Saturday, August 26, 2006

A little music always helps.

Worked on the house most of the day Friday. Queued up some CDs and hit random. I was in a bit of a mellow mood. The selections were as follows:

Plans - Death Cab For Cutie
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
Taking the Long Way - Dixie Chicks
Airstreams & Satellites - Garrison Starr
Why Should the Fire Die? - Nickel Creek

I look really spiffy in my big wireless headphones vacuuming away. Anyone could come right in and carry the entire house off, as long as they stay out of my direct sightline. It sure does make cleaning a lot more enjoyable. I would have used my mp3 player, but don't have all of these CDs loaded into it yet. Maybe that should be my next project.

Am I the only one who has to use motivational music to get my butt in gear and shovel through the house? If you do the same thing, what kind of playlist motivates you? I'll admit that many times my muse is an obnoxious 80's dance mix, with one of the standouts being It's Raining Men.

Hallelujah!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Summer's winding down.


The days are getting shorter. The kids have posed for the obligatory first day of school photo with backpacks on at the front door. End of season allergies are kicking in.

It's been a very strange summer...oscillating between joy and despair. Loved ones have passed on, trips have been taken, family has come and gone in a whirlwind of suitcases and playing children, the kids have had a summer's worth of good night kisses and good morning hugs. Time passes and smoothes over some of the sharp edges just a little.

I'm ready for a change of seasons this year. I puttered around in the craft room with some clay and even bought a little yarn for a new project. The house seems all cluttery, and I'm working my way up to caring about it...baby steps, people, baby steps.

The photo above was taken on the Kaskaskia river just as the sun was setting. Those are my two little ducklings tubing behind the boat.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Feelin' hot, hot, hot!


On Wednesday we took in a Cardinals game. Yes, Wednesday, when the heat was still on. Being an experienced mom, I made sure we were armed with Squeeze Breezes and personal fans. We spent more on ice cream than the GNP of a small country. Not really an ideal night to enjoy a game, but the tickets were already bought and paid for...so you suck it up and go. BTW, the Cards got their butts handed to them 16-8.

We took the Metrolink instead of driving in, so we headed out a little early to try to beat the huge throngs herded onto the platforms waiting for a turn on the train. The metrolink workers were already directing folks into tight "train sized" clusters. People were hot, sweaty, and in no mood to be screwed with. Thank God we just had to wait about 8 or 10 minutes for the next train to come along. I noticed one older gentleman standing in the row beside us who looked like he was just about to collapse...seriously. I reached between people and turned my little fan on him. I was miserable, but he looked sick. Just getting a little air moving around him seemed to perk him up a little. A little side note: When we're moving in a crowded place with the kids, D's job is to do the blocking and room making. I usually bring up the rear to make sure all the kids are herded between us. Now, when it came time to get on our train, D and the kids pushed on and I was getting blocked out by the crowd. That same sweltering fella kept an eye out for me and made sure to give me room to get on before he did.

I know that story doesn't sound all that earth shattering, but here's the point. It always kind of surprises me when strangers repay a small kindness. With the world the way it is today, I just don't have all that high of expectations.

It's nice when it all works out.

The photo above is a shot of the time/temp display inside the stadium. The temp stayed within a few degrees the entire time we were there.