Sunny Music April 21, 2010

Weather this past week has been wonderful. I was so thankful it continued through the weekend so that I could enjoy my drive to and from Indiana, even if I did forget my jacket.

One of my favorite things about spring is that I can drive with my windows down and music up. After six months of not being able to do that, it’s such a relief to finally roll down the windows and let out all of that stale winter air that has been building up from all of the sweaty bundled up people who’ve ridden in my car all winter, including me. Air fresheners can only do so much before it becomes just a mask over only the grossest smells.

Along with that change, though, comes a change in music. There are some songs and CDs that just beg to be played while driving down the road on a sunny day. So far I’ve come up with a short list:

• Rilo Kiley’s “Under the Blacklight” CD, particularly the song “Silver Lining”
• “Love Liberty Disco” by the Newsboys (It’s so much better than anything they’re doing now.)
• Just about any CD by All Star United
• The song “Soaking Up the Sun” by Sheryl Crow (I have it on a mix CD from Egan.)
• Several mix CDs made by Egan, Katie and Kelsay, but there are so many different artists on those I can’t remember them all.

Do you have any others you’d suggest adding to the list?

First Hints of Spring March 3, 2010

The last couple days I’ve been driving home with my window down because it’s felt warm. The sunshine is so bright, something I’ve missed incredibly this year. I don’t even mind that I’m temporarily blinded on my way to work in the morning. I even switched from wearing my wool coat to work.

But I’m in Michigan. So, that means this “warm” weather we’ve been having has only been about 38 degrees. That may account for why I’ve been needing to take some DayQuil in the morning the last two days as well, but I just can’t help it.

There are other signs, too, that say that spring may be just around the corner. I saw a cardinal as I pulled into the parking lot at work this morning. Listening to the radio in the car, people were calling in with different “signs of spring” that they’d seen, including an opossum showing up at a concert last night. I’m not quite sure how that means it’s spring, but that person was convinced.

My favorite sign, however, is the tiny little snowdrop flowers that begin to bloom. When I was a little girl, we had an abundance of these right outside our kitchen door, and I’d pick a handful to put in a dixie cup for my mother. I am not sure which of us enjoyed this tradition more. In fact, some of my favorite memories as a little girl were when I was picking flowers for my mom to put in the kitchen window. Sadly, we don’t have a kitchen window any more, and the flowers we put on the table often get shoved off onto a counter.

Mowie, the photographer of a food photography blog I recently started following, was able to capture a beautiful image of one.

What is your favorite sign of spring?

December Dealings Day 11 December 11, 2009

Dec. 11^th

After a very rough night with Cai and fighting with Josh to help out a little (he’s a different person at 2 a.m.), I decided that mommy needed a break. Fridays are Josh’s day off so I nursed Cai a little before noon and left him, sending up a little prayer that everyone and everything would be in one piece when I returned. I spent the afternoon at my mom’s working on the Christmas calendars. Picked up some ink at Wal-Mart and had my dad get the matte photo paper at Best Buy (evidently that’s too specialized for Wal-Mart to carry??). Mom and I even managed to slip in the Top Chef season finale!! It was remarkably peaceful. I went back to get Cai around 5, and amazingly, he had been fed, changed, put down for a nap, and seemed no worse for wear. The house, on the other hand… well, houses can be cleaned. It appeared that Josh had tried to build a play-yard of sorts to contain from all the available items in the living room.

Tonight I might stay with Cai at my parents, it’s so freezing cold and icky outside. I hate packing everything up and going home then trying to settle Cai down again to sleep. We’ll see. I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished today – got the first mini calendar all printed. Tomorrow hopefully I’ll cut out the pages and assemble it. I dread the final step—adding physical embellishments—because it requires me to dive into the deep dark hole of my parents’ basement to find the supplies. Pray for my safe return…