Category: TOVAS BLOG

Rebuilding… One Muchy Brick at a time….

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Thanks for sticking by while I get this site back to full Muchness speed. I’ve been able to collect some of the text of my lost posts and recreate them so they are not gone forever. I work hard on a lot of those posts and it’s sad that they may never be seen or heard from again.

If you are a challenger or former challenger and you want to collect your posts from google, you may be able to do that. Go into google and search for findingmymuchness.com plus your names 30 days of Muchness. The more specific you are, the better. Then, the posts will pop up, but if you click on them they will go to an error page. You have to click on the word “cached” that appears at the end of the link, Or, right click “cached” in the scroll down menu that pops up when you hover. Then, the page will open and your text will be there. You can copy and past it into a word document or into a new posting page. But you gotta add the pic back by re-uploading from your computer.

If you want to go through the trouble of doing this, I’ll send 1,000 air kisses your way!!! (but if you don’t I won’t be upset… I love you for participating in the first place!!! xoxoxoxox)

(If you have trouble logging in, let me know. I’ll fix your account.)

Where is the Muchness? Part 2

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I am sitting here, heartbroken. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.

My site went down for two days. I know, in the online world, technical glitches happen. The company that hosts this site, WestNIC as well as almost all my husbands sites, which are his business – his income – reputation, peace of mind…. The hosting company had a server error. I was patient. I waited. This morning, my site went back up. Today is October 19th. The most recent post online was from September 3rd. It was like turning the hands back in time to open the page and see it like a snapshot of history. Still, many of the links were not working and I told myself they were still in the process of restoring the site.

I was wrong.

Elie informed me that he had spoken to a company representative (who was rude to him!!!!) and he was told their server and backups were damaged and the most recent activity that they can restore only until September 3rd. September THIRD! That is a lifetime ago!!! ENTIRE 30 day challenges are gone! GONE!!!!! My new header and design and buttons are GONE! I’ve sent out publicity kits to TV shows and they are going to come look at the site and it is going to appear outdated! I am so upset!!! The company claims there is nothing they can do and they don’t take blame. Elie has ENTIRE SITES he has paid to create and build in the last 8 weeks that have VANISHED. He was running a contest on his main site The TCM Directory (which is thankfully hosted by a different company) and the prize was a fully pre-built website. THE WEBSITE PRIZE NO LONGER EXISTS!!!!! He has clients who rely on him to manage and host their websites- boom. All their info- GONE.

I’m just devastated. Hours and hours- TWO MONTHS of all our work- GONE in a blink.

I just don’t even know what to think.

I mostly want to apologize to the AMAZING women (and AJ 😉 ) who contributed to this site in that time. September was an amazing month on this site and it breaks my heart that it is gone. I… I just….. I just don’t know what else to say.

Thanks for sticking by me. This is TRULY a MAJOR MUCHNESS KILLER.

If you are a contributor to the site, please feel free to post something Muchy. I need a pick me up. … If you signed up to take the challenge, and are in middle of it, you may not be able to log in, as any account created after Sep 3 has vaporized. Please drop me a note and I will re-sign you up.

I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. :’-(

TOVA’S MUCHNESS PIC OF THE DAY

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Ya know those days when you roll out of bed, drag yourself, eyes still shut, into the shower, grab whatever clothes are clean and head out the door, only to realize halfway to work what you are even wearing that day? I had one of those mornings. But when I looked down, instead of seeing the beaten old jeans that hung too low on my tush, the ratty old t-shirt that clung too tight on my belly, and the dirty old sneakers that made me feel invisible (My go-to outfit pre-Muchness) I saw this:

TOVA’S 30 DAYS OF MUCHNESS – ROUND 2 – DAY 25

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Nothing like the power of positive thinking to get you where you wanna be.

I was reading the ‘about’ on dooce.com. She’s a blogger who is able to support her family through her blog, and work with her husband and work from home and therefore spend more time with her kids.

I copied a paragraph she wrote and changed a few key elements.

Shrink. Print. Laminate. Keep in wallet to help me keep my eye on the prize.

MUCHNESS MEALS- Subject: Mashed Potatoes

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Originally Posted by TOVA on OCTOBER 10, 2011 / Recreated following The Great Server Crash of 2011

Molly is a picky eater. What? Almost all three and half year olds are picky eaters? Well, good for them. Molly, if she knew how picky a standard picky eater was, she’d be twice as picky. On purpose. Just to test what would happen. Like most kids, she’ll eat yogurt (but only from the sippy cup, mixed with milk – no- not THAT sippy cup, the pink one. With the other lid. NO! TheOTHER lid!!) and she’ll eat macaroni and cheese (except that piece- NO!THAT PIECE!!! the one that looks hard and crispy after it was baked!) and she’ll eat string cheese (NO! I want to open it!!) and she’ll eat chicken  (except that piece- NO! THAT PIECE!!! the one that looks hard and crispy after it was baked!) and that’s about it. Oh, wait. She eats lox. As in, pickled, smoked, greasy disgusting lox. She’ll just devour that stuff like it’s ice cream. Oh, she’ll also eat ice cream.

Fruit and veggies? No how. No way. I don’t know how she got it in her head that she hates fruit. I mean ANY fruit, except bananas. No berries. No melon. No apples, No grapes. No oranges, No watermelon. No mango (unless it’s dried. and hard and crispy. Go figure.)

And Veggies? Maybe corn. Elie can coax her into eating a couple of peas every now and then. And sweet potato soup (that’s not even a veggie- but it’s the closest we get)

I had a brainstorm. I’m gonna Muchify Mashed potatoes!!! This is NOT about getting her to eat potatoes. It is about getting her to eat the secret muchifier.

The ingredients:

Potatoes. Beets. (GOOD FOR YOU AND FUCHSIA TOO!!!) and some boxed veggie broth.

Those fella’s stain like nobodies business.

peel ‘em

Add salt to the boiling water. Oh? Did I forget to mention that? Boil water. You’re making mashed potatoes. Dur. Oh, and get the kid involved. They like that.

Oh. Chop those suckers into pieces before dumping them into the water. Cut the beets smaller than the potatoes. They like to take their sweet time waiting to get soft.

I decided to dump an ear of corn in my pot. Because, ya know, it was there. I thought maybe the corn would turn pink too!

I yiyi!!! That corn’s not pink!!!

…but it sure is tasty!!

Time to mash the potatoes and beets! The moment of truth!!!

I’m thinking, perhaps, disaster. The potatoes were yellow, not white. The sign at the supermarket said they were good for mashing. I’m no expert. I listen to the signs at the supermarket. Next time I’ll go with the ones they said were good for baking. Those looked white. Besides, what do the signs at the supermarket know? They can’t tell the difference between all those other green leafy things either. Need parsley, come home with cilantro. Need cilantro, come home with dill. Need dill, come home with curly parsley. Wait. Is that just me? Whatever. Moving right along…  So, this stuff I’m mashing, is this what they use on CSI when someone’s guts explode? Oh, no- it looks just like that disgusting bloody fat they suck out of people’s thighs when they get liposuction. On TV. For real. Yick. So, it seems, beets turn red when you cook them. Lesson learned.

meanwhile, across the room … “hello? hello? is someone there???” Why isn’t anyone answering me???”

When fully mixed, they start to resemble cherry snow cones. With bits of brain mixed in. This might not work. Not even in the pink princess bowl.

But wait! What’s this!?! SHE LIKES IT!!! She doesn’t think it looks like brains!!! It’s pink! It’s Muchtastic! It tastes like plain old mashed potatoes with the healing powers of beets!! WooooHoooo! SUCCESS!!!!

Next time, maybe I’ll add HOMEMADE GLITTER to sprinkle on top!

PS- When it cools, it actually turns back to fuchsia again! That makes it Magic color changing Muchy Mashed Potatoes!!! Yahoooo!

****Please note, The Beet Growers Association of America has not provided me with any compensation for writing this post. In case you were worried myopinions were paid for. I wish.****

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

Heather October 10, 2011 at 5:13 pm

Ok so for all of ten seconds I thought The muchness queen is a super genius like Wiley Coyote bc while I have seen Jessica Seinfelds deceptively Delicious cookbook NONE of her recipes made things PINK which is typically the picky princess answer to my prayers (if I prayed of course). So, I said Skylar “look…pink princess potatoes” and she looked and I said “should we make those tomorrow?” she said YES! but then….a pause…..a look…..and then….”mama that’s DOG FOOD!”

Sigh. Molly may be picky but girl she’s got a compadre that will give her a run for her money down here. ;0)

Xo
H

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Tova October 11, 2011 at 11:43 am

In real life, they’d look nothing like dog food. They cooled to a really pretty color. I also don’t put milk in them, though if I did they’d probably be an even prettier color. :)
And the glitter salt- I mean, can’t beat that!!

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Heather October 10, 2011 at 5:15 pm

P.s. It may have something to do with Amos getting a supplement that has mashed pumpkin as it’s base. Good luck with pumpkin pie in this household huh? Lol.

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Sara October 10, 2011 at 7:44 pm

I’m still stuck on the fact that Liat ate corn, and from a cob!!! I’m terrified that G is going to choke on a mashed banana.

Love the new header.

xo

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Tova October 11, 2011 at 11:41 am

she cant get any kernals off- and even if she did, she can’t choke on em. I cut some of the kernals off, theyre on the tray, and then she sucks the juice from the cob. :)

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JenM October 11, 2011 at 6:14 pm

Joshua does corn on the cob all the time! He loves it. He started around 12 or 13 months when he finally got his top teeth in and could get the kernels off. it keeps him busy for almost all of dinner.

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Tine October 10, 2011 at 11:17 pm

Fun post!!! I love the thinking, the logic, the amount of planning it takes to outwit a 3 year old :-) Mine has suddenly decided that he hates spaghetti. WTH? Spaghetti??? What kid hates spaghetti??? Unfortunately, there’s no disguising it, and I’m now convinced it’s the tomato sauce…I made chicken marsala over wheat spaghetti…LOVED IT.

I love the story in this, with the pics and the humour! Whoever would have thought of Muchtastic potatoes? Besides you I mean? LOL

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Tine October 10, 2011 at 11:18 pm

P/S: Your girls are SO cute…they should really meet my boys someday ;)

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Tova October 11, 2011 at 11:39 am

‘like’ :)

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Tova October 11, 2011 at 11:46 am

I had the idea when I was in wholefoods and bought some lunch from their buffet area. I had some mashed potatoes and beet salad and then went to pay and by the time I got to the booth to eat, opened my box of foor, a large area of potatoes was a gorgeous shade of magenta. Now I’m thin king about what other foods I could mix with beets (which are, in large part, just sweet and flavorless….)

 

MUCHNESS MEALS – Subject: Mashed potatoes

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Molly is a picky eater. What? Almost all three and half year olds are picky eaters? Well, good for them. Molly, if she knew how picky a standard picky eater was, she’d be twice as picky. On purpose. Just to test what would happen. Like most kids, she’ll eat yogurt (but only from the sippy cup, mixed with milk – no- not THAT sippy cup, the pink one. With the other lid. NO! The OTHER lid!!) and she’ll eat macaroni and cheese (except that piece- NO! THAT PIECE!!! the one that looks hard and crispy after it was baked!) and she’ll eat string cheese (NO! I want to open it!!) and she’ll eat chicken  (except that piece- NO! THAT PIECE!!! the one that looks hard and crispy after it was baked!) and that’s about it. Oh, wait. She eats lox. As in, pickled, smoked, greasy disgusting lox. She’ll just devour that stuff like it’s ice cream. Oh, she’ll also eat ice cream.

Fruit and veggies? No how. No way. I don’t know how she got it in her head that she hates fruit. I mean ANY fruit, except bananas. No berries. No melon. No apples, No grapes. No oranges, No watermelon. No mango (unless it’s dried. and hard and crispy. Go figure.)

And Veggies? Maybe corn. Elie can coax her into eating a couple of peas every now and then. And sweet potato soup (that’s not even a veggie- but it’s the closest we get)

I had a brainstorm. I’m gonna Muchify Mashed potatoes!!! This is NOT about getting her to eat potatoes. It is about getting her to eat the secret muchifier.

The ingredients:

Potatoes. Beets. (GOOD FOR YOU AND FUCHSIA TOO!!!) and some boxed veggie broth.

Those fella’s stain like nobodies business.

peel ‘em

Add salt to the boiling water. Oh? Did I forget to mention that? Boil water. You’re making mashed potatoes. Dur. Oh, and get the kid involved. They like that.

Oh. Chop those suckers into pieces before dumping them into the water. Cut the beets smaller than the potatoes. They like to take their sweet time waiting to get soft.

I decided to dump an ear of corn in my pot. Because, ya know, it was there. I thought maybe the corn would turn pink too!

I yiyi!!! That corn’s not pink!!!

…but it sure is tasty!!

Time to mash the potatoes and beets! The moment of truth!!!

I’m thinking, perhaps, disaster. The potatoes were yellow, not white. The sign at the supermarket said they were good for mashing. I’m no expert. I listen to the signs at the supermarket. Next time I’ll go with the ones they said were good for baking. Those looked white. Besides, what do the signs at the supermarket know? They can’t tell the difference between all those other green leafy things either. Need parsley, come home with cilantro. Need cilantro, come home with dill. Need dill, come home with curly parsley. Wait. Is that just me? Whatever. Moving right along…  So, this stuff I’m mashing, is this what they use on CSI when someone’s guts explode? Oh, no- it looks just like that disgusting bloody fat they suck out of people’s thighs when they get liposuction. On TV. For real. Yick. So, it seems, beets turn red when you cook them. Lesson learned.

meanwhile, across the room … “hello? hello? is someone there???” Why isn’t anyone answering me???”

When fully mixed, they start to resemble cherry snow cones. With bits of brain mixed in. This might not work. Not even in the pink princess bowl.

But wait! What’s this!?! SHE LIKES IT!!! She doesn’t think it looks like brains!!! It’s pink! It’s Muchtastic! It tastes like plain old mashed potatoes with the healing powers of beets!! WooooHoooo! SUCCESS!!!!

Next time, maybe I’ll add HOMEMADE GLITTER to sprinkle on top!

PS- When it cools, it actually turns back to fuchsia again! That makes it Magic color changing Muchy Mashed Potatoes!!! Yahoooo!

****Please note, The Beet Growers Association of America has not provided me with any compensation for writing this post. In case you were worried my opinions were paid for. I wish.****

Going on a head trip — Circa 1986

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Originally posted by Tova October 8, 2011 / Reposted after The Great Server Crash of 2011

I came upon this picture online and was immediately transported back through time. It was literally like looking down at my own two feet more than 15 years ago. I bought these boots a few weeks before my first day of college. I wasgoing to FIT. The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. My mom went there. My dad’s mom went there. And I needed cool shoes to go there too.

I’d been to the campus for the first time in 6th grade. My mom was working as a pattern maker for Bob Mackie. I didn’t know it at the time but Bob Mackie is aHUGE DEAL!!!! He is, like, KNOWN – by OTHER PEOPLE- as the Sultan of Sequins!!! He’s the original king of bling, the maestro of Muchness! People, he has his own collection of Bob Mackie Designed Barbie Dolls!!

I mean, what’s BIGGER than that??? (Am I right or am I right, Stephen Sumner?)

Anyhow, Bob Mackie was having his Bridal Collection fashion show at FIT. Mymom let me take off from school that day and go to the show. I went with mygrandmother. We got there early. Models were just getting there. They looked like regular, tall people in their street clothes in an Amphitheatre. But, when the show started it was like everything was transformed. The stage was lit like an aurora borealis phenomenon. The Models were statuesque and glamourous. Even the theatre seemed somehow elevated. But the dresses. Oh, the dresses. It was a bridal collection. In 1986. I mean, there were big dresses. And Little dresses. And BIGGER dresses, and Littler ones…. and some that were somehow both big and little at the same time. And. They. Were. ALL. Bejeweled. Spangled. Sequined. Rhinestoned. Feathered. Other, unidentifiable Muchification that made my still very much pre-pubescent heart soar.

After the show, I went backstage. I met the man. He shook my hand. Asked me if I wanted to be a Fashion Designer. I said Yes. And then I was hastily distracted by all the models walking around bare assed naked. That, somehow, left a huge impression in the mind of a 4’8″ 11 year old girl. Imagine that.

So that’s it. I started my fashion portfolio right after that life altering day. I graduated junior high and started high school with the mindset “I just have to get through four years of this place and then I can go to FIT.”

And it’s exactly what I did. Seven years of waiting to go to that school. Four years of cheating my way through high school homework assignments- skimming by with a C average (if I was lucky) just so I could go to FIT. And the very first day? I wore those boots. My glitter Doc Martens. With blue jeans and an oversized hooded red sweatshirt. The boots were pretty muchy and I didn’t want to appear like I was trying too hard on the first day of school. Therefore, the lame red sweatshirt. Always a secret regret. But I did get a compliment on the boots that first day from a stranger. And 17 years later I still remember. Funny how our brains hold onto Muchy memories even when we don’t even realize. I wore those boots to shreds. Literally. They were falling apart aroundmy feet, the fibers disintegrating at wear spots. I went looking online if they still make them. Nope. The few pics online are all of the ‘remember when?” variety. Oh well. What’s past is past.

Maybe one of these days I’ll upload some of my old fashion stuff from school. The more time that passes, the more perspective I have on whether it was any good.

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Tzippora October 9, 2011 at 11:48 pm
Love it! What a great story! Is there a youtube link to that show?? There’s nothing like the memories of an 11 year old…

REPLY

Tova October 10, 2011 at 1:09 am
OMG- what a genius thought! I found this fashion show clip from 1985. The DRAMA! The DYNASTY Music! The lifted arms!!! oy. Too, too much— in all the good ways!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eukY–MsWyY&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL2229D008FD14CBF1

REPLY

Tova October 10, 2011 at 1:17 am
in THIS amazing peice of history, Bob Mackies showstopper is at about 5 minutes in.

BTM vs. ATM (Before The Muchness Vs.After The Muchness)

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Originally posted by Tova September 23. 2011 / Reposted after The Great Server Crash of 2011

As I mentioned last night, I went to bed feeling fine and enjoying that moment while I had it. Because I woke up feeling not so fine. The 23rd. What a shitty day that was. That was the last day either of my girls lived inside  of me. The day we said goodbye to Sunshine too. I look at the little ticker in the corner of this page: 1 year, 11 month, 4 weeks, 1 day. That’s lots of words. In two days, it will just say “2 years”…

I opened my iphoto this morning to go pull some pics of my newest Muchness bands to get them ready to put on the site and while scrolling through my photo library I got pulled into pictures of Elie’s 40th birthday party. It was in November of 2009. Less than 8 weeks after our loss. I’d decided that I couldn’t let his birthday pass without something and it was an excuse to create some joy and celebrate the things we did have. It was on a  sunday night. It was supposed to be a surprise. We spent the day getting massages at a fancy spa near me. My boss had given me a very generous gift certificate after we lost the babies. It was a nice day. I remember the women who gave me the massage was chatty (for a masseuse) and somehow I mentioned that I was there as a gift because I’d lost identical twins recently. She told me she had a twin sister. I asked if they were identical. She replied “we used to be, but then my sister got fat.”   …something about her stupidity struck me even more than her callousness.

But anyway, that’s not the point. We came home from the massage and our house was filled with friends and family. I have NEVER seen such a turn out to a party in my life. Nearly everyone who was invited made the effort to be there, and it was appreciated. I thought at the time it was pity. “Awww, poor Tova and Elie, after all they’ve been through, the least we could do is show up at this party they are hosting at a not terribly convenient time.” And maybe it was pity. It’s OK. I was glad they were there and I think they were glad to have something they could do to show support.

Oy! Again, Not the point!!! The point is, I saw this picture in my iphoto. This one and a few others from that day.

I looked at my eyes, my smile, Elie’s eyes. even Molly’s, and I started to shake, and then cry. That party, that was a good day. Maybe the first good day since the loss. But there is so, so much sadness there. so much grief. so much pain, hidden behind that smile and those eyes. I used to look at these pictures and think “These are bad pictures, I don’t look so good” but now I see it wasn’t the pictures, and it wasn’t how I ‘looked’ …. it was everything else.

I needed to get this out before I can get done the 100 things I have to do today. But I want to end on a happier note. Here is a picture I absolutely LOVE from this past summer. This picture is joy. With my sun and daisy necklace, my sparkly muchness band. Our honest smiles that go deep. It’s Muchness. It’s my family.

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

Jess September 23, 2011 at 11:16 am

Sending you love, Tova. I’m glad you have come so far….

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judi September 23, 2011 at 11:29 am

you have a wonderful way with words, Tova. I felt the sadness and the joy all smushed together. much love from someone who “gets it”…

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Yvette September 23, 2011 at 2:10 pm

Beautiful family! Beautiful MUCHNESS!

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Jen September 23, 2011 at 2:51 pm

Tova, I am thinking about you today as you think about your little girls. What a wonderful way to honor them — with your words and, of course, this site!
I can see/feel the joy and light in the second picture.

Btw, how could it escape me that we share a day *your girls’ angel day and my girl’s edd*?

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Tova September 23, 2011 at 11:09 pm

Jen- I didn’t know that either. Or maybe at the beginning of this journey I did? What a long, strange trip it’s….. continues to be… :)

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Julie September 23, 2011 at 3:20 pm

Hi Tova.
I didn’t realize that our dates were so close…I’m glad your rainbow joined you the next year..I had a second loss the year after, but my rainbow has finally come! Wish I had known last year about the Muchness movement. :0)
L’shana Tova!

Julie (another woman who gets it…)

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Tova September 23, 2011 at 11:07 pm

Julie- you know about it now! Even I didn’t know about it last year!!! Welcome to our little corner of the internet and congrats on your rainbow!
xox

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