Little Women brings me back

Reading for hours on end! I read this book several times...it made me wish I lived back then...although I'd have preferred electricity. It all seemed so romantic. I loved the relationships between the March girls.

I recently tried to reread it (some 30 years later) and it just wasn't the same.

Stuff That Sucks About Being An Adult

There are plenty advantages to being an adult...you can go to a bar, you make your own money (hopefully), you can make your own choices blah, blah, blah...But there are some things that suck eggs about being an adult. Wouldn't it be so awesome to be able to take a vacation from adulthood for a while? There really aren't too many years in my life I'd relive in real time...except maybe junior and senior year in college. But the past would be a great place to visit, huh? Then you would not need to deal with some of the following:

1. Working...I love my job. I get to laugh, I get to get messy and I get recess. But some days it would be just be oh-so-fab to sleep the day away, hang out on my own and have no consequences. I wouldn't have had to make lesson plans the day before that some dumb sub wouldn't follow, I wouldn't have to come back to work and clean up literal and figurative messes and I wouldn't have let anyone down.

2. Being the one in charge...Now listen, I like being the "boss" at home and in my classroom. But when things are tough or get icky I wish Calgon would take me away. I will never forget a HUGE, "Oh, my!" moment several years ago. It was in school the first week, I was with the class and suddenly a boy (didn't even know his name yet!) fainted dead away and smashed face first onto the tile floor. Seriously, I first looked around and then realized, "Holy crap, I'm the adult in charge of this!!" WTF? Now all turned out well, the kid was nervous and overheated, I guess. But that feeling of, "things are going downhill quickly and I'm the one who is supposed to keep it all together" was momentarily overpowering. Times like that you want some totally in control REAL grown up to come forward and say, "Step aside, I know exactly what to do so it all turns out ok!"

3. Still having your parents think you are a kid...Now, while I don't always want to be in control of scary situations I DO want to be in control of my life situations. No matter how old you are there are some things you dread telling Mom or Dad because you just KNOW that even over the phone they are judging and rolling their eyes. I don't think this will ever change though, until I put them away somewhere that feeds them oatmeal and lets them play Wii bowling all day.

4. Taxes and all that crap...Obviously this stuff sucks. I am a Democrat until I die and I might even be a Socialist. But when I dare to glance at the "gross" pay column on my check I sometimes get a teensy, tiny bit pissed off. I think that is normal though, right? RIGHT??

5. Realizing life isn't getting any longer...I don't feel old. I don't even think I look all that bad for my advanced age. But according to a USA Today article the average American women lives to about 80 years old. My life is more than half over, same with most of you reading this. Sorry to be a huge buzz kill, but I can't always spread sunshine and unicorns everywhere I go. And why should I ruminate about this on my own when I have a semi-captive (and apparently aging) audience?

6.Saying no to stuff you don't want to say no to...Like eating junk, double desserts, buying a new flat screen tv. Part of the GOOD stuff about being an adult is that you could theoretically "do what you want" but the sucky part is that you know you can't have your cake and eat it too. Sucks.

7. Lying to your kids for their own good... Hey, I'd love to be honest with my kids about stuff I've done and REALLY talk to them about mistakes and bad experiments. But then for sure they will think they can do it too, since it turned out ok for me. So, I have to lie and put the fear into them. It makes me feel like a hypocrite but that is one of the downsides of parenting. Eventually I can talk to them more honestly...but it is better to put the fear of a horrific lung-cancer filled death into a 10 year old than to explain my on and off through the years smoking issues (and that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg). Oh, and you also have to lie about things like, "No, Mommy and Daddy will never die. We will take care of you for as long as you need us to." You can't tell a 5 year old that you can drop at any moment and there is no telling the future...That would be bad parenting. And lead to years of therapy...

8. When the basement floods, the sewer line from the house needs to be replaced or the furnace explodes in the middle of a November night...and yes, this has all happened in our family. These are the kind of "adult" issues that I flip out about. Tom handles these things much better than I do, thank goodness. There is little in this world worse than water issues, though. Rogue flooding was one reason we had to move 5 years ago...it about pushed me over the edge. The smell of wet carpeting will never leave my subconscious and those of you who have experienced this have to agree, right? These household problems are in the category of, "Why am I in charge of this? And why does it cost so much?" Grrrrrrr...sucks!

9. Knowing that the world is random and not always fair...I guess I always knew this but once you become a parent this knowledge can be paralyzing if you let it. This is why some people become obsessive, compulsive or turn into helicopter parents. You just have to deal and move forward and think about the fact that randomness CAN be good. Like, you COULD be the Lotto winner or the 21st caller. Concentrate on that.

10. Consequences for bad choices....once you reach a certain age you can't just live by the, "I hope you've learned a lesson," thing. You have to accept the consequences of your actions. Bummer. It is so much easier to blame others ;-).

Well, geez, this was a depressing list! Sorry folks....I'll work on something more uplifting for next time. I don't know what came over me. Hopefully I've covered everything though...if there is more perhaps you should keep it to yourself. We wouldn't want to be responsibile for people on the Friend list needing more therapy or new meds...

' Calvin and Hobbes...' will make you LOL

Everything about Calvin makes me laugh. He is the kid I love having in my class. You don't whether to laugh or cry...go with it or give up.

He says the greatest things, has the greatest imagination and a fabulous vocabulary. I love how he DOES his homework but to a different drummer ("Bats aren't birds!!).

His disturbing snowmen are to be revered and appreciated.

I guess one has to make a choice eventually...

I am all about continuous accessibility. I have no problem responding to email regarding work when at home. I prefer to take care of things when they come up, and not put them off.

I love my cell phone and encourage people to call it when they need me and I am not home. If I don't want to talk to you, I will simply press "ignore"...no biggie, right?

And anyone who knows me knows that I am in real, romantic love with Facebook. I love it, I need it...I may have a problem with it. I do have a fairly addictive personality and am pretty "all or nothing", so this could explain my fascination with FB.

But...now I have this blog. And yesterday I tried Twitter. I may be out of control. I'm not quite sure, but I may be...

I think Twitter can go. I took a non-scientific poll on my FB Wall and most people seemed to think that if you are religious about Facebook then Twitter is superfluous. For a bit today and yesterday I had my Twitters (or are they Tweets??) linked to my FB status. That was fine for a bit, but then I realized I didn't want my FB status to change at times. So, back to "settings" to change that! But now, I have even more to update daily or several times daily! This may be stressful...This is why I gave up watching All My Children a few years back. I couldn't keep up with 3 soaps and my nighttime shows AND actually attend to my kids (lol...details!).

Twitter may have to go...because I found myself just now in a quandary about whether I wanted something to be my FB status, my Twitter line or BOTH! Something mundane might be fine for the 140 characters on Twitter but FB requires a bit more thought for status updates, IYKWIM.

Oy and hmmm....not sure on this one. The problems of the overly connected, right? What do to, what to do?

My Name is Amy and I am a Magazine-o-holic...

How many magazine subscriptions do I have? Hmmmm....I am not positive and I get confused when I try to list them verbally. So, I am going to come clean here with you oh-so-non-judgmental people (Hannah and Brian V. excepted, of course...). I like magazines for a few reasons...they are pretty and colorful and have lots of pictures. You can READ them and I like that, 'cuz reading is fun and good for your brain. I like it that you pay your subscription and then they just COME TO YOUR HOUSE like a present every week or month...like a ray of literary sunshine when I get home from work and check the mail!There are so many kinds of magazines...serious, newsy, fun, trashy, gossipy, fashiony, home improvementy, family-y etc....

Ok, here goes, I think I can name all the ones I currently get...in no particular order:

1. Soap Opera Digest (weekly)...I have read it for years. It offers recaps and spoilers so it kept me afloat in soap news even when I wasn't watching RELIGIOUSLY. And I can keep up with All My Children and One Life to Live now and only watch them sometimes. Of course, General Hospital is a constant...mobsters and inept cops and hospitals on fire are always FUN!

2. People (weekly)...I wanted People for years but it is so expensive. Finally last year I broke down and ordered it. It is great...VERY pretty pictures. And it has the air of "almost respectable" in terms of entertainment mags. They get all the good interviews and reveals of long-awaited celeb offspring.

3. Entertainment Weekly (weekly, duh!) I love this magazine. It has movies, tv, books and music. Plus, Diablo Cody and Stephen King write columns for it and they are very funny.

4. TV Guide (weekly)...This magazine SUCKS and I am waiting for it to run out in a year or so. Haven't looked at it in a year except when LOST or Dancing With the Stars is on the cover. It doesn't even give the shows for all time slots...it ends at midnight or something. WTF?? Plus, it is superfluous now that you can check cable or the ever-magical dvr listings.

5. In Style (monthly)...Pretty pictures but not enough to actually read. I like looking at the fashion stuff and some of it actually is from H&M or GAP or places that normal people can afford. They give too much space to Heidi Klum though, and I DO NOT LIKE HER or her fawning, annoying husband Seal. (And why is that his name anyway? Listen, I named my kid a noun too...but not an ANIMAL...)

6. Glamour (monthly)...Good articles and fashion. And you can't beat "Glamour Do's and Don'ts" for a laugh each month. Although sometimes the cover blurbs need to be covered up from prying eyes, IYKWIM. I love a sex article as much as the next person but I shouldn't have to explain to a 10 year old that, "How to leave him panting every night!" has nothing to do with the family dog.

7. Women's Health (monthly)...If you don't get this magazine you may want to check it out! It has good tips and really good articles. The articles are about health (duh!), relationships, careers and nutrition usually. I like this periodical (good library word, Amy!) a lot. I have gotten some good exercises from it and quite a few laughs at how they discuss some issues.

8. The Week (you guess, lol!)...This magazine ROCKS! My friend Jeanne started getting it a while back and told me about it. It gives you brief synopses of everything each week. It goes through national news and international news. It also reviews movies, books and new music and gives a preview of stuff to not miss that week on tv. It is not blatantly liberal or conservative...my dad doesn't mind The Week all and we differ quite a bit politically ;-). If you read this magazine you will be up on current events and you can seem pretty smart at business-y parties!

9. Real Simple (monthly)...Now listen, in case you don't get this yet, I am not very domestic (shut up). But I love this magazine! If I cooked, I'd try all the recipes....if I decoupaged I'd have frames and jewelry boxes up the wazoo! This magazine is chock full of great ideas and tips! See how excited I get and I don't even use any of the ideas?? Oh, and pretty pictures. I always think I will send in one of the "Question of the Month" ideas and win another year of the magazine or something...but I never get around to it. I guess I am busy reading other magazines, lol...

10. Newsweek (weekly)...Keeps me up on current affairs, er, events. Sometimes the real news is boring though and I just read the back page and the cartoons.

11. TIME (weekly)...See Newsweek above. Same goes.

12. Self (monthly)...Kind of a cross between Women's Health and Glamour. I have gotten some good work out tips here and they have decent celebs in it each month. There is humor in it too...doesn't take things too seriously like Glamour or In Style does sometimes.

13. Lucky (monthly)...And yes, I put that at number 13 on purpose, lol. I'm on the fence with this one. I like the fashion stuff but everytime I like something it costs like $495. There are not that many affordable things in this magazine. I was planning on letting it run out but apparently I am on some perpetual, auto renewal program.

14. The Atlantic (monthly, I think)...My dad got me this subscription for Hanukkah. I have not read an issue yet. It looks serious and boring although he really thinks I will like it so I don't have the heart to tell him I haven't read it yet. Anyone out there read this? Is it all Republican-y??

15. Family Fun (monthly)...I have no idea how or when I signed up for this. The major premise of this magazine seems to be thematic cupcake recipes and "rainy day" projects that require lots of egg cartons, googly eyes and glue gun supplies. Neither one is my forte...

16. The Deerfield Review (weekly)...Community news etc...They seem to have backed off the mostly Lincolnshire bent of a few years ago and since that psycho at DHS quit her constant barrage of homophobic, right wing letters has stopped, so things are better with the Review, IMHO. Also, the sports section is good...they always print the travel soccer stuff I send them for AJ's team.

I think that is all...Although chances are good that I forgot one or two magazines, lol. What is your favorite magazine? And does anyone get more mags than I do? Yes, that is a challenge!!