Greeblemonkey

When Did My Child Turn Into A Hipster?

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:48:00 +0000

What is missing?

Oh right.

Learning Maturity From His Little Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:44:00 +0000

Yeah, I know. Declan doesn't actually have a little brother. Small technicality.

What he does have, is the son of our best friends. A precocious ball of energy that turns four this month, and who we love to death.

When they refer to each other as "brothers," eyebrows inevitably go up.

But who cares.

We all make our own family, right? And our family includes Jeff, Danielle and Grayson.

I have always heard that five years is a good age gap between siblings. Declan is 5.5 years older than Grayson, almost to the week. (I guess we added six months for good measure?)

What that means is they get along incredibly well. Grayson wants to do everything Declan is doing. Which is helpful when you are trying to get Grayson to eat. Declan is willing to play like crazy with Grayson. Which is helpful when you are trying to get Declan off the iPad.

They are SO DAMN CUTE.

But beyond the heightened cute-factor, there is an interesting wave of zen-like maturity that washes over Declan after he hangs out with Grayson. Like he finally understands how annoying he, Declan, can be. Declan gets Mom voice. He tells Grayson to STOP IT. Whatever IT is. He bosses Grayson around. He gets this attitude of disbelief over, GOOD LORD, how children could EVER act that way. It's like Maggie Smith invades his body.

Not saying that Grayson is annoying. He is (almost) four. He is a cute, smiley kid that acts like a four year old.

Which Declan only sees when Grayson is around. That is his only frame of reference.

But when Grayson leaves, we definitely have a 60 year old dowager countess who lives with us for a few days.

Lucky Enough To See Adele Live.

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:03:00 +0000

I was talking to a friend recently who adores Adele. Much like I adore Adele.

But my friend hasn't had the chance to see Adele - and given Adele's voice problems, who knows if any of us will get to see her again.

Her tour for 19 was troubled too. She canceled on Denver, twice I think, before she finally played the Bluebird Theater, an 800 person room, in January 2009.

The visual quality isn't great - who knows what I was recording on - but amazingly, the audio quality is quite good - so you can definitely HEAR how terrific she is.

Chasing Pavements

Crazy For You

Right As Rain

Make You Feel My Love

Melt My Heart To Stone

I know. RIGHT?

My Non-Sleep Sleep Week

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:51:00 +0000

Sometimes I forget I have a sleep disorder. Because, so long ago, we mostly fixed it.

It used to be, I would wake up screaming, flailing, punching, crying - and swearing there were people in the room attacking me. About three times a week. For years and year and years. For so long I didn't realize how unnormal it all was.

Then I got tired of hurting my husband, tired of feeling terrible, tired of fearing bedtime - just plain tired.

So, I had a therapy, a sleep study, was diagnosed with "arousal disorder" - I still giggle when I say that - and started taking large doses of crazy meds.

That was five years ago.

I have had three night terrors since.

This week has been bad at bedtime. No major night terrors, but I've been... off. Sleep has been almost muffled. I woke up last night (early this morning?) around 4am and I had no idea where I was. I could feel the fear there, almost creeping around the back of my skull, but I also knew I was OK. Like five years of not screaming myself awake had conditioned me to try and figure things out before jumping off the diving board into that icy pool of hysteria.

I sat up in bed and looked around in the black, trying to remember. I almost wasn't even sure who I was, much less where I was, or when it was. As my eyes slowly adjusted, the breath I didn't realize I was holding exhaled.

I was home. In my bed. With Bryan. Safe.

I fell back on my pillow and wondered what was going on. Sure, we have been stressed as ever, but nothing more than normal.

Then I realized what time of year it was.

Late January.

Which had always been the worst time for my night terrors. Always.

Something about the combination of light shifting to longer cycles plus the dreariness of winter had always made January a non-stop screamfest for me.

It was actually soothing to recognize this. This time of year. And the date.

January 26th.

Almost February.

That Time My Video Was Playing in Times Square.

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:41:00 +0000

Here is how this all happened.

1. I was asked to speak at EVO.

2. I was on a photography panel with Jenny Cisney of Kodak.

3. Jenny had some leftover cameras from the conference and I grabbed the waterproof Playsport.

3. I spent the summer shooting water footage.

4. I put it all together along with a song by friends here in town, My Body Sings Electric.

5. I sent it to Jenny.

6. She told me about a contest the camera folks were running for the Playsport.

7. I didn't win the grand prize in the contest.

8. But I did get a runner-up prize - which was having my video play every 15 minutes on the Kodak billboard in Times Square for a week.

I think I *TOTALLY* won the grand prize.

Many thanks to our friend Jason, who lives in New York City, who made the NYC video, and is the father of Dominick, the best friend of Declan, who also appears in the video.

Lovely Friends, Lovely Time at Alt Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:18:00 +0000

I am in the airport, waiting for my flight back to Denver from Salt Lake City. My mind is a blur of ideas and emotions from Alt Summit. But one thing sticks out. Well, three things actually.

Three friends who I have known online for a while, who I met in person for the first time at Camp Shutter Sisters, and who made this past weekend one of the funnest I have had in a long time.

Many thanks to Meghan, Lindsey and Mae for being a big huge dose of awesome.

P.S. Photo shamelessly stolen from Meghan's Instagram feed.

P.P.S. Mae stole it first.

Thank You Wikipedia, Google and the Internet Community.

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:52:00 +0000

You may have noticed that you can't use Wikipedia today, and Google's "censored" logo. There is a blackout, and for damn good reason.

They are protesting SOPA , and it's sister, PIPA - which amount to censorship of the Internet by the government.

I can't thank these guys enough for taking a stand.

What Do You Do When Your Son Commits Plagiarism?

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:39:00 +0000

Last week, I posted a story that Declan wrote while home sick from school. I was so impressed with it, I just had to ~~brag~~ share. The few who saw it before I ripped it down couldn't believe it either.

Read for yourself:

Pretty damn good for a nine year old, right?

I thought so.

I had asked him multiple times before I posted it if HE wrote it. If it was HIS story. After I posted and a few people commented on its brilliance, I told him how much people liked it, and he blushed with pride.

Then his dad saw the post and was suspicious. A few clicks on Google and the story was there, almost word for word in many different places - apparently a very common writing exercise.

UGH.

A normal sick day just got really, really ugly.

I pulled the post and we had a LONG talk about plagiarism. Like LONG LONG LONG. That it was stealing someone else's work. That is was OK to use the story for practice (they do a lot of dictation at school) but telling me that it was his original story was where he went wrong.

And he was going to write a new original story to make up for it.

It took hours.

It made no sense for a long time, and still really doesn't.

It was so painful for him to rewrite over and over to my satisfaction, that he finally just started typing on the computer.

But I think he gets the idea now.

__________________________________________________________________

Joe and Buckaroo's Crazy Day

Kids play Groundies at school. Groundies is a game like tag but you have to close your eyes on the equipment. The story I am about to tell you is about some kids and a monster playing Groundies and the kid getting hurt. Will he survive? Read on to find out.

During a big game of Groundies, Joe pushed Buckaroo off the equipment on to the rocks. “HA HA HA!” Joe hollered. Buckaroo thought he saw something funny on Joe's face but he wasn't sure.

“AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Buckaroo yelled as he fell. Buckaroo fell 10 miles and in the air did a full twist and then landed funny. CRACK! “Wahhhh! I broke my ankle!” Buckaroo cried. WEEE OHHH WEEEEE OHHHHHHH WEEEEEE OHHHHH WEEEEEEE OHHHHHHH WEEEEEEE OHHHHHHHH The ambulance is coming!

After 2 months in the hospital Buckaroo came back with a cast on his foot. Buckaroo suggested playing Hide and Seek because he was afraid of playing Groundies. Everyone agreed, even Joe. Buckaroo and his friends played Hide and Seek instead of Groundies.

Buckaroo finds Joe first, deep in a dark corner of the equipment. Unfortunately, Joe was actually a monster and his real face was peeking out of his mask. YIKES! Buckaroo saw his real face! He was scared to death!

See kids, the moral of this story is: Never let monsters play with you.

__________________________________________________________________

And parents, never post stories from your kids without doing an internet search first.

Ice Castles in Silverthorne are AMAZING!

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:11:00 +0000

Isn't it weird when you find out there are amazing things right in your backyard? Well, not literally your back yard - in this case I mean a quick drive up the hill to Silverthorne - but here in Colorado - that is our backyard - right?

The Ice Castles (the place, not the movie) contacted Mile High Mamas (who is running a contest for tickets through the 26th, by the way) and while I have been a bad little Mile High Mama lately with all my life craziness, I still love being part of the group and jumped up and down at the chance to go see THIS in person:

We happened to go on a 50 degree day, when the sun was melting the ice like crazy, and I was able to walk around in just a fleece. But that made for some good photography time.

And good OH MY GAWD time.

And good Declan wants to play with chunks of ice time.

And good "Is this actually real?" time.

But, while the day was spectacular - the night was INSANE.

Where walking through the different sections was totally different from the morning.

Well worth the return trip.

Well worth ANY trip.

And since the Ice Castles change all winter long - while the crew builds them icicle by icicle and Mother Nature adjusts their texture and form with every weather pattern - we'll be back for sure.

Full Flickr set is here!

_______________________________________________________________________

Blogger Disclosure: My entrance and accommodations were covered by Ice Castles and Keystone Resort. All thoughts, words, and images are mine.

Bring On The Kitties!

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:20:00 +0000

Yes! More Bop Skizzum! More design work!

And LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF CATS!

Well, specifically, one cat. Named "Hello Kitty." Owned by Momfluential.

Yes! The new single by Bop Skizzum is called "Heavy Petting" and we went there with the cats and Ciaran let me use a ton of her Instagram photos for the album cover.

However.
I call her cat "David Bowie" - anyone care to guess why???

Playdates Are Different

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:06:00 +0000

When I was a kid, I had to be home when the street lights came on in the neighborhood. My mom threw us out the door in the morning and we came straggling back for lunch, maybe, more like when the fireflies announced themselves just before the ominous buzzing of the big florescent stopwatches. Winter Break was a series of snowball fights - if we were lucky enough to get snow over Christmas in Maryland - or if not, most definitely a playfest with all the new toys from Santa.

Declan has been home with me going on two weeks and he has played with a friend once. We had to do a bunch of finagling around schedules, the whens and wheres, to make it happen.

We also live fairly close to downtown, so I have yet to release Declan to the wilds of our 'hood. At his age, I was free to roam, with or without my bike. But it's just been in the last year or so that we even let Declan play in the front yard alone, or maybe run across the street to play with the only child on our block his age.

Of course, I didn't ride a city bus until I was nearly 20 - Declan did that on a Kindergarten field trip.

It is interesting that our experiences are so different; everyone says it is the sign of the times.

But, I had gross dudes approach me in that neighborhood where I was free to roam. Back then. When things were supposed to be safe.

Of course, we also over-schedule our children now; they are running from one appointment to another constantly.

This is so true, in our family at least. I am constantly looking at my phone and calculating how much time I need till the next thing, how much can I fit in. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and be some floppy aristocrat who spent have the day getting dressed and the other half listening to music. But then I would have to corset, and that would never do, of course.

Point being, I long for calm, and I know my son does sometimes too.

So, sometimes I purposely don't schedule things and let him goof off. Do whatever.

Sure, yesterday he watched about 8 hours straight of Looney Tunes on YouTube.

But he doesn't do that every day. I try my best to find the middle ground. Some days playdates. Some days a book. Some days cleaning the house (he loves that one). And yes, some days vegging in front of the TV.

And then I sit and think, how will it be for him when he grows up? Will he look back and wish he had been able to run around in the streets like a maniac? Catch fireflies at dusk like I did? Will it influence where he decides to live? How he raises his children?

No clue, but he will be interesting to watch.

Top 25 Funny Tweets of Christmas 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:57:00 +0000

Every so often I do a funny tweet round-up, and last year everyone seemed to like my best tweets of Christmas list. Well, when I say "like," I mean laugh HYSTERICALLY and LOL and LMAO and ROTFL and IDKWTFIATA. (Try and see if you can figure the last one out. It's a riddle.)

Either way, people asked me to do it again, and I was happy to - because all the humor tweeters, who I often find through Favstar.fm, make me laugh all year long, and sometimes even PMPAL.

So, here we go, in alphabetical order, my top 25 tweets of Christmas.

Click the images to get to their Favstar accounts and follow and star the crap out of these people.

Happy holidays, friends!

The Fray's Isaac Slade Performing "How To Save A Life" Totally Acoustic

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

It was such a fun time at the One Republic benefit show here in Denver last night, and I was able to finally shoot two more of my favorite bands, as well as several I have photographed many times - I'll tell you the combination was a little like sniffing glue.

You can bet I have pretty much a boat-load full of photos to edit - a real boat-load, mind you, not some stupid dinghy. But till then, here is Isaac Slade from The Fray singing "How To Save A Life" all on his own, no mic, no amp, no nothing. Amazing.

Towards the end, he says the line of the night: "Denver is the first state that learned this song."

Which just goes to show how tired the guy was - seeing as they performed on the Today Show in NYC just that morning and flew home through a foot of snow to make it in for the concert.

Also showing just how much all these dudes from Colorado really do rock.

__________________________________________________________________

UPDATE! ALL MY PHOTOS POSTED! STILL SUCH AN AWESOME NIGHT!

A Month of Tweets About My Family

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:18:00 +0000

I was actually going to go back further in time, but Twitter only lets you look back a month. Or maybe that is when I got tired of looking. Not sure.

Either way, I kind of realized that I almost have been living two lives online. One where I am a goofball on Twitter and one where I discuss SERIOUS ISSUES here on my blog. Health and depression and crap like that.

Where I am really more in the middle. A goofball with serious health issues.

Not to mention, except for the Library of Congress, tweets are gone in an instant. Or a month? Again, not clear on that.

OK, fine. One sentimental one to end the post.

How Do You Handle A Screaming Baby?

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:22:00 +0000

When that baby is not yours?

Today at lunch, Declan and I were at a diner. It was busy. Bustling. It's the last week for Christmas shopping, right? We were packed in like sardines with everyone else who was trying to get done a million things today.

The family next to us could only be described as snooty. Well, if we want to get technical, the mom definitely had a stick up her ass, and the dad was just an asshole. The two teen boys seemed typical - and actually a little embarrassed by their parents.

Because those parents were mad - really really really mad - about a baby crying a short distance from us.

To the point where they asked the server - I shit you not - to have the baby and her family moved away.

Oh yeah - that baby was screaming her head off. Like breaking glass decibels. But she was a baby. It was chaotic in there. I was on edge myself. But I REALLY got on edge when that poor waiter had to go over, and politely ask them, "Can I help you with anything? Would another area of the restaurant work better for you?"

Kudos for him for skirting the issue.

Declan watched the whole thing with a look of fascination.

I finally made him move to my side of the table so we could whisper about it like two teenage girls.

He said the baby was really annoying him too. But he knew she would calm down eventually. And why be rude to everyone when it was super loud in the restaurant to begin with?

"She must not remember what it was like to have a baby."

Indeed.

photo by Upsilon Andromedae

What Declan Will Be Wearing on Christmas Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:33:00 +0000

When Polarn O. Pyret emailed me, I have to admit I had never heard of them. Apparently the brand has been around since 1976 (um, I was in Kindergarten that year), but only in the USA for the past two years.

To celebrate their new brick and mortar stores in NYC, they asked me to "stripe" Declan and take some photos.

Honestly, he was a TOTAL pain in my booty about it.

Until he put the darn things on.

Then I couldn't get him out of them.

Twitter Glossary: Top Terms Used On Our Favorite Social Media Network

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:54:00 +0000

I was shocked yesterday as I was working on some things with a client, how I could not find a comprehensive list of Twitter terms, phrases and abbreviations! So I made one.

Yes. Here are common terms, phrases and abbreviations used on Twitter.

Avatar
Your Twitter bio photo.

DM
Direct Message (or simply “message”). When two people follow each other, they have access to direct message each other. This is a valuable communication tool, because, while it is similar to texting someone, you also can reach a person at their desktop computer when they may not have their phone handy.

CC
Similar to CC on emails, users “cc” other Twitterers at the end of a tweet to call their attention to it.

Block
To stop a person from seeing your tweets, and from you seeing their tweets to you.

Fail Whale
When Twitter is so overloaded it cannot function, an iconic image of a whale being held by birds will appear.

#FB
This tag is used by people who have installed an application on Facebook. Tweets ending in #fb are automatically imported to Facebook, all others are ignored.

#FF
Follow Friday. Suggestions for people to follow. It is generally good form to only send one or two of these tweets on Fridays, and to explain why you are suggesting someone.

Follow
When you follow other people on Twitter, their updates will appear in your timeline (or tweetstream, or twitterstream).

Handle
Your Twitter name. Sometimes called a Twandle.

Hashtag
The # symbol before any word, which makes it clickable, thus searchable on Twitter. Used to create a collection of tweets for specific events, topics, or sometimes funny add-on comments for tweets. Many times hashtags are used at the end of a tweet, especially for events – but can be used mid-tweet if they flow into the thought.

OH
Overheard. As in, I overheard someone saying something and I am going to tweet it, but not reveal the source.

Mention
When someone, whether they follow you or not, mentions you or your handle on Twitter.

MT
Modified Tweet. For example, I am retweeting the majority of your tweet, but I have changed some of the words or meaning.

Phish
Links that are sent via DM that seem suspicious may be from an account that has been hacked. Ignore the link and you will not be infected. If you happen to click a phished link, simply change your password as soon as possible and the phishing will stop. If you send legitimate links via DM, it is a good practice to tell the receiver that it is a not a phishing link, or explain what the link is.

Private
When a user has a “lock” symbol on their account, meaning you must request their permission to see their tweets.

Promoted
Tweets, topics and users who pay to get higher visibility.

Reply
When a user answers back to another user on Twitter, usually starting with the person’s Twitter handle. Also called an “at reply” or “@ reply.”

RT
Retweet. I like your tweet and I am going to retweet it, meaning pass it along to my followers.

Search
Use the search function to see what people are talking about (on Twitter) in any given topic, name, hashtag, etc.

Spam
When a user tweets a link to you, but is generally not following you, and the link is for something that they are selling.

Star
There is a star symbol next to tweets, which when checked, essentially marks a tweet for later. Also called a "fave," starring a tweet can be used for many purposes: to remind you of a particularly interesting tweet, or to congratulate the original tweeter on an interesting or funny tweet, to name a few. The site Favstar (pronounced "favv-star," not "fave-star") is an aggregator for starred and retweeted tweets.

Trending Topics
The most popular subjects on Twitter at that moment. Can also be segregated by location, if Twitter supports your location.

Tweet
A single update on Twitter.

Tweetstream & Twitterstream
Main flow of tweets form people you are following. Also called Timeline.

Tweetup
An in real life gathering of Twitter friends.

Twitter Party
An arranged virtual party, generally arranged by a blog or brand, where Twitterers gather at a certain time to discuss a specific topic.

URL Shortener
Tool to make URL’s smaller, and thus easier to fit in a 140-character tweet.

Via/HT
Used when a link or thought comes from someone else and the Tweeter is giving credit. Hat Tip (HT) - sometimes called “heard through” - does the same.

There you have it.
What other terms should be on the list?

I'm A Tween Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:15:00 +0000

When does "tween" age start anyway? Is it nine? Declan turned nine in September, and along with it, I am pretty sure he became a tween.

He rolls his eyes at us.

He tells fart jokes.

He has watched Star Wars Episode I.
Or IV depending on your perspective.
The one with Jar Jar Binks.

But something else has happened.

He's becoming himself.

Not just an extension of us.

Someone once told me that happens around age nine, and I finally understand what they mean. He is pushing for independence in different ways. And we are letting go, because he is showing an incredible level of maturity about his decisions.

Oh, sure. His room is a mess and I can't get him to comb his hair to save my life.

But that seems like a sign of growing up too, right?

Recently, we were invited to go spend the night out, and as I tossed the options around my brain, my go-to reaction was, per usual, "should we get a babysitter and make it an adult night?"

Not that I didn't enjoy my son when he was younger. Not that I didn't want to hang out with him. Not that I didn't love him more than anything in the whole world.

But I clamored for time alone with Bryan. For special moments away from the kid.

As I thought more about our evening-away invitation, I realized it would be MORE fun to have Declan with us. That the three of us would have a blast together. Not kid fun, not adult fun, but that somewhere-in-between place we had been creating for the past year. The tween place.

When Declan joins our conversations, with his own opinions, and adds input that totally makes sense.

When Declan cracks jokes that are seriously funny, and completely independent of his dork of a father.

When we have special time, just the three of us.

Traffic NASCAR

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:30:00 +0000

Bryan gets stuck in traffic a lot during his commute, so he decided to take the power back today.

And then he realized he was filming vertically and made another.

I love being married to this lunatic.

Nine Nice Pinterest Pins

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:01:00 +0000

I often talk about my Pinterest addiction. Over a work luncheon today, we forced a person at our table to join. Like the mafia. The Pinterest mafia.

Pretty soon I am just going to stop and assault people on the street.

But when you find these kinds of things there, WHO WOULDN'T??

1. GRILLED BANANA S'MORES

2. ELASTIC iPHONE CASE

3. FINGERPRINT HEART NECKLACE

4. BATHTUB I WANT TO LIVE IN FOREVER

5. MAGNETIC MUFFIN TIN ADVENT CALENDAR

6. STAR WARS RUSSIAN DOLLS

7. $15,000 A NIGHT UNDERWATER HOTEL

8. SOMETHING I REPINNED FROM MY FRIEND CALEB AND THEN IT REALLY HAPPENED TO MY FRIEND BEN'S CAR AS WE LEFT THE BAR ONE NIGHT AND WE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT BUT I SWEAR IT HAPPENED IT WAS JUST TOO COLD TO STOP AND TAKE A PHOTO

9. I HAD AN EMERGENCY C-SECTION BUT I IMAGINE THIS EXACTLY WHAT IT IS LIKE?

Point is, Pinterest feeds me from all sides.

Design, art, craft, fun, emotion, community, beauty, everything.

Let me know if you are not on yet and you need an invite.

Join us!

Addiction

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:18:00 +0000

I have addicts all over the family, especially on my dad's side. I have been lucky to escape it - but when the pull is so strong, you have to be careful. I've had to fight it. And I have won.

I don't mean to sound all, "I am above addiction." I mean I KNOW I could fall for it. Easily.

With all my health issues, I have been in a lot of pain this year. Trust me, I will never dismiss Declan when he complains of ear pain every again. It hurts - SO SO SO MUCH.

And when you are in a lot of pain, they give you a lot of pills.

My preference: Vicodin.

It just works, feels good, but doesn't make me SO loopy I can't function.

Therein lies the problem.

I have heard enough addicts talk about their drug of choice and how one is preferable over the other.

I can tell you with full certainty - I have to be careful about vicodin.

I got some more, and have really needed it, when they pulled my back tooth and crowned its neighbor last week. Apparently that back tooth had a huge root, and was twisting around, cracking the other tooth in the process.

Ouch.

So, yeah. Vicodin is in the house again - for probably the 5th time this year.

I held it up to Bryan and told him, "This is the drug you have to watch me with. This is the one that should NOT disappear quickly. This is NOT the one I need refills for. THIS is the one that would be my problem - I like it too much."

I have been making it through the days without it, as much as possible. I try to lean on Advil, as much as possible. And hopefully in a few days I will be able to throw away the extras from the prescription, unused.

I have seen that place, I have seen where it takes you, and I don't want to go there.

This Is Only Funny If You Have Seen The Muppet Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:28:00 +0000

Declan has been experimenting with voices lately. A lot.

Some are cool, some are really annoying.

Like, really really really annoying.

Like the high pitched voice he used all morning long today.

ALL. MORNING. LONG.

It was this mix of girly and gratey and pitchy and squeeley and draggy and IT WENT ON FOREVER. All morning long, he talked about anything and everything in these whiny teenager wannabe sounds (except for more annoying) till I thought I was going to find some random cat to kick.

We asked him to stop several times. And then several times more. And then finally I raised my voice and yelled, "ENOUGH DEX!"

He was in the bathroom brushing his teeth for school at that point.

There were a few seconds of silence ... then I heard a low, gravely voice call out to me:

"INNNNNNNNNN COOOONNNNNNTTTRRRROOOLLLLLLLL."

Interjections! At The School Play!

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:36:00 +0000

Declan's school makes me laugh. In a good way.

Here is his class doing their part at the school play last night.

P.S. The shaking is me. I wasn't kidding about the laughing thing.

The New Life

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:20:00 +0000

This last year has been a wild ride. Sure, there was all my health stuff, but also, I am working to establish myself on my own rather than being the co-owner of a fairly large small company. People around town have asked my multiple times, "What do you DO again? I never knew."

I know Klein Buendel was kind of confusing, seeing as it mixed web development and health research. For folks outside the grant world, what we did usually garnered blank stares or nods of understanding that really weren't understanding.

That's fine. I miss working on health initiatives, but I also like how I am now incorporating more of the full scope of my talents.

I have been taking portraits of people. I have been doing social media work for travel-oriented companies like CLEAR. I have been designing logos. I have been developing web sites. I have been even shooting bands I drooled over when I was a tween.

And speaking of music, I am doing design work, and photography, and web programming, and social media training for several local bands, but especially my friends from Bop Skizzum. Designing their New Year's Eve concert poster was probably one of THE funnest things I have done (professionally) in a long time.

I am not working full-time yet.

Given my health this year, that is probably a good thing.

But I am gaining clients, and working on really cool things, and spending time with my kid, and checking out what everyone in Denver is up to, and connecting with folks, and basically ...

Getting back to life.

Christmas Music for Your Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Aimee Greeblemonkey) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Remember when I used to give music CDs away every month? I really miss that. And some friends were asking about holiday music - since I am such a sucker for Christmas music. ALL KINDS of Christmas music. Seriously. ALL.

I always start listening to those tunes on Thanksgiving - it kicks off the holidays in a fun, festive way. And Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday. All good thoughts and good food. Love it.

So, I created a playlist on iTunes for the upcoming weekend and then shared the playlists to both Rdio and Spotify. Songs dropped off on both services, due to clearances I suppose - but they are still pretty long. And full of fest.

Feel free to check them out - see if there are any new holiday songs you would like to add to your collection - or depending on which service you use, and how you use it - you could just go ahead and let this play while your turkey is cooking!

WE WISH YOU A VERY VERY VERY
HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEKEND.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU.

Spotify Christmas 2011 Playlist (will open Spotify app)

Rdio Christmas 2011 Playlist (will open new browser window)

Oddly enough, iTunes grabbed even less of the whole list, but here is their version.

And since I am a crazy fool, here are the names and artists of ALL the songs actually hanging out on my computer this holiday season. Well, DUH, I clearly have WAY more holiday music than this - these are just my faves this year.

Do They Know It's Christmas?	by	Band Aid
Run Rudolph Run	by	Chuck Berry
Silver Bells	by	Alice Smith
Christmas Time	by	ALO
Gee Whiz It's Christmas	by	Diane Birch
Winter Wonderland	by	Aretha Franklin
Underneath the Mistletoe	by	Blondfire
Christmas Day	by	Dido
Christmas Ain't Christmas	by	Bobby Womack
Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord	by	Boney M.
Santa Bring My Baby Back	by	Elvis Presley
Jingle Bells	by	The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Home For The Holidays	by	Brian McKnight
Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday	by	Carole King
Silver and Gold	by	Burl Ives
2000 Miles	by	Coldplay
Christmas Tonight (with Hillary Scott)	by	Dave Barnes
Back Door Santa	by	Clarence Carter
Frosty The Snowman	by	Fiona Apple
Mistletoe	by	Colbie Caillat
The Little Christmas Tree	by	Bon Voyage
Jingle Bell Rock	by	Daryl Hall & John Oates
Christmas Time With You	by	David Ian (feat. Andre Miguel Mayo)
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!	by	Dean Martin
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)	by	Death Cab For Cutie
Mr. Heat Miser	by	Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
This Christmas	by	Donny Hathaway
The Little Drum Machine Boy	by	Beck
Sleigh Ride	by	KT Tunstall
Step Into Christmas	by	Elton John
Carol of the Bells	by	The Bird and the Bee
The Christmas Song	by	Alana Davis
When I Get Home for Christmas	by	Snow Patrol
Ave Maria	by	Celine Dion
Winterlove	by	Parachute
In the Morning	by	Jack Johnson
Snow Miser	by	FM Static
Mele Kalikimaka	by	Bing Crosby
Christmas Can't Be Very Far Away	by	Darla Day
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town	by	James Taylor
Sweet Secret Peace	by	Neil Finn
Wake Up! Wake Up!	by	Matt Wertz
Christmas Means Love	by	Joan Osborne
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel	by	Bebo Norman
Snowflakes	by	Jeremy Fisher
Mrs. Christmas	by	Jessie Baylin
It's Not Christmas Without You	by	Katharine McPhee
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus	by	John Mellencamp
We Call It Christmas	by	Keb' Mo'
We Wish You a Merry Christmas	by	John Denver & The Muppets
Christmas Time Is Here	by	Shelby Lynne
All My Bells Are Ringing	by	Lenka
A Great Big Sled	by	The Killers
Father Christmas	by	The Kinks
Children Go Where I Send Thee	by	Ledisi
What I Want for Christmas	by	Macy Gray
Baby, It's Cold Outside	by	Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan
Just Like Christmas	by	Low
Merry Christmas Baby (live)	by	Eric Clapton & Sheryl Crow
O Come All Ye Faithful	by	Weezer
Christmas for Two	by	Sixpence None The Richer
I'll Be Home for Christmas	by	Holly Conlan
You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch	by	Queens Club
Christmas	by	Teddy Thompson
No Christmas for Me	by	Zee Avi
This Time of Year	by	Etta James
Blue Christmas	by	Nicole Atkins
Peace	by	Norah Jones
White Christmas	by	Tony Bennett
Santa Please...	by	Toni Braxton
My First Snow	by	Matt Morris
Come On Santa	by	The Raveonettes
A Snow Globe Christmas	by	Pink Martini
Not So Merry Christmas	by	Raul Malo
Christmas in Hollis	by	Run-D.M.C.
All I Want for Christmas Is You	by	Mariah Carey
The Little Drummer Boy	by	Sean Kingston
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree	by	Surrogate
Angels We Have Heard On High	by	Indigo Girls
That Spirit of Christmas	by	Ray Charles
Always in the Season	by	Pomplamoose
O Holy Night	by	Shane Barnard & Shane Everett
Last Christmas	by	Wham!
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas	by	Shawn Colvin
Ain't No Chimneys In the Projects	by	Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
I Believe in Christmas Eve	by	Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Silent Night	by	Stevie Nicks
Song for a Winter's Night	by	Sarah McLachlan
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas	by	Michael Bublé
Someday At Christmas	by	Stevie Wonder
A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like a Kiss)	by	Glasvegas
Winter Song	by	Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
Season's Greetings	by	Robbers on High Street
Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song)	by	Meiko
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer	by	The Temptations
Raise the Tree	by	Trent Dabbs
Christmas Wrapping	by	The Waitresses
Santa Baby	by	Eartha Kitt & Henri René
Peace At Last	by	Hem

ENJOY, FRIENDS!