing too, with over 900 followers. And we have interviews scheduled through February at this point. Plus, a lot of great books have come my way for 2013. I already enjoyed Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster and The Girl's Guide to Love and Supper Clubs by Dana Bate. I'm excited to read the others waiting on my shelf! I'm currently reading One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern, which has given me a great idea for something new to do on my blog. More on that later!

I've made some great new friends this year. Mostly online, but some in person too! One is a debut author, S.B., whom I've gotten to know via e-mail and has become a special part of my life. She's so sweet and easy to talk to. She's also told me about an impact I've made on her life, which means a lot to me. Then there's R.S., another blogger who doesn't live too far from me. We met in person last week and I enjoyed chatting with her. There's also a woman from my community, with whom I connected at the Jennifer Weiner book signing this past summer. I didn't know she liked to read (chick lit, no less) and this new discovery has helped us become better friends. Before, we just said "hi" in passing, but now we e-mail more often and we got together for tea last month. I hope we can hang out again soon. And finally, there's J.D., who not only let me read an early draft of her novel, but also has become a big part of Chick Lit Central. (I was not responsible for choosing her to do reviews, that was based on her own merit and skill.) We've met up for lunch a few times in the past and have discussed musicals, movies, TV shows, etc.

My husband and I got into The Big Bang Theory this year and are currently on season five. It's so funny and definitely appeals to my geek side. I don't watch much TV, especially after saying goodbye to Desperate Housewives and giving up on The Office. Thankfully, I have a close friend in the neighborhood with whom to watch 90210. Aside from that, there's Glee, Modern Family and How I Met Your Mother. I'm excited for Smash to return in February, as well! I haven't really been blown away by any movies this year, but I'm hoping I'll like Les Miserables better than some people who were let down by it. I loved Wreck It Ralph though. Everything else was built up to me a lot and I wasn't super impressed.

I'm hoping 2013 will be a good year for everyone. I would love to get through a whole year without hearing about any violence or gearing up for major storms. Time will tell, I guess....

Three's Company

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for over a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, Mom of Many picked the topic: I am...

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

Every day at work, I support a group of managers who all want different things at the same time. This could be a report, a letter to a donor, research, a mailing, etc. At home, I have a group of "managers" who also want different things at the same time. This could be anything from a cup of juice, a snack, a bath, a story, a hug, etc.

I am a mother of three. I know that's pretty obvious, but there's more to go along with it. I will only be a mother of three, no more, no less (G-d forbid). When my husband and I first talked about having kids, I had originally said two and my husband wanted three. I agreed to three at the most, but that was it. (I told him if he wanted any more, he'd have to go all Arnold Schwarzenegger in Junior to have the rest). I am glad I went for a third, but now, as one of my friends said after she had her second, "the factory is closed."

In Orthodox Judaism, we're told to be fruitful and multiply. I know of families with many kids all close in age. Thankfully, in a Modern Orthodox community, three seems to be the average. I do know of families here with more than three kids, but it's not as common as in my brother-in-law's community out in Pikesville. In any case, I've done my multiplying and can safely say that three is my limit. Where I would have been clamoring for a baby every time I held one of my friends' babies before, I no longer have that urge. I've resorted to the grandmother/aunt philosophy that they're cute and sweet, but I get to give them back to their parents. I even felt this way the other night while watching a friend's baby. At no point did I feel like I wanted another of my own.

My last pregnancy was hard. I was sick the whole first trimester and that was while chasing around two little boys. I don't need to be "coughing in the potty" while also looking after a toddler who only wants my attention. Then there were the backaches and those weren't fun either. It hurt to sit for a lengthy period of time. I also gained a ton of weight and am still having trouble shedding the last ten pounds. I really don't think my body could take another pregnancy. Not that I'm asking it to...

To confirm this decision, I have given up my kids' clothes (even my daughter's baby clothes, and she's still a toddler) and also my maternity clothes. I don't want any of it back. I'm happy to accumulate clothes for my kids, as they are growing fast. However, those clothes will also be paid forward. I've done the same with toys, books, baby items, etc. I was only too quick to get the infant car seat out of the house as soon as my daughter was ready for a toddler seat. The high chair will be next and the crib is being completely disassembled and thrown out once she's done with it. (It's gone through three babies and a recall that makes it annoying to use because we can't push down the front anymore.) I haven't even learned how to drive the van yet and have gotten away with just driving one or two kids someplace at a time in my sedan.

I love being a mom, but I think three kids are enough for me. They each have their demands, requests, needs, etc. Finding balance and keeping everyone happy isn't as easy as you might think. And getting them out of the house on time is a huge ordeal that requires waking up at the crack of dawn. There's also the change from "one-on-one" to "zone defense." I do like that they entertain each other a lot of them time and the boys are sweet with their sister at least, even if the have their little rivalries with one another. Now that I have three, I can't even remember what life was like with two or even when my oldest was the only child. My kids fulfill me and brighten my days. They have their unique personalities that blend together in a special way that can only happen between siblings. I grew up with one sibling and we're still very close. I always imagined having a two-child household, as a result. However, I'm so glad to be a mom of three and can't imagine anything different from that now.

I just had to get this shirt when I saw it!

My three "bosses"

The Merrylandgirl Stamp of Approval

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for over a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, I picked the topic: What person (not a close friend or family member), place AND thing would you put your stamp of approval on and stand behind that stamp 100% of the way?

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

My topic idea was inspired by How I Met Your Mother. (Shocking, huh?) There was an episode where they were talking about being a "stamp tramp." This meant putting a stamp of approval on anything and everything, even if it wasn't good. Marshall was guilty of giving anyone and anything his stamp of approval, getting him into some hot water at work. Ted realized that he was piggy-backing off of other people's approvals, such as when Lily told him that Dishwalla was a great band and he thought he originally gave them the approval.

I think I'm more particular about who and what I endorse. Having said that, here are my top choices in the "Who," "What" and "Where" categories.

Who: Hands down, my dental hygenist. I think finding a really good dental hygenist is, for me, even harder than finding a good hairstylist. You're trusting this person to put all sorts of dental tools in your mouth. The hygenist is usually the one who spends the most time with the patients, so it's in their hands to make the experience pleasant or torturous. When we moved to Maryland, a friend recommended a dentist nearby for us. I was instantly won over by the hygenist and her easygoing, friendly personality. She acted as if she had known me her whole life. We have a lot of similar interests. It's hard for her to clean my teeth when I just want to chat with her the whole time!
When it was my sons' turn to get their teeth cleaned, she was incredible with them, as well. My older son had been to the dentist previously and thankfully had a good experience in NJ too. However, my younger son isn't always the easiest with cooperating. There were times he'd just refuse to cooperate with the nurses at the doctor's office, and that was just to measure him for height and weight! So imagine my pleasure when the hygenist convinced him not only to sit nicely on the chair, but also keep his mouth open so she could look at his teeth. She was so sweet and patient with both my sons. I feel it is so important for a child's initial dentist experience to be pleasant or they'll spend a lifetime dreading that bi-annual visit. My hygenist has completely taken that worry off my plate. I know she'll make the experience just as wonderful when it's my daughter's turn in the chair.
Since that first visit, she has switched practices. When our local dentist stopped taking our insurance, I found out where she worked and was thrilled that they took our insurance. It's a bit of a schelp to get there if I'm taking the kids for appointments, but so worth it to have her cleaning their teeth. I am not giving her name here as to protect her privacy, but if you live in or near Montgomery County (MD) and need a good dental hygenist, feel free to contact me!

What: One thing I hate even worse than folding and putting away laundry is ironing. I don't even remember the last time I ironed, but that is thanks to Downy Wrinkle Releaser. With a few spritzes and a little smoothing with my hands, my clothes look like they were just ironed. It's perfect for those mornings when I realize I let something go too long without folding and need it for work or shul. A while back, I couldn't find it at either of my local Targets and was freaking out because my supply at home was low. Then I found it on my next Target run and bought a few bottles to have on hand. My older son thought I was crazy for getting excited over laundry spray!

I also want to mention the Zyliss Lock-n-Lift manual can opener. We've gone through our fair share of lousy can openers. Our electric one even stopped cooperating with us. When my husband found this one, we haven't had a problem opening cans ever since. I love this device!

Where: I have a thing about where I buy groceries. The store has to have reasonable prices, a wide variety of products, and also lots of Kosher items. While I greatly appreciate an all-Kosher store, they tend to be overpriced on some products I can find elsewhere. When I lived in Illinois, I was all about (the) Jewel. In New Jersey, Shop Rite was my go-to store (even though I heard it has gone downhill in the last few years). Since moving to Maryland, I've gone back and forth between several stores. Magruder's left our local shopping center to make room for a Kosher supermarket. While the location was between stores, I had to go elsewhere. Suddenly, that "elsewhere" became Giant. I totally love going to Giant. It has everything I seek out in a grocery store. The sales are great and I even tend to find some fun surprise deals. They carry Kosher items and most of their generic products have a valid hecksher. It's always bright inside and the displays are attractive. On Fridays in the summer, I would stop there on my way home from work and could spend a lot of time roaming the aisles when Shabbat still started at 7:00. I miss going there and look forward to when we spring ahead and can make it part of my Friday routine again. The other Giants that are closer are nice, but the one by work has an even better Kosher variety and I already know my way around. Another thing is that the cashiers are so friendly. They even have a service where people will help you out to your car, if needed. And if I'm having trouble finding something, I can go up to any employee in the store and I know they'll be helpful. As a side note, Giant is lucky that Wegman's isn't too close to where I live because that would be major competition for them. I went to a Wegman's only once and was blown away. Given I'm usually the one who goes to the chain grocery stores (my husband does the Costco runs), it's important that I'm happy where I shop and Giant definitely fits the bill.

Art affecting life

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for over a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, Moma Rock picked the topic: Talk about a book or movie ( if you have more than one, that's OK too) which you feel has changed your life, either for the better (or for the worse).

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

You already know all about my involvement with The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I'll gladly refresh your memory though. I feel that it had a huge impact on my life, including my personality. Going to the Mundelein theater every Saturday night in the summer of 1994 did more than just entertain me. I got my first experience of being in a non-dysfunctional group of friends. (While I liked some of my friends in high school, I didn't really feel like I fit into the groups they wanted me to be involved in. I didn't like their friends, so that made it harder. Plus, there would be fights within the groups. Spring Fling senior year sticks out in my mind...) It was nice to just hang out with a group of people and feel accepted right away. I also felt like guys finally found me attractive or worthy of flirtation. Embracing this feeling gave me confidence when I met my first boyfriend during freshman year of college. And performing as Magenta gave me confidence to be uninhibited and accept myself. It was where I became friends with out-of-the-closet gay guys for the first time, making me feel more comfortable about friends coming out to me later that year, and beyond. It was also the catalyst for meeting certain friends. I met my friend J, the "eleventy feet tall" freshman in college because of a newsgroup post he put up, asking if Rocky Horror was playing anywhere on campus. We later ended up seeing it in Peoria and he became part of my circle of friends shortly after that. We talk sporadically via e-mail, but he was an important part of my life in college. And then there's Kev a.k.a. "Quick," who I met through our internet server because he saw my handle was "Magenta." We were both in relationships at the time, so it wasn't for any reason other than to become friends.  Years later, he married Moma Rock and now we've become close friends. If not for Rocky Horror, we might have never made such a connection!

In the summer of 1998, I stumbled upon Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding. I had seen it at bookstores and it sounded interesting, so I decided to buy myself a copy. I found myself laughing out loud at inappropriate times, but Bridget was just so funny. I loved the messages she got about her disappearing skirts and how she wrote "v." for "very." (I would imitate the latter.) It was hard not to love Mark Darcy, even before I knew that he'd be played by Colin Firth in the film version. Both the book and movie of Bridget Jones's Diary had impacts on my life. The book was my first exploration into the world of chick lit, and obviously wouldn't be my last. And the movie saved my sanity after a really upsetting situation involving a guy the week before I saw it in the theater. I saw the movie with a friend who also was having guy problems. Watching Bridget tell off Daniel Cleaver was so empowering that I felt better about things and knew I could move on from that awful guy situation. (I even wrote him a note telling him off; not super mature, but I needed to do it.) A few years later, my friend and I saw the movie of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason together with our significant others. It was like we had come full circle!

A month of giving thanks

There was a Facebook challenge to post something we're thankful for every day. I am also sharing everything I wrote here so I can look back on the month and smile, as well as give background to these items, as needed.

November 2nd: I missed this yesterday, so I'll post two things:
1. Thankful that we survived the storm relatively unscathed other than some water marks on the ceiling of our study.
2. That we live in such a giving community. SO many people offered their homes to people coming in from NJ and NY for Shabbos, that our help wasn't even needed. Sad that we don't get to participate, but still thankful that the reason is due to living in such a wonderful neighborhood of kind and giving people.

Hurricane Sandy was expected to hit the DC area pretty hard, but our neighborhood was okay. We prepared for a major power loss and didn't lose power at all! However, Sandy wasn't so kind to NY and NJ residents. Our community set up a program to get buses from various towns in NJ and NY to come out here for a Shabbos. We offered to host dinner and share our guest room, but there was such an outpouring of hosts that we weren't needed after all.

November 3rd: Thankful that tonight we "Fall Back" because that means after this week, we get our Saturday nights back to go out on dates again.

In the months between Spring Ahead and Fall Back, we have very long Shabbats which extend well into Saturday evening, making a date night nearly impossible by the time it's over. So when we get our evenings back, it's time to go out on dates again!

November 4th: I am thankful that my daughter is napping now so I can be productive for a little while. :)

My daughter is walking and talking and demands attention at all times. Needless to say, if she's awake, nothing gets done.

November 5th: I am thankful to E.S. for giving birth to her daughter 8 years ago today, which inspired me to want a baby and produced my son, as a result, 10 months later. :)

As soon as I held my friend's daughter, I knew I wanted a baby and got cracking on that. :) My son is who he is because of when he was born. I do feel that birthdays and birth signs affect personality. If I had waited longer, he might have been a different person and I might have also waited longer to have my other kids, affecting their personalities, as well.
Oddly enough, as soon as another friend held my son, she started trying for a baby and had her son a year later!

November 6th: I am thankful for the suffragist movement that allows women to vote. I can't even imagine being denied such a right and am proud of the suffragettes who fought for all of us women to have it.

November 7th: I think it's pretty obvious what I'm thankful for today, given my earlier posts. That's all I have to say. :)

This refers to my candidate choice winning the US Presidential election. :)

November 8th: I am thankful that Glee is back after being away for a month. I've been going through withdrawal...

Glee was getting annoying for a while, but now with a new crop of students and getting to see what former students are doing nowadays, it's getting more interesting and I'm enjoying it again. I like the character of Marley. She's very down-to-earth and a great singer. I also am enjoying the eye candy that Rachel is hanging out with (and I don't mean Kurt)!

November 9th: I'm thankful it's Friday and I know that's sounds cliche, but it's been a LONG week!

The week just seemed to drag and it was also intense towards the beginning with all the election stuff. Then there was the post-election upheaval of negativity against our current and still future President. It was enough to make me physically ill at times. Plus, my four year-old son broke our piano, I found a roaster chicken in my trunk on Thursday that should have gone into the freezer on Sunday and I managed to burn a kugel the night before. The same four year-old who broke the piano has been having tantrums galore. So I told my husband to put a bottle of wine in the fridge to chill in time for Shabbos, which is also a mad rush now that it starts before 5 pm.

November 10th: I'm thankful that I got a nap in today, even though Shabbat was short. :)

It made the day go much faster, even though I lost track of time and almost made my husband late to mincha.

November 11th: I am thankful to everyone who has fought to protect our country. I've heard about all the horrible things that veterans go through physically and emotionally and it's truly heartbreaking. If you want a fictionalized account of some real situations, check out Home Front by Kristin Hannah.

Kristin Hannah's novel really opened my eyes up to what veterans go through. Here's my review of Home Front along with links to help veterans.

November 12th: Thankful, as always, for all the readers and authors I've met since I started Chick Lit Central in 2010. We have such a great community and I've made some wonderful new friends as a result!

It's been an amazing two and a half years. We reached 900 followers recently and also got to be one of the hosts for International Chick Lit Month. I've connected with some new authors this year and got to review some incredible novels. The highlight was having Jennifer Weiner call me by name in front of everyone at Sixth and I Synagogue in July (where she had her book signing). At that same event, I found out that a girl from my community has the same taste in books and we've become better friends since then (instead of just people who say hi in passing.)

November 13th: Thankful that I know some shortcuts to get around annoying, rainy-day traffic. (Just wish I could teleport to work on days like this!)

November 14th: I'm thankful for the amazing advances in technology that have allowed my children to hear so well.

My son is having a great year in school so far and my daughter is starting to talk more. I can even understand some of what she says!

November 15th: Thankful that our closest friends living in Israel are okay.

Lots of awful stuff going on in Israel right now in regards to Gaza. I'm not going to say anything more as I have trouble explaining all of it and don't like getting political on my blog (and I know I will if I continue). I just hope friends and extended family in Israel will always be safe and that Israel as a whole will be protected from future violence.

November 16th: I'm thankful for having such wonderful friends. Some I've known for many, many years and some I just met over the past few years.

Friendship is so important to me! If you've been wonderful enough to still be a part of my life at this point in time, then you're one of the friends I am thankful to have!

November 17th: Thankful for Big Bang Theory marathons.

I talked about how much I love BBT a while ago and since then, Mayim Bialik started appearing on the show as Amy Farrah Fowler, exponentially increasing the laughs! At the point where I said this, we had one episode left of season four.

November 18th: Thankful that Micah slept in his bed all night because we got to bed super late from watching BBT marathon.

He's been having sleeping issues involving fear of monsters. He said they were in his mirror, so I covered it with a sheet and that seemed to help.

November 19th: Thankful that close friends of ours brought a baby boy into the world yesterday and we can't wait to meet him!

Our community is rather prolific and we have some great friends here who have had babies recently. However, we were extra excited over the birth of this little guy, as these friends are like family to us.

November 20th: Thankful to my mother-in-law, who brought the most amazing man into the world 35 years ago today!

I even got to take my husband out (without the kids) to celebrate. :) And I actually get along really well with my mother-in-law, which is a rarity in this day and age. :)

November 21st: I am thankful for the safety and freedom we take for granted by living in the USA. My heart goes out to everyone living in Israel, especially the targeted areas. Praying for peace...

November 22nd: Thankful for my wonderful husband and three amazing children.

November 23rd: Thankful that we get to spend Shabbos with my brother-in-law and his family.

It was a long weekend and having my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews here made it go by fast. It was nice spending time with everyone. I was also glad that they liked the food since my sister-in-law is an amazing cook. The compliments over our meal meant a lot coming from them. They even liked the pie referenced on my post for 11/24. My BIL and his family are more observant than we are. We've learned a lot from them without feeling pressured to do more than we're comfortable with. I go to my BIL all the time for questions about Judaism that I don't have answers to. 

November 24th: Thankful that my apple pie was a hit, even though it didn't look that pretty.

After I posted this, I got all these comments on Facebook that were trying to be metaphorical for human beauty. I know beauty is found from within, but aren't I allowed to have presentable looking food? Not like I'm entering a pie baking contest, but still.... 

November 25th: Thankful that I will get out of the house for a while today. Aside from going to shul yesterday, I've been indoors the whole weekend.

This is a fact. I spent most of the weekend cooking or entertaining the kids. I left the house for two minutes to bring a Thanksgiving meal to our friends who had the baby. Then I stayed in all of Friday and only went out to go to shul on Saturday. Sunday was busy, as we had our friends' son's bris in the morning and then went to see Wreck It Ralph, which was so clever and entertaining.

November 26th: Thankful that I work for an organization that not only sends monetary support to Israel, but that our CEO visits to give comfort and support during one of the worst weeks they've ever experienced.

November 27th: Thankful that not EVERY radio station is playing Christmas music so I can still enjoy commercial-free country Tuesday on my local country station. :)

What can I say? I like country music! They do play some Christmas songs on that station, but only maybe once during my drive to work. There's only one station that is playing Christmas music 24/7 and I skip it. I hope the other stations stick to their normal repertoire.

November 28th: Thankful that my daughter is not only 21 months old today, but also really communicating with us now! We can understand what she says too!

She's been singing the songs she learns at school and I actually can hear most of the words. She also asks for what she wants and points to things and says what they are. She's come such a far way with speech therapy and I'm so proud of her!

November 29th: Thankful for the woman who gave me life.

This was in honor of my mom's birthday. Despite how we don't always see eye-to-eye, she's a fabulous mom and I love her. We do have a lot of things to bond over and she's a terrific grandma to my kids.

November 30th: I am thankful to Hashem for giving me all these reasons (and more) to be thankful for everything else.

Enough said.

Hope you find something to be thankful for every day. This was definitely a challenging exercise at times, but put things in perspective too.

Tribute to my BFF on her (almost) birthday

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for over a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, Froggie picked the topic:  We're going freestyle. Everyone gets to choose what they want to write about. 

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock


I warned Froggie that picking a topic like this would be dangerous, given how much I love to write and tend to ramble on and on....

I have to "out" Froggie a bit today, since it's the eve of her birthday and when we do Jewish holidays, we always start the night before. So tonight will be Erev Froggie's birthday! I've decided to dedicate this post to her as she is my BFF, after all. :)

We met over 25 years ago at Banner Day Camp. We were in the same group since they were separated by grades. Since she and I were both going into sixth grade, we were placed together. There were a couple of sixth grade girl's groups, so we got lucky. We didn't really talk right away other than maybe to exchange the usual pleasantries. One day, however, she approached me to ask about what it was like to have braces. After the ice was broken, we got started talking and couldn't stop. I invited her to my birthday party that summer and she got me the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop 2 because it had "I Want Your Sex" by George Michael and that was such a taboo (meaning "funny" to sixth grade girls) song at the time.

When camp ended, we exchanged addresses and sent each other letters. For some reason, neither of us thought to pick up the phone until sometime that winter. Then we made plans to meet up at Deerbrook mall (I don't even know if that's even a valid mall anymore) and hang out for a while. I remember buying a Belinda Carlisle record at Flip Side that day. After that, we'd meet up on Saturdays when her mom got her hair done at a salon in Buffalo Grove. We'd get lunch at Wiener Take All and walk around the shops nearby. Sometimes we'd do sleepovers at each other's houses. She really saved my sanity in sixth grade, when I was dealing with bullies and just hating junior high. (I didn't even like the "friends" I had there.)

The summer between sixth and seventh grade, we went to an overnight theater camp. However, we weren't big fans of the girls in our bunk. At least we had each other. Needless to say, neither of us went back the following year. I went to her Bat Mitzvah that winter (and she went to mine the following summer). We still had our weekend get togethers, as usual. Our parents became friends during all this time, as well. Unfortunately, her father passed away a few months shy of her 14th birthday. I went to his funeral and spent time with her at his shiva. It was heartbreaking to see how sad she was when he was buried.

Every spring, there would be a carnival from Indian Princesses during a three-day weekend. She would stay over and we'd go to the carnival and then spend the next day at the mall. When I stayed at her place, we'd walk to Edens Plaza. I remember her mom taking us to Golf Mill one time to get us "Best Friend" necklaces that split apart, so that we'd each have a half. Then came New Kids on the Block. We were both big fans and listened to their music together all the time. We went to the concert in the winter of 1989, along with my sister. Her mom got to be the "lucky" chaperone.

While we always went to different schools, we still made time to get together, chat by phone, etc. High school was a blur, but I know we would still see each other whenever possible. Once we started driving, it was a lot easier to meet up. Then came moving day. My BFF moved to Texas the summer we graduated from high school. I was going to college in the fall anyway, so it's not like I would see her much. Upon starting school, we both got e-mail accounts and were soon writing all the time. I even went to visit her during spring break. She also came back to the Chicago suburbs for visits on occasion, as she still had family in the area. I visited her again in Texas one more time before she moved even further away....to Oregon. At that time, I had graduated college. We would call each other all the time to lament about our job searches. Eventually, I got to visit her in Oregon. She still teases me about my reaction to a sushi restaurant. We spent most of that visit just lazing around and watching TV, which is what I needed to some extent.

The following spring, she came back to Chicago for a visit and we had a blast hanging out. A group of us went to her favorite Chinese restaurant. She even got to meet "Will" and "Jack." She had such a good time that she decided to move back and was welcomed with open arms. We even worked together for a short period of time. We hung out a lot on weekends. I helped her look for an apartment and move in when she did (and luckily she found one not too far from me). I also went with her to adopt a cat. In turn, she introduced me to some friends who eventually led me to meet my husband and stood up in our wedding. I still love the speech she made at the reception. Around this same time, she would go to Makor Shabbat dinners with us in the city or she'd come to Shabbat dinners that we hosted at one of our apartments. I was thrilled that she got along with my husband, as that is so important to me.

The summer after my wedding, we had a falling out after a huge disagreement. (She did, however, come to my grandma's shiva.) The few months we weren't talking were really hard and I probably said things I regretted both to and about her. We eventually started talking again when we both had big things happening in our lives. We found out about them from other people though. I was actually upset that I didn't get to tell her about my pregnancy first. It was around the time I was starting to tell friends and she had to hear it from some gossipy people. However, it was an icebreaker and I'm thankful for that. I also didn't get to tell her directly when my son was born because a friend beat me to it. (I made sure she was the first friend to know about my other two pregnancies and births. Her reaction to my daughter's birth was priceless!) It took a while to break through the awkwardness, but we got back to a good place...perhaps an even better one. As I've learned from a story related to Hanukkah, sometimes things need to be broken in order to be better and stronger. We knew we couldn't be apart forever anyway.

However, shortly after my firstborn son turned one, my family (meaning my husband and son) and I moved to New Jersey. So Froggie and I were once again living in far apart states. I saw her whenever I was back in town for a visit. It took her five years to come visit us, but I'm glad she did when we were living in Maryland instead of in NJ. In the meantime, she also sent beautiful hand-knit blankets for my younger son and daughter after they were born. The kids know her as their "auntie" and my younger son even asks me to give him kisses like she does.

We've tried to introduce each other to our various passions. I took up knitting after she tried getting me to "drink the punch." I didn't stick with it for long though. She has yet to get me to do 5K runs, but she did teach me how to bake a pie from scratch when she came to visit. (Pie is the new cupcake after all!) I got her addicted to How I Met Your Mother and now we discuss it every week. More importantly, I got her more into reading. I know she's read books in the past, but not as much as she does now. It's fun when we can discuss books we've both read. It's like a whole new level of bonding. And then there's blogging. I'm glad she got me to participate in another blog project group after our first group went under.

There's a lot that has probably gone unsaid here, but if I said everything, I'd be here all day. All I know is that even though we are miles apart, it's like we're in the same room most of the time. We have lots of psychic moments too. It's hard to get us to stop talking once we get going. There's a book called MWF Seeking BFF, where a woman goes searching for a BFF in the town where she is currently living. She mentions having BFFs living far away but wants someone more local to connect with. However, I think that even if I have a lot of great friends where I currently live (as well as online), and have become really close with some women over the past few years, it's not the same. And even though the female friends I've connected with in high school, college, and  beyond are wonderful and I love them to pieces, we don't have the same history that I have with Froggie. She and I get each other's quirks and know each other's interests. We share a sense of humor and cry on each other's virtual shoulders. Not having her as part of my life is like not having one of my arms. She doesn't have any sisters, so I feel honored that she considers me to be a sister. I know we'll be close for a long time to come, as I always tell her about how we're going to be Golden Girls someday.

Join me in wishing Froggie a Happy Birthday and all the best in the year to come. She deserves it...especially for putting up with me all these years. ;)

That Friday song...or sale.

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for over a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, Mom of Many picked the topic: Share your thoughts on Black Friday. Love it or hate it, everyone has an opinion on it!

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

I don't like the Friday song by Rebecca Black. It's very monotonous and just goes to show that anyone can get their 15 minutes of fame.

Oh...that's not the Black Friday we're talking about?

BAZINGA!!!

Seriously, I only did Black Friday once. It was the year I first became a mom. I got up at THREE A.M. to go to Woodfield (in the Chicago suburbs) with my sister, a close friend and a couple of other women. It was freezing out that morning. While I got a lot of great deals, it got really crowded after a while. And I could have gotten similar deals at an outlet mall on a normal day. When I got back, I was all stressed and tired and had to go right back to my parenting duties (for a two month-old) and help my husband get ready for Shabbos, as we were hosting family friends.

Needless to say, it was the only time I ever did Black Friday. Nowadays, I think it's ridiculous how early they start it. Midnight?!? I recently saw a petition about Target taking people away from their family time to work Black Friday sales before Black Friday even starts. (I know they're doing this as I saw that my local Target opens at NINE P.M. on Thanksgiving itself.) There's so much consumerism and greed these days. While the sale prices can be nice and all, is it really worth fighting people in the malls while you could be spending quality time with loved ones? Why not just have the early sales online and have the in-store sales start at a reasonable hour?

I can't say I hate Black Friday because we have gotten good deals from it and we plan to purchase something special on sale for our kids. However, we'll be doing that online and not fighting the mall crowds. It's not like I even enjoy going to the mall anyway, given my thing against retail prices.

So much cooler online

As I was driving home from work the other night, I heard the song "Online" by Brad Paisley. This is the first time I ever recall hearing it, but I immediately thought "this is my new theme song!"

I have a confession to make. Like the chorus of the song says...I'm so much cooler online. It's like I have this other persona that takes over as soon as I log into Facebook. Like I could really start a book group and connect with authors if I had to do it all in person. (Not like it would even be that easy with everyone all over the place.) A few weeks ago, I went to visit the Hillel at a local university as part of a work seminar. For one of the activities, we all had to go around campus and engage students in conversation. It was like asking me to dive into the pool in swim class (which I managed to skip out on and never get caught). Thankfully, we got to partner up with someone and my partner was the ultimate guru when it comes to chatting up strangers. She even won us T-shirts, thanks to her conversational prowess. I tried to connect with people a few times, but felt so awkward! If I were to do a task like this online, I would have approached it the same way I just approach authors to do interviews at my blog. Piece. Of. Cake!

In general, I'm more self-conscious in front of people than I am online. If I were to approach a group of people, even those I know well, I wouldn't have much to say. I manage to let everyone else dominate the conversations. I also manage to hide behind my kids' clinginess at shul. If I'm watching over them, I have an excuse not to mingle. I will admit that I'm more comfortable approaching someone at shul than in a random public setting. I try to make new members feel welcome. However, trying to project my voice in a crowded and loud social hall takes a lot of effort.

I usually sound awkward when I talk, like I'm tripping over my words. I hate recording outgoing voice messages and even leaving messages for other people. I'm not a phone person either. I very much prefer being able to compose a message to someone and sound all witty and competent.

Then there's the matter of appearance. I rarely ever change my profile picture. I am lucky if I can find a relatively cute picture of myself to share on Facebook. Usually, I end up behind the camera more often than in front of it. My profile picture does not show how frizzy my hair can get or how hard it is to find an outfit that looks as nice on me as it does on the hanger.(And don't even get me started on finding a matching head covering on Shabbat.) As I'm writing this, I'm in a pair of pajama pants and my "Honey Badger" T-shirt that's bleached out on top. My complexion and weight could definitely use some work, as well.

I sing....like all the time. Well, not at work, but in the car, shower, while cooking, while putting the kids to bed, etc. I don't even know if I sound that great each time, but I sing to my heart's content. Lately, it has been Les Miz songs, in honor of the movie coming out soon.

Finally, I've mentioned this before and I'll say it again...I enjoy geek humor. That just says it all!

I still am me online. However, I'm just a cooler, more confident and even funnier version of myself. And cuter too. Let's not forget that!

I'll leave you with the video of the song that inspired this "confession." I love that Jason Alexander and some other actors from Seinfeld are in this. Maureen McCormick (a.k.a. Marcia Brady) and William Shatner also make appearances. And I could just watch Brad Paisley anytime. :) (Yes, that's another thing...I prefer guys like Brad Paisley over guys like Channing Tatum.)

Shopaholic Strikes Back

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, I picked the topic: What is your favorite and least favorite place to shop and why (for both)?

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

I thought the subject line would be a good title for another Sophie Kinsella novel. Maybe if she partnered with George Lucas...(or Disney these days).

Favorite:

When I first moved here, one of my friends kept telling me how I had to go to Value Village with her sometime. The first time I set foot in that store, I was blown away by the sheer magnitude of all the clothes, toys and books. It was before Halloween, so I stocked up on costumes for my kids to use for dress-up. Then I went back for their 50% off sale on Veteran's day and was in seventh heaven. The clothes are already marked down big time, so half off of that is practically a steal! I was able to put together my kids' wardrobes in no time! And pajamas too...don't even get me started. I don't believe in spending $12 on a pajama set when I can get it for $2 at Value Village! When I was pregnant with my daughter, I would get all my maternity clothes there. They had some cute and fashionable items. The best thing is that a lot of the clothing they sell is from popular retailers, such as New York and Company, Ann Taylor, The Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree, etc. Aside from the clothes, I've found some cool DVDs, such as boxed sets of Full House and My So-Called Life. I've also gotten tons of CDs to listen to in my car, including replacements for ones I had that were scratched up. And if I thought that my library's used bookstore was the best thing ever, the book prices at Value Village make that store look overpriced. I recently found Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer for $2.50...in HARDCOVER! It's a relatively new book too. With Value Village, I never know what I'm going to find each time...it's like going on a treasure hunt! I've also been spoiled against paying retail prices, rendering trips to the mall as pointless. Value Village is part of a thrift chain called Unique. They are set up the same way. Unique is closer to my office, so I go there on special sale days or if I need to stock up on clothes.

Least favorite:

You'd think that someone like me would instantly shun Home Depot because I've always hated hardware stores. As a kid, I thought they were boring, but I don't mind them now because I can easily get in and out with just what I need and nothing more. I only wish that were the case with Bed, Bath and Beyond. I have major problems with going to B3. It's just too overwhelming and I know that once I'm sucked into their vortex, I won't be able to leave without spending a ridiculous amount of money. To me, B3 is like a casino in Las Vegas. There are no windows, except in the front. There are no clocks, or at least none that I can recall. And the smells of candles and fresh linen are pumped through the air at regular intervals. Then there are the weekly 20% off coupon mailings. It's like those guys in Vegas who slap their hand to grab your attention and then give you a pamphlet advertising prostitutes. The coupons don't really do much since they're for one item and if it's not a crazy expensive item, you may just get a dollar off if you're lucky. There's one item I usually need, which is a plastic tablecloth cover. However, those are not sold at their online store and that forces me to go to the store as a result. It's like they know the one way to lure me into their clutches! And I have to go halfway around the store before finding the item. So I pass all the cooking utensils and question whether I need any of them, lest my cooking become a disaster otherwise. And then there are the other clearance racks around the store, selling all sorts of interesting items. As I make my way toward the front of the store, they have DVDs and other gift items. Finally, there will be items displayed to catch my eye as I'm checking out, making me wonder if I should be getting those, as well. I leave the store in the throes of a panic attack, wondering if I even got what I came there for and if I potentially missed out on some great deal that will never come around again. Now you can see how B3 is torturous to someone who is spoiled against retail prices...

Toe pick!

Every time I think about ice skating, I think of Moira Kelly saying "toe pick" in The Cutting Edge. Yesterday was no exception. I visited our local ice skating rink for the first time since we moved here. Really though, I wouldn't have a reason to go there before, as I can't ice skate to save my life. I tried back in college and failed ever-so-miserably. I don't have the ankle strength to support myself on ice skates. I felt bad not being able to help my son today when he went skating at a friend's birthday party. However, I was so proud to see how determined he was to figure it out. He got help from a friend of ours (the father of the birthday boy), which I totally appreciated. Then he grabbed onto the side and kept moving. Eventually, he decided to move away from the wall, but kept the distance short.

Watching my son made me think of all the times I would go roller skating as a kid. I used to love roller skating! At first, it was as scary to me as ice skating. However, there's more of a balance with four wheels set two in a row than one long blade. I eventually got the hang of it, and stopped hanging on to other people for dear life. Once I got going on my own, I didn't want to stop. I used to go to a rink called Village Skate out in Mundelein, Illinois. This was way before it became all sketchy. On Tuesday nights, I think they had a special deal going on. I was there almost every Tuesday night for that reason. They would turn down the lights, put on the disco ball, get out the fog machine and play music videos. I could have skated for hours. It was so relaxing. 

When I was in college, I tried to roller skate again. However, just like with hula hooping, I completely lost the skill. I was volunteering at a Boys and Girls Club event out by my school. They were having a roller skating night in a gymnasium. I tried to hold my own for a while, but I didn't possess nearly half the grace I did as a kid. I managed to fall right on my back and ended up sore for a while after that. It was the last time I ever roller skated and I can't even fathom trying it now. I think I'll just live vicariously through my kids, especially since my son wants ice skating lessons now....

Letting go of the wall...

Kiss on my list

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, Moma Rock picked the topic: On an episode of Friends, Ross creates a laminated top five list of hot celebrities he'd canoodle with, if ever given the chance. Who would be on your laminated top five list?

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

I have always had crushes on celebrities. When I was younger, I longed for Michael J. Fox and Patrick Swayze. Later it was John Stamos and Luke Perry during my high school years and then David Duchovny when I was in college. Eventually, I reached my Adam Lambert phase. Nowadays, if I were to make a list, the following individuals would be on it. However, knowing how my tastes change over time, I don't know that I could laminate it. That would make things too final. Also, I think the farthest I'd go with canoodling would be a make-out session. Regardless of how hot someone is, I couldn't give them the same sort of "attention" I give to my husband.

Jason Segel: My crush on him came from watching How I Met Your Mother and I think it's more because he reminds me of my husband. I could see myself just hanging out with him and having a fun time though. I love to laugh and I know the humor would be guaranteed.

Matt Lanter: He's just incredibly hot. He doesn't even have to talk. I wouldn't mind the kind of making out I've seen him capable of on 90210. And he has such a great speaking voice...all deep and intense. He's definitely been on my list ever since he first appeared on the show.

Dean Geyer: He is one of the new guys on Glee, playing a potential love interest for Rachel. He makes Finn seem even more dull in comparison. Not only is he charmingly sexy, but he can also carry a tune.

Reid Scott: He played Brendan on the show My Boys and was such eye candy. I don't know what PJ saw so attractive about Bobby with Brendan around. I know he was on Veep this past summer and I still need to see that show. I also found out his birthday is the day before my husband's...same year too. How funny is that? He just has this laid back look to him and I love his smile.

Jamie Cullum: I think it's his Harry Connick Jr. appeal (speaking of....I also think HCJ is sexy). He has such an amazing voice that it just sends tingles down my spine. He could seduce me just by singing!

There are other celebrities that probably could have made this list, but things can always change in a year or so. Maybe it won't be laminated as much as covered in a sheet of contact paper that is easily replaceable....

The elephant and donkey in the room

Whenever there’s a talent contest that accumulates in one person taking the title, I am usually filled with nervous energy and anticipation in the final moments before the ultimate winner is announced. My heart beats really fast, my palms sweat, I am on the edge of my seat. I felt this way especially during the Legally Blonde auditions on MTV, the American Idol finals with Adam Lambert and season two of The Glee Project. I also anticipate feeling this way on Election day, when the fate of the country will once again be decided by who is elected as President.

I'm not a political person at all whatsoever. It's even surprising to me that I chose to live by the most political city in the US, leaving behind a lifestyle of seeing Broadway shows. I only really know what I hear from other people, in news articles and in campaign ads. I didn't watch any of the debates, as I had the Cliff Notes version through Facebook. I don’t air my political views on social media sites. I think the most I did on Facebook was mention the PBS issue. (Sorry, but I have kids!) I think that based on a recent blog project post I did about which President I’d want to meet, it’s pretty clear who I am voting for. Having said that, I am not going to comment on your Facebook page if you are voting for the other candidate. I don’t see the need to slam them to your face (…book friends). If you are supporting my candidate choice or mentioning distaste for their opponent, you’ll get a “like” from me and possibly a supportive comment. However, I’m NOT telling you who to vote for. I don’t know everyone’s political views, nor do I ask unless I feel it’s important for further discussions or so that I don’t offend them.

I realized recently that I never discussed politics with my husband, nor did I even ask him who he was voting for. I was hoping that we would agree since we’re so alike in so many ways, and was both relieved and thrilled when he blatantly announced the views that were so aligned with mine. I do have to wonder what it’s like in homes where couples disagree politically. Do they talk about their reasons? Or is it that elephant in the room (pardon the political pun)? Has a relationship or a friendship ever been affected by opposing political viewpoints? Lisa Ling asked a similar question on Facebook recently.

With all the back and forth campaigning going on, I feel like the girl in this video. I will admit I love the ads that support my candidate choice. However, the ads supporting the other candidate make me grit my teeth and want to smack someone. I get so annoyed by them! I won’t give details as I don’t want to start debates, but they just eat at me. Then there are all the back and forth ads about senators, governors, mayors, etc. (I don't even know which is which. Sad, huh?) There are also the ads about certain laws that we need to vote on.

This election feels more intense than past elections. Maybe it's because I live so close to where all the action is this time. Even so, it feels like the candidates are so completely different and there are so many people voting on either side, it could be a tight race. I know I’ll be biting my nails with fervor until the results are announced. And I will be up front right now that if the other candidate wins, I will be a grumpy girl the next day. However, if my candidate wins, I’ll bring treats in to work to celebrate!

I strongly encourage everyone to vote if you live in the United States and are eligible. This is a huge election and every vote counts! (Of course, if you're voting for my candidate, I EXTRA strongly encourage you....)

Flair for the hair

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, Froggie picked the topic: Tell us about the fashion trend, or trends, you'd like to see make a comeback.

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

I've never really kept up with the latest fashions, as it is, so I didn't know how I'd even approach this topic. The one thing that kept coming back to me was hair accessories. Here are a few I'd like to see make a comeback....

Ribbon barrettes:
I know they're more for kids, but I'd love for them to be around when my daughter has longer hair. I think she'd look so cute in the ribbon barrettes I wore as a child. They were just multicolored ribbons weaved around a flat barrette with dangling ribbons at the end. I know I've shared this picture before, but it best illustrates what I'm talking about.

Banana clips: 
When I had longer hair in my youth, I loved banana clips because I had unruly layers and they pulled everything together into a nice ponytail. While I can't find any pictures to illustrate this concept, just take my word for it. They looked like the shape of a banana and had comb pieces spread apart on each side. The sides would come together to gather all the hair and then you'd clip it on top. Voila!

Scrunchies:
There's an episode of Sex and the City where Carrie gives Berger grief about having his main character wear a scrunchy in his story. Apparently, scrunchies went out of style a while back. They were basically ponytail accessories. Something to add color in your hair. I had lots of scrunchies during my college years and I'd coordinate them with my clothes, giving me an excuse to wear lots of ponytails. When I worked at the evil pancake empire, I wore them all the time, changing the colors every day to add variety. I even had one to wear on Independence Day. If scrunchies came back in style, I would totally let my hair get long again.

Nowadays, I'll wear a scarf as a headband (or as a head covering on Shabbat). That's about as stylish as I get with accessorizing my hair. I can't wait for my daughter to wear some fun accessories in her hair. Right now, she has a headband that holds her cochlear implant in place, but when she's able to wear them over her ears (like my son does), I'm going to go to town buying barrettes, headbands, ponytail holders, etc. I'm all about hair accessories!

The best show I never saw

Right before my wedding, my friend "Jack" came to town to share in my celebration. He arrived a few days earlier to hang out and also visit other friends. The night we hung out, part of it was spent in my car (not doing anything, obviously....he's gay), listening to the soundtrack for The Last Five Years. He even gave it to me as a gift (not for my wedding, given the subject matter, but because he loved it so much and we always would bond over musicals in the past). Little did he know, without me even seeing the show in the eight and a half years since I first heard the music, it also has become a favorite of mine.

I'm used to hearing the music of a show before seeing it, but most of the time I will eventually see the show. That has yet to happen in this case. The show and I just keep missing each other. The timing never works out right. Still, I follow the stories of Cathy and Jamie (a guy, in this case) like I know them personally....

Spoilers ahead....
Jamie is Jewish and has met his dream girl, a "Shiksa Goddess" named Cathy. Jamie is an aspiring writer who soon gets a book deal. Cathy, in the meantime, wants to be an actress and deals with grueling auditions and traveling to small towns for summer productions. Their story is told in two directions. Jamie starts at the beginning of their relationship, showing all the hope and romance. Cathy starts at the end of their relationship, still hurting from its demise. Their stories meet in the middle, when Jamie asks Cathy to share "The Next Ten Minutes" with him and proposes to her. Then we see him trying to resist the advances of other women while convincing himself that only "In a Perfect World," it would just be Cathy and himself and he wouldn't have to explain to other women that he's married or explain to Cathy that he's not flirting with or staring at anyone else. In the meantime, Cathy is reversing through the story, talking about a rather frustrating audition as she's "Climbing Uphill." We hear more about her relationship goals and how she can do better than that of her friend who got knocked up before graduation. At the end of Jamie's story, we find him in bed with another woman and blaming Cathy for ruining his happiness with this new flame. Eventually, he realizes he could never rescue Cathy and says goodbye for good, while Cathy has just had the perfect first date with Jamie and is saying "Goodbye Until Tomorrow."

The original cast of this show was Norbert Leo Butz, who also played Fiyero in Wicked, and Sherie Rene Scott, who played Amneris in Aida. Their voices are both great for their roles. Norbert knows how to play Jamie's voice to sound both sweet and arrogant at various times throughout the story. I don't know whether to love him or hate him. And Sherie plays Cathy with such beautiful vulnerability that I cry even during her upbeat songs. My favorite of her songs is "A Part of That." She talks about how frustrating it is when Jamie goes off into his own little world, but when he comes back down to earth and smiles at her, she knows she's had something to do with that smile. It was written by Jason Robert Brown, who also wrote the music and lyrics for Parade (never saw that or heard the music, but I'm sure it's great if TLFY is any indication of his style).

I don't know what it is about this show that draws me in every time I hear the soundtrack. Maybe it's the style of the music, where the singers don't need a huge orchestra to back them up. Maybe it's the pace of the story, since the characters switch places in time and yet we go back and forth between them and they have very little interaction with each other. Maybe it's the emotional quality of the story, where you're witnessing the hope that goes into a new relationship and are sad at the same time that it has ended. I think of how exciting and romantic things felt around and after I got married and it makes me sad to think that Jamie was all focused on other girls wanting his attention as soon as he got married. Meanwhile, Cathy was at a bookstore in Kentucky and supporting Jamie by purchasing his novel in front of another guy who was trying to hit on her.

Whatever it is, I hope I do get to see it performed live someday. I think it will be the ultimate catharsis for me and almost more powerful than seeing Rent, in some ways.

A word from our sponsor

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, Mom of Many picked the topic: What is your favorite commercial and why? (If you like more than one, that's ok.)

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

I watch a lot of TV, but commercials don't stick with me all that often. Either we skip through them when we can, or I focus on checking e-mails or talking with whomever is in the room. Having said that, there are a few that stick out and I want to share some of those today.

Last year, when one of my close friends came over to watch Glee, we kept seeing this funny commercial for Velveeta cheesy skillets. After that, we kept saying "liquid gold" all the time. This commercial will always make me think of her, even though she lives far away now.



This one is even funnier, after watching the one above.

A while back, I saw this commercial about a monkey with a cold and couldn't stop laughing at how cute the monkey was. My husband teased me about my weird sense of humor and then kept pretending to be the monkey.



Most Super Bowl commercials are entertaining. I don't even watch the actual game, as I care more about what funny ads companies will come up with. Here's a great one from this past year, since I love M&M's and all. Who knew that the red M&M would have predicted Gangnam style dancing!



The "Dear Sophie" ad for Google. It makes me think of how fast my kids are growing and how I wish I did something clever like this. (I do keep lists of their quotes in a private blog for family and very close family friends.) I dare you to watch this commercial and not cry!



This is an oldie, but goodie. I loved this commercial when it came out in the winter of 1998 and I went and bought a performance fleece shirt as a result. I used to think the guy on the chair lift was hot. It's funny watching it now because it seems so cheesy. Still, anything with Carrie Donovan and her dog, Magic, is way better than today's Old Navy ads!



There you have it. I'd love to hear what your all-time favorite commercials are!

On the sunny side of the street

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, I picked the topic: Share your favorite memories of Sesame Street or talk about the role it has played in your life.

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

My kids don't believe me when I tell them there was life on Sesame Street before Elmo became the big star and Snuffleupagus used to be invisible to everyone except Big Bird. I remember bits and pieces of the show before I was old enough to outgrow it. After that, I would catch episodes when I babysat and then eventually when my kids were big enough to understand it (of course, it was all about Elmo by then, and they got caught up in the Elmo's World craze).

I remember coming home from preschool and hanging out with two friends at one of their houses to watch Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood after that. I can't really tell you much of what happened on the show back in the day, as a lot of it was a blur. I'll share what I do remember though:

*The Beetles singing "Letter B" as a parody of "Let it Be."

*The magician who said "A la peanut butter and jelly sandwich"

*Ernie playing this game with Burt where he'd start with "I ONE the sandbox" and they'd work their way up to EIGHT, which obviously sounds like ATE. Ernie would give Burt a hard time about it. I found it hilarious and have since taught it to my kids.

*The pinball machine that does a song about numbers.

*Always finding the Count to be scary because I had a fear of vampires as a kid. Sorry, Count!

*Not liking Maria much, as I thought she was condescending to Big Bird. I picked up on that as a kid, for some reason. I liked Susan and Gordon though.

*"Sing. Sing a song..."

*Learning that AGUA means water in Spanish, but I always thought they said AQUA.

*Super Grover!

*"C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me!"

*Kermit occasionally making an appearance.

*When the theme song/intro had kids playing in a park.

When I was in Sunday school, we did a unit on death and they let us watch the episode where Mr. Hooper dies. I had to go someplace with my family and thus left early, so I didn't see all that happened. Maybe I would have been better at dealing with some people's deaths in my teen years if I had. Sesame Street knows just the right way to explain these issues to kids and handle them sensitively. I still have trouble talking about death and tend to handle it the Claire Dunphy way (from Modern Family) sometimes.

As I became a teenager, one of my friends and I would have weird inside jokes about Sesame Street. Don't even ask. We'd access our memories to find all these things to laugh about.  During creative writing class my senior year of high school, some other friends and I wrote a parody and called it "Sesame's Bad Seeds." It really only made sense to us and we were laughing so hard while writing it. Mad TV had some great parodies, as well (the one about the Internet is hilarious), but don't show them to your kids!

When I was in college, Tickle Me Elmo first became a huge fad. I remember seeing it at the toy store and joking about buying it. I probably should have and then sold it because it was in such high demand. I could have covered a year's tuition! (Well, I don't think it would have sold for that much, but people were so obsessed with getting it for their kids. I'm sure most are buried in the backs of closets now or were donated to thrift stores a long time ago.)

Watching Sesame Street as an adult gives a whole new perspective. I have seen it evolve from the 1970's style to have a more modern feel. The monsters have cell phones and use the Internet. The coolest celebrities   hang out with them on the street. They do song parodies with some modern stuff. (I saw one with Elmo and Katy Perry singing about hot and cold in terms of weather, as a parody of her hit song.) There are new characters developed for a new audience of viewers.

A few years ago, I got an old school Sesame Street DVD at the library for my older son. (He was about two years old at the time.) It was weird to watch, as it was from even before my time. Big Bird didn't have feathers on the top of his head and looked freaky that way. Like his head had shrunk. Oscar was orange! It didn't really bring back memories for me anyway.

Aside from the sandbox joke, a long time ago, I heard a clever little Sesame Street joke. It goes:

"Want some ice cream, Ernie?"
"Sure, Bert!" 

Think about it.... :)
I told the joke to some little girls who are family friends with "Will." This was back when they were about my kids' age in the late 90s. They loved it and kept saying it all night long. Nowadays, my boys love this joke and tell it all the time, adding Ernie's laugh at the end for a special effect.

Last summer, we went to Sesame Place for the first time. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast. I loved how the carousel horses looked like characters from the show instead of regular horses. They also had a studio where you could watch Elmo's World live. The kids have been asking to go back there, so hopefully we will at some point.

Last fall, we went to a special program at the Maryland Science Center that was all about Shalom Sesame, the Israeli version of Sesame Street. Even that show has evolved a lot, with new actors and characters. They have some classics, but compared to the Shalom Sesame from my youth, it's definitely way more modern! It's still cute and the kids get a kick out of it. I like their version of Abby Cadaby, appropriately named Avigayil. She's the cutest little monster ever! (Sorry, Elmo!)

I have a feeling that Sesame Street will continue to evolve with our ever-changing times. I just hope they continue to maintain their innocence and also keep up with relevant issues. I don't watch it enough to know what goes on now, but it would be a good place to start addressing issues such as bullying, discrimination, etc. I'd even love for there to be a muppet with cochlear implants. Even though my older son is outgrowing the show, I'm sure my daughter would appreciate it! I just hope it will be around for when I someday have grandchildren. Then I can tell them what it was like back in my day.

Fluffy Camden

I've been blogging with three fabulous women for a year and a half now and have been enjoying all the fun topics we come up with week after week. If you want to see what we've discussed in the past, check out our posts here.

This week, Moma Rock picked the topic: We've all heard of creating your own "stripper name" based on this equation: Your first pet= first name. Street you grew up on= last name. What is your stripper name? And, tell us about that first pet and the street you grew up on that inspired your name.

Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock

My stripper name is Fluffy Camden, as stated in my subject line.

Fluffy:

When my parents were in the early stages of their relationship (can’t remember if they had just gotten married or were newly engaged), my paternal grandfather, Papa Morrie, gave them a dog. He actually rescued the dog from being hit by a car. She looked like she was mistreated. Eventually, the dog’s owner came after him and they fought over the dog in court. I think the owner just gave up after a while, so my parents got to keep her. She was a West Highland Terrier and they named her Fluffy. I came along a couple of years later, after she was already established in the family. We bonded right away, as she was a sweet dog and not jealous at all. Really, she was always very easygoing, from what I remember.

When I was seven years old, Fluffy was already 13 and her age was showing. She was starting to deteriorate. As kids, we liked to celebrate Christmas because our non-Jewish cousins did. So our parents would leave us presents to find on Christmas morning. This particular Christmas morning, in 1983, I had come downstairs to find my gift and was all excited to show it to Fluffy. However, I found her laying very still on the carpet followed by a trail of excrement. I thought she was sleeping, so I screamed at her to wake up. My sister eventually joined me in the screaming ritual until our parents got up and figured out what had happened. I still didn’t really understand death at the time, even though my maternal grandfather had passed away that previous spring. To me, Fluffy was just sleeping and didn’t wake up. I’m sure my sister, at age four, was even more confused. Since Fluffy’s passing, we’ve had many other dogs, as well as some cats. However, she’s known for probably being the least insane of all the dogs (and some of the cats). Whenever I see a Westie, I always think of her.

With Fluffy when I was a baby

Camden:

The first home I truly remember was at the corner of a cul-de-sac on Camden Court, in the subdivision of The Crossings, in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. We moved there when I was about two years old and had the home established by the time my sister arrived a year later.

What I remember most about living on Camden Court were the friends on my street. There was a group of us, at one point, that all hung out together. In the summer, we’d play on the swing set in my backyard or run around at night playing Ghosts in the Graveyard. On Halloween, we’d all go trick-or-treating together. We'd go to each other's birthday parties. Every summer, our street would have a block party, and when the kids got older, we’d put on talent shows.

On one side of our house, there were three girls, somewhat close in age to us, one in particular is S.G.. Two doors down on the other side was where one of my book blog partners, M.P. eventually lived for a while. Next to her house was another family with two girls around our age, B.A. and K.A. And next to them was a family with a girl a year younger than me, whom I was close with for a while, J.W. Two doors down from us in the other direction (next to S.G.'s house), there was a family with a guy around my age (J.S.) and his older sister, who dressed like Strawberry Shortcake for one of my birthday parties. After they moved, a family with kids my sisters' age and younger moved in. I would babysit the youngest of the three sometimes, after I was the right age for the job. There were a couple of other families with kids around our age, as well. Some eventually moved out of the neighborhood though.

J.W. and I used to hang out all the time and I always thought she was really nice. I think we even had the same middle name, which was just so cool to me at the time! Then she moved a couple of streets away. We didn't get to see each other as often after that. We’d eventually have classes together in high school and college and then run into each other at The Cubby Bear, finding out that we worked nearby each other. We reconnected on Facebook, as well. There was another family further down the street, whose house my sister and I would go to after school when we were still too young to be home alone. The mom was really nice and the daughter had the same first name as my sister (they were also close in age). We’d hang out in their family room watching Heathcliff cartoons and eating freshly baked cookies. I think they had step-brothers who would come to visit in the summer. They were both pretty cute and fun to hang out with, as well.

S.G.’s family, as well as B.A./K.A.’s family eventually moved out west. The year after they moved, M.P., her sister (A.S.) and I coordinated a block party talent show. We even made programs for it. It was a fun summer bonding with them over this endeavor. My sister even helped from time to time. The first half of the talent show involved cheerleading routines that A.S. taught us. Then we all did our talent acts. The finale was the lift from "Dirty Dancing" with A.S. playing "Johnny" and my sister playing "Baby."

The following year, a new family moved into B.A. and K.A.’s old house. They were considered “white trash” and some families wanted nothing to do with them. Then I went and befriended the girl who was closest to my age. She was nice though. Her brothers were nice too, when they weren’t getting into shouting matches that would send the police to their house. Still, our block wasn’t the same after that. We didn’t have block parties anymore and some of the younger kids put together this gossipy newsletter eventually.

Around the time I reconnected with M.P., I also found some other neighbors through her Facebook page. The first was S.G.. She was very friendly and remembered me right away. I asked her if she still was in touch with B.A. and K.A. and that’s when she delivered the blow….B.A. had been killed in a car accident a few years prior (as of now, it’s been 7 years). I hadn’t seen her since I was 12, so I had no frame of reference for her being an adult. To me, it was like losing a childhood friend all over again (the first time was when she moved and we didn’t stay in touch). I got insight to her life from M.P., but haven’t seen any pictures of her. She was 29 when she died; at the same time, I was still getting to know my newborn son. I still think of her a lot and wonder what she would be doing today, had she lived. Would we have reconnected and become friends again? I know her sister is on Facebook, but I haven’t tried to contact her. I don’t know what I’d even say to her. All I know from M.P. is that she named one of her kids after our street.

All in all, it was a cool street to live on. I spent my childhood, pre-teen and teen years there, before we moved out after I graduated from high school. (Some friends of ours live on a nearby street now, so it was strange to be back in the neighborhood, even just to visit them. At one point, we were a few feet away from my old house.) Since then, thanks to various moves, the street I live on here is the first street I truly feel at home on and it reminds me of my street growing up.

Courtesy of Google Maps ("A" is my old house)