Brave: A Movie Review

Kiddo and I had the chance to watch “Brave” last night. Yet another Disney hit (at least in our house). I’ve always been a Disney movie fan – my favorite movie is STILL “Beauty & The Beast”.

Brave is the amazing story of Merida, a Scottish princess who routinely challenges the norm of royal life (according to her mother Queen Eleanor). Merida has the issues of any teenage girl – learning responsibility, a mom who talks at her about her royal duties (mine was washing dishes, which I still hate!) and generally annoyed at not having a say in her future goals.

With great graphics and color, Disney took kiddo and I to Scotland. I loved Merida’s character right away; someone wanting to make her own decisions rather than having them made for her as Queen Eleanor (played by Emma Thompson) would do. Throw in a legend into the mix and here’s yet another movie I’d like to add into my dvd collection.

Even better? Kiddo began repeating lines from the movie copying the Scottish accent. We give “Brave” five stars!

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Writing Goals Set and Met

The end of November and beginning of December have found me meeting some of my writing goals. Some were posted here long ago and others not. Here’s a list of my accomplishments so far:

1. Bought my domain name.
2. Applied & accepted a position with a media company.
3. Applied & accepted a blogging job blending my mental health experience and writing. (So excited!)
4. Established a better sleep routine, which allows me to get up early to write.

One last major thing for me to do this month is to set up hosting for my domain name and get my websites transferred over. It was the last hurdle for me to really declare myself a writer. Besides writing (and thinking about writing) all of the time, I still struggled with just buying my domain name. Seriously, it was all in my head. My hope is to have everything done on my new website (which will remain nameless for now) by the end of the first quarter of 2013. If I could do this, I can do anything. lol

Happy Tuesday!

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Black Friday – Not for Me

As the Black Friday commercials stream on my television, radio and computer, I’m still confounded as to the point of this weird-to-me tradition. Yes, I find it strange that people would get up in the middle of the night to go shopping just to save some money.  Especially since the last few years of Black Friday literally became Black Friday when people began dying due to stampedes at the door.

I only heard about Black Friday for the first time in 2007 from a friendly co-worker at the time. She asked me how early I’d be up shopping for Black Friday. I, a native New Yorker, had NEVER heard of it.  She was nice enough to tell me what it was about sharing some of her Black Friday tips. As soon as she told me that she got up at 2am to go shopping, I knew that Black Friday was out for me. I wouldn’t get up that early except to get on a plane for vacation.

This year, I decided to do some research on this so-called holiday. Doing a Google search for “where did black friday come from?’ brought me the usual Wikipedia page, but led me to others.  In the Mental Floss archives, the start date  of the actual day is unclear, though it has roots in the early 19th Century. Wow, day-after Thanksgiving holiday madness way back then? That’s crazy to me.

And it also seems that pr companies were hard at work in the eighties to put a positive spin on Black Friday by pushing around the new meaning of the day writing “getting in the black” as a way for retailers to recoup sales lost on Thanksgiving (when people traditionally did NOT do any shopping). Back then, people let themselves be knocked into tryptophan food comas.

On News Blaze, I found a list of various “Black Fridays” full of tragic stories and events from stock market crashes to battles to natural disasters to the assassination of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963). After reading that list, I feel okay with NOT being comfortable with Black Friday as a positive shopping holiday.

Once again, the madness is here and even madder than before as stores are opening Thanksgiving night. Black Friday is not even here yet and already I’m over it. Please be safe out there and remember that Thanksgiving isn’t about holiday sales, but about spending time with family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Feel free to share your thoughts about Black Friday in the comments.

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Enter the Ice Hockey Mom

So this past weekend was my official coming out as an ice hockey mom. And I failed….badly.
My sleep-deprived brain needed coffee, so I went to Dunkin where I parked myself with my breakfast. And here I thought, “Kiddo’s on time and on the ice. I’m good.” NOT!
By the time I went back to the ice to cheer from the sidelines (more like raise my coffee as a salute), the kid was dehydrated after two water breaks. He was SO upset with me and I was SO upset with myself for failing my kid on the first day.
I was relieved though. After he drank some of his Gatorade, he smiled and went back to practice. Seems like I’m forgiven….until my next screw-up!

Signed,

Ice Hockey Rookie

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Thoughts on Stupid Sandy

Yes, this hurricane is stupid. Hurricane Sandy has wreaked havoc on the Eastern Seaboard causing death, homelessness and hardship for so many. I’m very fortunate that I’m not one of them. I’m very grateful to be in  my little section of the Bronx spending the week with my son while I wait for his school to open again.

In the meantime, I’ve been watching news reports (nauseated by them) and following updates on Twitter. So many things have come up in the wake of Hurricane Sandy so I wanted to share brief thoughts on the following:

Hoaxes – Seriously people have nothing better to do than to add to the anxiety, fear and suffering for those affected by the hurricane. Note: There are no sharks in the waters or 3 feet of water in the NY Stock exchange (that guy lost his job) or people posing as Con Ed workers to loot from people.

Tasteless Sales – Brands like American Apparel, Gap, etc coming out with “Sandy” sales. Hello brands, how about putting sales that will benefit the people affected by the disaster? Like, donating shipping fees to the Red Cross or Salvation Army? Just a suggestion.  (Note: Other brands have stepped up to provide free showers, food, charging stations, etc. THANK YOU!!!)

Looting and fighting at the pumps – I’ve mixed feelings about this. But as a mental health professional, my view is that people are desperate and scared. It does not excuse this behavior, but may explain it. Scared about where they will sleep, when they will eat and when life will get back to normal. Which leads me to the ING Marathon.

NYC ING Marathon – I’ve got VERY mixed feelings about the race going on. It is supposed to thread through some of the most devastated parts of NYC especially in Staten Island and Manhattan. Manpower and supplies are allocated to work the marathon route while people go without food and power. On the flipside, the marathon is televised widely, which can bring more attention to the disaster efforts and bring more help by way of donation. As a therapist, I can understand why Bloomberg wants this to happen – a sense of normalcy does help the healing process. However, I understand the need to focus on disaster relief efforts. People are scared and in need – what will this race do to help? I’m still unsure of how I feel. (Note: As of 5:18pm, the ING Marathon has been CANCELLED as announced by ABC News at 5pm).

Last thoughts, Sandy has brought out some of the worst in people, but it also brings out the best in people. Stories of heroism, sacrifice and neighbors helping neighbors. As a New Yorker, I feel proud to be here and know that we’re made of tough stuff, but we also can’t do it without the help and generosity of others.

I’m praying for everyone on the Eastern Seaboard affected by Hurricane Sandy. Please help. Give your money, supplies or time to help those affected by Sandy.

For more information please visit:

Red Cross

NYC Volunteer Sign-up

New Jersey Office of Emergency Management

NJ Hurricane Sandy Information Center

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Hurricane Sandy, birthday thoughts and other tidbits

First off, I’d like to thank the first responders and emergency staff who braved dangerously high winds to help others. I’d also like to thank Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo for keeping their cool during this difficult time.

Hurricane Sandy hit us here last night. And I’m very happy to say that in my neck of the South Bronx, I had no damage or power loss. However, other New Yorkers (residents from New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut) weren’t so lucky. My family is in different places around the city, but thank goodness everyone is okay.

I’ve been a bit stir-crazy sitting at home with kiddo, but since there’s power, I’ve been hanging out with kiddo. It’s been months since I’ve had any real time off since starting my job in May. So, I’m trying hard to make the best of it. And eating tons of leftovers from my early birthday party celebration on Saturday (my birthday was yesterday).

So here are my survival tips on how to stay sane during a hurricane:

Get organized and put all exposed objects away. Kiddo and I put away anything that could have hurt us. We also got the candles ready in case we lost power.

Get the board games out. Kiddo and I love board games like Sorry, Guess Who and Scrabble so we took them out. We played a few rounds of games. (I didn’t time this well. We were bored right away). Extra Tip: Keep the television or video games going until the power goes out (if it does).

Charge cell phones and computers. I don’t have a landline so I needed a way to keep in touch.  My phone and computer were both charged and ready to go.

Make sure there’s enough food and water. Since I had a party on Saturday, I had this covered, but I made sure to fill up the bathtub in case I lost water pressure.

Think positive thoughts. Whether or not you believe in a higher power, positive thinking helps reduce anxiety and stress.  I was very anxious being alone with kiddo for such a big storm. I needed a place to put this nervous energy so I kept thinking good thoughts and prayed. (I also limited the amount of news I watched because it increased my worrying.)

Be sure to plan what your next steps might be after the storm passes. After making sure that kiddo and I were okay, I decided to check on my neighbors after going to the local store. Thank goodness everyone was okay. (My neighbors looked at me funny – not a NY thing; my neighbors are funny that way. lol)

Overall, I can count many blessings that we’re okay. I can’t say the same for others as the news reports have shown. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy. All I know is that we’ll all be okay.

Blessings!

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All up in a Knot

One of the coolest (and aggravating) things about being a single mom to a boy (ahem a pre-teen at that) is that I get thrown out of my comfort zone often.

This morning found me searching for a You Tube video (thank Gawd for You Tube – I’d like to kiss the person who invented it!) on ‘how to tie a tie.’ It was a very quick search and we saw the first video in the listings.

The man’s voice was clear, instructions simple and the video was brief. We watched it once before I attempted to tie the tie. Ok, so I had to watch it a couple more times to get my sleep-deprived brain acclimated to doing something that men usually do with their boys.

After I mastered it (yes, I learned first because I wanted to know how to do it if kiddo forgot), kiddo took his turn. And another and another. And he did it! He was so excited that he willingly posed for a picture and asked me to share it with everyone! Yup, I’m a badass! (I mean he’s great, too! But, I’m a badass!)

Andy learned to tie a tie and I helped!

 

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