I'm a Musical Benjamin Button

I'm not quite sure what's been happening to me over the past few years, but I feel like I've done a complete 360 when it comes to music.  My love affair with music is long standing and well documented.  From a very early age, I've loved music...not making it (besides singing off key), but listening, learning about it, seeing it live.  When I was very young, I was at the mercy of my mother in terms of what I got to listen to.  She would (and still does) listen to K-EARTH 101, our local oldies station, religiously.  As a grade-schooler, I could sing any Beatles song.  I knew all about 60's folk music, and thought Motown was the coolest thing since sliced bread. 

In junior high, my life changed when I heard Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode.  I think I was probably 12 when I first heard it on the world famous KROQ.  It was like magic...the most wonderful song ever.  To this day, it's my all-time favorite song.  Ever.  Amazing.  Before I knew it, I had every Depeche Mode tape and knew every single song.  In the 6th grade, I made a deal with my mom that if I got straight A's for an entire school year, she'd buy me the Depeche Mode 101 CD set.  I still listen to that thing.  The Cure followed, and The Smiths, and the Lightning Seeds, and a little U2 (but just a little).  I'm not sure why, but I completely ignored the pop music that most kids my age were listening to and opted instead for the British stuff intended for an older audience. 

College was a much more acoustic time for me.  It was all Phish, Grateful Dead, and Indigo Girls.  Pretty typical for a 20 year old girl in the late 90's.  The rest of my 20's were pretty normal...mainly stuff you'd hear on KCRW.  A little indie, a little hippie-dippy, some electronica mixed in for good measure. 

It wasn't until I had kids that things took a drastic turn.  Up until that point, I always prided myself on having great taste in music.  People came to me for mixed tapes/CD's.  I was on my A-Game.  But it all changed around 2010.  I blame the Disney Channel.  While on maternity leave, I spent a lot of time, perhaps too much, watching the Disney Channel.  Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Sonny with a Chance...all that crap.  Before I knew it, Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA was my jam!  WTF. 

And now, I'm 34, with two kids.  NOW is when I should be listening to KCRW.  Instead, I'm kind of obsessed with One Direction, like a 14 year old girl.  Not even 'kind of obsessed'...I'd say it's full-blown.  And now my 2-year old loves them because I listen to them so much in the car. But seriously, they're kind of adorable.

 
I'm not sure what the point of this post is, besides maybe a cry for help?  Ugh, I'm going to listen to some Radiohead to see if that snaps me out of it ;-)

So I Don't Forget

Andrew rolled over on January 10th :)

Too Much Cute

Can you even stand it?

Thanksgiving

Thank you God for:

Miles, Andrew and Casey
My family
My friends
My best friends
My health
A warm home
A good job
Everything

....I am blessed beyond what I deserve and I give thanks for all if it. I hope everyone has the most wonderful Thanksgiving!

Get Your Room Right

I read an article on Apartment Therapy a couple weeks ago about how to be happier at home. One of the tips was to take 10 minutes to tidy up your living space each day because clutter and a mess cause anxiety and chaos. Truer words could not have been spoken, er, read.

I'm naturally inclined to keep things in order and usually have a really clean house. But, inevitably, there are days when I'm just too tired to pick up the toys or do the dishes or even change out of my jeans before crashing into bed for that matter. And you know what, I totally feel out of sorts when I wake up and start my day in a messy, cluttered house. So I'm committing myself to spending ten minutes at the end of each day to get my rooms right so that I can sleep peacefully, knowing that everything is in its right place.

I doubt anyone else in the house notices my efforts (I'm certain the kids don't), but it's one little way I can keep the sanity in our crazy lives. Lord knows every little bit counts.

My Precious Little Man

I am so in love with my new little son! He's a big, squishy, loveable, snugly boy. My heart is full of love for my little princes.

Getting Ready

Baby boy #2 is due in just about 8 weeks.  8 weeks!  Yikes!  And if I'm lucky, it will be more like 6, but who's counting?  In any case, we're quickly running out of time to get things in order.  With my first born, I had his room ready to go well in advance.  Like months in advance.  I also had all his clothes ready, the car seat installed, the stroller assembled...you get the idea.  But with this one, well, we still have a LONG way to go.  The third bedroom in our house, currently an office/storage room, is where he'll be living.  And sadly, it's still full of boxes that we've neglected to unpack when we first moved in last year.  Needless to say, the next few weekends will be busy as we move things to the garage, make countless trips to Target/Babies R Us, and do loads and loads of laundry full of onesies and snuggly newborn pajamas.  Wish us luck as we enter the home stretch before the little guy makes his grand entrance! 

In other news, the Olympics start today!  I LOVE the Olympics...Go Team USA!

Happy Pills?

Today I read an article on Yahoo! about how January Jones takes placenta pills when she needs a boost of energy.  Am I the only one who's grossed out by the idea of ingesting the placenta after your baby is born?  Even in pill form, it's still made from PLACENTA!  Nasty!  Unless you're into that sort of thing...in which case, I mean no offense.  (But still, you nasty.)

Large Plum Says Hello

So one of my resolutions for 2012 was to blog more, and I've seriously been behind schedule.  But I have a good reason!  I've been dealing with...(drum roll please)...morning sickness!  Yay!  The "yay" is for the little baby growing in my belly, not the non-stop vomiting/exhaustion I've been dealing with for the past 6 weeks or so.  Now that I'm just a week or so away from the second trimester, I feel as if I'm turning a corner.  The nausea has gone from unbearable to just annoying, so that's a step up.  And since I'm fairly close to being out of the 'danger zone', so to speak, I felt comfortable sharing the news with the handful of people who actually read this blog. 

So there it is, baby #2 (currently the size of a large plum) is due on September 23rd.  We find out the sex on April 23rd, which is incredibly exciting!  Once I get my mojo back, I resolve to do more blogging.  Until then, I'm just taking it one day at a time :)

New Year's Resolutions

I'm not a HUGE stickler for resolutions, but I like to set goals and the new year seems like a good time to list a few out.  As a rule, I try to steer clear of weight loss/exercise/work out resolutions because, come on, let's be real.  Besides, that's totally predictable and I like to think of myself as a little more mysterious than that.  Anyway, here's what I have so far, in no particular order:

• Have a date night once a week with my darling husband.
• Read 6 new books this year.
• Finish decorating the house.
• Save money every week.
• Write more blog posts.
• Spend more time outdoors with my son.
• Attend Mass every week...no excuses.

The good news is that I've managed to touch on most of these resolutions already!  And it's only the 4th!  I've already finished my first book of the year.  I've set aside $40 bucks.  We got a puppy, so I'm spending lots of time outside in the backyard with him and the little man...mainly trying to encourage him to poop on the grass instead of my carpet.  But outside is outside.  AND, by writing this blog post, I'm one step closer to that goal too. 

The real challenge is to keep it up for all of 2012.  I have faith that I'll be successful though...and I'm definitely looking forward working on them throughout the year.

I hope everyone (anyone?) reading this has the most wonderful 2012!  Here's to a great year full of health and happiness!

(And here's a picture of our new little puppy, Moose!)