The Bird of Paradise. . .

This song just makes me smile. It's the perfect song for when a day isn't quiet going your way and you just want to stomp and scream.  It's the perfect insult to sing when someone cuts you off in traffic.

It's a classic from Jimmy Dickens.  You'll be toe-tapping right along with it.  And I bet the next time someone pulls a dumb move you'll catch yourself thinking of this song.

Happy Saturday!

May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose

That Darn Cat!

I am not a cat fan.  My sister was terribly allergic when we were kids and now that I am older, it seems I don't tolerate cat fur very well.

But I can enjoy a cat movie--especially a Disney movie from back in the day with Hayley Mills and Dean Jones.

It's the story of DC, a cat that is carrying a message. . .on a wristwatch (see how dated it is?  Who wears a watch anymore?)  And DC just might have the clues to solve a series of ban robberies.

Enjoy the ride!

That Darn Cat!

Good morning! Today we have a very special guest!

Eleanor.  Eleanor actually arrived on Tuesday (which means that just like the Mickey Mouse Club used to have special guest starts on Tuesday, well, I got my Eleanor on a Tuesday. . .come to think of it, my sister and I were both born on Tuesdays.  As well as two of my children, except they don't really count since I ended up having a great deal of say so about when they arrived.)

I digress.

Welcome dear Eleanor.  It's been a bit of a wait but I have to say, I do believe it was worth it!

Eleanor is my new computer.  She arrived just in time for me to write my 501st blog post.  She's so special. 

Pure excitement! 

I haven't had a new computer in 9.5 years.  Yes, that's how long it has been since I had a computer of "my own" arrive.  My desktop is doing fine by the way but with so many people needing access to a computer these days, it was time for a new member of the family.

Enter Eleanor.  (And give props to my parents for recognizing the need and helping bring Eleanor home.)

To some, Eleanor isn't super fancy.  But she is going to be able to do what I need and she is mine so that's pretty special.

Why Eleanor?    Well, it is a good name. . .solid, strong and elegant.  Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong woman--champion of others and outspoken when she needed to be. 

So Eleanor will help me speak.  And she is beautiful.

Good stuff.

Just like a baby

Apologies.  It seems that I am just like a baby right now. . .my days and nights are somewhat confused.  I can't seem to get my posting on time anymore.  I will work on that.  I promise.

Funny how when my kids were babies, I just thought that when they got older--could talk, move on their own, feed themselves, etc--life would be easier.

For all you young people out there~~it doesn't get easier!  Nooo, quite the contrary.  They get older and the problems get bigger.  The scheduling becomes more difficult.  It's entirely normal to have at least 3 different required events after school (2 of them will always happen at the same time but in different locations) with the third event happening just after the other two conclude.

This means your days become busy in an entirely different way.

Do not get me wrong.  I don't want to give up what I have now.  The kids are great and I love that they each have their own thing.

I just need to do a better job of figuring out how to get us all where we need to be (on time) while I manage to keep serving healthy family style meals and keep us in clean clothes in a relatively happy and clean(ish) home and all the while plan my new class and make the necessary changes to my previous courses.

Oh, and I need to learn to utilize/implement new technology too.

And figure out a sleep pattern that fits the work schedule.

Hmmm.  Never a dull moment.

Thankfully, there are plenty of fun times mixed in with stories from the kids about their days as well as big hugs and giggles.  Because without those, I don't know how I'd get up ever morning. . .since I'd rather sleep all day anyway.

Crabby earrings

I was out shopping the other day because I felt like my closet wasn't jammed packed with things already and maybe I should fill the void.

OK, not really.  There isn't a void.  I just like getting deals on my clothes.  I lost enough weight for my dr to congratulate me and use me as an example of "well done" to others.  So now it's fun to go shopping for clothes.

We were dangerously close to spending enough money at Kohl's to get some extra Kohl's cash so we hit the clearance accessories.

And there they were.

Silver Crab Earrings

Go ahead.  Look at them.

Don't they make you smile?

They made me smile.

Thusly, they came home with us.  And I told my oldest daughter that they will be our "warning sign."

Yup, on a crabby kind of day, you wear the crabby earrings.

Because what could be better?

I think I'm going to need a giant chocolate chip cookie to go with my crabby earrings tomorrow.  It was just that kind of day today.

Kodachrome!!!!

Oh how I loved this song.  Several years ago my sister spent a summer away for school/work and when she came home she had all kinds of new music, much of which wasn't really new except now we had copies of it.

This one was one of my favorites from her collection of "new to us" songs.

When I hear it I'm just a teenager again.  Makes me happy.

This of course makes it a perfect Saturday song :-)

Concert in the Park "Kodachrome/Maybelline"

The Miracle Woman

The title itself just jumped out at me since I feel like it's a miracle I make it through each day anymore.  We're so busy.  They tell me it gets easier as the kids get older.  I don't agree.  New ages, new worries.

Anyway, today's film is from Frank Capra, 1931 . . . and you can't go wrong when you watch a Frank Capra film.

Barbara Stanwyk.  (My mom always loved a good Barbara Stanwyk movie!) Just watch

The Miracle Woman

I survived!

Oh my goodness I was a tad nervous.  Had some trouble getting my violin tuned (my strings didn't like being out in hot humid weather between the house/car/school).

I sat waaaaay back in the orchestra, and yet, there I was, right in front of the director.

But no one laughed at me.  So that's good.

So my song for the day turned out to be a little Gloria Gaynor song.  You might know it.  If not, here you go:

I Will Survive

Nervous!

I thought I knew what I was doing but now I'm really not sure.

I volunteered to help out with orchestra.  I thought I'd be taking a few violinists at a time and working on some skills and technique. 

And when I made my offer, I didn't know that my former teacher's daughter would also be helping. . .every day.

Once upon a time I was pretty good.  (Not to brag. . .just stating a fact.)  I mean, last night I pulled out music that I played as my solo in 6th, 7th and 8th grades.  Oh my heavens.  So many black notes on those pages!

So yeah, I guess I was pretty stinkin' good even though I always claim that I was OK.

And now, some twenty-five years  later I am going to head back into an orchestra with 2 violin geniuses present and offer my services. 

Clearly I am OK with embarrassing myself.

I practiced for something like an hour last night.  My fingers are sore.  My neck is sore--in two places. 

I also need to trim my nails. 

But that one will wait.  I don't want to trim them until I absolutely have to . . .so I'll risk long nails messing me up.

Think of me.  My pride is at stake here.

Just keep swimming. . . .

Oh my goodness.

What happened?

I blinked and my weekend disappeared.

And I have been a bad blogger.

I just can't keep up.

Please keep stopping by to see if I am back to normal yet (hahaha--what is normal??)

It's going to be crazy for a while as we re-acclimate to all the activities and get through all the open houses, etc.

Until then I am going to take Dory's advice and just keep swimming!

Folsom Prison

I may have mentioned a time or two that I went through a Johnny Cash phase.  I pulled out all the old Johnny Cash I could find and listened to it all like it was something new again.

I have a lot of "favorites."

But I always go back to Folsom Prison Blues as my favorite.  Something about how he starts off with "ello, I'm Johnny Cash"

So here you go. . .The entire album At Folsom Prison

One more "first day of school"

Today the oldest has her first day of classes.  We wouldn't want her to feel left out since the other two had their theme songs featured.

There is no rhyme or reason to her theme song except she is a Disney kid and she loved The Little Mermaid.

So here we go!

Kiss the Girl

These "theme" songs were the last song we listened to each day on the way to kindergarten (or longer).  We chose a song they liked or one that had some meaning and set the tone for heading off to school.  It became a sweet little idea for each of the kids to have their own song.

Off to the chaos of the first day!

This Little Piggy. . .

How about all the little piggies?  They are so not happy.

They loved the freedom of summertime. 

And now, they must be confined again.  In shoes.  All day.

First day means sandals are OK.  Second day I can even get away with nice flip flops. 

But by Wednesday, I have to be super-duper professional.

It is going to be rough

Piggies just want freedom.  Poor piggies.

Two Songs for Today!

Well, back to the grind.  For the oldest members of our household it feels a bit like this:

Sam Cooke--Chain Gang

But for the youngest members of our household it's all about this:

Phil Collins--On My Way
*theme song for #2 when she started kindergarten

And this:

Jack Johnson--We're Going to Be Friends
*theme song for #3 when she started kindergarten

Wish us luck as a new school year starts!

Beat This Summer

As summer winds down, I think this song ranks as my summertime song.  I don't have grammar issues with it and it's safe for the kids too.

Hate to see the end of my lazy days at home.  But it has to happen.

Brad Paisely--Beat This Summer

Last Dance

Last Friday anyway.  Sadness.

It's the end of sleeping late on a weekday. . .and waiting until 9 or 10 to even contemplate what all we'll do for the day.

It's the end of staying up late watching Kim Possible or playing Canasta.

It's been a good summer.

We made it to the beach.  We got the storage shelves built.  The oldest one got her learner's permit.  My car got a lot of new parts (Woo hoo!  Totally digging those new tires along with that purdy water pump)

I made it through a lot of books.  Twenty-three completed as of last night.  Not bad for ten weeks.

Come Monday we'll be back to the grind of life.

But for today--it's a party.  We're swimming (I sure hope the weather cooperates with me on this one!) and enjoying our crazy manicures/pedicures.  We are living it up as the last Friday of vacation.

Just in case today is "just another Friday" for you, I am including a movie to get you through your day (and if it rains, this is what we're watching too!)

Enjoy Support Your Local Sheriff starring James Garner. This is one of those old movies we watch with my parents and kids.  It's a good one.

How do I react to bad news?

Well, I scrub bathtubs.

I scrub my oven clean.

I do laundry.

I take air registers out of the floor and vacuum them.

I bake bread--lots of it.

I guess I do what most people do--seek to gain control of those things I can control in a world that otherwise seems to just spin away and out of my control.

Yesterday my family gained seven loaves of bread from the set of bad news that I shared with you.  Yes, seven.  I made my mom's bread (recipe here) along with a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread in the bread machine and then my youngest mixed up what we call "monk bread" (recipe here) with me.  In all, seven satisfying loaves of bread.

Not sure what you do the day after that kind of baking frenzy. . .maybe go swimming.

PS, "monk bread" is the recipe that two of my girls made with a monk a few weekends ago when we visited the school that my dad went to for high school, college and start of seminary.  The monk that made bread with them was an awesome individual who worked in front of a group of kids, parents and grandparents to teach us how to make the no-knead bread he makes for the monks in their community.  All credit for that recipe goes to Jim Lahey.

Tears. . . .

Today I have a request. 

And it may be the sort of thing that hits some of you wrong and you decide to never ever stop by my little corner of the world again. 

And I guess that's OK if that's how it is.

But I got some sad news and I'm just really driven to tears with this one.

A friend of mine has a sister-in-law who is fighting cancer.  Nancy had a tumor removed from her spine around a year ago.  At that time they thought it was a slow-growing tumor that might have some impact on her life 10 years or so down the road.

But a few months ago she noticed some changes and they went back in for testing.  Suddenly that "10 years or so down the road" became a much more immediate issue.  More tests were ordered.  Results indicate that the changes she is seeing is tumor spread heading to her brain.

Her youngest child turned four yesterday.  Four.

Please, pray for Nancy and her family as she goes into treatment that will bring many side effects.  Those kids need their mama.  Pray for her husband, a doctor, as his wife goes through such difficult treatment.  If you have children, ask them to remember Nancy in their prayers too.  Children are so close to God.

Time to Change

Like it or not, things change.  When I head back to work next week, there are going to be several people missing from my little work world.

Since change is inevitable, it's best to just acknowledge it and look for positives.  No reason to get all down in the dumps about things we can't control.

I have a fragment of a song running through my head but it's not enough to google it and come up with the right song.  I tried that.  But along the way I ran across an old one that was on The Brady Bunch and it's good enough to share too.

Time to Change

 

"When it's time to change, then its time to change
Don't fight the tide, come along for the ride, don't you see
When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange"

On vacation

This week I do everything I can to relish the last lazy moments of summer.

Last week I had my nails done in a "suitable for work" kind of polish.  This week I am on vacation so my nails, hair and makeup shall reflect it.

I have one little work meeting for lunch but otherwise, it's vacation baby.

We're going to the library.  We're going to the pool.  We're doing a little shopping (lots of freebies to be picked up).  We're reading.  We're playing cards and Clue and Yahtzee.

All too soon our schedule will change and we'll be back to the grind.

But this week we have this theme song!

The Sound of Sunshine (Michael Franti and Spearhead)

Shop Around

Oh my this was the theme for Saturday.  Three girls and their parents at the mall getting ready for school. . .along with pretty much everyone else.  We had some great success and I declare the clothes shopping complete.  We still get to go complete the lists from the teachers (groan).  But at least we have clothing done done done!

Since we did plenty of shopping around today I think this song is appropriate as my late on Saturday music post!

The Miracles~~Shop Around

My Favorite Brunette

Today's movie is My Favorite Brunette!  Enjoy this classic from 1947 starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour.

My Favorite Brunette

Snickers

I have decided that I need to have a stash of Snickers candy bars on hand. . .in the fridge, in the freezer, and in the filing cabinet.

No, I am not getting paid to say it.

But it seems that just this week I have turned into that Snickers commercial.  You know the one. . .where someone is acting irrational and grouchy so they hand him/her a Snickers and life goes back to normal?

Yes, that is definitely what I need.

I can't even seem to blog at the right times this week.  Ugh.

Hand me a Snickers right quick will you?

nom nom nom nom nom


Ahhh, much better.