Set the Night to Music....

I have been waiting for months for this concert... Starship and Survivor.

Okay, I know that I don't come off as the type of person who loves hair rock bands from the 80's... but I kinda am.

My friend Wendy and I made a night of it, and had a great time!!!

Many of their well-known songs are on my playlist, so feel free to click and listen!!!

I have pictures of the Survivor part of the concert, but I only took video at the Starship part. (Which I found out later I wasn't supposed to.) When I tried to download the video to the computer, I was told that my USB port is not fast enough.

I'll get that remedied and post the videos!!!
Wendy and I picked up the "Fair Fare" - corn dogs, lemonades, and made for the openair auditorium. When we saw REO Speedwagon two years ago, we arrived an hour early and had to sit outside the auditorium on the grass because it was packed!!! This year we got benches. We were chatting, listening to the sound checks (because that is what you do before concerts if you are early) and enjoying the running banter behind us.

From what I can gather, these two midddle-aged women had been sitting in their seats since 4:30 waiting for the concert. They had already listened to 2 sound checks, and just wanted the band.

Wendy and I kept laughing at the comments.

20 before the concert started, my phone rang. (I had been gone maybe 30 minutes.) Hailey got bit by a neighbor dog. I got up and went to where it wasn't so.... noisy, and talked to DJ.

Okay, it is a bichon. He is not violent. He was scared of the bike and chased and bit her.

DJ (my hero) cleaned it up, put some antibiotic ointment on it, and she's fine. He told me he could handle it, and I culd stay at the concert. Of course, I had a great time, but I felt like a lousy mom.

Wendy and I had to find new seats after I took the call. That's too bad.

The next morning, to help Hailey feel better I showed her the video of "We Built This City." The girls have loved that song forever. and it did make her pretty happy.

I totally understand the law, but my doctor, if I had come in to check her out, would have had to call the police and report the bite. Of course I am not going to report this. It is a natural response for a scared dog to bite.

I was pretty casual about it, because I know Hailey would have freaked if I did. The mom of the dog was more upset. I told her not to worry. Hailey is fine.

My bigger concern was Hailey developing a fear of dogs. I did call my friend and ask her to bring over her dog, though. Fatty is a big german shepard, golden retriever cross who basks in attention. He sat, and Hailey went right up to pet him. She'll be fine. She's a SURVIVOR!!!!

Up and Away!!!

I'll admit it... I stole the picture from Christy, but I loved the message behind this act.

If you want to know what we are doing, please click on the Christy link.

By the way - the balloons are Bird-Friendly!!!

Mood Rings

Ever played with Mood Rings???

They were all the rage in my junior high school.

I always had a little problem with these charming little faux jewels.

Mine always turned blue.

Blue meant you were "in love" woo-ooo. Being overweight, and tremendously unpopular, not to mention a total nerd, orchestra geek and uncool only exacerbated the problem. (Truth be told... I did have a little crush on this guy in my junior high school. His name was Jesse, but no one knew, I think. He was super cute, smart, and funny. Suffice to say that as pretty as he was should have clued me in to something I was completely unaware of in junior high school...)

The general idea behind the mood ring is that there is this strip of some magic something that registers changes in body temperature based upon your moods. Different colors, different feelings, because we all know that when your moods change, your temperature does too. (By the way, this has never been scientifically proven - although it does make a little sense.)

I am normally a warm blooded person. Shoveling snow, no mittens, in 0 degree weather, for 30 minutes still registered my hands warm. My house is always colder that 70 degrees because I get hot too fast. My good friends know that if they are cold, odds are good sitting next to me (or falling asleep on me....) they will warm right up. Its probably a big part of why I put babies to sleep. I'm warm and soft. None the less, my internal temperature is always below 98 degrees (for reasons I cannot begin to fathom).

I digress...

I guess my ring should have turned blue this month, and I didn't even realize it.

My husband admitted defeat. He asked me what I wanted for an anniversary present. I told him he should know me by now. We have been together for 5 and a half years, right??? He reminded me that boys are stupid when it comes to stuff like this, and he needed help. So I created a list for him. (Have you girls ever done this???? Made a list of "approved gifts" for your husband/fiance/boyfriend to purchase for you?) The funny thing was I could think of THINGS I wanted for presents, but none of them were things I wanted him to get for me. Why is that? I need a new piano bench. I even know which one I want, but for some reason, it is not good enough for him to get it for me. Then I realized what I did want from him. I wanted him to put some thought into a gift for me. I wanted him to spend some time and effort on me, rather than buy me something with a huge pricetag (although flowers and jewelry are always fabulous).

I received word that my masseuse at work was no longer coming to my work. This devastated me. My back, neck and shoulders are screaming for attention. It's been a stressful month. SO - the love of my life offers to get me a massage at Center Stage for our anniversary. I should have taken him up on it, but at that time I didn't know when I could find an hour to go. It wasn't until much later that I realized he does stuff like that all the time, and I don't pay any attention to it. He may not make the huge gestures, but the little things are always there, and he is always supporting me.

Why do we do this??? Not realize what we have until well after the fact. I don't know...

I've been thinking a lot about time lately. I am reminded of those commercials for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where they say, "isn't it about time?" Then I realize that time is a relative term mortals use to define their mortality. I watched the movie "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" the other day, and was reminded that if we don't pay attention, we are going to miss things, and that some people don't get these experiences at all.

I don't want to miss things. But sometimes I do. Putting on a mood ring in the morning after a night spent on your dresser will take the color a few minutes to change. You forget your wearing it, and the colors change. Every so often you look down and see, and surprise yourself. Sometimes it is blue. Sometimes it is green. Sometimes it is amber (great color by the way). Kids do this too. You blink and they grow, and change. You might miss it.

People change too. Attitudes, perspectives. The world is full of change, and all of it is fleeting. Some of it is an illusion, and some is more permanent. I've been letting time get away from me lately. The colors are changing, the kids are growing, and I am missing it.

If only it were so easy as looking down and seeing a ring to know that you should pay attention. If only a ring could tell you what you are feeling. If only we could see into our own hearts, and the love we feel there for the ones we love.

And now I am glad that silly ring is still blue.

What color would your ring be???

Dark blue: Happy, romantic or passionate

Blue: Calm or relaxed

Blue-green: Somewhat relaxed

Green: Normal or average

Amber: A little nervous or anxious

Gray: Very nervous or anxious

Black: Stressed, tense or feeling harried

You're Gonna Miss This - Trace Adkins

Okay... love this song.

The first time I heard it on the radio, it immediately followed Lost in this Moment by Big and Rich.

It's kinda become my mantra recently.

Between the girls, work, piano, church, house maintanence, etc, I feel like time is just whizzing by me - and I'm missing it.

So, I plan to do things that will keep me engaged, at least a little.

Every morning, I get up and have breakfast wth Hailey and Katie. I actually cook and everything. They read the scriptures, and we all benefit. Maybe I'm not missing it.

I know that sounds really lazy, but when you don't get to bed until after 12:30 AM, almost 1:00, getting up to have breakfast at 7am to catch a 7:25 bus is a feat.

Dj has been suffering with cellulitis this weekend. It's been hard, and I know he hurts. I hope he gets better soon.

All in all, the next few months are going to be crazy busy, but I know that we will get through. As long as I take the time to be with my kids, it will work out!

Monday Music Monologue - Walking in Memphis

I have always loved the piano part in this song. (DUH.. I'm a piano player!)

However, I am using this song this week because my parents are in Memphis this weekend and had a great time.

I really like the explanations of the symbols (click on the title link!!). Don't forget to play the song on my playlist.

Communication

My KX-12 has retired. I upgraded to this beautiful baby. I'm still getting used to it.

It was interesting though to consider the elements of communication in today's world.

In two point seven seconds, we can learn anything we ever didn't want to know about anything, by simply sitting in front of a computer.

Handwriting is no longer a priority, or grammar, or spelling, because we text and you need to omit the unneccesary letters. Our 8 year olds can't be caught dead without their cell phone, and will call their friends walking to class two halls over.

omg(sh) i cnt bleve she sd tht crzy

What happened to the beauty of formality?? What happened to the beauty of the written and spoken word?

Whatever happened to going to a library to use a book to find the information you needed for that research project? (Please do not ask what a book is...)

Encyclopedias, the actual books in everyone's den from when I was a kid, are now obsolete. Outdated, time consuming and 2-dimensional, anyone would be stupid to refer to these for solid information. At any given time one can pull up a 3-d animated graphic plus instructional video for anything they want to know. SO what are we learning?