you have to SCREAM!!!

This afternoon, I was lucky enough to take Kimber and her two friends, who are 10 and 12 (age difference is seriously not an issue..they love each other!) to Orange Leaf to enjoy some frozen yogurt. This was Kimber's reward for being good while I did a whole week's worth of errands that I had been putting off. Hey, it's sunny outside so that's where I will be. (I was totally going to take her there regardless of her behavior, but she was actually good. Don't tell her this.) On the way back, we were listening to Taylor Swift. Kimber, of course, knows 80% of the words to all 14 songs on the CD. She was showing off, singing away when one of her friends said "Kimber, you have to scream when you sing!" I almost had a heart attack. Kimber HAS screamed before. And it is NOT pretty. Kimber screaming = mommy headache. There was no screaming, just LOUD singing...BEAUTIFUL singing...coming from my backseat. I'm serious. Those three girls were singing their hearts out and I loved every minute of it.
When I sing in the car, I prefer to look at it as my audition for the Grammys. I mean, if those awards were based only on my performance in the car, I would have won at least 5 or 6 of those fancy things. And they would be sitting on my mantle too. But I honestly can't remember the last time I just SANG my heart out. Not worrying about staying on key or getting the words perfect. So that's definitely something I plan on trying next time I'm (alone) in the car. Not singing, but screaming. Uninhibited and free.

For Christmas, Santa got me an iTunes gift card. Yay! Well, long story short...I bought my music, but had to erase the music that was already on my iPod in order to sync the new stuff. I'm still not sure why, but oh well. So right now, I'm going thru the CDs to put stuff back on the iPod. During my CD search, I found a bunch of old crappy CDs that I apparently enjoyed at one time or another....I'm leaning towards just that one time. For example, I have both Sister Act 1 AND 2. I think I bought it just for this song...



I also have a nice selection of Boyz II Men. Okay, okay, they weren't bad and I'm not embarrassed to own any of their stuff, but here is some awesomeness...



and I believe this was even on the cover of my 8th grade yearbook...



and the oh, so sappy...



I also found some Puff Daddy & the Family. I won't post any songs. I don't want to lose any friends. I have many MANY more that I'm honestly just too ashamed to mention (Cool Runnings? What?). However, I rediscovered Jars of Clay. LOVE THEM!



So, while I found some that I'm pretty ashamed to even say that I own, there are quite a few that I'm sooo adding to my iPod, like, now. Oh, and I didn't watch these entire videos so if they're screwing up, sorry. Blame YouTube.

I love this song. I mean, I could listen to it at least 50 times a day. It's performed by the fab Whitney Houston. Try to search for the version from Glee (performed by Amber Riley's character Mercedes). There's no video, just a recording...but I'm a visual person. Anyway..Enjoy.

I LOOOOOVE Thanksgiving! Probably even better than Christmas...mainly because all you have to do is eat. You don't have to worry about shopping and delivering presents to 8 different households in 2 days. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas too. Thanksgiving just gives me less to worry about. All you have to do is cook and eat. I mean, sure there are the occasional mishaps during cooking, but as long as there's food on the table (and maybe football on tv), people are happy.

Sometimes we hear about the horror stories during Thanksgiving...less-than-awesome inlaws, flying the day before to some relative's house, etc. BUT (and here is where I get somewhat serious) at least you have a turkey, people that WANT you at dinner. Some don't even have that and yet they are so thankful for what they have. These people are my heroes.

So there's my 2 cents...have a super fabulous thanksgiving!

Bored? Or wish you were?

In today's world, we are busy. Not just working 5 days a week, church on Sunday, and maybe a night out with friends. But working 5 days a week, church Sunday, soccer on Monday, gymnastics on Tuesday, Life Group on Wednesday, piano on Thursday, and maybe a fun night on Friday. Oh, and let's not forget Saturday...7am misc sporting events, cleaning, grocery, errands that weren't done during the week, etc. Makes my head spin just thinking about it.
I am fortunate enough to (pretty much) be a stay at home mom. So this isn't my schedule. However, I have some friends who DO have a schedule like this. When I call to hang out, I'm sometimes given 2 or 3 "good" days for the month. Then if we can't work anything out on one of those days, there's always 3 or 4 days next month. Are you kidding me? I love my friends dearly and try my hardest to get together, but the above scenario can get a little old.
I'll be the first to admit that because I feel that I don't "fit in" to a friend's schedule, I may not call as much and eventually (unfortunately) stop calling to hang out altogether. Shame on me. Shame...shame...shame...

There is also the other end of the spectrum...not busy enough. I believe that you need to stay engaged and involved to really appreciate life. If you cut out everything, you're stuck sitting at home, watching whatever crap is on tv, and watching the world pass you by. This sucks, trust me.
Get out of the house! Find friends that are just as bored as you are! I guarantee there are others out there. Even if you have kids (seriously, I'm so over the bars and staying out until 2am), there are tons of fun things to do. Leave the pity party that you've thrown for yourself. Good grief.

Moral of the story? Stay busy, but take time to really enjoy what you're doing. Take a breather once in awhile, all you busy people. For all of you bored ones, get off of your tush and find something to do and someone to do it with. You'll be surprised. Oh, and if you have crazy busy friends like I do...try to make one of those 2 or 3 days a month work. I bet your friend misses hanging out with you just as much (if not more) than you do with them.

Things I'm Thankful For (in no particular order):
~God (because He's pretty awesome)
~family (and I guess they're awesome too)
~REAL friends (not the fake ones that pretend to care when they really don't)
~memories (good and bad)
~Kimber (she's just so special, she gets her own)
~music (this includes cranking up Taylor Swift and pretending I'm on stage singing a duet with her)
~cupcakes (the gourmet ones...worth every penny)
~sunshine (preferably on an 80 degree day, but I'm not picky)
~my flat iron (call me vain, but you don't want to see my hair without it)
~freedom (all of the first amendment stuff)
~my church (because it is pretty awesome)
~technology (seriously, without it, I would have next to no contact with my extended fam and friends)
~electricity, running water, heat, AC (you know, the stuff we usually take for granted)

Of course, I have tons of others, but I think these are pretty high on the list. What are you thankful for?

So here I am...starting a blog AFTER it was considered super cool. Please, hold your applause. I will be the first to say I have no idea what I am doing...kind of like twitter or changing a carburetor. I don't have any witty comments. And I'm betting your seven year old may have a better way with words. Well, good for them. This is about me; read it or don't.

I am not loud or obnoxious...I'm just the opposite. Some may see this as being snobby or bored. I even had a work evaluation where I was docked on being intimidating when a new employee needed help. Well, if they find ME intimidating, then I doubt they have much of a future in the business world.

I have a three year old who pretty much runs my life. Not sure how that happened, but she's the boss. Please don't tell her this...we don't need her getting an ego at the tender age of three. At this moment, she is begging me to let her play the dress up game on the computer. Who am i to say "no"?

So I must conclude my first blog post ever. This is your cue for applause. Thank you.