It's Amy Anderson. Cool.

Blog Archives

25
Aug, 2010

A Quick Update from Amy-Land

OK, so I have about two seconds before I have to run out the door and pick up my little turkey from preschool, but I wanted to give you a quick update and say hello!

Life has been very busy for this funny mommy and it’s about to get nuttier. I hope to chronicle my adventures on the road here on FunnyYellowMom and continue to tell you about all the groovy deals and products I discover in the mom-o-sphere. It’s amazing how much crap there is out there for kids – good and bad. Just LOTS O CRAP, I tell you!!

I’m off to Hawaii this weekend to headline the Laughs For Lions benefit in Honolulu (I know – don’t hate) and then back home to shoot a teaser reel for my sitcom pilot. More on this later, but it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks.

Then, on September 1, it’s my birthday. Or supposedly, my birthday. That’s right people. Since I was abandoned on a street as a newborn and lived in an orphanage and foster home until I was 5-1/2 months old. My birthday is estimated, therefore, I think I have the right to celebrate for the entire month of September. Keep an eye out for celebratory photos and stories. Woohoo!

One more thing before I go – my Open Sky Shop is adding a new product soon. It’s an amazing organic, raw almond butter from Artisana. And I’m not gonna lie – it’s a little pricey, but there’s a reason. Um, because it’s crazy good and it’s more nutritious than the average jar of nut butter on the grocery store shelf.

The egg salmonella outbreak is yet another example of why we should spend a little more on quality food when we can. I’m no millionaire, but I buy organic and local when possible. I bought the “cheap” eggs and guess what? I got sick. Lots of unhappy flushing in my house for a few days. Lots.

So check back soon to find out more about this almond butter. If you purchase through my Open Sky Shop, there will be a $1 donation made to The Lunch Box Project, helping to bring healthy foods to US schools! Yay!

Better run. Aubrey’s preschool is almost done for the morning and I promised her I’d take her to the bank. I get to make a deposit and she gets a lollipop. It’s a win-win situation. Then, off to buy teeny, tiny ballet slippers! Awwwwww!

Wubbzy Goes To School! Like... WOW!

About a year ago, my preschool aged daughter started watching this hyper little cartoon on Nick, Jr called, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! And yes, there are really three exclamation points in the title!!!

Widget, Wubbzy & Walden

Wubbzy is a rectangular little guy with a gender ambiguous voice (my nanny and I debated for days over whether Wubbzy was a girl or a boy) who lives in Wuzzleburg with his pals, Widget, Walden and Daizy. They navigate their way through different challenges and adventures, often facing similar developmental and social issues as the preschoolers who are watching.

At the time, I kind of disliked the show because it was, well, really hyper. Aubrey was only two at the time and it was playing right before her bed time. I felt like it got her a bit too riled up, so I would usually change the channel.

Now, as the worldly three year old that Aubrey is, she understands and associates the messages in the story lines and we both can appreciate more of the humor in Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! I stopped changing the channel and we both really like this show. In short: it’s cute and teaches some good lessons.

Aubrey and I got the opportunity to screen a copy of Wubbzy’s brand-spankin’-new DVD from Bolder Media, Inc and Anchor Bay Entertainment called, Wubbzy Goes To School! This new DVD hit the shelves on August 3rd which was perfect timing for us as we are getting geared up for Aubrey’s first full week in preschool. You’ll have a chance to win a copy of the DVD at the end of this post, so read on my literate friends!

The new DVD features six episodes, including: “Who Needs School?,” “New Kid On The Block,” “Gotta Dance,” “Wubbzy The Star,” “You Gotta Have Art” and “Magic Tricks”. After viewing the DVD a couple times, I asked Aubrey which episode she liked best and she said, “The dancing one!” Aubrey will take any opportunity to cut a rug and she actually did the “Wubbzy Wiggle” for her pediatrician at her 3 yr check up in June. So… there you go.

The DVD also features bonus features such as “Meet Wubbzy’s Schoolmates” photo gallery and coloring and activity sheets. Wubbzy Goes To School! is in stores and on Amazon.com now. It has a run time of 70 minutes and a suggested retail price of $16.98. If you have little ones (3-6yrs) heading off to school, either for the first time or as a returning student, this is a really fun video to get them geared up for a great year of learning and growing!

And now, it’s time for a giveaway! If you would like a chance to win a free copy of the new Wubbzy Goes To School! DVD, you have five different ways to enter but you must leave a separate comment for each entry:

1) Follow me publicly on Google Friend Connector (even if you’re already following, it counts, so leave a comment).
2) Follow me on Twitter: @TheAmyAnderson

3) Tweet this contest & include the specific Tweet URL. (Instructions on how to do that are here.):

“Enter to win a “Wubbzy Goes To School” DVD from @TheAmyAnderson! WOW! Plz RT http://tinyurl.com/27kv73w ”

4) “Like” the Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! fan page on Facebook
5) “Like” my fan page on Facebook

Small print/Super fast announcer guy voice: This contest will close on September 12, 2010 and is open to US residents only. All entries must include a valid email in order to be counted. One recipient will be chosen using www.Random.org and winner must respond within 48 hours of notification or they forfeit the prize and a new recipient will be selected.

Good luck and please come back soon!

The opinions expressed in this review and on this blog are solely my own. I was not compensated to write this post and I did receive a screener copy of the DVD to facilitate my review.

14 Comments - Leave a Comment »

Tags: Amy Anderson • DVD • giveaway • Nick Jr • Wow Wow Wubbzy • Wubbzy Goes To School

29
Jul, 2010

We Partied Like It Was 1990... Sans Hair

Dorky enough for ya? One of the BEST days of my life! FREEDOM!

Last weekend, I attended my 20th high school reunion in Excelsior, MN. I graduated from Minnetonka High School in 1990 and let’s just get the unpleasantries out of the way right now. No, I did not enjoy my high school experience very much. In fact, I was dying to get out of this school and lived for my escape to college on the East coast.

This is not to say that I didn’t have some wonderful friends – some of whom I’m still good friends with today – and even received a top notch education there. Academically, it was an excellent public school and even though I didn’t crack a book or earn an A while I was there, I did actually learn something. For instance, see what a fabulous writer I am now? (Just don’t ask me what X equals. I still don’t know.)

Minnetonka was a “good” school because it was in an upper class suburb. What I have learned time and time again since then is that “good” schools are often full of “bad” kids. There was an amazing sense of entitlement amongst the kids at Minnetonka High School and I don’t imagine it’s too different today. The disparities between the categories of kids (jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, headbangers, geeks, etc) were abysmal. I know these “classes” of popularity exist at any school, but they were extra special lame as shit at my school.

One very popular girl who sat right next to me in a class day after day, never once said a word to me until she saw me driving a red convertible home one afternoon. The next day, she said, “I saw you leaving the parking lot yesterday. You have a really nice car.” I said, “Oh it’s my mom’s.” She said, “Oh.” And she never spoke to me again. We were sixteen. You see, if you didn’t drive a car to school after you turned 16… LOSER. We had a two page, color spread in our senior yearbook dedicated to students’ cars. No, really. It was a snotty school with its fair share of mean kids.

I was one of those mid-level floaters. I had friends all over the place – jocks, brains, music nerds, art geeks, cheerleaders – but my closest friends were the brains. The over achievers. Why? I still don’t know to this day. The only thing I can come up with is that maybe I thought hanging around the kids who cared a lot about their grades would somehow make up for my lack of effort. I was that kid who never studied, never listened or took notes and then would get a decent enough grade on the tests to pass the class. I turned in about 3/4 of my assignments. I never did extra credit. I just. Didn’t. Care.

I never went to a school dance. I didn’t go on a date until college. I only did three extracurricular activities my entire four years there (Madrigals, women’s quartet and cross country skiing. I was horrible at the latter but it was the genesis of a lifelong love/hate relationship with running as there was no snow the year I joined.)

I was one of a very small group of ethnic minorities in our school. There were some ESL students who weren’t mainstreamed in our classes and there were a few other Asian kids, a few Jewish kids, there was one girl who was half black and… well that was it out of 450 in our class. I felt like an outsider and dreaded going there every day. I didn’t have a super happy family life at the time and if it hadn’t been for my closest friends, I don’t think I would have made it through.

Some of my besties!

One would think that a student of this ilk would be somewhat bitter about their high school years but it’s soooo far in the past now. Like, um, 20 years. WHAAA?!! Enough water has gone under the bridge and at our reunion, I was pleased to find that the people from Minnetonka’s class of 1990 have grown up into lovely adults. At least the ones who came to the reunion. I’m guesstimating (don’t you hate that word?) far less than half of our class showed.

I’ve known both of these people since elementary school!

The most interesting part of the reunion was hearing what people were doing with their lives. There were some surprises, but most were typical. And I mean that in a good way. I guess what I’m getting at is the people who you thought were so much prettier than you, smarter than you, more popular than you, or whatever – well, 20 years later they’re mostly all collecting a paycheck, raising kids, putting on bigger clothes, combing fewer hairs on their heads – and in this case, seemed a little more down to earth than maybe they were as a teenager. I can only hope they are raising their kids to be a little kinder and gentler as well.

I’m glad I went. I can’t say the prime rib buffet, cash bar and Target bakery cupcakes with blue frosting ‘M’s were worth the $50, but seeing some people from my past as actual people for the first time was. And I stole two dozen cupcakes on my way out the door. So it’s all good.