Monthly Recap

August

September 3rd, 2010 • Monthly Recap, memories • 2 comments

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Peter asked Jesus how often he was to forgive a “brother” who had sinned against him, and offered up the number “seven” as a possible answer.
Jesus waved off Peter’s guess, responding: “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:22, NKJV)

This month…

I took the girls to see OK GO…and they didn’t put on as good of a show as I thought they would.

I missed my family reunion to go to a meeting, that was worth it, but I still missed seeing the whole family together.

We saw the BIG NAZO interactive storytelling at Kidoinfo’s Stories in the Park.

I captained the Robots to victory over our arch nemesis, the Zombies, at our Indie Arts fest exhibition bout. Pictures stolen from the Providence Phoenix here. Then, Providence Roller Derby’s all star team, the RI Riveters, beat D.C. All-stars by 11 points. What a close game!

We hosted two people on our couch this month. Joe was a nice guy, but I’m relieved he cut his visit short to travel. Victoria was our other guest and I’d love to have her stay anytime. She has a great personality – nice, knowledgeable, talented, and gracious.

We (including my cousin Sarah) went to the Boston Science Museum. Why? Because Aly wanted to see a dinosaur. We have to go back and further explore. Alex didn’t get to see the electricity show, and it’s totally worth a trip just for that. It was an adventure, to say the least – especially when we missed the train home!

The girls had sooo much fun on the train. I think many more trips to Boston are in order.

Because Aly wanted to go to the museum, and I didn’t want to pay for it, I renewed our zoo membership, which means we went to the zoo the following weekend. You have to check out my flickr photostream to see the super cute red panda!

There was a baby shower for Alex’s stepsister, Mindy, but I haven’t processed the photos. It was such a great time! I really liked spending time with that side of the family. It’s rare that we see them (not as rare as seeing my parents, though). I really wish that we were a little more family oriented and visited more often. Life is so busy, as you can tell.

We went to the beach a whole bunch and spent lots of time outdoors because the weather was so nice. Now, on to hurricane season.

I am hoping: I do awesome in the bout against Dutchland next weekend. I’m wicked excited that I was asked to go! I was getting bummed out and frustrated that I wasn’t getting better, even though people were complimenting me. Playing with the Beez really raises my spirits.

I really trying to be more personable and happy. I come off as really serious and bitchy – but it’s because I don’t chit chat. I’m working on it.

You can check out what I’ve recently watched, listened to, photographed, and tweeted over on my sidebar. You should also Subscribe to RSS feed and email newsletter to get my latest posts.

Thank You ~ August 2010

September 2nd, 2010 • Monthly Recap, Web 2.0 • No comments

Some Linky Love for the following blogs/sites as a THANK YOU for sending loads of traffic my way!

From my Google Analytics report ~ August 2010

Top 5 Referring Sites

1. The Organic Sister
2. Providence Daily Dose
3. A Stitch in Time
4. Mommas Review
5. All Things Ace

Top Visited Posts on funkEpunkEmonkE/August 2010…in case you’re curious where other readers spend their time on this blog {I always love looking at these stats}

1. Seeking Donations for my shop
2. Keep Calm and Rock on

Of course, I’d recommend reading my posts on New uses for old things and Weekly Love List.

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and email newsletter. Thanks for visiting!

June

June 24th, 2010 • Monthly Recap, advice, baby, food, home+garden, rant, roller derby • No comments

There comes a time in a marriage, or a family, when you realize there is disconnect. Each of you is going in different directions and no one really wants to stop and listen to what the other has to say. Busy and stressed and distracted seem the norm. With cell phones, computers and t.v.s the opportunity to disconnect is so great, I wonder how much connection I have lost along the way.

from Hannah’s Harvest

This is the quote that has been driving me today.

This month…

Rats won the first home bout. Alex, Phil and I had the most awesome Haven Brothers Burgers. Upon leaving, we chased the big Nazo puppets through the city to the afterparty, where a marching band played. Knife did a fancy dance, and skidd caveman-style left with stylz!

The next morning, Beth’s Bridal Brunch, where I proceeded to get more drunk and talk about shooting guns and other things Cate has never done.

We went hiking in NH (Franconia Notch), and had a picnic near the river. Aly wanted to climb the rocks, and promptly fell in. We spent the next 30 minutes drying her clothes on a sunny rock while she ran around naked.

Aly’s friend Cayleigh had a carnival themed birthday party complete with dunk tank and water slide. Guess who got to be dunked!

I ran 10th Annual Foxboro Against Diabetes 5K to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I didn’t train, but did better than expected. I came in 653rd out of over 800 people, finishing with a time of 45 minutes. I met a couple of cool locals, like Donna Burns, who doesn’t have a connection to Diabetes, but whose family decided to come from all over the country to run the race. How cool is that?

Aly had a mysterious 24 hour stomach virus, but quickly recovered. I have to say, it was a little nice to have her that calm for a day, but it broke my heart to see her so sick.

Both John Speck and Jason Hogue got married, and not to each other. Both weddings were special and unique…not to mention I made the bride’s dress for one of them! I wish I had pictures, but my laptop died, and I can’t find the cord to connect my camera to this computer. bah. So, here’s a picture from the photo booth silliness.

And after the weddings, we stopped by the PRD afterparty at Luxe Burger. Lots of dancing in the rain!

An ex-boyfriend’s father had some health problems and went into the hospital. I really struggled to find a level of worry and support that was appropriate to the situation. I decided that a hospital visit might not be welcomed, and wrote some encouraging words via text message instead. I hope his significant other isn’t offended by me reaching out.

To celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary, Alex went bowling with Phil. I see a trend emerging in our relationship.

A few of my cousins graduated high school, and there was a huge party at my aunts house to celebrate. All the babies are getting so big! I want more…

PRIDE fun bout was rained out, which is just as well, because I couldn’t find a babysitter.

I went to Audrey McClelland’s Soul at Work cafe last night, and it’s inspired me to be more consistent and diligent in my writing.

Tonight is the Mob Squad craft night, which basically means a bunch of smelly women eating all my food, drinking all my wine, and making a mess…but you know I’ll love it!

Soon, a surprise!!!

I am hoping: That my “Spin it to win it” idea is approved by the board. I really think it’s a great way to bring in some profit, and people love those games.

I am teaching: Pumpkin, the nickname I’ve given my 4 year old, Letter Recognition, Consonants, Vowels, Rhyming, Phonics, Spelling, Counting, Addition, Patterns, Sizes, and Weather. Wow – those topics are meaningless unless I explain the activities, huh?

So, I have 3 different workbooks that I pull 2-5 pages from per day and have Pumpkin work on anything english/math related. The workbooks I have are pretty nondescript, but are all from School Zone publishing company. I found them gently used at Savers.

I also downloaded a whole curriculum, which I haven’t even looked throughly at yet. It was free (well, arrgh!), so no biggie if it’s terrible.

Last, but not least, Pumpkin has the Jumpstart suite of computer games and plays anything from baby to 1st grade, depending on what type of day she’s having.

Last week, we really focused on weather, though I can’t wait until she’s older and I can delve deeper into the water cycle and what effects certain disasters have. I bought this chart for her to weekly track the Weekday, Date, and Weather. She watched the Sid the Science Kid episode on Wind, and a few episodes of Captain Plant. Yeah, my kid is that cool.

We briefly talked about habitats, mostly water, as that’s what she’s interested in. We live near the beach, so there’s always water around…plus, there was that run in with the river.

I am creating: Nothing at the moment. I mean, I’m always creating, but there isn’t one large project I’m working on at the moment. I’ve got 2 pillows to finish recovering, then I’ll probably redo the kitchen chairs in a wipe-able fabric.

I just made my boutfit for Providence Roller Derby’s Mob Squad, which is military inspired, but I went a little overboard with faux buttons and I need to find something to make them less shiny.

In the kitchen: I’ve continued Mexican Monday, Breakfast Tuesday, Chicken Wednesday, Pizza Thursday, Fish Friday, Mooch Saturday, and Pasta Sunday. Of course, if something comes up, I’m flexible.

Some of the highlights this month were Salmon Burgers from Trader Joe’s, Beefy Nachos (which is the same as my chili recipe – served on top of chips), and Pancakes with cherries and caramelized bananas.

Actually, that last one wasn’t planned as much as inspired by cherries from the farmer’s market and overripe bananas in my fridge. Those happen to be the last selection of bananas for a while. I’m planning on keeping things local, and bananas don’t grow in Rhode Island.

The more you type bananas, the crazier your hands feel. Bananas, Banana, Bandanas. what?

Around the garden: My garden is a major failure so far. None of the 2 pack of corn came up. The peas and beans all died before producing anything. The carrots are wee, after waiting for 3 months to harvest them. I got 2 salads out of my spinach before it went to bolt. There are no buds on my tomatoes and peppers. Fortunately, there’s some plants that sprouted out of our compost that look promising and my potatoes (in a garbage barrel) are doing friggin’ awesome.

I think the problem is crappy soil, so I’m going to fertilize the crap out of the rest of my beds and then plant more beans, beets, carrots, cukes, lettuce, tomatoes and squash.

Around the house: After seeing John over at Young House Love put in his water filter, I installed this under-sink filter from Filtrete. Next up, I’m going to convert our toilet into a dual-flush tank using a simple $20 converter kit.

I also faux painted wide plank wood flooring onto the plywood kitchen floor, which didn’t come out as good as the hall, so I might go back with a small brush and work some more dark paint into the crevices. Next up in painting, is more floors and them faux granite painted counters.

Next month…

My first roller derby home bout jamming for the mob squad on July 10th. Buy ticket here. I’m super excited cause I know our strategy is sick.

Actually, next month isn’t filled up with tons of things yet. I might actually be able to focus on getting some workflows and auto-response emails nailed down. Of course, once July is actually here, I’m sure it’ll be a different story.

A few things to share:

• How to refill your Swiffer wetjet from Curbly
• Fourth of July Crafts from No Time For Flash Cards
• Repopping unpopped popcorn from The Kitchen
• Why Having a Toddler is Like Being at a Frat Party from Suburban Snapshots
• Stranger Danger from New Life on a Homestead
• Theme of the Week {Veggies}
• Innovation through art and education… a local group called RiverzEdge
• How to stick your hand into molten lead
• This is almost as good as the doily wedding dress: Doily Table Runner
• Paint Bag
• If you want more of the things I share, subscribe to this feed.

You can check out what I’ve recently watched, listened to, photographed, and tweeted over on my sidebar. You should also Subscribe to RSS feed and email newsletter to get my latest posts.

Dear Readers & Month-book: May

May 27th, 2010 • Monthly Recap, Other, baby, food, home+garden, mommy, rant • 3 comments

I want to know what you want to read about. I have many different interests and sooo many ideas on how to approach this blog…

Here’s a poll:

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and to follow up with what’s going on in my life…

This month…

I am hoping: That I stay strong. I have a lot on my plate, and some days it seems like I’m ready to add more. I need to keep in mind all of the things I do already, and that I don’t have time to dedicate to new adventures without taking away some efforts from other ventures. The deciding factor will be based on time and effort vs money and spirit building. “I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”

I am reading: well, not Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand…I’ve been reading cheap romance novels to try to get myself into more of a loving mood, but they’re really portraying a lifestyle I could never replicate. A man that worships the ground I walk on? Waking up to breakfast? Coming home to a clean house? Well, I might come close to that last one sometimes. I’ve been reading a lot of blogs too. Lately, I like Organic Sister.

I am creating: a wedding dress for Bekah…it’s going to be soo gorgeous, and I can’t wait to share photos! I’m also growing a garden, working on becoming a self sustainable household, and raising two kids. oh…and a mess. Every day, I create a mess.

I am wearing: my go-to little black dress. Nope – I’m not going anywhere. It’s just what I throw on when I’m running out the door and I’m feeling a little frumpy. It always makes me looks great, which makes me smile!

In the kitchen: I’m craving spicy food. I made chili at the beginning of the week, and this recipe is a winner.
You brown 1 lb protein, like ground beef. Drain the fat. Then, you add in one diced onion to cook for 5 minutes. Once the onion is translucent, you add two diced cloves of garlic and cook for 30 seconds. From there, you add half a cup of water (or broth), 1 can ground tomatoes (or, in my case, Jamie Oliver’s tomato base with a dozen veggies ‘hidden’ in the puree),1 can beans, salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste. Add in whatever other veggies are in the fridge – this time it was broccoli and corn, and let it simmer for half an hour. If it needs thickening, you can use instant potatoes, tomato paste, or any other thickener. I served it topped with shredded cheddar and chunked avocado. Chips on the side.

The other night, Shrimp Fra Diablo over penne…which is really all about adding red pepper flakes to your tomato sauce! Mmmm spicy.

I also tried the Cinnamon Roll recipe from $5 dinners, which turned out pretty great. I used my basic artisan bread base that I’ve been keeping in the fridge, and rolled it out, which made the recipe a lot quicker.

I was planning on making pizza for dinner tonight, but settled on Ramen after the peanut asked for it. Hearing a toddler say “soup” is too adorable.

Other things on the menu this month: Scallops, stir fry, pizza eventually, and fajitas. I’ve been doing Mexican Monday, Breakfast Tuesday, Chicken Wednesday, Pizza Thursday, Fish Friday, Mooch Saturday, and Pasta Sunday. Definitely takes a lot of thought out of what’s for dinner.

Can you see the craziness that was my kitchen this month? Such adorable decorations on the cheap. The dollar store carries cake mix, frosting, cupcake cups, tulle, faux pearls, and so many other cute things. My make-your-own-tutu craft was a hit!

Around the house:The week before Pumpkin’s birthday party was a flurry of painting, installing cabinet doors, and beadboard backing the shelves over the toilet. I have to say, this house is coming along nicely. The back door and window trim still need to be cut, painted, and installed, but that’s not a big project.

This month:

• We went to the playground almost every day.
• We went to Mystic Aquarium for Pumpkin’s birthday, which was waaaay overpriced, but she got to touch some awesome aquatic creatures and had a great time.
• and had a skating princess ballerina party that weekend…which came out awesome thanks to graphics from Rhoda Perdition
• I planted the onions, carrots, spinach, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and peppers with a little help from the little ones. There’s more to go, but I have a husband that’s reluctant to build me raised garden beds. boo
• Alex took the girls to Renaissance Gymnastics open play, which they loved
• We biked to the library for story hour (which is less than 2 miles away) more than once this month
• Phil (Alex’s brother) took Aly and I bowling for Mother’s Day, and she did as well as us. What’s up with that?
• I got to dress in 1940’s style TWICE – once for the derbytaunt, and once for team photos
• We took a Teddy Bear Tour of Slater Mill, and did some cool crafts that I’ll have to share!
• I scrimmaged with Providence Roller Derby’s Killah Bees against NH, and kicked ass
• I went to a zombie party for crash and rickety, where I mastered zombie sword fighting skills
• Alex found a new job, with better hours, comparable pay, and a whole lot less of a commute…which I’m hoping will solve his sleeplessness problem, since he won’t have kids screaming while he’s trying to sleep.
• and this weekend, Jen’s visiting from the midwest!!!! and I got a babysitter so I can go to the Super Hero Afterparty. Wooth!

Next month:

• I’m running a 5k to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
• Two birthday parties to go to, at the same time – oh instant cloning, where are you?
• PRD vs Suburbia at the same time as two weddings – clone me thrice!
• My cousin’s high school graduation.
• PRIDE fun bout on the 20th
• A Surprise!!!
• Mob Squad Craft night
• plus the usual gymnastics, story hour, roller derby practice, work commitments

A few things to share:

• A Rope Wreath – I imagine this summery with some anchors and sparrows. so cute.
• Morphologica Laser-Cut Science Geek Jewelry - best. gift. ever.
• yeah yeah yeah – ban bp.
• Pizza on a stick – peanut would love this. She loves pepperoni!
• so, I can’t let strawberries into my house, but I bet this recipe for Strawberry freezer jam would be good with other berries
• How-To: One-Shoulder Ruffle Shirt – ’nuff said

Feb 2010

January 27th, 2010 • Monthly Recap, jobby, reviews • No comments

Looking Back: 2009
Procrastination was holding me back!

When I looked at my to-do list last year, many of the entries like “call Donna ” and “follow up with New Corp.” were copied from a previous week. Putting off unappealing tasks may be human nature, but for an entrepreneur, procrastination can be deadly.

This year, I’m holding myself responsible. I will follow up on that great referral, make that important sales call, mail the marketing package, and write the proposal. I find that once I’m taking action, the rest seems much less difficult than I had feared.

Latest Site Launch: Joe Danella
Some important design techniques.

Busy in his studio, artist Joe Danella works 10-3 just about everyday — building and designing beautiful handcrafted birdhouses. Joe has owned and operated his business since 1991, but he’s been making things all his life.

I took his existing site, redesigned the layout and look, and launched an improved site that he can edit himself. As a small business owner myself, I understand the need to update your own site without having to call someone to do it every time. I’ve created this and other sites using the open source Joomla platform. You can check out my portfolio here.

Roller Derby Workout Video
* * * * * (5 stars).

I finally got the Roller Derby Workout video, and it’s intense. The exercises have helped me with my form and targeting muscle groups that I wasn’t aware I even had. The outfits are cheesy, but I expected no less. I’d recommend this to everyone looking for a strength workout. If you’re looking for cardio, go to practice. Check out the trailer on my post.

Looking ahead: 2010
My plan for the future

My goals for 2010 include writing for more publications, maxing out my IRA, and scheduling more speaking engagements. If any of you out there can point me in the right direction, I’d appreciate it!

I hope you’re having a wonderful year. There’s only one week left before the first big conferences for women in Rhode Island commence. I’ll be at Building Bridges Through Networking and the Soul at Work Unconference: Be Visible. I hope we can connect if you’re going! Email me, DM me, @me, leave a comment on my wall, whatever…. I’m always around.

-Amanda

“If you’ve got a project too delicate for you to screw up, contact me today. I’ll quote you on a perfect, professional job — no screw-ups, guaranteed.”