Stuff I Love

There are so many things I love. Shiny things, book things, my Keurig coffee maker. My fake Uggs, flip flops, my new Reeboks that are going to make my boobs jealous of my butt (the commercial says so). I love to surf the net, and sometimes I find really cool stuff. I'm making a list of stuff I love. Just a sample, the entire list would be way too long and boring.



1. Amazon.com is the coolest website. I used to love Amazon because it sells books, and I absolutely love books. I love to read, and I love getting free shipping when I spend $25. Then they started adding really cool features like the, "Shoppers who bought (whatever book you're looking at) also bought..." and I could get lost while clicking through the connections linking books to books other people bought. Listmania came next, and how cool is that? Anyone can make a list, of anything they want. So if I'm looking at yet another book about King Henry VIII I may see a list titled, "Rad books about King Henry" or "Not-to-be-missed books about the Tudors" and I can look at lists that other people have created. I love lists. Other people's lists, my lists, doesn't much matter.



Now Amazon is even cooler because it sells everything. Not just books and music. Everything. There are Amazon stores, toys, clothing, shoes, I mean - everything. You name it, you can probably find it on amazon. I need a food scale and toothpaste and a backscratcher - I can find them all on amazon.com. It really doesn't get better than that.



2. Fred and Friends. How cool is their stuff? I got my sister the M-cups, a set of measuring cups that are Matroyshka dolls. She loves Matroyshka dolls and has a huge collection of them. So when I saw measuring cups that are shaped like the cute nesting dolls, I had to get them for her. Now they are totally sold out everywhere and it was like a coup to have gotten them. Which makes them ever cooler. While looking for them (my mom wants a set too) I noticed how cool other Fred and Friends products are. I highly recommed looking at their stuff online. Very whimsical stuff, but a lot of the items are quite practical. And fun.

3. I know I'm a little late to the game with this one but I love my digital picture frame. My parents gave it to us for Chaunkah. It accepts any time of memory card or flashdrive and it's incredibly easy. It's a new type, and it displays three or four pictures at once in a mosaic format. It makes me wonder why I even need other picture frames. They seem so lame with the one, un-changing picture in them. I make fun of my kids because their narcissistic streak is showing as they gaze at the pictures of themselves. They are so excited to see themselves in the pictures and laugh uproariously when a picture of one of them changes into a picture of someone else, or for real hilarity, into one of the dogs. But I can sit there and watch it for long stretches of time too, so I know where they are coming from.

4. I love, love, love my iTouch. I'm notoriously anti-Apple products. And I had an mp3 player that I loved. When my dad got his iPhone I bothered him about giving me his iTouch until he did it (he's good that way). At first I hated iTunes and I still think Windows Media Player is much better. The kids love the iTouch - they love the touchscreen and the games and all that. I love how small it is, and how much music I can have on it. It makes driving in the car much more fun; I love to sing in the car. It makes working out so much better. And I can store photos and games and information on it - it's really the coolest thing. Thanks Dad!

Things That Matter

I tend to be overdramatic and become emotional about issues that have nothing to do with me. I have a difficult time reading books that discuss the mistreatment of animals, old people, and children. I seldom watch the news because I find myself in tears listening to stories about abuse, neglect, illness, etc. (I also don't watch the news because I hate Obama's presidency and I can't stand what's going on). I also am stubborn, have no patience, and I'm so often surprised that people don't know how I feel that perhaps I expect others to read my mind. More likely, I may not communicate as effectively as I'd like to think I do.



What does all this mean? It means that I often must stop and count my blessings. I know it sounds corny, and maybe it is. I'm a corny person. I like country music, and have John Denver songs on my new (to me) Ipod. I'm sentimental and I cry a lot. But I must remind myself about what's truly important, and find a balance. I can work to help alleviate the suffering of others, but I have to look around me and remember how much I have to be grateful for. So, I'm going to make a short list of what I'm grateful for. By no means is it a complete list - that could take forever and too much webspace. Just a short list of the things I'm thankful for today.



1. I love my job. Let's face it - I'm lucky to have a job. This economy blows, and I've only been a full-time employee for the last five years. I loved staying home with my family even though we couldn't afford it. I am glad I did it, and I'm glad that when I did start work Rich switched to a night shift so he could be with the kids during the day. We saved a ton of money (that we couldn't afford) on daycare. I don't want to start a daycare debate but it was very important to me that the kids were home with one of their parents when they were babies. And that preschool was part-time, and a choice. Anyway, my job is challenging, time-consuming, and sometimes a pain, but I love it. I love that I'm home in time to pick up the kids almost every day and that I drop them off at the bus stop in the morning. I'm lucky enough to work for a school district that believes that family comes first, and I can usually get time off to see my kid's performances and attend conferences.

2. My family is relatively healthy. Having two healthy kids is nothing to take for granted. Each of my children underwent surgery when they were very young, and it's a scary process. Seeing truly sick children in the hospital made me very grateful that my children were having minor day surgeries. Working with high school students that are undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, and brain surgery affects me more as a mother than as a teacher. Rich is under close scrutiny of his doctor, having yearly colonoscopies and testing his blood after his surgery for Cushing syndrome. But overall he's healthy, and starting to take more interest in watching his diet. My sister and I are adorable healthy and are actually having fun losing weight on weight watchers. Her kids and husband are healthy, and my parents are also relatively healthy. Not that they don't scare us every now and then. Given the friends I have who have lost loved ones to cancer, heart attacks, and various diseases, and the media frenzy surrounding H1N1, I consider myself very, very lucky.

3. It's the holidays! Thanksgiving is always one of my favorites because it's about family, not stuff. It's the first time that I see a lot of my aunts and cousins each year, and the focus is on hanging out and eating, and catching up. And eating. I do love Thanksgiving foods. And desserts. Hence, weight watchers. And although I love Thanksgiving because it's not about stuff, I do love stuff. I love buying gifts, and receiving gifts, and the older my kids get the more fun Chanukah is for the family. This year Chanukah is over before Christmas begins, and that makes my life so much easier. I do still have quite a bit of shopping to do, but the majority is over.

I don't make resolutions, but this year I am going to spend more time worrying about the things that matter, and the situations that I have control over. There's not much use obsessing about the things I can't change. But I'm going to spend some time every day being thankful for the things that are truly important.

I haven't posted since May?

Ok, I'm determined (again) to keep up with my blog. I miss having a blog. Yet - I spend too much time playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook and not nearly enough time blogging. And I have found that my blog will not write itself.

I don't actually know what to write today. I'm in my C block class at the high school, and my students are managing to work on their own for the moment. Ok, as soon as I typed that I had to help a student figure out something called a "Box and Whiskers" problem on a calculator. But now they are being self-sufficient again.

My list today is going to be totally random. I don't have a topic in mind of which I can form an entire list. I have no concentration, no focus. Just, well, randomness.

1. There is a serious lack of Zhu Zhu pets in my life. I want to get a Zhu Zhu pet for Halle for Chanukah. And really, part of the reason is so that I can play with the Zhu Zhu pet. I think they look fun. Well, they look fun if you spend $100 dollars or more and get the habitrail and hamster ball and car. And yes, I want them all. My sister and I were in line at Toys R Us for hours at the midnight Black Friday sale. We were about 1000 people back and the first 100 people got tickets for Zhu Zhu pets. We were exponentially not even close to getting one. Sigh.
A few days later Toys R Us was making the Zhu Zhu pets available to the first 50 people in the store. They opened at 7:00, I showed up at 8:00 and I was about 45 minutes late. My sister, who did know about the Zhu Zhu pets but didn't tell me until 7:55 am that very same morning, got an email about them. I wasn't dressed, my teeth weren't brushed, and I had Buckwheat hair. I was kind of surprised they didn't just give me one because they felt bad for me. I was a hot mess. Alas, they claimed they had none.
There are Zhu Zhu pets online. But I'm having trouble spending upwards of $50 for a toy that retails for $10. I'm not saying I won't. I haven't yet. But I can't rule out the possibility.

2. I am going to be in serious trouble if I don't get my homework done. My class ended on November 12th. It was a very strange class schedule - I had class from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursday. But only for a month. And because the class was so compressed, our professor, who I love, gave us until the first week of December to finish all of our work. I have definitely made progress. But I'm not finished. I still have to find the middle school where my professor works during the day and get an article from her. I still have to contact my advisor at my graduate program to find out how to log into the computer system that we use to hand in work. And there's quite a bit of homework to be finished. I think once I get the other stuff - the article, the log in information, etc. - out of the way I'll be better able to finish the actual school work. Well, I hope so anyway. I have to get a B in the class or I won't get reimbursed. And grad classes are expensive. AND I didn't even pay for the class, my mom did. So I have to get reimbursed for sure. How mortifying would it be to get a poor grade! My transcript, so full of good grades, would suffer. I really have to get a move on.

3. Chanukah is coming rapidly - nine days until the first candlelighting. Can that be true? I knew after Thanksgiving we'd have a short time to get ready. But I feel like Chanukah has totally snuck up on me. I have to go through the secret present closet and wrap everything and get a list of what I have. Then I can make a list of what I need. I know I need stuff for my nephews, and my parents. I have two small things for my sister and need something else. But she's so easy to buy for. I need to get some stuff for my friends in MI, I always send them some toys at the holidays. They are easy to buy for too. I love buying stuff for kids.
I'm a little irritated that my school planned their Holiday party on the first night of Chanukah. I have gone the past few years and I always like going. This year it's at someone's house, instead of the country club where they usually have it. So, it could be a bit more relaxed and fun. But I can't miss the first night of Chanukah with my family. For awhile I thought I may have my family Chanukah party on that Friday as well, but we managed to move it to Saturday. The week after that is busy too - bookgroup, the department holiday party, etc.
It's funny - there is a lot of talk about not celebrating holidays at the school, not having decorations in the school, etc. Obviously the reason is because it's a public building, and there are students of many different faiths and backgrounds. Yet, the fact that we're not supposed to have trees and decorations makes people grouchy. And I feel like they are grouchy at the Jews and Muslims because the rules were made to be inclusive to us minority groups. I can't tell you how much grumbling I hear about rules about candy canes and stuff. It's annoying. And I think it all comes from the rules that are supposed to make the religious holidays a non-issue.
Last night I went to aqua aerobics and the whole workout was done to Xmas music. I always liked a lot of Christmas music, which horrifies Rich. He hates all Xmas music. There are a few wintery songs he can stand. But not many. After living with him for 15 years, I thought I may start to hate it too. And when I'm with him, I do sort of cringe when we're at the mall and we hear Xmas music. Because he gets all squinty and mad. But last night, I have to say, I enjoyed working out to some cool holiday tunes. And Rich wasn't there to be squinty, all the more enjoyable for me!

Wow - a list of three. Not very impressive. But, it's a list nonetheless. And I haven't blogged since May. This is definitely a step in the right direction. Now I have to go ponder the Elusive Elf (much like a secret santa) sign up sheet and decide if I want to participate. Finding good $10 gifts and smaller gifts for teachers I don't know that well isn't easy. But it is fun...