Morning Music Mystery

I don't usually watch MTV, but its the channel Jeremy left the TV on this morning and I think the dog is laying on the controller. After he tortured me all morning, I don't want to bother him and remind him I'm still here and I can reach the counter and he cant. So I watch, rather listen to MTV. This song comes on, it has a pleasant beat not to much, not to rappy, so I look up to see a lovely young woman singing a slightly familiar song. Shes really quite pretty and it looks like she actually knows where McDonald's is located. (This means she's not sickly skinny, she looks like a real person not a sick -stick person, a body type no real person can hope - or want- to acquire). So now I'm interested and watch the video intently, at first just to see this woman then I realize the song is not only vaguely familiar but I can almost remember the words. I like this version of the unknown song, I do not usually like remakes or perfectly good songs, but this one is nice. SO now I am racking my brain trying to come up with the original. I like to try really hard to come up with this solution on my own, before consulting the Oracle (a.k.a. the Internet, keeper of all things both good and bad).

After 5 or 10 minutes of more music the original song I heard is so far gone from my mind that I have no chance of coming up with the Original remade song at all. This is when Jeremy calls, thank goodness, I tell him about the song, he instantly replies, "Oh yea, I like that one to, the singer is the same one that sings the Battlefield son

g!" (another one I don't know the real name to). I tell him it sounds sort of familiar but I don't know why. He agrees and says he has no idea either. Great, but hey, I now have another name of one of her songs, sort of, so I can consult the Oracle.

Just as I am about to start the search Jeremy calls back and says, "Let the Music Play" to which I reply, 'I am, why?' he says, "No smarty, that's the name of the original song..."

So my music puzzle for today has been solved. 'Let the Music Play', by Shannon, circa 1983. The new version I heard this morning is by Jordan Sparks. Shannon should be proud, Jordan did a good job and she looks like a real person!

Babysitting 101

Babysitting, HA, that's a misnomer... as if you can actually sit while watching a toddler. Toddler Running, that would be a more appropriate name for it.

I kept Mason, Nephew #2, last week while my Mama was out of town. She has the normal duty of keeping up with the young man everyday. Its been a while since I have watched a young child by myself, I had forgotten all the things that they can do, get into, move, rearrange, change, destroy...

Here are just a few things I've learned/re-learned while keeping up with Mason:

1. Big bird is a god, so is Elmo but I don't like him

2. Nap time is sacred, anyone ringing my phone or doorbell during this time will be shot on sight

3. 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter can cover 3 square feet of counter top

4. When you give a 2 year old something he doesn't like... he will let you know.

Example: Mason, "I want tea!" I give him tea, he takes a drink... stairs at the cup, makes a face and says, "i don't like it" (tounge out). I ask why, he says, "I like Papas tea...."

5. Matchbox cars - though entertaining in and of themselves are even more entertaining for the child when the adult steps on the same car... barefoot.

6. Nemo is possibly the best kids movie EVER, according to me and the kid

7. A child with a balloon can move 2 immovable dogs, a cat and a coffee table

8. This same child can say 'Whatcha doin' 118 times in a row... without taking a breath

9. Cats do not like toy cars driven down their tails or across their backs

10. Dog bowl water will not hurt the child and it makes their hair shinny

11. Poopy diapers will make you grateful to change a litter box

12. A 2 year old CAN throw a car the length of my living room

13. It's OK to open the bag of Goldfish crackers in Wal-Mart to shush the child, if he's loud enough a worker will open the bag for you

14. Barney should be used as a weapon, he can and will make you drive off of a cliff if played in the backseat of a small car while driving on Quintard

You dont look married....

Today while shopping at WalMart, a place I go to way to often, this nice man says,"Hi". I respond with a cordial, 'hi'. He proceeds to obviously look me over and says, "are you married?"to which I reply, "YES!!" he then follows this with, "Well, you don't look married!"

What the hell does that mean, I don't look married? what does married look like? Did I not look married because I was smiling and nice? because I didn't have 2, 3 or 5 children in, on or around me and my buggy? Was it because my hair was nice and shinny, combed, neat and not twisted up into a ravaged knot covering a possible bald spot where the man in my life had driven me to pulling out my hair?

Not that I was looking to get picked up in WalMart, I just find it strange. Have grocery stores become the new singles bar? Then I got to thinking about it, where do single over 30, nearing 40 year olds go to meet people? Is the vegetable isle at your local grocery really the best place to evaluate women or men? I guess you could learn a lot about someone by whats in their buggies. For example, maybe this man thought I 'looked available' because I had a bottle of wine, cat food, lotion, deodorant, salad, strawberries, bananas, salad dressing and light bulbs. Now if I had large garbage bags, duct tape, Clorox, saw blade, shovel, gloves and a shower cap in the buggy, he probably wouldn't of said a word. Next time, I'll get the duct tape first.

Its a small world....

sing it with me...

It's a small world after all

it's a small world after all

it's a small small world!

This song always reminds me of the ride at Disney World. The only reason we rode this particular ride was because we were hot and tired of waiting in line. In this ride, if you could handle the small, strange sometimes out of sinc, children it was a great place to rest and cool off. The problem was the song was stuck in your head, forever!

My point of remembering and singing this song tonight, is It Is A Small Small World! Really, it was proven so tonight.

A girl I went to elementary school with, early elementary school, 1st, 2nd and 4th grades will be be Nephew #1's kindergarten teacher! See, told you, small world. To make this story and connection stranger....

Shanna (the teacher) and I were classmates, her bother Michael and my brother were classmates. Jim and Michael played together after school. On one of these play dates, Michael and Jim were playing in a wagon, Michael went to pull Jim up the hill in front of our house, Jim fell out backwards and busted his head open. Shanna's Mom picked me up from school. My Mama always picked me up from school. I knew something was wrong the minute everyone else left and I was the only one still in the classroom with Mrs. White. She was being really happy, I knew something was wrong. Mrs. Spivey came to get me and took me home with Shanna and Michael, I didn't know what happened, just that I had to stay there till Mama came to get me. I think I was there a week, because Jim was in the hospital with a cracked skull. He says he still has a 'wrinkle' in the back of his head from this incident.

Anyway, this is only one of many memories with this family, there are many happy others. This one is just the most tramatic!!!!

I am, however, very happy Shanna, Mrs. Holt, will be Daniel's kindergarten teacher. Being born and raised in Anniston, Alabama, its not likely my newphews will have a teacher that we, my family, doesnt know, or know of ...somehow. So no one is safe!!! It makes me happy that I not only know his teacher but that we have a history together, we were his age together in Mrs. Whites classroom. We learned to read and write, color and play.

I cant wait to see the fun and memories Daniel will make in his years of school, starting now with my old friend as his guide.

Pure happiness for $2.10

$2.10

I bought happiness and entrainment for $2.10. All day entertainment. I know, if only we could all be made happy by $2.10. By now, you must be wondering what on earth I got for that amount that made such a difference in my day. Weeeeellll, 2 Matchbox cars, both blue race cars. Really cool race cars as described by the very excited little boy receiving these cars.

I told Daniel to pick out any Matchbox car he wanted. He looked at me with those beautiful big brown eyes and said..., "Only one?" Made me smile, laugh actually. He looked and studied this rack of cars, looked at each one, clearly looking for the perfect one to add to his collection. I was looking too, because I happen to really like Matchbox cars and race cars too. I picked out one and he picked out one, I handed him the one I picked an asked if he liked it. He studied the two cars in his little hands, looking hard at every detail and he says, "I like the one you like" so sweet and smart because this little answer earned him both of the cars. He was sooo excited, just shook with glee. He was perfect the rest of our shopping trip. We checked out and the lady put his two cars in a bag by themselves so he could carry them to the car. Of course they had to be liberated of their plastic bondage as soon as he got buckled in. Those are the luckiest toy cars I have ever seen, he drove them all over Los Mex, all over Sears, my car and Mina and Papas house. I took him home and the first thing he yelled to his Daddy, even before he got out of the car was,"HEY DADDY, Lori got me two new cool race cars... see look at them!!!" More smiles!

If only we could all be that happy about something so simple. When we are young its so easy to be pleased with the smal things, but as we grow up our dreams and demands get more and more expensive. Our toys get bigger and have more wires and batteries, now I would just like to be able to get one gallon of gas for $2.10.

There will be CAKE!

I've been working on this post for a while. Trying to get it just right, I wanted to include just enough facts and leave out just enough so I wont get sued. I didn't want to hurt any ones feeling but, to hell with the feeling. This is my blog and I'll say what I want to!

So on with the show...

10 months ago I quit my job of 13 years. It was a hard decision, but one that has blossomed into the best one to date. I loved my job, it was challenging, sometimes fun, I had a lot of freedom and I learned much. I also gathered 13 years worth of baggage. I thought I had sorted through and unpacked most of this baggage but I recently found another piece. This particular bag, should of been very small, a carry on or backpack really, but upon further inspection it held a lot of... crap.

What brought on this realization???? Cake. Yes, cake, a seemingly Innocent thing cake but it can express so much. What has cake got to do with baggage....well.

When I make a cake for someone, I take into consideration the when, the where, the why, but most importantly what they like. Do they like chocolate, vanilla, chocolate and vanilla, pineapple, coconut, cheese cake, brownies, apple pie.... you get the idea. I like cheese cake, home made preferably. I also love icing, home made butter cream, not the Crisco crap from walmart. You could put icing on chocolate chip cookies and I would be in heaven. I am not, however, very fond of strawberry cake. I love strawberries and this strawberry, pretzel combo thing that my friend Barb makes but that's about it. Strawberry cake and icing isn't on the top of my list, hell its not even on my list.

You know where this is going, right?? Yea, you guessed it, my boss, for my going away cake, got me strawberry cake with strawberry icing. You know why?? Yep, you guessed it, its HIS favorite kind of cake. I don't know why I was surprised by this. Prior to my departure, he would order a cake for any reason. At first it was for a celebration of the sales people meeting a goal, celebration for a book getting done on time, celebration for, I don't know... Thursday.....

You are probably wondering why I consider this baggage. Well, to "celebrate" or "say goodbye" whatever, to my 13 years of loyal service, devotion, dedication, stupidity, my boss bought HIS favorite cake. His favorite, not mine, no consideration for me or my taste buds. As far as I was concerned we had cake because he was going to save some money for the company, not because a valued employee was leaving.

See where I'm going... see the baggage here. People don't value loyalty, dedication, pride and ownership in their work or workers.

I loved my job, i loved my work, creating, pushing, meeting deadlines, making the impossible possible. Seeing my imagination in print, seeing the idea come to life. OVER!

Over and done with, the bags are unpacked and put away, now I need to help my friends unpack theirs. Oh, and there will be CAKE!!!!

Mmmmeeeeooowwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

Had to take Simon to the vet today. This in itself is an interesting and sometimes terrifying experience for both me and the cat. Today proved to be an especially terrifying day for Simon. As I drove down Noble Street he was screaming bloody murder, yeeeeeoooowwwllling at the top of his lungs. If I had rolled down the windows I would of looked and sounded like a miniature undercover cop in a taxi. Yeeeoooowwww, yeeooowwwllllll, mmmmeeeeooowwwwwwwwwwww. I try talking to him, makes him scream louder, sometimes he gets quiet and lets out this really small pitiful meeeuwww, so sad.

What lead to me taking Simon to the doc is yellow ears. He's jaundice, has been before because he has some sort of liver issues. Poor guy, he doesn't even drink. HA. Anyway, he will get IV fluids, some drugs, really expensive food. I'll go get him, get to pay for it, bring him home, a guaranteed repeat preformance of the yeeeoowwwing, once home he will bolt from the kitty carrier and not be seen for 3 days. But he will feel better, he wont be yellow and when he gets over his car ride, he will love me again.