pregnant products

I wanted to share a round-up of things I've found useful, interesting, or not at all helpful while on this pregnancy journey. It got kind of long with all the pics, so be aware. :)

Trofolastin

This is a stretch-mark cream that allegedly has scientific studies backing up its effectivity. I heard about it on a blog and ordered some. I think I got some on Amazon, but it's not there anymore. I saw a link to this Spanish site. I only use it once a day--not sure if it's supposed to be twice. I haven't seen any stretch marks yet, but I know that genetics and maybe luck plays a big part. However, I also put it on my upper outer thighs, on my high-school stretch marks, and I swear the skin there feels much smoother, softer, and the marks are much less visible. I should probably order another tube!





The Pregnant Body

I also heard about this book on a blog, and it is one of the coolest things I've seen! It's a big hardcover book that's part textbook, part coffee table book (if anatomy is something you like having on your coffee table). There are photos of a female body with the fetus for each month, and they're almost life-size. In between are lots of scientific drawings, photos/images, and facts about what's developing each week or month. Completely, totally fascinating, and I would recommend this for any pregnant person and their partner.







Body Pillow

For at least ten years, my bed has been a nest that includes lots of extra pillows or stuffed friends. I sleep on the side a lot, and I noticed that my knees/hips/back would hurt a lot, but that a pillow between my knees eliminated all of that. Being pregnant is a great excuse for this, and it's even more necessary and comfortable to have pillows surrounding me. The body pillow is for my legs/knees/feet (yes, I like all of them to be cushioned/elevated, even if I'm on my back), and then I have pillows etc on both sides of me. My body pillow is one I found at Costco that's soft but not too thin/squishy (photo is a random body  pillow from macys.com).


Belly band: 

I got one at Target early in the summer when my trousers were getting a little tight. I used it a couple times but it was annoying, because I was in that in-between stage of not exactly needing it but not exactly able to go without. For the rest of the summer I wore skirts and dresses, which was way more comfortable and easy.

And then! I figured out the most awesome thing, and this is my best secret advice: I use the belly band as a tube top! Just for sitting around the house and sleeping. It's so much better than any bra-type thing--I hate straps! 





Books: Mostly I was interested in reading about twins, so all of these may not be helpful or applicable for singleton-pregnant ladies.


What To Expect When You're Expecting:


I wasn't going to read this because I'd heard it was annoying. I found a previous edition at a thrift shop and then someone gifted me the newer one. I've read most of it in parts, and while it's not the most annoying book of the bunch, it's definitely not one of my favorites. Partly because it's organized so terribly. In that it's not organized at all. You don't need to read this.









Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy

Got this one as a gift as well, but I haven't even opened it. Oops. I'm sure it's better and more scientific than What To Expect.















When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads

This was the first twins book I read, and it's always on everyone's recommended-reading list for expectant twin mamas. I rather HATED this book. First of all, it reads like it's freaking Cosmo magazine, with the way anecdotes are written. Second, it's written by this doctor who directs a program, and the entire thing is all about her own method and how amazing and successful it is. Which I guess is her right, seeing as how it's her book and all, but after awhile I realized how very un-objective it is. Third, a huge chunk of the book is about food/eating/nutrition. She says straight out that even if you're a vegetarian, you should really eat meat or at least eggs while you're pregnant. I am very vegetarian, not for moral reasons or anything preachy, but I've been a weird/nonmeat eater for literally most of my life. Even if I wanted to suddenly eat fish and chicken for the health of the fetuses, after never having them for at least thirty years, I can't imagine that my body would react well. She goes on to include sample menus and daily lists of food, and it's actually laughable how much it is. Like, it takes two pages of the book to list out everything you should eat in ONE DAY. And I don't doubt that she's right and that it's a good idea...it just doesn't seem terribly realistic.


Twins 101

We listened to this one in the car during our road trip. Mister Melancholy doesn't read as often as I do, but when he does, he reads a lot of intellectual magazines or nonfiction (like that brick of an LBJ biography that came out this year). I've wanted him to read some of the advice-type books that I read (below) so that he would have the same frame of reference and so that I wouldn't have to explain everything to him. He reluctantly read parts of them, but agreed that he should read more, and an audiobook while a captive audience driving through the emptiness that is most of Wyoming was a good match. Some of the "tips" are pretty silly ("Write loving thoughts in your pregnancy journal!" "Get a private room at the hospital!"), but some were thought-provoking and helpful. In particular, she has a list of good twin baby products and websites. (Of course, that's the downside of an audio book--we have to either track down a PDF that came with it or see if we can find that section to listen to again and take notes.)

Twinspiration

This was a fun book to read, because it's more about experience and what happens after two babies arrive. She is always very clear about sharing what they did and what worked for them, and acknowledges that that may not work for everyone, and she doesn't come across judgmental at all. This book gets really into the nitty-gritty of everyday life with twin babies--talks about schedules, daily duties (diapers, bottles, keeping charts of those), options for night feedings, etc. I really appreciate the specifics--I think that's so helpful. Also, there was a chapter on gear--what you need two of and what you only need one of. Again, really helpful for that kind of specificity.



Ready Or Not

A mama of twin one-year-olds lent me this one this summer. It's very similar to the book above, in that it chronicles this woman's family's experience and suggestions. It's not organized very well at all, but it was still helpful to read about her experience and advice. This one also has suggestions and advice about gear, and it was a little different than the other one.

(Truthfully, I should probably read both of these again in the next couple months and take some notes or something--I've already forgotten a lot of the helpful information!)





Clothes: 
Obviously regular yoga pants lasted a long time in the clothing rotation. My long ones got too tight under my belly, but I have some softer, knee-length ones that are still comfy.

Also, I found several of these convertible skirt/dresses. You can fold over the top to make it a skirt. They're really soft and swingy, and I can still wear them even now (and obviously they can be worn very comfortably without being pregnant too!). I found all three of mine at Marshall's for ten or fifteen dollars. (Here's one I'm wearing as a dress--you can see how the green part can be folded/scrunched to be a skirt top.)

The first maternity clothes I bought were really early on; I got a few tops and a dress from the Liz Lange Maternity Target line. They looked good before I started showing, and they still look good.

Then in mid-July I got a big pile of on-sale maternity clothes at Old Navy during one of their sales/open a credit line and save extra deals. Normally I would never do that, but I got like eight things for under eighty bucks. Honestly, I never shop at Old Navy anyway, because it's so cheap. But if there's ever a time for cheap clothes, it's being pregnant for a season or two! I got a few shirts, two dresses, and a pair of jeans. (Aw look at my little tummy!)

Those jeans were not at all comfortable--the panel wasn't as soft as I would have liked, and it would actually fall down, and then the jeans would sag. I felt like I needed a belt to hold the stupid jeans up. I posted about my dilemma on facebook, and a friend recommended Destination Maternity. 


First I bought these jeans because they don't have a belly panel and they look cute. I ordered the large and the button in front just barely closed, but they were still too big and baggy. I went into one of the stores and tried on the medium, but the button would not close. Bummer.













Then the salesgirl brought me these jeans (or something similar!) and said they're a best-seller and promised they'd be comfortable. I tried them on and they felt much better than the Old Navy jeans--they were lighter and they definitely stayed up a little better. Plus the panel is softer and stays up nicer. I've happily worn these jeans all day on multiple occasions. And while I definitely have to tug them up at times, overall they're very comfortable. I don't think I'll be wearing the Old Navy ones ever again (must remember to put those in a consign pile).












These drawstring sweats-type pants are fantastic. I'm wearing them right now. Soft, comfy, perfect for lounging.







Lastly, I went to a baby/kid consignment sale last month and got a pile of warmer maternity tops/sweaters. That is definitely the way to go! That one was the Just Between Friends Sale and it happens twice a year in many locations around the country. There have been a handful of other large, organized consignment around Portland this fall too. Which makes me happy, because in a few months I'll have a way to get my used maternity/baby things out to someone else who needs them at a great price.

Calendar for Sale!

I put together a New York City calendar. It features some of my favorite shots in and around the city. It's a great gift for young and old!

Buy here!

Birthday fun!

So last night ended up being a little more than just a dinner out for my birthday.

Husband had me meet him in the city "to help him run an errand." Well, I figured there was something in there and indeed there was--the "errand" was the Apple store! He bought us both iPhone4s!! Wow!

See, I have always had the free phone and kept them for years. Kind of prided myself on not needing or wanting the latest shiny gadgets. But...then texting kind of became a necessary thing, and the piece o crap phone can text but it takes for.ev.er. The phone has actually been malfunctioning with incoming calls lately too.

So in the last couple months I've starting feeling twinges of Gadget Desire. I'm a little ashamed, but I kept thinking of ways it would help me (like remembering where I parked, adding things to a to-do list while out and about, being able to write a text with punctuation!), and I finally started to accept that yes, I actually wanted a New Fancy Phone.

Obviously Husband was aware of this, and we've talked about it. But still, he wasn't supposed to just buy me a brand new one! I've made him promise not to buy anything for Christmas. :)

But man, it's pretty exciting. It's all shiny and new, it takes video, I took some photos this afternoon, there are games, I can check email while out and about. Whee, there are so many fun things to do!

Anyway, so we got the phones ready to go and then we went to a lovely dinner nearby. Had a tasty frozen margarita and a big chunk of chocolate cake. (With real food in between, of course.)

The night wasn't over then--Husband also bought us theater tickets! We saw In the Heights. It was good! Some great performances, plus lots of dancing!

We came home and immediately started playing with and setting up the iPhones. :) Lots of fun to be had. I played with it today and am starting to get a feel for things. Any recommendations for good free apps? So far I got facebook, flickr, yelp, and google, and a few card games.

Oh! I attempted a photo project as another way to celebrate my birthday and make a memorable product. I thought it would be fun to do thirty-one jumps! And I would get other people to jump with me, and find interesting new places.
Well...thirty-one different things/places is kind of a lot. I made it to eleven. :) I got two guest stars (not including Husband, who did two with me) and jumped in three boroughs!

Ack, this post has kind of been all over the place. In sum, it was a long, fun birthday!

c(R)ash diet

I have a surprise for you. Are you ready for this?

Here it is:
When you don't have a job, you don't have money!

You're shocked, right?!

I'm not, because I did this already, a year and a half ago. I'm so over being poor.

I'm also a little restless and bored.

So I took on a challenge. It's not a unique challenge, and it's not even a cool and hip young-person challenge. Oh, no.

This is a challenge from the Guru of Greenbacks herself, Suze Orman!

Last December, she declared that to get back at rising credit card interest rates and fees, people shouldn't buy on credit anymore and just do cash: a Back to Cash Movement!

This summer she had a guest on the show who took the challenge and tried to only use cash for a month and felt successful in managing her spending. I found this intriguing, and so, knowing that I have a very limited amount of money to spend period, I would give it a try. Especially because the last of the wedding bills came through this month (on credit cards).

[I'm actually very responsible with credit cards. I almost always pay the complete amount. If that's not at all possible, I pay as much as I can (a big chunk, way way more than the minimum). My first year of teaching (classroom supplies, school clothes, rent, books for grad school) required so much money that I was in debt the whole time--somehow I had to keep charging as much as I paid each month off the balance. So it took a little more than a year to finally get rid of that. Early last year I had a huge car repair right after I got fired, and without a real job, it took three or four months to pay it off.]

But I've been really good about not putting things on credit cards (other than wedding stuff), and it's easy to keep those pretty clear. So my motivation with this challenge wasn't fighting debt out of desperation. It wasn't about drowning in credit card interest. (Thank god.) It was more about freaking out that I still have regular bills to pay (cell phone, car insurance, other things), in addition to things like FOOD, and only what was left in my bank account. If nothing goes into it, how long will that last? How smart am I being with what little I have?

I do get reckless when I have a job. I'm not talking dropping hundreds of dollars on useless toys, trinkets, toys. But I won't say no to a reasonable urge: I'll buy a book or two here. I'll buy a few clothes there. I'll have a few drinks out with friends. I'll buy a plane ticket! (For a vacation, not just any old time, obviously! :D) I spend money because I have money. (I also save it, of course. But naturally, saving is the first thing to go when I don't have an income. I can't spare anything for later if there's not much coming in now!)

So, back to the plan. First I reviewed my spending on mint.com and then set up a very spartan monthly budget plan. I decided I would only use cash for everything possible--groceries ($80 regular plus $100 for Costco), restaurants ($30), transportation ($20), and miscellaneous/shopping ($50). So that's a grand total of $260 to last me an entire month.

I have one week left and less than twenty dollars to get me there. There's no way I'm going to make it.

I'll provide a full report once the month is over!

A bunch of interesting things I could write about

...But I'm not gonna.

Instead, I will try to articulate something that's been irritating me for awhile now. I was in my old neighborhood, had a few minutes, and decided to check out Ann Taylor Loft. In the sale section, I picked out some trousers and tops to try on.

And none of them fit! But here's the stupid thing--they were all too big!

No, I'm not complaining, exactly. But the sizing of clothes has really gotten out of hand--I'm beginning to think it's all an outright lie. See, in high school I was a size 7/8, in college a 10. When I moved to New York, within a year I was back to 8, and then a 6. A six! I hadn't fit into one of those since I was maybe in early high school. I figured that even though I hadn't lost weight or inches, I had started walking around more, and maybe that was the reason. But still, two full sizes seemed a little extreme. Anyway, so for the last four years, I've worn 6s in trousers and dresses, and sometimes small tops.

Now, my body hasn't changed that much in the last fifteen years. I'm 5'7" and a half ish, I weigh between 140-150--I'm not a tiny girl. A six sounds like it should be for tiny, tidy girls. My belly is not flat; my inner and outer thighs are not toned; my chest is not small. I've worked out exactly two times in the last three-plus months, and I've not at all been eating healthfully. And today, the size six was TOO BIG! I bought two pairs of size four trousers! What the hell?? Don't lie to me, fashion industry! A person with 38-inch hips should not wear a size FOUR!

I....

...just bought a camera on eBay!

Less than $100 for a used SLR.

(And technically it can count as a present, since I got a little bit of birthday money last month that I put away.)

Whee! Wooo! Hurrah!

Ooh, I can't wait to play.

Squee!

Look what I bought yesterday!

Whee! This camera has a remote control, so I can do jumping pictures much easier now!
Check this out: the top two photos are from the new camera (8.1 megapixels and 15x zoom!). The bottom two are the same angle from my old camera (3.2 megapixels and 3x zoom). What an incredible difference, eh?

The camera was twice as much as the small Canon I was considering, but I decided to get this one so I can start learning how to manipulate aperture, shutter, and exposure manually. Plus, did I mention the remote control?

Attack of Rampant Consumerism

This past week, my tax return arrived, and I dutifully put one-third into my Roth IRA, one third into my high-yield savings account, and another couple hundred in my regular, doesn't-earn-anything savings.

So that makes me feel like it's okay to buy something that costs a lot of money, but is not an international trip. And by "a lot of money," I mean, less than three hundred. I make good money, but I am a frugal nerd at heart. Except when it comes to travel, of course.

First, I need a new digital camera. My camera is nearly three years old, and is all beat up. When I push the on button, it makes a grinding noise as the lens opens, and when it's closed, the shutter doesn't stay closed. Plus, it's only 3.2 megapixels and the screen is itsy-bitsy. And sometimes the zoom doesn't work and it freezes the whole camera. Boyfriend has a shiny new camera that whirrs silently and has all kinds of pretty and fancy features, with 6 MP and a huge screen. My little camera does take lovely pictures, but I'm afraid might die on me suddenly, and I imagine that a newer, less battered camera would do better.

Next, I want to take a photography class in Manhattan. They are EXPENSIVE but I think it would be so much fun and so educational, since I know about a thimbleful about photography.

Also, someday I would like to get a new, full-size iPod. The mini I have right now is only 4 GB, which is less than half of the music that I have. And if I had a 30 GB iPod, I could keep a backup of all my digital photos, which currently require over 6 GB of my hard drive.

I hate money decisions! But really, how can I complain if it's just about getting myself a new toy?

iPod will come last, for sure. And I think I'll have to make a decision about which camera to get (eek! more decisions!) and look for sales around Memorial Day or July 4th. Boyfriend just got me some neat photography books, so maybe that will have to do as my picture education for now.

A Word from my Sponsors (I wish)

These are some things I can't travel without. Most of them are from ebags.com, which luckily for you, has a big sale going on right now! If you are a traveler in general, and/or you have an upcoming trip, I highly recommend them, and right now they're cheaper than usual. These packing cubes are a lifesaver. The three of them fit perfectly in a rolling suitcase 20-22". It prevents overpacking (of clothes, at least), and it makes your hotel/hostel stay extremely easy, because everything stays together! These cubes go on all trips with me.

You know how all toiletry bags are bulky and thick, and take up way too much room, and don't fit all your products to boot? Well, this toiletry kit is another complete lifesaver. It is amazing! It holds everything you need and it's less than two inches thick. And as you see, bottles are included, which would run ten bucks separately. The middle section opens and hangs, and there are three zippered pockets on the ends. They don't seem that big, but you can really cram a lot of stuff in there. It's all I need, and another product I never leave at home.Obviously, one always needs a good bag. I just bought this one, and it worked pretty well in Amsterdam. It's got the cover flap which buckles down, and underneath that the main pocket has a zipper, so it's very secure. There's a regular open pocket at the back, perfect for a guidebook or notebook. The front small pockets were perfect for tram tickets and iPod.


I never even leave the house without music. This past summer I received a hand-me-down (which equals FREE) mini iPod, and it totally changed my life. I was happy with my discman and CDs for many years, but the shuffle feature alone makes the iPod the best thing ever. I know, welcome to 2004, right? Yeah, well. The 4GB means I have to juggle albums, but it's not like I want to listen to every single album anyway. And sometime in the next year, I'll update to a sleek new shiny one, big enough to keep all the music plus back up all the digital photos on my computer. Anyway, hurrah iPod for being the most necessary nonnecessity of all time.

With my lovely iPod, I was excited about the possible soundtrack of my overseas trip, but very worried about the limited battery life. And how come no one else seems to talk about this? This battery back up unit is fantastic, and only twenty bucks! You plug it in to the iPod dock thing, and the unit holds four AA batteries and powers the iPod. AND, it charges the battery of the iPod! Bonus! Here's a close up:

Um, I know this all sounds cheesy and forced, but I swear by all of these products. If you get any of them, I know you will love them too. (I got the first two for Boyfriend and he likes them already!) Obviously, I didn't mean it when I said 'sponsors,' but if anyone emails me and wants to...awesome. :)

D'oh!

So this afternoon, I decided that I needed to go shopping. Which means driving about half an hour to a town that consists solely of stores.

After fighting traffic for at least ten minutes, I made it the quarter-mile between Linens n Things and Staples. After over five minutes of waiting/driving for parking, I was ready to get in the store. As quickly as possible, I gathered the things I need for my teacher life--white out, dry erase markers, and paper. At the display of copy paper, I was shocked to see that regular, Staples brand copy paper is $3.99 a ream! I could swear that I used to buy it for like $2.50. Anyway, so I decided that since I was paying through the nose, I would pay a little extra for recycled paper (five bucks a pack! that's a penny per sheet!). Interestingly, they now sell 30% recycled paper, which 'uses fewer trees,' and 100% recycled paper, which 'uses no new trees.'

In my liberal, West Coast heart, I was like, hey wow, that's neat. I'm always telling my kids that trees are our friends; don't waste paper. And I do my best to avoid excess baggage. I'm talking about the multitude of double-bagged plastic bags that you get everywhere you go. Since I usually carry a teacher tote bag with me, and my purse is big, if I buy a small thing I can just put it in that. When I say, "Oh, I don't need a bag," the cashier usually freezes for a moment and looks stupidly uncomfortable. 'No bag? But I must give out a prescribed ten bajillion bags per day! Who is this weirdo that claims not to need my flimsy-and-therefore-doubled-plastic-bag? Some kind of commie or something?'

Once, at Barnes and Noble, I bought a book. One little book. And I tried to refuse a bag. The cashier stumbled for a moment, but then continued bagging my one book, telling me, "The security officer has to see the bag when you leave." I said, "Oh, I see." And laughingly self-deprecatingly added, "And here I was trying to save the earth!"

You know what she said? "There's a trash can right outside the door; you can just throw it away."

Take a moment and read that again.

Now I was the one stupidly frozen, but decided not to say anything, simply nodding and taking my leave along with the useless plastic.

Anyway, so I was happy and relieved to do my little part to help mother earth, buying ungodly expensive recycled copy paper.

A few hours later, I got home and realized that I left my purchase in the store.

That second roundtrip is probably going to negate the recycled paper, isn't it.

Weekend Shopping!

We started at Costco, which is one of my favorite places, to the dismay of my checking account. I decided to buy the twenty-pound bag of potatoes. See, I'm a bit of a produce snob--there's no point to tiny apples and puny potatoes. I'm from Washington, maker of large, yummy apples, and I'm pretty sure some good potatoes too. Plus, we had a big old garden with our own produce (my favorite was the corn on the cob. and the strawberries. yum!).

The wee spud on the left was purchased at a rather ghetto neighborhood store. The Costco bag is mostly full of healthy, large potatoes like the middle that are big enough to make the microwave plate list to one side. There are also a couple Shaq-like giants, on the right. Look, it's bigger than the spoon!

And dude, the big potatoes are SO good! A million times better than the three-bite babies. Remember that I mentioned my dead DVD player? Well, I figured I could ask for a new one for my birthday (just over a week away), but I wasn't sure whom to ask, and I wasn't thrilled about the lag time. So when I saw this Toshiba for $45, I figured why not. The shitty no-name one was forty bucks at Target, so this was definitely worth a shot. It's very slick and shiny, and I love it! Plus, Boyfriend discovered that it plays DivX, which are data discs you can record tv and movies on. I've got a pile of them I can now watch on the tv instead of the little computer screen. Sweet!

Next stop was Target, where I saw this multi-head lamp on clearance for $14. The two floor lamps I bought when I first moved were from a lame warehouse store, and they sucked. Both of their knobs broke, so one I just have to plug in, and the other required turning and rotating, using a sweater to prevent blisters. I was very relieved to set up this one instead, with an easily-turned knob.

Yesterday, I was very productive. I watched some tv and relaxed for awhile, because I was sleepy. But eventually I got up off my ass: I swept the floors, cleaned the bathroom, and worked out! I'm really proud of myself, because I have so far kept the schedule for working out that I planned: Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Good job, me!

Must. Stop. Buying. Clothes!

I've gone shopping at least four times in the last two months. Take a look:
I bought the green corduroy skirt above and the purple sweater below at H&M back in August. Very cute! I got the adorable blue patterned skirt and the black pants below at Marshall's a couple weeks ago. The pants are another size 6, so they fit, which is excellent.

This weekend Boyfriend and I drove up to the outlet mall. It took a long time and almost too much patience, but it was a good thing. I got a bunch of underthings, like thermals, and a waffle shirt, below. At the Ann Taylor outlet, I bought three pairs of pants! Ninety-five bucks altogether, but that averages out pretty nicely, right? All three pants are size 6, and they all fit me perfectly. I've long been tired of having loose pants, so as much as I hate spending money, I think it will be worth it.

When I got home, I looked at the trousers already in my closet and found three pairs of size 10s. All cute, and I like them, but they are now two sizes too big, and that's just silly. So I folded them up and added them to my giveaway pile.

Now I have a collection of trousers that actually fit! (Next step is finding jeans that fit--ugh.)

There was a huge, golden, full moon in a clear sky on our way home. Lovely!

Help! Who's in the UK??

While reading all of my previous blog posts, in an effort to catalog my lessons and thoughts and ideas on teaching, I saw again my Prague banana chocolate.

I decided to do a search for it online. Several months ago, there seemed to be a UK online shop that sold the chocolate, but the site didn't work.

However! Just now, I found the site again, and it worked! AND THEY HAVE MY BANANA CHOCOLATE!! I am so ecstatic, you don't even want to know. Maybe you can tell by the number of exclamation points I'm using. BANANA CHOCOLATE!!

I put TEN bars in my cart and went to check out, holding my breath.

When I scrolled down in the information section, I saw that they ONLY SHIP TO THE UK!!

Gasp! Oh no! Crisis! I must have my banana chocolate! How can I get it? Do I know anyone in the UK? Is anyone going there soon? Hell, do I know anyone who's going to Prague soon? I'll give you plenty of money to buy it and bring it back! Please!

Please help! I don't want to live without banana chocolate!

How They Grow So Fast!

I'm talking about money, not children, unfortunately.

As of this afternoon I have officially spent $212 on teaching supplies!
--$97 at Staples for pens, pencils, staples, a new turbo stapler, stickers, etc (Once again I will give each child a pen and a number two pencil, so they *should* always be prepared regardless of their shopping budgets)
--$57 at Half-Price Books for, well, books (plus those two software programs I mentioned)
--$35 on Half.com for more books (and the fourth was Scaredy Squirrel!)
--$13 at Barnes & Noble for yet more books (a vocabulary workbook and two $3 novels--Chasing Vermeer and The Library Card by Jerry Spinelli)
--$10 at Costco for an electric pencil sharpener

Holy Crap!

Please note the date: August 19--More than two weeks before I will actually see any children.

Another Note: There are at least two more books I want to buy online: The children's book version of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, and another excellent book called Punctuation Takes a Vacation. That's another fifteen to twenty bucks, depending on new/used.

Books I've Bought Very Recently, Or Why Teachers Are Poor But Have Interesting Libraries

I bought them at used bookstores in the Seattle area and had to ship them back here to New York. I finally picked up the parcel today. I'm really excited!

One of them is a Read-Aloud book: over ninety ten-minute excerpts from children's classic novels. Sweet!

Another is called "Manners." On the cover and the inside lining, there are little comic strips. The first is a situation, like someone dropping something. Then four panels show possible ways to react to that situation, one of which is by using manners. I will definitely use this with my sixth-grade students. And after we discuss manners, what they are, when to use them, when you've experienced good or bad manners, they can write their own comic panels about manners! Fun, right?
I also picked up a civil-rights book, a Martin Luther King, Jr book, a book about Japanese-American children in WWII, and an American Indian myth book (by the INCREDIBLE Jane Yolen). I got these because I want to get as many non-white-people-filled books in my room as possible. And they're rather difficult to find. If anyone has suggestions or titles that include "multilogicality" that work well in the classroom, I'd love to hear about it!

I found three books at Value Village, popular novels which are already in my classroom library. At less than a dollar each, I decided to get these for extra copies.

You might be able to see the two software boxes in the top row. One is a SpongeBob SquarePants typing program, and one is a SchoolHouse Rock Grammar Rock game. SWEET!

Oh, and yet another book I'm really excited about, there on the right. It's called Stop, Look, Write. It's all photographs! The point is to use these pictures as a way to inspire writing other than boring prompts like "What is your favorite animal?". I've done this before, with a black and white calendar of New York City, but some are more potent with stories than others. So here is a whole book with ripe photos!

Additionally, I picked up a two-dollar copy of the movie Willow. At first it was just for me, but then I realized that I bet the kids would love it, and they probably won't have seen it before. Live-action adventure movies, that aren't rated R? Yes, they do exist!

All these items costs a total of about $55. Not too shabby!

And, um, I bought four more books on half.com last night. Another Jane Yolen book (Ballad of the Pirate Queens), a Ralph Fletcher novel (Fig Pudding), a Chris Van Allsburg book (Two Bad Ants), and something else that I can't remember. That was $35 including shipping. Excellent!

Phew. What a week.

I don't know why I've not posted this week; a ton has happened. I guess I'm just lazy. Shocker.

Actually, before I get into anything else, I want to state for posterity that this weekend I've been surprisingly productive. I have read the rest of my articles needed for my annotated bibliography, and I have graded a class set of last month's author project, and updated two classes' grades in the computer. Go me!

Yesterday I got to go to Project Cicero. It is the coolest thing: someone or some organization gathers books all year, and then in two days, they invite a bunch of TFA/NYCTF-type teachers to come and take a big box of books for their classrooms.

Do you remember the contests on Nickelodeon, where you could win a shopping spree in a toy store, and have like three minutes to dump as much stuff as possible into your shopping cart? Didn't the very idea of that just thrill you to bits?

Well, going to Project Cicero was like that for the nerdy, more grown-up me. AND without the time limit. I didn't speed too much, though I tried not to dawdle either, since the books were flying off the tables and I wanted to see as many as possible. But I didn't pore over any books; if it sounded familiar or vaguely interesting, I added it to my pile.

A free book shopping spree! Man, talk about a thrill.

I stayed for perhaps forty minutes of my hour and a half shift. I didn't even fill the box because I only brought my medium-sized rolling suitcase. As it is, I must have gotten nearly sixty books and packed that suitcase as much as it could go.

I had driven my little car into the city, on a Saturday afternoon. I'd hoped that the traffic wouldn't be too bad and it wouldn't scare or intimidate me too much. And you know what? The transportation gods were with me: it was so easy and quick (relatively). I parked in a garage a couple blocks from the event and they let me drop my full suitcase in the garage office.

Then I had some hours to kill. I got a very tasty smoothie on Sixth Avenue, and then sat in the food court of the Manhattan Mall, chatting on the phone and reading research articles (though not at the same time).

I did feel bad about being inside on such a gorgeous day, so after I felt like I had spent some worthwhile time on work stuff, I left the mall and strode outside into the dusk. It was still very pleasant, and I really enjoyed just walking down the street.

I walked for a good twenty blocks before I figured I had to get on a train. The blocks were the north-south mini ones, though. And I came across a salon, so I went in and got my eyebrows threaded. That was a new experience for me. It's kind of ticklish and a very odd sensation. I don't get how the thread pulls out the hairs, but I think it's pretty neato.

On the train, read a bit of my advertising book, and then met up with Ms Frizzle. There were supposed to be a few people getting together, but it ended up being just the two of us. It was nice, we just sat and talked about boys and work.

The other weekend I had drinks with Ms M, and that was really nice too. I think more of that talk was about traveling. Ooh, and then we found a crepe place! I was so excited. We were both annoyed at their many menu misspellings and inauthenticities. For one, once they were done cooking, before serving them, he let them sit on the plate thing, which made one edge all crispy. Also, the guy put the crepes on plates! To be eaten with a knife and fork! Not cool.

If I haven't said it recently, or at all, I am so glad and grateful for the wonderful people I have met through this silly blog. Thank you to all you friendly NY teacher types!

At school, this week was rather tiring. Prejudice has been the unofficial word of the week, and not necessarily in a good way. Ugh, I think I'll just leave it at that.

I'm having my students do some work on the beginning of equal rights work: abol!tion and the suffr@gettes. I told them about how the two movements grew up at the same time, only a hundred sixty years ago, and that all movements since then were possible because of those first fighters. I let them know that this is an important project to do, because it's so personal and sensitive. None of us would be here without them. I'm crossing my fingers that they get into it and learn a lot. (So far they've at least learned/heard the terms for the movements. That's new to them. I suppose that's a good start.)

Um, what else? Hm. It feels like I might be forcing myself out of the lazy-bum phase I've been in for awhile. I hate working at home, but I also hate feeling behind. So now I have only one set of projects to grade, a project to sort-of plan, and a media unit to polish.

I've started the annotated bibliography. I'm taking it on like an assembly line: I started with the really easy stuff, the citation and summary. Now I can continue to put in the more detailed parts of each article. It's due in three weeks or so, so if I keep up with working on it some each week, I should do okay. Shit, I keep forgetting that that has to be turned into a literature review, and they BOTH are due in three weeks. Yuck. Still, I'm making progress. Hurrah.

And now I have to go get groceries because I'm hungry. Food!

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