Day 11 - My favorite band

This one is easy.

I'm a grown up now. How did that happen?

I can tell I'm getting older by the things that excite me now. It used to be things like the September issue of Vogue magazine, clearance sales at the mall, and new CD release dates. Now, I get Working Mother magazine and occasionally check the new releases section on iTunes to see if I recognize anything.

I've been anxiously waiting for months for my favorite convenience store chain to open it's new location near Sophie's babysitter's house. Sure, there are several others. But if I want a cappuccino, I either have to take a 2 year old in with me, which means unbuckling her from the car seat, keeping her with me in the store, paying, trying to carry said hot beverage and hopefully a breakfast treat back to my car without spilling either while simultaneously getting her to the car without her running off into the path of drivers not looking out for my 2 year old, and buckling her back into her car seat. Or, I have take a different route to work, which isn't really a big deal, but it's a little out of the way. The new location is perfect! Also, it means I can get gas quickly and easily, without playing peek-a-boo through the car window. So yes, this excites me.

Then this morning, I discovered that there is a stoplight going in at a busy intersection I often use on my way to work. There has been construction there for a couple months now, widening the road. But that's a busy intersection. That light will be very handy in the evenings especially.

What else really excited me this weekend? We got a new lawn mower. I'm officially a grownup now, when I'm thrilled about this purchase. I also was happy to find - are you ready for this one? - wood cleaner! Our new-ish (they were new when Sophie was new!) wood steps need a good cleaning before sealing. I really didn't want to seal in the greenish tinge, muddy dog prints, and mulberry tree bird poop.

Sleepy time

Day 10 is a song that makes me go to sleep.
When I was a baby, my mom sang this song to me as my lullaby. It no longer actually puts me to sleep, but I do find myself yawning whenever I hear this song.

Dance? Me?

Day 9: A song I can dance to

Suuuuure.....

We'll go easy with this one. Motherhood sucked the coolness out of me when it comes to dancing.

Sing along

Day 8 - A song I know all the words to

There are so many!

This is not the singer I know for this song, but this song is covered by Stephanie Biddle at the end of the movie The Whole Nine Yards (my favorite movie). I love this song.

This one is very embarrassing. But, even though I was in middle school when this song came out, I still remember every word of it.

And still more:

Fiction Friday part 3

Read previous installments here

A jingling of the bell startled me. I turned around and saw it was Carrie coming in a little early. “Book club is today!” she said cheerily, shaking her bouncy blond curls after removing her fedora. “I thought you could use some help with opening so you can relax and enjoy the group when they arrive.” She added her coat to the coat rack and topped it with her hat. I just love her hats. This one was bright red with silver sequins on the band. Not what you would expect for a Monday morning walk to work, but that is what made it even better. 

“It looks like we’ll have an early customer, too,” she said as she opened the cash register and dusted off the counter. “There is a man lingering outside the store like he’s waiting for us to open. I wonder what kind of book he is looking for.” She had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes when she said that. We play a game when there aren’t any customers in the store, in which we speculate what off-the-wall books a customer is looking for. A well-dressed businessman wants a collection of erotic poetry, a mom with four kids in tow slips in a guide to S&M while paying for the children’s selections, a party girl still dressed from the night before takes home biographies of past presidents. It’s amusing, and we collapse with laughter when we are actually right!

“He’s early,” I say, starting the game, “so he must be on his way to work. Maybe he is looking for…” and I trail off as I glance out the window and see who it is. “You have to be kidding me! Not him again!”

“What are you talking about, Lizzie?” asked Carrie. “Not who? Who is that man? What’s going on?”

“He’s no one! He’s crazy and I’ve never seen him before this morning!” I told her about what happened this morning, how he came up to me from nowhere and said my mother lied, and my dad was not my real father. “He even knew their names, my name. What is wrong with him? Who does that to someone they don’t know?”

“No way!” Carrie exclaimed. “And you’ve never seen him before? That’s insane! Who did he say your father really is? No – he has to be wrong. You were the light of your dad’s life!  Of course he was your father!”

“I didn’t give him a chance to say anything else. I got on the bus and came straight here. He must have followed me. Or who knows, he knew my name and Mom and Dad’s names, maybe he knew about the shop, also.” I was fuming. He shouldn’t be here! I went about the motions of readying the shop for opening, but I was distracted. Carrie, mercifully, didn’t say anything about it, or mention the stranger again while we worked.

Remember

Day 7 is "A song that reminds me of an event."

I thought and thought, but couldn't figure out what event I was reminded of by a song. Nothing.
Then I heard a song on the radio.

I love No Doubt. Always have.
But my freshman year of college, I had been visiting my then-boyfriend at his college. We had been together over a year. I knew we weren't "forever," but I still cared about him. We went out as usual, had a good time, then when I dropped him back off at his dorm, all of a sudden he broke up with me. It was out of nowhere. On my way back to my own college and dorm, this song came on the radio. The perfect breakup song, written (like that whole album) out of Gwen Stefani's own breakup with a bandmate.

Six months after that breakup, I met my husband. Obviously, I was over the breakup. And I still love No Doubt, and this song. But every time I hear it, I remember that night. I don't feel anything from it of course, but I remember.

Memories in song

A song that reminds me of somewhere

We moved to Tennessee from Florida when I was in kindergarten, but still visited frequently. My grandmother still lived there half the year, and we would go for Spring Break, during the summer, and Thanksgiving. Sometimes we'd go over winter break, also. We had lots of family all over the state to visit, and of course we spent lots of time in Panama City, where we used to live.

I remember one year my mom and I were in the car on Panama City Beach driving back to Panama City and this song came on the radio. I remember thinking it was perfect for how I felt.  I was always happy when we visited Panama City. It was my other home - my grandmother's house and neighborhood, the church we used to belong to and still visited, the playground I played on as a child, the park across the street from my grandmother's house, the duck pond, the ocean... all of it. It was my happy place.

Every time I hear this song, I go back there in my head.

My Girl

Day 5 is a song that reminds me of someone. I surprisingly had a very hard time with this one!
Finally I settled on one. When Emma was a baby, I was watching the movie My Girl on tv. This song played at the end credits, and I held her and we danced all around the living room. From then on, when she was small enough, we'd dance like that every time we heard the song. She would laugh and laugh.

Those times were so precious to me.

I think her growing up and approaching high school years are making me sentimental. I find myself realizing how little time we have left with her. It won't be long at all until she's off to college and out in the world on her own! But no matter what, she's always "my girl" to me.

Sad songs say...

Day 4 - A song that makes me sad.

(Song is U2's All I Want is You, video is a scene from the movie Reality Bites)
I'm not sure why, but this song often makes me sad. I've even found myself driving down the road crying as it plays on the radio, and I honestly have no idea why. I have the "you" that I want... It's just something about the music itself that gets to me.

I still like it, though.

The house of my dreams

This blog idea is from a nifty iPhone app I downloaded.

What does my dream home look like?
I have many ideas, but some themes recur in every house. Large closet. Lots of storage. Lots of space in the whole house. Windows, light. A library. High ceilings. A big front porch. Brightness. Lots of color. A big, inviting kitchen. Natural floors and counters, lots of wood and stone. A room to be crafty. A playroom. A basement. A room for my husband's Star Wars stuff. A guest room, or two. Comfort and warmth.

Check out my Dream Home pinboard on Pinterest!

Instant happiness, just press play

Day 3: A song that makes me happy

This one is easy! Just try to listen to this and not be happy and jump up and down a little.

And the Sesame Street version, that Sophie loves (good girl!):

My least favorite song?

This is a difficult one to narrow down, also. I don't make a habit of listening to, or dwelling on, my least favorite songs. The first that comes to mind? Anything Kesha. I can't stand her music. Also Hinder, and most of the whole "emo" crowd. So whiny and entitled and annoying.
Ok, I know my two least favorites now.

Such "class" here. *eyeroll* Does this make me old? I'm okay with that.

This song makes my skin crawl. It essentially glorifies cheating. He has his girlfriend in the other room, but he's on the phone with another one telling her he wishes she was there instead? Jerk.

Welcome to my innermost self

I feel like the music we like says a lot about ourselves. Because of that, I'm sure this 30 day song challenge I'm beginning will be very revealing.

Day 1: My favorite song.

This is actually harder than you'd think. I can't narrow down one song as my all-time, absolute favorite. So, here my favorites, plural.

I love this song, and most of all it's message. "I'm beautiful in my way, God makes no mistakes. I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way."

And of course I have to include this version. Such a talented young girl!

I've always loved this song. It's so haunting, the melody so beautiful.

Probably REM's most famous song (out of many famous song). It's almost cliche to love it, but I can't help it. It was my REM gateway way back in the day.

Ficton Friday - part 2

Read part 1 here

 Umm… like that was going to happen. “No thank you. This is ludicrous. I know who my parents are, and have been for my entire life. You are wrong.” Thank goodness the bus pulled up then. I boarded, took a seat, and settled in for the ride to work. I was so glad my car would be ready tomorrow! The bus stop is the place for crazy folk, it seems. Now, as long as the repair shop doesn’t try to stall again, I’ll be happy.

The last of the other passengers were filing on and filling the remaining seats.  I glanced out the bus window, and saw the stranger gazing in my direction. He saw me looking and gave a wave as the bus pulled away. Who was this guy? How did he know my name? How did he know my parents’ names? I wish there was someone I could ask, but both my parents were gone. My dad had suffered a massive heart attack five years previously, and my mother died of cancer just one year ago. I missed them both terribly.

I realized with a start that the bus had arrived at my stop already. The bus had stopped at one end of a large square ringed with shops, restaurants with dining patios, and lovely green areas with benches and fountains. In the center of the square were four large pear trees that were breathtaking in the spring, and also caused tiny white blossoms to invade businesses all around the square.  They blew in open doors as shoppers and diners strolled in and out, and we had all but given up sweeping them out the doors again. Nestled in the shade of the trees were chess tables, and even on the crisp, cool morning the chairs were filled with aging gentlemen. Steam rose from their cups of fresh hot coffee from the bakery in the near corner as they battled to the death of their chess pieces. Occasionally a pair of voices would rise above the rest, the daily debate of politics becoming heated until the peacekeeper in the group stepped in and smoothed things over. At the far end of the square was a book store, Fireside Books. It was a light brown stone building with two large bay windows, one on either side of the door. Large pots of flowers flanked the door, welcoming guests inside. It was my store. I opened it ten years ago and never regretted it once.

I crossed the square, returning waves from old men I had known my entire life, by sight if not by name.  As I reached my book shop in the far corner, I slowed to examine the window display. Twinkling lights were strung around the display platform, casting eerie shadows on the children’s Halloween books nestled among the fabric. Dolls in costume peeked out from behind books, waving at each other. But Halloween was over the weekend; Thanksgiving was approaching and it was time to change the display to something more current. I could do that after Carrie, my favorite (and only) employee arrived.  I unlocked the door and stepped into the dark chill of the store. One hour until opening. I hung my coat on the coat rack by the door, turned on the lights, and raised the temperature on the thermostat to a comfy seventy degrees. I started a fire in the gas fireplace – I preferred wood but couldn’t risk a hot ember floating out and catching my books on fire. I arranged cushions on the overstuffed couches and chairs near the fire.  Soon the store would again be cozy and inviting. The women’s book club would be arriving midmorning, so I readied a table of coffee and hot chocolate. Claire from the bakery across the square would be bringing a selection of pastries with her. She was a founding member of the book club. She’s never said it, but I have a suspicion she came up with the idea to help my business take off when I first opened. It worked, and I will be forever grateful to her for that. The shop and the book group helped get me through the deaths of my parents like nothing else could.