If You A Obstacle, She Just Drop You Cold

Okay, kids. Here is what my weekend looked like. It was Halloween, it is Fall and we were at Living History Farms in Des Moines. So lovely, so fun. Best part? We topped it all off by seeing They Might Be Giants on Sunday night. I don't have any pics of that show, since The Guy and I were all the way up in the balcony and we were busy dancing our asses off.


I stole this pic of The Guy racing off of the internet. Please look at the writing on the bottom and know that I attributed the hell out of this.





Word on the street is that this woman laid down on the ground and let people spin her Twister board and put their hands and feet all over her. Sadly, I was racing then and missed the whole thing. Damn it!

We Could Be Sleeping in the Flowers

Stinky and her friend carved pumpkins in the kitchen on Sunday evening.

So, this weekend will be a little busy again. Tonight I want to rest and watch a scary movie and I'm going to grill salmon and beets and sweet potatoes. One of my favorite meals.

The jack-o-lanterns with the lights out.

On Saturday, we'll wake up early and head to Des Moines for more cyclocross. This is supposed to be bigger race, which scares me a little, but I guess since it's Halloween, it's appropriate.

On Sunday we're going to help a friend of ours move in the afternoon and then go see They Might Be Giants in the evening. I've never seen them live, so I'm really excited.

I Smelled the Spring On the Smoky Wind

Here is the Megabus we took going back to Iowa.

Oh, kids. This four day weekend was insane...in a good way. I have so many stories and news to share, but unfortunately, the thing about having a life, is that you don't ever have time to write about it. Not that I'm complaining...

A very tired gentleman greeting us at Union Station.

K. and I took the Megabus to Chicago and then waited for K.'s boyfriend at the Union Station bar. it's always so weird to get out of a college town, because you suddenly see people your own age. I forgot old people like me still existed and were allowed to roam wild like that.

We took the train to K.'s boyfriend's place and after some furious texting, made plans with my friends Catherine and Poptart. We decided to go to K's boyfriend's favorite neighborhood pub for a drink and some appetizers and then we all met at a Cuban restaurant called 90 Miles that was in walking distance of the show.

The dinner was so nice. I worked with Catherine at La Caca in the late 80's and with Poptart at Great Midwestern in the 90's. We all had a lot to catch up on and we did that in really nice ambiance with a bottle of wine and over plantains covered in garlic sauce. Perfect.

We finally rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and made it to the show.

The Pogues!

It's weird to go to shows in big cities after 9-11. They separate the men from the women so they can feel you up for bombs or guns or whatever. How fun is that? We caught a little bit of the opening band, but weren't all that impressed.

We waited for an hour before The Pogues came on stage. Shane stumbled on stage and my friend Catherine said, "He'll never finish the tour." Then he said something into the microphone and she said, "I can't understand a word he's slurring." The crazy thing about him though, is that he has a really consistent singing voice and the band was wonderful. Since it is about the most perfect drinking music, I saw more old drunk people than I've seen in one room in a looooong time.

I'll tell you more later. I had a doctor's appointment earlier today and now I'm playing catch-up (mmmm ketchup) all day.

Just Want to Spend Eternity Right Where I Am. On the Sunny Side of the Street

Here is a picture of a picture.

So, kids. K'.s dad is doing better and we get to go see the Pogues after all. Yea! i'm so excited. It will be a short and cheap trip. We're taking the Megabus there tomorrow morning, getting into Chicago in the afternoon. We'll have about 5 hours before doors open. I will see my friend Catherine because she's going to the show with us and hopefully my friend Poptart. But that's really the only people I'll have time to hang with.

The doors open at 7 and the show will probably end pretty early as far as concerts are concerned. We'll go for a quick drink, then back to K.'s boyfriend's apartment where I will sleep on the floor. But it will be free and that's a HUGE bonus. Our Megabus leaves pretty early the next morning and then we'll be back in Iowa City in the afternoon.

I plan on running, and getting a few things done when I get back. Then on Friday evening, Stinky asked if The Guy and I would go to dinner at Mickey's with her. I thought that was pretty damn sweet. What teenager actually asks their mom and her boyfriend to hang out with her on a Friday evening. Sure, it's early...And Stinky loves to join forces with The Guy to give me a hard time, but I'm still happy about it all.

So, now I must sleep, so I can get up early and get a swim in with The Guy before I leave for the big city.

If I Go There Will Be Trouble. If I Stay It Will Be Double

Um, yeah. Here's Archie's latest annoying thing to do. How often do you suppose I'll have to get new blinds?

Soooo, tomorrow is my Friday. The plan was to go to Chicago with my friend K. and see the Pogues tomorrow night. Nothing like an Irish punk band to get the St Paddy's holiday started off right. The only this is that K.'s dad was just in the hospital with some horrible infection that wasn't responding to antibiotics. I guess it's better now, but I'm still not sure if we'll be able to go to Chicago or not. I don't know my way around Chicago at all, so I can't really go by myself.

Even if I don't end up going, I'll still take those days off of work. It would be nice to have a couple of days to stay home and get things done around here and run and swim. I'll have a better idea tomorrow night if I'm going or staying.

If I Should Fall From Grace With God Where No Doctor Can Relieve Me

Here is a wall full of wine bottles and a bike...In other words - rapture.

Man, Face Book can be so weird sometimes. So, this morning I was running outside in the cold before work. As I turned onto my street, The Pogues' "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" came up on my random playlist. When I got to work, I posted a status update documenting that fact. A little later, a friend of mine who lives in Chicago commented that The Pogues were playing there in March and asked me if I wanted to go with her. Of course, my first instinct was to assume that it wouldn't work for me to go. I really hate driving in Chicago. The guy told me I should go. He has seen The Pogues live and said they put on a great show. As the day went on, I kept thinking about it. I really wanted to go, so I posted that if I could find someone to go with who wanted to drive in the city, I'd try. It wasn't long after, that my friend K. said she'd go with and drive. Sweet! So, it looks like I'm going to see The Pogues in March. How many different kinds of weird and awesome is that?

And now...On to the weekend. Tomorrow I'm only working a half day. I'm going to get a few things done, go on a long run and then around 4:30 I will pick up the guy. We're going to grab some appetizers somewhere before we head to the Riverside Casino where his work Christmas party is being held. I'm really excited to meet his co-workers. Stinky will be babysitting for my friend Eggo. So, it looks like Archie will have the place to himself. If he throws a raucous party while we're going, I'm going to be REALLY pissed.

I think early on Saturday, I'll try to get some crap done around the house. Later in the afternoon, the guy and I will go to G.'s house and help put the guy's studded tires on her bike for her, so she can try and ride as much as possible this Winter. After that, the plan is to maybe get a drink at the Dublin and then forage for food downtown somewhere.

How about you and your'n? Will you be attending an early Christmas party or getting your vehicle of choice ready for the Winter?

Tuesday's On the Phone to Me

Well, it looks like Coadster is settling into college life pretty well...I think.

Today was a busy day, so this will be short. I rode my bike home from work, drove to the woman's house and mowed her yard, drove home, ran 6 miles, went to the store, made dinner and watched a cheesy TV show with Stinky. I am pooped.

On Sunday when I was cleaning, I was listening to the Black Keys (who I love), but one of their songs sounded a lot like the Beatles to me and I realized I haven't listened to any Beatles lately. They can get overplayed, but they are total nostalgia music for me. They remind me of so many different phases of my life. So, I switched from the Black Keys and listened to Abbey Road and Revolver - my two favorite Beatles albums. It was perfect Sunday afternoon cleaning the house music, just like when I was a kid. How about you all? Are you Beatles lovers or haters and what is your favorite Beatles album?

Between the Noise You Hear and the Sound You Like

Here is an old pic. I'm at the jukebox, picking out songs, which is one of my favorite things to do.

Well, kids. This will be a short and boring post. I didn't do a lot today but ride my bike, run and drive Stinky around to her assorted events. It was a fine day, just boring. I like boring, but it doesn't make for a very good blog post.

One good thing...A while back a friend of mine gave me a DVD of like 700 songs of new music. At the time, my home computer couldn't play it, so I tried to listen to it at work, but I could never have it loud enough to really hear the songs very well. I was able to download it into my new computer and I can't tell you how nice it is to have so much new music. It makes cleaning and reading and putzing around the house a million times better.

Hey, I Know It's Just a Song, But It's Spice for the Recipe

Here is a nice piece of stained glass.

Wait. It's the weekend again already? This Summer is going way too damn fast. My iPod was great for my run today...It even made me want to extend my run to 8 miles. I got all my other chores done today, and added a few more. I feel like I have a good jump on housework at the start of my weekend. I'm not sure what else is going on, but Stinky will finally be home from camp. Hurray! With Coadster gone every night for rehearsal, my house has seemed so empty and hollowed out. It's been nice to clean and actually have it stay that way, but I'd definitely trade that in for some time with my kids.

I know it's been a while, but in honor of the weekend and my new iPod, I've decided to post the random running playlist that my shuffle threw at me today. There were tons of oldies and some newer stuff. In case you don't remember, I like almost every kind of music, so there should be something to offend all y'all:

1.) "Take On Me" - Aha.

2.) "King of the Road" - Roger Miller. For whatever reason, I used to listen to a lot of Roger Miller when I was in college with my guy friends. It seems like an odd choice for a bunch of angst ridden punk rock kids...

3.) "Stupid Cupid" - Connie Francis. I guess my iPod wanted me to hear some REALLY old songs today.

4.) "Our House" - Madness.

5.) "Evil" - Interpol. Weird. I just used lyrics from this song for the title of yesterday's blog post.

6.) "Bittersweet Symphony" - Oasis.

7.) "Walkin' on the Sun" - Smash Mouth. This is a really fun song to run to.

8.) "Warning Sign" - Talking Heads.

9.) "Penelope" - Pinback.

10.) "Wildcats of Kilkenny" - The Pogues.

11.) L.E.S. Artistes - Santigold. This song is a little slow to run to, but I love it so much, I cut it some slack.

12.) "Don't Worry Baby" - Beach Boys. This song always reminds me of road trips. Whenever I'm stressed out and driving through one of those horrible storms in Nebraska, Coadster always puts this song on to calm me down.

Okay, have a great weekend, and may your random playlist be so great that it makes you want to extend whatever you're doing.

I Felt the Earth Beneath My Feet

One of my favorite pics of the girls when they were younger. I like to caption it, "when there's only one pink plastic guitar".

So, originally I thought I'd finally have a night where I wouldn't have to go anywhere and I could just get a jump on the weekend cleaning. It would be so nice to have most of the big stuff cleaned by Friday, so I could spend my time this weekend on turning over soil and planting and doing some more work on the cupboards. But then remember that solo fest thing Coadster was in on Monday? The one she didn't want me to go to because she thought she'd be so horrible and she didn't want me to see her? Well, she was so bad, that she got a 1, which is the best score you can get and also got picked to sing in the honors recital tonight.

I was a little bummed that I wouldn't get anything done tonight, but I knew it was important to her that I saw her sing. She performed a Brahms piece called, "Die Mainacht". I've seen her sing solos that were pop music-y or jazzy, but I had never heard her sing a classical piece before. JAYSUS! She blew me away. She walked out on the stage all willowy and poised and self-possessed and sang that song in perfect pitch and tone and in German. (she's never even had a voice lesson because I could never afford them) It was one of those moments where as a parent you think, "Wow. How the hell did I create that? How, in spite of me, did she become that amazing?" It's almost enough to make a grown woman cry...Or at least tear up a little, in a VERY dignified way, of course.

Now, it's the weekend again. My house needs a lot of work, and I could care less. Every once in a while I need to check-ity check my priorities and tonight, I was shown for the 5,000th time what was really important...Always, my girls. So, it looks like I'll be doing some cleaning early in the evening on Friday, then I plan to eat pizza and drink a beer and finally watch Avatar, all to the background of thunderstorms outside my window. It sounds like heaven. Coadster has a high school film festival to go to and I have no idea what Stinky's doing. Her plans seem to change on the hour.

I thought Project Green was Saturday morning, but I guess it's the following week. The farmer's market opens, so I'll probably go down there and check out what they have and stop by the comic book store downtown. It's free comic book day, so I want to go get my share. Later in the day, I'll probably stop by my friends' morrell mushroom hunting party and bonfire. I won't stay long though, because I have so much to do and Stinky gets off work around 7'ish. There are some people in town who want me to go out on Saturday night, but right now that's looking pretty iffy. I'm still on my "staying out of bars" kick. I'm trying to get my socializing in at readings, or races or at mushroom hunting parties for now.

So, now it's your turn. Will you be watching movies during thunderstorms or tromping through the muck looking for fungus?

Ghosts Appear and Fade Away

Here is a weeping willow we saw on our hike while on vacation.

Maybe it's the time of year. I'm always weirdest in August. I seem to go through a kind of emotional molting every year about this time in order to gear up, or more accurately, brace myself for the Fall and Winter. Don't get me wrong, I love Fall and the early part of Winter. It's just that it's when a lot of the bad things have happened to me in the past.

I had a friend who had cancer twice in his life. The first occurrence was in high school and then later in his twenties. He was one of the first bone marrow transplant patients in Iowa, and he's still alive and kicking and stirring up shit in his forties. But once we were working and he was telling me he was feeling kind of sad and anxious and couldn't figure out why. He came up to me about an hour later and said, he finally figured it out. It was because it was March, and both times his cancer had occurred in the Spring.

It's like that for me too, but it always takes me a bit to figure it out every year. Duh. My mom died and Coadster and I got into our accident in October. Stinky had meningitis and my mom's birthday were both around Valentine's Day. So, this has always been a reflective time for me. It's not bad at all, it's just like everything is a little tinged with sadness. I'm not all morose, and contemplating going Goth or anything, I'm just more of my quiet, less social self this time of year. In some ways, it's probably good that I give myself (and those around me) a break for a bit.

That having been said, I had a lot of great experiences this week. The camping trip was wonderful. I'll go into more detail about that tomorrow. Then when we got back on Friday, I went to see Colin Hay at the Englert Theater with a friend of mine. The show was amazing and absolutely perfect for my frame of mind. "Overkill" could easily be my theme song around this time of year. I was surprised that he could still hit the high notes in all the old Men at Work songs too. His band kicked ass, and I found his wife extremely entertaining to watch dance around and whatever the hell else she was doing up on stage. If you get a chance to see him, I highly recommend it - especially if you happened to be in high school in the eighties and apparently remembered every song from a couple of albums. Ahem.

So, yeah. It looks like I'm back blogging and trying to sort out all of my shit in front of an audience... And how have you all been?

You Could Say I Am Tired

This weekend was full of wonderful. If there was any way I could have rolled up a dollar bill and snorted all the events into my nose for the head rush, I would have. It was that fun. Since I packed so much in it, I'm just going to discuss Friday night tonight.

I got home from work and spent time with the girls and got them where they needed to be. Then around 9, I met my girlcrush and other friends at the Foxhead where Mr. Meister was working.

We had been discussing how big our arms seem to look in photos. I suggested we just banana clip our upper arms, so we tried it out, and look how much smaller they are here.

After a bit, we headed to the Dublin and tried to mass our troops before we made it to the Mill to see the House of Large Sizes play.

We got to the Mill just as the band was starting and found out the show had sold-out. None of our guy friends had a ticket, so we said our good-byes and went into the bar.

It was populated with mostly old people - which is my kind of show. Luckily they weren't too mature NOT to make a beautiful pyramid of PBR tallboys.

The show itself was awesome. The band could still rock and boy howdy, did they. A few of my friends had never seen them before, and they were really impressed. With so many people, it was super hot and stuffy. So, after being in the thick of the crowd for a while, I went back to the bar and stood by my friends Bronson and Craig, where I could actually breathe.

Once the show was over, we went back to the Mill, where I took photos of my adorable friends and talked a bunch of shit.

Mr. Meister was nice enough to give us all a ride home after he got done tending bar. When we were in front of the bar waiting for him, this gigantic six year old looking guy (that's how some of my friends described him) kept bugging me about taking a photo of him. I obliged, just to shut him up, but while it was being taken, he started yelling, "I don't know what to do with my hands!" and then tried to get me to take another picture with him. Luckily, Mr. Meister drove up and I jumped into his car.

Life Ain't So Bad at All, If You Live it Off the Wall

Here is a crooked photo of the doors my neighbors painted on their porch.

Wow. What a crazy day today was. First I'll address all the dead people talk. I'm sorry to hear about Farrah. I know a lot of boys lost their...Whatever to her poster.

Second I'll talk about MJ. I'm sad that he's dead. His music was amazing pop. The Jackson 5 was crazy huge when I was in grade school and I saw The Wiz at the the theater for my 12th birthday (I think). In high school we used to run to Off the Wall and some of the girls - you know, those kind of girls would get a little teary whenever they heard Michael's voice crack with emotion in that one part of "She's Out of My Life". Which was always good for a laugh. Thriller came out my senior year in high school and seemingly played non-stop all the way through my first year in college. I remember watching the world premiere of the Thriller video at my sister's friend Julie's house that first night it aired. Of course, his life was fucked and he was whack and he had a lot of scary issues that took away any respect I had for him. I think it's weird how people try and make him a saint because he's dead. I'm all for acknowledging his talent, but I can't forget the bad stuff either.

Now, I will stop talking about dead people and discuss something way more interesting - Me. I got my migraine meds switched back to the stuff that works now. It took me almost a week to hear back from the dial-a-nurse people, but once I did, they got it all taken care of in a day. I was beginning to dread my three day migraines again.

This weekend should be full of music. On Friday night, I'm going to the Mill to see a local'ish band called House of Large Sizes play. Then on Saturday night, I'm going back to the Mill to see the Meat Puppets. I had an opportunity to see them at a basement party in 1985 when I was staying with my oldest sister in Tempe, Az. I decided not to go, because back then we were all such hardcore assholes and very territorial. We weren't nice to punks we didn't know who came to shows. So, I was too much of a wuss to go and risk getting my ass kicked. Now, I'll get to see them when I'll actually remember the show. I can't say that about many of the shows I saw in the 80's.

Soooo, what are you planning this weekend? Will you be busy mourning dead celebrities? Or will you be watching old people try to rock and not throw a hip out at the same time?

Darlin' In My Wildest Dreams, I Never Thought I'd Go

Here is a school bus with a jet engine.

Well, kids. I still have one day left on my vacation, and I also have a ton of stuff to do. I'm sorry if I haven't been very good at keeping up with blogs, but I've had a lot of fun and great experiences with running and hanging out with my girls. I promise to get back to the blogs starting Tuesday.


Here are some girls with corn dogs.

Friday night was nice and mellow. I watched two really long and depressing movies. There Will Be Blood was interesting, and there was some blood, just not as much as I imagined.

Here is the deck that Big 10 Rentals set-up for us.

Saturday, I woke-up early for me. I drove the girls a few places, and then met my friends who were driving me to the Air Show in the Quad Cities. Stinky decided not to go. She opted to go to the Wapello County Fair to see some country singer named Jimmy Wayne (I think?). I kept asking her if that was L'il Wayne's brother and she rolled her eyes at me. Awesome.

She got to ride a camel at the fair. Don't you fret. I'll be posting that pic tomorrow, for sure.

Our friend who hosted the air show, had the best set-up for adults and children. This inflatable slide held the kids' interest the whole time. As you can see here, the planes were a little loud for the youngin's who didn't have ear plugs. They were a little loud for me too, and I thought I lost most of my hearing at hardcore and metal shows.

Here I am documenting my stupidity....Again. I was insane about applying sunscreen every hour or so, but forgot my feet. I have to say, the sunburn pattern with these shoes, is pretty cool.

It was very hot at the air field, but the kids were smart enough to keep cool by bobbing for water bottles in the ice.

My friends were really impressed with how big the propellers were. There was a LOT of power in those planes, and best of all, there was a guy named Sargeant Swinger. We might have to make a habit of going to more air shows in the future.

The Blue Angels flew for the finale. It was cool, but so loud and most of the interesting stuff seemed to take place directly in front of the sun. My friend G., joked that it was sponsored by the Eye Care Clinic of the Quad Cities.

After we got back from the Quad Cities, I took a nice little nap. Coadster had spent the day giving tours of her high school to the class reunion of 1989, and then went to her dad's house, and Stinky was at that fair, so I had that luxury.

After I woke-up, I got a couple of calls from people asking me to meet them out. My friend K., took myself and the girls I went to the air show with, to a karaoke event.

I finally got my friend G. to participate. She always claimed she couldn't sing, and to that I said, "Hooey!" We started off singing "Harden My Heart", by Quarterflash. We wanted to sing "Papa Don't Preach", but they didn't have it. Instead, we sang "Like a Virgin" and G. started the song by saying, "I love reality" into the mic.

I headed home around midnight, but G. told me they didn't get home until 8 am. They made a very early morning trip to Perkins before that. I am such a lightweight.

That Music's Lost It's Taste, So Try Another Flavor

Hey, here's a classy photo of Stinky. Just so you can see that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree hugger. (as my friend K. said once)

So, I guess tomorrow will be my Friday. I'm trying to stop saying that, because then I confuse myself about what day it really is, and my brain might explode and I don't want to spend all of my vacation with my head wrapped in duct tape to keep my brain from oozing out. Oh, I like the word, "ooze", by the way.

a.) After that last paragraph, it's clear that I'm all random tonight. There's no point in fighting city hall, so I'm going with it.

b.) I got a call at work from someone representing a McDonald's in town. She wanted to know if anyone from our school would help them write a training manual in Spanish. She offered to pay whomever that person was, in $150 worth of McDonald's gift certificates. When I talked to my co-workers about it, I tried to imagine how much grease that would buy. John, who sits in the cubicle behind me told me to shut-up or he promised to McVomit. So, I did.

c.) I've been having territorial sidewalk issues lately. As I mention on here ad nauseum, I either walk, run or ride my bike almost everywhere I go. So, I'm familiar with sidewalk etiquette. As far as I'm concerned, pedestrians have the right of way, no matter what. They should come before runners, who come before sidewalk riding cyclists. I understand that it is pretty dangerous to ride your bike on many of the streets in my fair city. If you're riding on the sidewalk, you should never push the pedestrian off. Dude, you're riding a damn mountain bike for christ sake, why should the pedestrian have to go off-road? Okay. That's my gripe and I'm sticking to it.

d.) The weather here is still really cooperating with me. Now that I work all day, it's been cloudy and/or raining until my walk home. Then it clears up in time for me to run in the ridiculously humid air.

e.) I'm a little more than annoyed with my iPod's shuffle lately. I have over 3,000 songs on it. There is no reason that it should play the same 25 songs over and over, but it does. Today, however, it finally behaved and played songs I forgot I even had on there. Here are some of them:

1.) "Run Through the Jungle" - Creedence Clearwater Revival

2.) "Love Plus One" - Haircut 100

3.) "Superunknown" - Soundgarden

4.) "Lazy Eye" - Silversun Pickups

5.) "Antmusic" - Adam Ant

6.) "Fortress" - Pinback

7.) "Fairytale of New York" - The Pogues

8.) "The Rockafeller Skank" - Fatboy Slim

9.) "Stone Free" - Jimi Hendrix

Okay, have a great day today. Whether it's your Wednesday or Friday or Monday, or whatever the hell day it really is. Agh!

Happiness Is So Hard to Find

Here is a recycled photo of myself and one of my co-workers at Gussini Shoe store in Berkeley in 1986.

I'm sure you all know how weird I am about music. I'm not as likely to look at how it's played or what people are doing with their instruments. You could have all the best musicians in the world performing and playing really well, and if I'm bored with their song, I couldn't be bothered. For me, music has always been an emotional thing. I feel really strongly about songs one way or the other. They can be an awesome memory or the soundtrack to a really bad part of my life.

Some songs I know are cheese, but it doesn't matter, because they take me back to a time in my life that made me really happy. Of course the opposite is true. Whether a song is good or bad, hearing it can remind me of a particularly shitty stage in my life too.

Lately, my daughter has really been into this song called, "I Can't Wait" by a band called Nu Shooz. I think someone else might be sampling it, and that's where she heard it. You may or may not remember them, but trust me, they were really big in 1986. At that time I was working at my worst job ever. (and I've cleaned toilets for living) I had just moved to San Francisco and was living in my boyfriend's mom's house, my boyfriend wasn't sure if he still wanted to stay together, I had no money, nowhere else to go and my bosses totally sucked. For years, I couldn't hear that song without it bringing back all those horrible feelings.

The crazy thing about it, is that I'm totally okay with it now. It's actually turned into a more positive memory. I can laugh at how I had to cover all the high school girl's shifts on Friday nights so they could get home in time to watch Miami Vice, and how my two favorite high school guys used to wait for me to close up, so they could ride the BART with me through Oakland and protect me if need be. I can look back with some perspective and remember that it was one of the first times in my adult life that I actually took control of a situation.

With my orphan issues, I was always so terrified to actively change things in my life. In the past, change usually meant I was moving toward something worse. I wouldn't leave bad relationships or jobs no matter what, because they were an evil I knew, as opposed to an evil I didn't know but was sure to meet. I was one of those people who just let things happen to them. I finally left that situation. I quit my job, got a new one and found roomates to live with, instead of my fickle boyfriend and his crazy mom.

So, I guess my daughter can bring it. I'm ready to take on all the music from that time. "Manic Monday"? Who Cares. "West End Girls"? I'll kick all the Pet Shop Boys' asses. "Rock Me Amadeus"? No, let me rock you. "That's What Friends Are For"?...Uh, no. I still can't listen to that one. Sorry.

And It's Alright, What I Can't Do

Well, kids. Things have calmed down today and I don't have a whole lot to say. Whew! Right? I did happen to bring my camera to work and took a couple of shots. On my way to work, I noticed that someone had placed a red plastic dinosaur in an overgrown yard. I think he looks really natural there.

Here is the bush in front of my office, heavy with flowers. It's almost unseemly, there are so many on there.

I still haven't really had time to work on the balance I was fantasizing about a few days ago. I have been able to run every day this week, and that's been wonderful. This evening my iPod chose to begin my run with Elvis Presley's "Burning Love" and end it with Elvis Costello's "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down". I liked the Elvis bookends.

Here are some twin pitchforks that I saw stuck in the ground on my walk downtown at lunch.

Tonight was the first time in forever that the girls spent mostly at their dad's house. I had to drive Stinky to basketball practice, but that was it. It felt weird but good to have entire an evening to myself.

I briefly met the supper club kids at the Hilltop for really cheap but delicious cheese fries. Of course, I didn't do much the rest of the evening, but I was finally able to live in my own little world and listen to my own music and hopefully get to bed at a halfway decent hour. Who knows? I may even get enough sleep to write a post that doesn't suck tomorrow. It's not likely, but it's possible.

See These Eyes So Green, I Can Stare for a Thousand Years

Here is a photo of a guy walking in front of me collecting cans.

Sooooo, I guess all the build-up this week only means one thing. Coadster is going to prom this Saturday night. I hope she has fun. She is going with a boy who lives one block over from us and who is in show choir with her. He is a really good guy and I think they'll have a great time with the 7 other couples they're doing things with. She asked me if I'd go with her to her friend's house to take photos. Duh. Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Here is a flower.

Tomorrow night Coadster will babysit for my friend K.'s boyfriend's son, so they can go to a show at the Mill. Stinky will have a trackmeet until 10'ish, so I might even have an hour in there somewhere to myself.

Coadster was at a soccer game in a town about an hour and a half away. Their game went into double overtime and so she should be home pretty close to midnight tonight and she still has to finish her math homework. So, I'm trying to blog quickly and finishing paying my bills on-line to leave the computer open when she gets home. This one computer and one bathroom for three girls can be kind of tricky sometimes.

David Bowie's "Cat People" just came on my iTunes. I love that song so much, but when Stinky heard it, she said, "So, you like this song?" and made that face. You know the one. It's the same one I make when some of her favorite songs come on. I guess we're even then.

Okay, that's all I have time for. Let me know what you're up to and if I don't get on here this weekend, Happy Mother's Day! to all you muthah's...You know who you are.

Oh, But They're Weird and They're Wonderful

Here is the fence separating me from the beer garden at Joe's Place.

For those of you who are new here, my taste in viewing things, is much the same as it is for hearing things and eating things. I like everything, both good and bad. I will watch any hard hitting documentary, but all kinds of cheese too. I think I may have already mentioned the fact that when I was pregnant with Stinky, my friend Anne and I would try to catch every Sunday night made-for-TV movie and saw all three Joey Buttafuoco/Amy Fisher ones. Man, that was a banner year for television.

Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up before you try to start judging me on my viewing preferences. Don't bother. I get it. I have no filter and we can start right there. So, after that preface, I will now list some of the things I've watched recently:

Here is a funny thing that reminded me just a little bit of the robot from Lost in Space.

1.) The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - I'm kind of digging this HBO series that takes place in Botswana. The music is great and Jill Scott does a really good job. Sure, it's quirky, and a little corny, and the mysteries all seem to be too tidily solved, but I like that about it. I also love that Jill Scott's character makes no excuses for her "traditional African form". She is big and smart and sexy and doesn't take shit from anyone. A girl after my own heart.

2.) Tough Love - This is total trash on VH1, but I watch it all the time anyway. At first, I thought it would be interesting to see what guys wanted in women, because lord knows, I have never been able to figure it out on my own. But, it hasn't revealed much except the usual: sexy vs. whorish and be honest, but say things in such a way that you put a positive spin on shit and don't be a drunken slut if you want a relationship and not just a hook-up. Now, I just watch it to feel better about myself. Most of the women on the show are shallow drama queens. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times; it's all about who you compare yourself to.

3.) Rescue Dawn - This is a Werner Herzog film with Christian Bale. I didn't know much about it before I watched it, except that it was a Vietnam flick. The first thing I noticed was that my college friend Toby is in it. He plays the funny guy, which is his normal gig, but he does it really well. The second thing was that it seemed really familiar, and then I realized it was the same story as a documentary, also by Herzog, called Little Dieter Needs to Fly that I saw several years ago. The movie was very slow moving, but the scenery and the character studies were pretty interesting.

4.) Rachel Getting Married - Many of you have already seen this Jonathan Demme movie. I know a lot of people had issues with it, but I really liked it. It's filmed in such a way that you feel like you just got dropped off at a wedding where you don't really know anyone and you have to figure out all the family dynamics on your own. Of course, the people were completely foreign to me. I've never come close to living in that kind of privilege, but again, I liked that escapism about it. Oh, and there was tons of great and varied music too.

I watched this with Coadster and it brought on some interesting conversations. The most obvious being the subject of addiction. I try to impress moderation and balance upon my girls. Most people are told not to drink, but most people end up drinking at some point in their lives. I talk to the girls about how to drink responsibly. As I've said many times before, I have to be very careful about how much I drink, because I have almost no tolerance for alcohol. They don't call me two beer Churlita for nothin'. I tell the girls that when they get to a point in their lives to drink, not to play drinking games or do a bunch of shots or share a pitcher. If you drink cans or bottles, it's a lot harder to get roofied and you can keep better track of how much you've had. I've also said, it's one thing to have a drink here and there but if you have to take drugs or alcohol just to get through the day, you need to look closely at what your real problem is.

The other subject we talked about was the family dynamic in the film. Debra Winger (I also made Coadster watch some YouTube clips from Urban Cowboy after she said she'd never heard of Debra Winger before. Some people may consider that child abuse) played the emotionally distant mother. Having me for a mom, Coadster thought she was really weird. She didn't understand why she couldn't just have a real conversation about things or want to share in her daughters' lives.

Coadster wondered if Anne Hathaway's character was the middle child and if that was why she needed so much attention. I said I thought so. Then Coadster made some comment about how everyone knows that the youngest kid always gets all the attention. Just like how Stinky is so much more spoiled than she was. I told her that I thought that was an interesting perception, since Stinky said almost the same thing about her just the other day. Coadster seemed shocked and wanted to know how anyone could think she was spoiled. I gave her several examples, and she said, "Oh. I guess I never thought about it that way."

Okay. That's probably enough of my pseudo movie/show reviews. Come back tomorrow and I'm sure I'll prattle on and on about nothing again.

She's the Sweetest, hmmm, Pet in the World

Here is the purse of person who owns a three year old girl...Or more accurately, the purse of a person who is owned by a three year old girl.

Tonight was a little different than I expected, but still great. I originally thought that it would be the first night in for-freaking-ever that the girls would both be at their dad's. They did both spend the night there, but were also at my house on and off until nine o'clock anyway. It was fine, I love to see my girls as much as possible. I was just fantasizing about having a few hours of uninterrupted alone time. Sigh.

I did finally watch my zombie movie - 28 Weeks Later. I was going to drink a beer while I watched it, but was starting to feel a little migrainey and alcohol and migraines are mortal enemies and usually wage great wars in my head. So, I got all crazy and drank a soda pop instead and watched all the blood and gore and zombies. I agree with Mr. Manuel, it wasn't as good as the first one, but it was still entertaining.

Before that, I did my one hour's worth of cleaning thing. It's going really well this week, since the girls' track meets and soccer games are out of town, and I can fit it in every night. It still amazes me how much I can get done in one hour.

Before the cleaning, I ran my six mile route. It was about 55 degrees outside and it felt really good. My iPod randomizer thought I might like to listen to some classic rock this evening for the most part, and it was right. Yesterday it thought I wanted to listen to cheesy dance music, and it called that one perfectly too. So, here is a sampling of what my iPod thought I might like to hear on my run tonight:

1.) "Diamond Girl" - Seals and Crofts.

2.) "The Kids Are Alright" - The Who. I listened to the Who a ton on my Walkman when I was in high school, so it's always a running nostalgia favorite for me.

3.) "Arc of a Diver" - Steve Winwood. This song was also big when I was in high school and it reminds me of the first time I ran in the Drake Relays and met Herschel Walker right after he won the Heissman trophy.

4.) "Sabotage" - The Beastie Boys.

5.) "Brandy" - Looking Glass. This song reminds me of being a kid and living in Arizona.

6.) "We Got the Beat" - The Go-Go's. I can't hear this song without instantly thinking of the beginning of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

7.) "Cynical Girl" - Marhsall Crenshaw.

8.) "Under My Thumb" - The Rolling Stones. This is one of my favorite Stones songs.

9.) "Gimme Danger" - The Stooges.

10.) "Walk in Jerusalem" - Mahalia Jackson. Nothing like a good gospel song to wash off the dirt of The Stooges.

So, now I'm going to bed. I'll let you know if I dream of flesh eating zombies or not.