Number Thirteen

Bake/Cook 13 new things...check!

I had so much fun and made so many messes during my Cooking with Amy adventures. Anticipate many more in the future!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls - Grade: B+

Delicious but too much work!

Lemon Pie Goodness - Grade: A

Easy to make, healthy, and delicious.

Naan - Grade: D

Old yeast didn't rise...kind of pancakey.

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever - Grade: A-

Sunken cake = ALL THE FROSTING!

French Bread - A

Crunchy outside, soft inside.

PB Frosted Chocolate Cupcakes - A

YUM YUM YUM!

Smoothies - Grade: A

Delicious...and so many smoothies since!

Pretzels - Grade: A

Chubby pretzels. Best right out of the oven.

Shrimp Pasta - Grade: B-

Looked pretty...didn't taste like much.

Egg Roll Wrapper Tortellini and Ravioli - Grade: B+

Cute! Had to Google how to wrap them.

Huge ravioli. Lots of work.

Trifle - Grade: B

This was an engineering feat. Good but not great.

Banana Bread Muffins - Grade: B+

Would have been perfect with a little more banana.

Grilled Pizza - Grade: A+

This has become a staple on the Everyday Parent grill.

  

Number Six

Take a road trip...check?!?

Again, when I added road trip to The List, I anticipated a long term solo drive with multiple stops...and someday I will take that trip. I will explore and visit new places. But this past year time and money limited me to smaller road trips. But let me be clear, smaller does not mean less awesome.

First, there was Maine.

I took a day trip and went to the wrong state to see some rusted trucks.

There were many road trips to WEMA only one of which resulted in windshield damage.

And we can't forget Michigan and Chicago!

  

Number Twelve

Read all of Roald Dahl's books...check!

I love Roald Dahl. His books never cease to entertain me and I love reading them aloud to kids. While researching Roald Dahl's catalog of work, I quickly decided to exclude his numerous (50+) short stories. Therefore, this goal includes only Roald Dahl children's books and biographies. FYI: I completed some of these books before the official start of The List so below are my notes, thoughts, or recollections of the stories.

The books:

The Mildenhall Treasure - A true story about a poor farmer who dug up a Roman treasure. His boss took it and tried to hide it but it was found out. Roald Dahl read about it and offered the man half of his book money if he would let him tell the story.

My Year - An observation of nature throughout the months of the year.

Rhyme Stew - Funny poems!

The Missing Golden Ticket - Secrets behind Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There were originally more golden tickets!

Going Solo - Follow up to Boy. Crazy stories like watching a lady being carried off by a lion.

Boy - Autobiography. Interesting to read about the experiences that inspired several of his novels.

The Giraffe and The Pelly and Me - A giraffe, a pelican and a monkey paint houses.

James and the Giant Peach - Better than I thought it would be. Hadn't read it since 3rd-ish grade.

Vile Verses - Funny poems.

The Minpins - Tiny people who live in trees get saved by a boy riding a swan.

Danny the Champion of the World - This book really surprised me. It's a story about a boy and his dad who figure out an ingenious way to poach pheasants. I loved this book.

The BFG - It took me a long time to get past the dialect that the giants used but I ended up enjoying this book quite a bit.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - Had high hopes after Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but I thought this book was so random and disjointed that I couldn't wait to get through it.

Revolting Rhymes - Hilarious retelling of classic fairy tales. Red Riding Hood shoots and skins the wolf and makes him into a coat. Later, Red shows up to help the 3rd Little Pig. She takes care of that wolf, makes another fur coat and turns the pig into a leather bag! Watch it here.

George's Marvelous Medicine - George makes medicine and grows GIANT animals.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. A bit different from the movie.

The Twits - Mean, grumpy people. That's all I remember.

The Vicar of Nibbleswicke - A hilarious short novel about a Vicar who mixes up all of his words and drama ensues.

Esio Trot - Tortoise spelled backwards. A sweet love story about an old man who seeks the attention of a tortoise loving lady.

The Magic Finger - Um...his finger zaps people?

The Enormous Crocodile - A big croc gobbles up little children.

Matilda - A magic little girl takes on the Trunchbull and prevails!

The Witches - My favorite Roald Dahl book! Full of suspense, great description and a wonderful villain. Read it!

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Eh. Foxes underground being clever/conniving.

Someday, I hope to plow through Roald Dahl's short stories because his writing never ceases to amaze me. Now go pick up a book!


    

Just Checking...

All of you eat asparagus out of juice glasses...right?

Good...me too.

 

3000 Thoughts

I saw a car commercial today that says humans have 3000 thoughts per day. If that is true...I have at least 11,000. So here are some thoughts from today:

• If I click no every time Hulu asks, "Is this ad relevant to you"will they stop showing me ads?
• There are no good television shows on Wednesday night.
• Will an audio book sustain me for an hour at the gym? <---Kind of. It was Harry Potter #1 so I know the story and was able to half listen. I don't know if I have attention span for audio books...especially audio books that I've never read.
• It's almost spring! It was warm-ish this afternoon and I went to the gym for an hour after school and IT WAS STILL LIGHT OUT when I left!
• Will there ever be a day where no second graders cry?
• Will I ever find a teaching job?
• If so, will I be stuck in second grade for the rest of my life? <---Please no.
• What is Everyday Brother up to?
• Should I be productive over February vacation or just chill out for a week?
• TWO MORE WAKE UPS TILL VACATION!
• We're making life-sized animals tomorrow. #Reasons I love like second grade.
• I tend to think in questions.
• Did I ever tell you that I surpassed my 50 Mile Challenge in January?

• I STILL want to see Big Miracles (the whale movie) but no one wants to see it with me.
• I think I'll get started on my new list during vacation.
• Are you still reading? If so, I'm sorry.
• I promise not to make a list of 3000 thoughts.
• Also on the agenda for vacation is buying and watching the latest Twilight movie.
• I can't wait to start making summer vacation plans. Come visit me!
• Okay, I'm done now.

    

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wish I thought of these!  Instead, I stole them from here!

Today:

• Children cried.
• Children ate so much candy.
• I ate so much candy.
• And jumbo chocolate covered strawberries.
• A child ate a lollipop while holding a tissue to his bleeding nose and got tissue all over the lollipop. #Second graders don't care.
• I carried giant paper.
• I got more flowers (my apartment now looks like a florist shop).
• I said, "hold on to your balls" to forty 8 year olds (FYI: was referencing footballs/recess balls).
• We read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It was a touching but sad story. My first thought was that the tree needs to stand up for itself and say no when the boy asks for everything. And I know the tree is supposedly happy for giving itself and making the boy happy but it destroys itself and the boy is going to die eventually and then what is the tree going to do? It has no branches left for new kids to climb on. #Kids books are deep #Sometimes I'm too cynical for second grade

EDIT: I ALMOST FORGOT THE BEST PART OF MY DAY!

Scene: Lunch group with 4 kids that work on social skills.

Guidance Counselor: At night, do you brush your teeth right when mom says it's time for bed?

Male Student: YES!

Speech Teacher: You do?

Male Student: Yes, because I have a Justin Bieber toothbrush that sings "Baby". He proceeds to start singing "Baby, baby, baby oh..."

All 4 Students: Baby, baby, baby oh...

Teachers: Laughing.

Students: Singing.

Teachers: Crying laughing.

And that was the end of lunch group.


     

Birthday Recap: Episode 3

After making the trek home from Mohegan Sun, I took a quick nap to supplement the 2.5 hours of sleep that I got on birthday eve. That afternoon, I headed to my parent's house for a family birthday party.

There were more flowers:

a delicious dinner, big presents for a big birthday, lots of Superbowl watching and an awesome birthday cake:

The birthday cake from Everyday Auntie was an homage to The List on my blog. There were 56 books including The Secret Garden, there was a pile of golf balls, a Rubik's Cube, all the new foods I tried, the mountain/dune that I climbed, and me writing my memoir.  <---I told you it was amazing!

Turning 30 was not the heinous experience that I expected. Instead, I celebrated with colleagues, friends, and family and it turned out to be an exhausting yet awesome weekend.

 

Birthday Recap: Episode 2

Now that it's been a week since my birthday, I thought I should get around to recapping the rest of birthday weekend.

Saturday was my actual birthday (and ironically, the only day there was no birthday cake consumed). I tried to sleep in, lounged on the couch for a bit, did some laundry then got to packing for the big trip. My friends and I trekked to Mohegan Sun for a night of fun. 

The girls surprised me with a 29+1 shirt and matching Team Amy shirts! We had some wine, ate some snacks, put on fake eyelashes and headed out. We ate at the always classy Bubba's BBQ then hit the slots. I had received a generous donation to my gambling fund from the teachers at work so when K suggested that I try the Amazon penny slot, I was game. The slots confused me! They were all computerized and you had to bet on a number of lines then place a bet per line. With the guidance of the nice gentleman next to me, I randomly hit some buttons. Eight dollars in, I hit the jackpot and earned 15 bonus games. From there my winnings multiplied and after only 3 minutes, I cashed out with $96.90!

We bet a bit more after that but only proceeded to lose money. But I still walked out with more than I walked in with!

Before heading home, we hit up a bar with REALLY loud r&b music. We had a few drinks, people watched, judged the youth of America, and participated in our own Whip Your Hair music video. You see, there was this...person who at first glance I totally thought was a woman (I was not the only one to think this) but actually turned out to be a man with a really long pony tail. And he whipped his pony tail back and forth and back and forth. His pony tail whipped me in the face at one point and I thought M was going to punch him. (She wanted to.)

Mid-whip. And yes, we took like 6 pictures trying to capture the pony tail in all its glory.

It was a fun night. I tried something new and although there was lots of smoking, babies awake at midnight and neck tattoos it was a good time. We didn't hit up the felt table games but that just gives us a reason to go back. 

Thanks to K for planning a wonderful night and to S, O, M and all those who were there in spirit!

 

Sometimes I am Awkwardly Inappropriate*

Earlier this evening via text (prior to learning of Whitney Houston's passing):

Friend: Whitney Houston!

Me: Haha what?

Friend: Someone just told me she died!

Me: Whoa! I thought you just wanted to dance with somebody. (Investigates and texts this photo to friend)

Friend: Whoa! Can't believe it! Also, I do want to dance with somebody. V-Day is comping up but I'm having ladies valentine's so my changes aren't looking so hot.

Me: Hmmm...never say never. Justin Bieber taught me that.

Friend: Ha. True. This is our year after all (note: because we are grownups now). But Biebs better watch out. It hasn't been a good month for the music industry.

Sadly, I am not terribly surprised by the news. As was the case with Amy Winehouse, I always assumed things would end this way which is sad because Whitney Houston was incredibly talented. I can't count the number of times I've pretended that I could sing like her (mostly alone in the car) only to end up with a sore throat a defeatist attitude. And I've had many a pants-less dance party to I Want To Dance With Somebody.

Whitney will live forever on my iPod.

* And use humor as a coping mechanism.

On Being A Grownup

Now that I am officially a grownup, life has tested me with a series of "grownup" tasks. In the past week, this is what I've learned:

• Being a grownup means being woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of water rushing out of your bathroom ceiling.
• Being a grownup means learning to deal with awkward situations like hanging out in the middle of the night with your landlord in your pjs.
• Being a grownup means calling your landlord in the middle of the night instead of your dad.
• Being a grownup means doing things that scare you...like calling the gym and asking if they found your rings that you took off and left on a machine to avoid finger calluses.
• Being a grownup means taking care of business...like representing yourself at your unemployment redetermination hearing and hoping for the best in the face of a grumpy DUA employee who won't look you in the eye or stop talking long enough to listen.
• Being a grownup means it's okay to reward yourself for surviving scary situations with hot chocolate from Starbucks.
• Being a grownup means driving to the gym to see if just maybe, someone turned in your rings. (P.S. someone did and I've never been so happy! My Celtic braid ring has 9 lives. I lost it at a bus stop once and after an entire day of classes I found it on the side of the road.)
• Being a grownup means understanding that sometimes to fix a leak the ceiling must be removed.

Being a grownup is exhausting.