I've decided to do a new blog theme called Funny Friday. It's basically stuff that I find funny and want to share my somewhat crazy humor with you.
5/27/11
"Let's Hear it for the Mall!"
**This contains a spoiler for an episode of "How I Met Your Mother" (season two), so don't proceed any further if you don't want to know.... **
This week, it's all about the mall...or at least the mall song from "How I Met Your Mother."
Only watch this video if you've seen the Slap-Bet episode from season two and know what I'm talking about or if you don't plan to watch the show anyway but still want to know what the heck I'm talking about. (If you didn't heed my spoiler alert and plan on watching the show someday, wait till you get to this episode and have watched it all the way through. Trust me on this.)
Anyway, I not only thought the song was hilariously cheesy and a throwback to "Saved by the Bell," but I loved that the writers created a history for Robin and went as far as making this video to put their point across. Sheer cleverness! The fact that Cobie Smulders agreed to perform this piece of work makes me love her even more. My husband and I still listen to this song all the time and will sing it at random times, as well.
Today, I was in the car on the way to work and was listening to a mix CD which included "Let's Hear it for the Boy" by Deniece Williams. When I heard the opening beats, I thought it was the mall song. Listen to how close they sound. I even told my husband about the similarity and he agreed. It was a funny way to start off my Friday morning.
5/31 update: You can watch the whole episode here!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Lady not-so-"Chat"terly
Remember the blog project I did last year with three other women? Well, Froggie decided to resurrect it with me and we each got to invite another friend to join us. She invited a mutual friend (someone I met through her) and I invited a friend whose blog I really enjoy reading. So now it's Froggie, Mom of Many, Moma Rock and Merrylandgirl. Hope you enjoy the topics that we'll be exploring!
This week, Moma Rock picked the topic: Describe a situation in your life which is totally normal for you, but others may view as strange, or weird, or different.
Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock
I was originally going to talk about how we don't shop or use technology, amongst other things, on Shabbat. Sure that is strange (foreign, really) to anyone who doesn't observe Shabbat. However, we're in a community where it is more common to observe Shabbat, so we still have a lot of support for what we do. I also can't see myself writing a whole blog about eating my Special K (Vanilla Almond) without milk, but with a cup of OJ or tea on the side. Nor could I fit my penchance for reading while working out (even on the treadmill) into more than a paragraph.
Instead, I realized that there's something I don't do that can be seen as a bit bizarre. Especially coming from someone like me. I'm always on the Internet for various reasons. I'm easiest to access through that medium. However, I don't "chat" online. I also don't do text messaging on my cell phone. (Well, it's an extra cost we don't need to spend, but I might not even do it if I had it anyway.) I love to e-mail and post notes on Facebook. That's something within my control, where I can go at my own pace. If I were to accidentally sign on to google chat or some other chat forum, I feel like I would be bombarded with chat requests. I actually panic and sign off right away when I discover that I was logged in to a chat server. I just know a lot of people who do like to chat and I would feel overwhelmed by how fast I had to respond to each person before they thought I was ignoring them. The blinking chat requests make me anxious.
In college, I did chat rooms all the time. It's how I met a really close friend of mine (whom I have yet to meet in person). In my single days after college, I used to be on AIM (Aol instant messenger) all the time. I'd never get any sleep because I'd be up until 2 a.m., based on how many people I was chatting with at the time. Nowadays, I like to go to bed at a reasonable time. If I were to go on chat, I feel like I'd be up all night. I also feel like it's a huge "time suck." Therefore, I avoid doing any form of chatting online. Recently, my BFF and I were e-mailing about this and she was teasing me in a friendly way over why I needed to do text messaging. I told her that I don't text for the same reason I don't do chats. It takes me forever to type on the phone anyway.
In the opposite scheme of things, I tend to find it strange when people aren't using the Internet at all. I'm less likely to be in touch with them, as a result. I'm not doing it to be mean, I'm just lazy about writing real letters and I don't like talking on the phone all that much. I tend to have trouble keeping a conversation going and try to cut it off early. I also tend to stretch this out to people who are online but don't use Facebook. I tend to be in contact with them a lot less than I am with my friends who are on Facebook. Again, just a laziness factor. I guess I don't like rehashing the same thing over and over. Oddly enough, I also get frustrated when people don't carry around a cell phone, especially if they're the ones I need to reach urgently! This stems from when I went to the mall (Woodfield in the Chicago suburbs, which is huge...) with a girl friend 10 years ago and she wandered off, and I had no way to reach her. I was calling another friend in a panic to see if she could think of places where this friend could disappear to in a large mall. I always carry around my cell phone or have some way to be reached (other than on Shabbat, except in emergencies of course). I use my phone mostly for functional reasons and to be accessible if needed. Very important as a parent. I have a basic phone without all the bells and whistles (yet another reason for people to think that I'm strange). In any case, you could have a "Zack Morris" phone for all I care, as long as I'm able to reach you if I absolutely need to. That's all I ask!
Next time you want to find me, e-mail is the best way...or Facebook, for that matter!
This week, Moma Rock picked the topic: Describe a situation in your life which is totally normal for you, but others may view as strange, or weird, or different.
Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock
I was originally going to talk about how we don't shop or use technology, amongst other things, on Shabbat. Sure that is strange (foreign, really) to anyone who doesn't observe Shabbat. However, we're in a community where it is more common to observe Shabbat, so we still have a lot of support for what we do. I also can't see myself writing a whole blog about eating my Special K (Vanilla Almond) without milk, but with a cup of OJ or tea on the side. Nor could I fit my penchance for reading while working out (even on the treadmill) into more than a paragraph.
Instead, I realized that there's something I don't do that can be seen as a bit bizarre. Especially coming from someone like me. I'm always on the Internet for various reasons. I'm easiest to access through that medium. However, I don't "chat" online. I also don't do text messaging on my cell phone. (Well, it's an extra cost we don't need to spend, but I might not even do it if I had it anyway.) I love to e-mail and post notes on Facebook. That's something within my control, where I can go at my own pace. If I were to accidentally sign on to google chat or some other chat forum, I feel like I would be bombarded with chat requests. I actually panic and sign off right away when I discover that I was logged in to a chat server. I just know a lot of people who do like to chat and I would feel overwhelmed by how fast I had to respond to each person before they thought I was ignoring them. The blinking chat requests make me anxious.
In college, I did chat rooms all the time. It's how I met a really close friend of mine (whom I have yet to meet in person). In my single days after college, I used to be on AIM (Aol instant messenger) all the time. I'd never get any sleep because I'd be up until 2 a.m., based on how many people I was chatting with at the time. Nowadays, I like to go to bed at a reasonable time. If I were to go on chat, I feel like I'd be up all night. I also feel like it's a huge "time suck." Therefore, I avoid doing any form of chatting online. Recently, my BFF and I were e-mailing about this and she was teasing me in a friendly way over why I needed to do text messaging. I told her that I don't text for the same reason I don't do chats. It takes me forever to type on the phone anyway.
In the opposite scheme of things, I tend to find it strange when people aren't using the Internet at all. I'm less likely to be in touch with them, as a result. I'm not doing it to be mean, I'm just lazy about writing real letters and I don't like talking on the phone all that much. I tend to have trouble keeping a conversation going and try to cut it off early. I also tend to stretch this out to people who are online but don't use Facebook. I tend to be in contact with them a lot less than I am with my friends who are on Facebook. Again, just a laziness factor. I guess I don't like rehashing the same thing over and over. Oddly enough, I also get frustrated when people don't carry around a cell phone, especially if they're the ones I need to reach urgently! This stems from when I went to the mall (Woodfield in the Chicago suburbs, which is huge...) with a girl friend 10 years ago and she wandered off, and I had no way to reach her. I was calling another friend in a panic to see if she could think of places where this friend could disappear to in a large mall. I always carry around my cell phone or have some way to be reached (other than on Shabbat, except in emergencies of course). I use my phone mostly for functional reasons and to be accessible if needed. Very important as a parent. I have a basic phone without all the bells and whistles (yet another reason for people to think that I'm strange). In any case, you could have a "Zack Morris" phone for all I care, as long as I'm able to reach you if I absolutely need to. That's all I ask!
Next time you want to find me, e-mail is the best way...or Facebook, for that matter!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Nostalgia strikes again!
Today's Daily Challenge sounded like fun:
Share 3 small things that made you happy when you were a child or teenager.
The first thing is playing Barbies with my sister. We would spend hours in our basement making up a little world for our Barbie and Ken dolls. Their lives became a TV drama of sorts (think "Desperate Housewives"). We had good and evil dolls. If a doll got ruined, they "died" and were buried in the garbage can. We had a hair salon where we would dye their hair with markers. The sink in our basement kitchenette was their jacuzzi tub. The jukebox became a dance club. We also liked to make clothes for them from material scraps we got from our mom's dressmaker. We had such a blast and would even forget to come upstairs for dinner.
Next is drawing. I loved to draw pictures of people at different locations. I had a big drawing pad on my desk and would draw all sorts of details on the large sheets of paper. I even would draw in my notebooks in school if I got bored. When I was in high school, a pen pal introduced me to abstract art. I started drawing different lines and shapes and then coloring them in. Was I good at it? Doubtful. However, I found it relaxing. I even liked coloring in coloring books as a teenager. I found that calming and enjoyable, as well.
Finally, I want to share my love for Disney movies. This is focused on the animated musicals from the early to mid-90's. It started with "The Little Mermaid." I saw it the summer before freshman year of high school. Then I brought the soundtrack with me to overnight camp and listened to it a lot. When I first saw "Beauty and the Beast" in the winter of 1991-1992, I fell in love with the story and music. I saw it twice more in the theater. I even bought a book of the music to learn for voice lessons. The same thing happened when "Aladdin" came out the following winter. Except instead of buying a music book, I choreographed a dance to "A Whole New World" (with a male partner, no less). When "The Lion King" came to theaters after I graduated high school, I couldn't get enough of it and saw it even more than the usual three times. I listened to the music all the time, as well. Encouraging my love for Disney was my cousin who worked for Disney records and gave me free soundtracks. I even made a whole mix tape for Homecoming week when the theme was Disney. I made myself a copy too so I could listen in my car. Disney movies and music definitely cured my teenage angst.
Nowadays, my older son likes to draw and both my sons like watching Disney movies. I just hope my daughter will enjoy playing with Barbies so that they all can carry on some things I enjoyed from my youth.
Share 3 small things that made you happy when you were a child or teenager.
The first thing is playing Barbies with my sister. We would spend hours in our basement making up a little world for our Barbie and Ken dolls. Their lives became a TV drama of sorts (think "Desperate Housewives"). We had good and evil dolls. If a doll got ruined, they "died" and were buried in the garbage can. We had a hair salon where we would dye their hair with markers. The sink in our basement kitchenette was their jacuzzi tub. The jukebox became a dance club. We also liked to make clothes for them from material scraps we got from our mom's dressmaker. We had such a blast and would even forget to come upstairs for dinner.
Next is drawing. I loved to draw pictures of people at different locations. I had a big drawing pad on my desk and would draw all sorts of details on the large sheets of paper. I even would draw in my notebooks in school if I got bored. When I was in high school, a pen pal introduced me to abstract art. I started drawing different lines and shapes and then coloring them in. Was I good at it? Doubtful. However, I found it relaxing. I even liked coloring in coloring books as a teenager. I found that calming and enjoyable, as well.
Finally, I want to share my love for Disney movies. This is focused on the animated musicals from the early to mid-90's. It started with "The Little Mermaid." I saw it the summer before freshman year of high school. Then I brought the soundtrack with me to overnight camp and listened to it a lot. When I first saw "Beauty and the Beast" in the winter of 1991-1992, I fell in love with the story and music. I saw it twice more in the theater. I even bought a book of the music to learn for voice lessons. The same thing happened when "Aladdin" came out the following winter. Except instead of buying a music book, I choreographed a dance to "A Whole New World" (with a male partner, no less). When "The Lion King" came to theaters after I graduated high school, I couldn't get enough of it and saw it even more than the usual three times. I listened to the music all the time, as well. Encouraging my love for Disney was my cousin who worked for Disney records and gave me free soundtracks. I even made a whole mix tape for Homecoming week when the theme was Disney. I made myself a copy too so I could listen in my car. Disney movies and music definitely cured my teenage angst.
Nowadays, my older son likes to draw and both my sons like watching Disney movies. I just hope my daughter will enjoy playing with Barbies so that they all can carry on some things I enjoyed from my youth.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Just like Sally....
Remember the blog project I did last year with three other women? Well, Froggie decided to resurrect it with me and we each got to invite another friend to join us. She invited a mutual friend (someone I met through her) and I invited a friend whose blog I really enjoy reading. So now it's Froggie, Mom of Many, Moma Rock and Merrylandgirl. Hope you enjoy the topics that we'll be exploring!
This week, Froggie picked the topic: In the Glee episode "Born This Way" the Glee Club is told to put a quality they see in themselves as a flaw on a t-shirt. This is done as a way for them to embrace this particular flaw. What I want to know is what would your t-shirt say?
(Side note: In our previous blog project, Froggie and I had to write about our flaws in a different way. This is what I wrote. However, I chose something completely different than anything in this previous post.)
This really says it all...
However, I will elaborate a bit. My shirt would say "Picky Eater." Around the time the t-shirt episode of "Glee" came on, I had read an article about how picky eating can be bad for one's health. However, they gave pretty extreme examples. I may be picky, but I hate to think that I was as bad as anyone in the article.
This week, Froggie picked the topic: In the Glee episode "Born This Way" the Glee Club is told to put a quality they see in themselves as a flaw on a t-shirt. This is done as a way for them to embrace this particular flaw. What I want to know is what would your t-shirt say?
(Side note: In our previous blog project, Froggie and I had to write about our flaws in a different way. This is what I wrote. However, I chose something completely different than anything in this previous post.)
Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
This really says it all...
However, I will elaborate a bit. My shirt would say "Picky Eater." Around the time the t-shirt episode of "Glee" came on, I had read an article about how picky eating can be bad for one's health. However, they gave pretty extreme examples. I may be picky, but I hate to think that I was as bad as anyone in the article.
I really started out quite open minded. Then I began to develop taste buds. :P I used to like apple juice, cheese (by itself), and scrambled eggs. After a while, I lost my taste for all three. I also found a lot of things to be completely gross. My mom tried to give me fish (she even disguised salmon as burgers, but the taste was "off"). I hated it and haven't been able to eat it since! My rule is that "if it lived in the sea, it won't go in me." I am anti-seafood altogether. The smell alone is enough to put me off of it. Last summer, I was eating chicken nuggets at shul and my husband told me they were actually fish. Aside from the fact that I was pregnant and already sick all the time, this was just the icing on the cake. I got that fish out of my body as fast as it went in. (And if he was lying to me, then some chicken nuggets went to waste...not that they wouldn't have anyway with how sick I was at the time.) I can tell this story but I get upset if my husband tells it for me. Same for if my parents tell about the time they tricked me into eating clam chowder. (They would so get in trouble for that one now, as clams aren't Kosher.) My husband also likes to tease me about my food-hate-trifecta of fish, peaches and raspberries. However, my picky eating habits extend well beyond those three items which I detest!
Other things I will not eat:
*Cheese, unless it is melted on something. Melted cheese, good. Cheese by itself, bad. I'm picky about what cheeses I'll eat. And cottage cheese is at the top of my forbidden list. Along with that, I don't drink milk or eat yogurt. So I get calcium from melted cheese, ice cream and orange juice infused with it.
*Fruits and veggies: Avocado, tomato, coconut, mushrooms, pears, plums, peaches, raspberries, cantaloupe, red grapes (i like 'em green), eggplant (thanks to pregnancy number one), broccoli (unless it's baked into something), peppers, pineapple, cherries (except in pie)
*Meats: Duck, lamb, veal
*Other things: Oatmeal (except in cookie form), sushi (even if not containing fish), Mexican food (except fajitas and those can only have meat and onions), anything spicy, chocolate covered nuts, beer, coffee, mustard (I know what "Will" has to say about this), mayo
My list was a lot longer in the past, but thanks to my job at the Chinese restaurant and my husband's wonderful cooking, I've become more open to trying new foods and eliminated a lot from my previous list of untouchable foods. Being a picky eater did make it easier to keep Kosher though! I never had to give up shellfish and pork products because I never liked them to begin with. Same goes for meat covered pizza (except the chicken pizzas at CPK).
I do worry about how I've passed on the picky gene to my older son and now I am playing sneaky chef so he'll get some veggies in his system. I feel bad that I have to do it at all, but I worry about his pickiness impacting his health. I'm even trying to give incentives for trying new foods and showing him how I try foods too.
Needless to say, if you ever see me ordering at a restaurant, you can just call me Sally, as I order the same way she does!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sign of the times (somewhat literally)
Last year, I did a blog project post about theme songs, in which I discussed "Right Back Where We Started From" by Maxine Nightingale. This afternoon, while getting ice cream, I heard that song. However, it had a different meaning for me this time around. That is because we had just received results from our daughter's ABR (a specialized hearing test). It turns out that just like her older brother, she also has hearing loss. We already started getting on the ball with taking the next steps. We had her fitted for ear molds so that she can get loaner hearing aids for the time being. We're also working on the steps for cochlear implant candidacy. This time around, it was not as difficult for me to digest the news. And I had a feeling of deja vu, based on what we went through with our older son. We also got him hearing aids right away and then started the speech therapy process. All of our hard work was well worth it, as we found out this morning at his IEP meeting. That was the first buffer for us. The next was the fact that we know so many people with hearing loss now. There are some great role models for her, including our son. Recently, I met a woman online who wrote a book about her own experiences with hearing loss and cochlear implants. I wish I had met her the first time around, but I'm glad I've been getting to know her now. It's nice to have insight about cochlear implants that my son is not able to provide just yet.
Hearing my "theme song" made me think of how we have to start the process of getting assistive devices, hearing tests and speech therapy all over again from the beginning. This time it won't be as scary though. We picked a great place to live with a huge support system, great school and one of the best cochlear implant surgeons in the country. She's very lucky to be born to us because we'll do whatever it takes to get her access to sounds and enable her to communicate. Some parents opt out of being involved with their kids' journey on this road. We are completely hands (and voices) on though.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
So much schmutz!
Remember the blog project I did last year with three other women? Well, Froggie decided to resurrect it with me and we each got to invite another friend to join us. She invited a mutual friend (someone I met through her) and I invited a friend whose blog I really enjoy reading. So now it's Froggie, Mom of Many, Moma Rock and Merrylandgirl. Hope you enjoy the topics that we'll be exploring!
This week, Mom of Many (MOM, oddly enough) picked the topic: With a nod to Mothers Day, what was the best advice you ever got from your mom?
This week, Mom of Many (MOM, oddly enough) picked the topic: With a nod to Mothers Day, what was the best advice you ever got from your mom?
Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
When I was living under my parents' roof, my mom had a famous saying: "Clean your room, the cleaning lady's coming." As a kid, I thought this phrase was ridiculous. Why should I have to do the cleaning lady's job? I later found out that my friends' moms also used this saying. I figured they must have picked it up in Jewish Mom 101. Then I moved out and didn't have the funds to justify hiring a cleaning lady to come over on a bi-weekly basis. When that finally changed, and I was able to have someone come on a monthly basis, I found myself repeating this famous saying to my kids.
The underlying message was that I should always try to keep and appreciate a clean home. I didn't think about this when my mom was vacuuming while I was watching my favorite TV show. Or when she'd chase me with a dust buster, Danny Tanner style. She would even fight with me about how I kept my apartment so darn messy! I was the one living there, not her. And I was neater than some people I knew.
I really do want my house to be clean. Somewhere between two boys and a new baby, a clean house no longer became a priority. Sure, we still have a cleaning lady over. However, the moment she leaves, one crumb can set off a whole domino effect. Last year, I tried this FlyLady program and it worked for a little while. Then I lost interest when I got pregnant and was too sick to expend much energy on cleaning. Our sitter would help straighten up from time to time, which I appreciated. There was a weekend this past winter that I cleaned the entire basement. Then my boys had friends over and my work was in vain. I gave up after that and put the onus on them to clean up after themselves and make their friends clean up too. It's still a disaster. I can't even look down there! My mom would be in that basement with a vacuum cleaner and boxes to organize things. She would never let my sister and I keep our basement that messy when we were kids. It's not that I don't care, I just don't have the patience to clean it right now.
This week, I decided to give my older son an allowance for helping me around the house. Our first task was folding, sorting and putting away laundry. He complained, of course, until he saw that shiny quarter. I also told him that I had twice as much work as he did when it came to cleaning. I hope this will teach him not to make a mess in the first place, but one can only hope. I'm no better, as I need to find a way to get organized instead of tossing papers everywhere. I'm such a pack rat sometimes. I do wish I carried my mom's "clean gene" sometimes. Maybe it would make me more inclined to keep the house in better shape between visits from the cleaning lady. It's not that I don't want a clean house. It's just that I don't know where to start sometimes. I hope that as the kids get bigger, I can find ways to keep the house cleaner. All I know is that there's nothing like coming home after the cleaning lady has been in our house. The smell of cleaning products combined with the shine coming off of the floors and windows make me savor having a clean house, even if it's only for half a day.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Our house
Remember my post about the house in which I grew up? If not, you can see it here.
It's weird to see this, in light of the book I'm currently reading, which is about remodeling a house.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Are you going to San Francisco?
Remember the blog project I did last year with three other women? Well, Froggie decided to resurrect it with me and we each got to invite another friend to join us. She invited a mutual friend (someone I met through her) and I invited a friend whose blog I really enjoy reading. So now it's Froggie, Mom of Many, Moma Rock and Merrylandgirl. Hope you enjoy the topics that we'll be exploring!
This week, I picked the topic: If you could travel back in time to meet a past celebrity crush, what time period would you travel to and who would you meet? Describe how you would meet them and share something you would say to them.
Have Mercy!
This week, I picked the topic: If you could travel back in time to meet a past celebrity crush, what time period would you travel to and who would you meet? Describe how you would meet them and share something you would say to them.
(I was inspired by "I Love the 80's" by Megan Crane.)
Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
If you know me pretty well, I'm guessing you would say I'd pick one of the following three celebrity crushes: Michael J. Fox, Patrick Swayze or Joey McIntyre. Well, you'd be wrong. I did meet Joey in 2004 but it was disappointing that he didn't care to acknowledge that he's a New Kid on the Block. (I would also get arrested if I went back as my 34 year-old self to hit on a 16 year-old Joey in 1989.) As for the other two, I don't know what I'd say to them after seeing what has happened in their lives.
If you know me really well, then you know that my all-time favorite TV show is "Full House." And it should be a given that I have the hots for John Stamos as Jesse. Not for John Stamos now, even though he was quite sexy on "Glee." Back in the 80's and 90's, I would melt whenever I saw him on "Full House." I even wrote a song parody called "Uncle Jesse's Girl." I wish I had saved the lyrics to it. It was pretty clever. I did it as an homage to that David Duchovny song (he's another crush of mine, by the way). It broke my heart whenever there was a sad episode and he'd be crying. I wanted to go all the way to San Francisco just to hug him.
Anyway, I decided that I would go back to 1988 and get a part on "Full House" as my adult self and Jesse would fall madly in love with my character, negating the need for him to ever get with Rebecca "Becky" Donaldson. (Maybe Becky could hook up with Danny instead!) That way, I'd get a lot of on-screen kissing time with him and I'd be a regular for the rest of the series. It would be a cool way to not only be with my crush, but also be on my favorite TV series. I'd thank Bob Saget in advance for being the voice on one of my current favorite shows and reassure him that his career does not end at "Full House" (although he could do without "America's Funniest Home Videos.") I'd help Candace and Jodie with their teen angst. I'd tell Dave not to sleep with Alanis Morissette so he wouldn't be the butt of ugly rumors that "You Oughta Know" was about him. I would even give the Olsen twins tips on not letting Hollywood get to their head. Finally, and most importantly, I'd tell John not to marry the other Rebecca in his life (Rebecca Romijn, that is). That ended badly and he could probably still be married to someone better suited for him. (Not me, since I have found my one and only, but someone who "gets" him. I just want to be his on screen lover.)
That's my time travel fantasy and I'm sticking to it. :)
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