"How do you sleep while the rest of us cry? ..."

I am not one to bring up politics. Period. It usually ends badly in this house, since my husband and I are on opposite ends of the whole spectrum. But I just had to make sure everyone saw this. If you watch any TV at all, you've already seen it. But just in case anyone missed it, here's our pompous vice president, Dick, living up to his name. Once again.

"I read People magazine cuz I'm hip ..."

Obviously, there have been times in the last several years when keeping up with this blog has been fun. You can tell because I did it with regularity.

Also quite obvious, I'm not in one of those times right now.

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Yesterday, I turned forty-freakin'-nine. I can't even tell you how sad it makes me to think of the number 50 that looms. Perhaps in the coming year I can find a way to come to terms with it. Perhaps not.

I got some really cool gifts this year ... although not as tear-inducing as last year, when I was told about the baby-on-the-way.

Emilie made me a beautiful scrapbook with pictures of herself and her brother when they were little ones. And that DID make me cry. I just didn't throw it across the room and burst into tears the way I did last year when the pregnancy news made it through all the layers of my brain.

Em also sent me 2 dozen roses, all different colors. Adam and Brandy took us out to a yummy dinner last night, and also gave me a certificate to my favorite pedicure place. Perfect! I had told Jimmy that the new washer and dryer could pass as birthday gifts this year, and I really meant it. But before he got on the flight to Puerto Rico yesterday, he presented me with a gift certificate to a nearby spa. I'll have to peruse the brochure to decide what I want to use it on.

Here's a picture of my roses, with all the cards I received:

Yes, that's an Easter card on the far right. My mom wrote "Happy Birthday, too!" inside. (It's the thought that counts.)

My favorite part of yesterday? Kissing these cheeks:

"Forever young ..."

Just added to my "Saved" list on Netflix: "Young @ Heart", a documentary about a chorus in Massachusetts made up of senior citizens. I know what you're thinking. I know! I admit it though, my heart melts for the babies and the old people in this world. What can I say?

Netflix says, "Coldplay, the Clash and Jimi Hendrix will never sound the same once you've heard the Young@Heart chorus, a group of Massachusetts senior citizens who thrill audiences worldwide with their unusual -- and unusually poignant -- covers of rock songs. Stephen Walker's humane and heartwarming documentary, which premiered at Sundance in 2008, follows the elderly ensemble as they prepare their new show."

The documentary will be released in theaters next month, but I have no idea if it'll be shown in this town ... so it's already in my queue, waiting to be released on DVD.

The trailer:


They sing The Ramones!:


"Stayin' Alive"/"I Will Survive" (FABULOUS!):


Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band have just moved down a spot to make room on that list of my favorite music-makers (and if you don't click on any of the other videos I posted here, you MUST watch this one):

"I think I'm moving, but I go nowhere ..."

Monday was a semi-productive day around here. I worked a bit upstairs, getting the bathrooms cleaner. Also moved some dust around in the bedrooms, and ran the Dyson. Go, me.

I also caught up, a tiny bit, on a few of my DVR'd TV-watching. One of the things I watched was "The Real Housewives of New York City", and ... yuck. So far, that pretentious gang only makes me miss the gals from OC. At least the OC Housewives aren't trying so hard to be something they're not. They are perfectly happy with their weekends at Lake Havasu, cocktails with the girls at the strip mall, and planning their next "cosmetic procedure". The NY women are frightening with their teeth bared at anyone who might stand in the way of that social ladder they want to climb so badly. (Grammar lessons, anyone?) Eh, I'll still watch the season ... if only to hate.

Today, I hope, will contain more of the same. Downstairs, and minus the DVR-watching. For some reason, I always dread cleaning the lower level of the house more than the top one. The kitchen, maybe? I need to clean the fireplace again today too. Fun times.

But first, I'm out of here to run a few errands: post office, grocery store, dry cleaner, and the frame shop. I am dying to see the pictures of Squishy ... I had 3 of the "3 Months Old" pictures matted and framed together. I'm sure it'll take half the day to decide where to hang it.

"I don't know why they suntan nails ..."

Y'all know I love me some Pearl Jam, right? So the other day, I was wasting time on YouTube, seeing if there might be something there I haven't seen yet. And while I've seen a few funny videos about the unintelligible lyrics to "Yellow Ledbetter", I had not seen this one. Maybe it'll make you laugh like it did me.



My son shared his knowledge of the lyrics of this song with me a few years ago ... he said it really doesn't HAVE lyrics ... the the band was just jamming in the recording studio and Eddie was making things up as he went along. And it really does sound like that's what was going on to me.

You can read the official Wikipedia opinion behind it all by clicking here.

Anyway, the video contains my favorite, as of today, version of the lyrics of that classic song. Heh. "Make me fries."

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Our Squishy Girl had another immunization for her 4-month birthday on Friday. And then she had a really rough Saturday. She had a fever and everything. Emilie and I went over to give her lots of love while her Daddy took a flying lesson and her Mama was getting some work done. I was glad to hear that on Sunday she was feeling a little bit better.

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Other than that, it was a pretty routine weekend around here. Except for the fact that a whole HOUR went missing sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Ugh. Although I do love the fact that it's light outside at 7:30 PM now.

Em and I shopped a little bit on Sunday. We hit Babies R Us, Target, and Off Broadway Shoes. I came home with 3 big bags of baby stuff ... including a few things for an Easter basket, and a Bumbo seat. I was able to score the attachable play tray for the front ... I got the last one at Target. The lady at Babies R Us told me they were unable to get anymore trays. It certainly looks as if they available online through Target though. I'm beginning to get a bad taste in my mouth for Babies R Us. Every single piece of clothing I liked, I could not find in the size I needed. Bah!

We grilled some burgers for dinner last night, and they were quite tasty. It's going to take me until the end of summer to learn to cook properly on our new grill though.

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Best News Of The Weekend: Sisters Laura and Melody are expecting a baby in late-November/early-December! :-D <-- that's my face.

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Off and running on another week ... hope you and yours have a good one.

"She gives me presents with just her presence alone ..."

Shamed into writing, here I am.

No excuses, unless "February" is admissible as evidence. If you know me at all, you know I can't help the black funk that seems to settle in over my head in the 8 weeks or so that follow the holidays. This year was no different. Well, that's not true. It WAS different. This year, I had a baby to hold every so often. And believe me, that made a HUGE difference.

And now, here we are in March again. I feel the weather changing, even though it's raining today ... and cold. But I know there are sunny days ahead, and it won't be long before it's warm enough to open a few windows around here and let the soft air inside. Ahhh.

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So today she is 4 months old. Here's a picture I took yesterday that illustrates the precious way she gets herself to sleep. She wiggles and "growls" and rubs her little face and eyes ... but when those two arms go up near her face, we know she's almost in dreamland. To see her do it in her crib will melt my heart to mush, but yesterday she slept in her bouncy seat. And guess what? My heart melts that way, too.

Yesterday, the kids allowed me to go and get her from daycare in the early afternoon and bring her home with me until dinnertime. I'm hoping that can become a routine, at least temporarily for the next 20 years or so.

My daughter-in-law is working some incredibly long hours right now, which is hard on everybody. It's killing her, I know. Not nearly enough sleep, and working every day for 12 to 15 hours will wear anyone to a nub pretty fast. And my son misses his time with her, that goes without saying. But it's got to be hardest for our Squishy One. She has so little time with her Mama. One more week, guys. Hang in there.

Anyway, I hope that my "Thursday Afternoon With Nana" can be a regular thing ... it'll give her Daddy a break from picking her up one day a week, and he can do whatever he wants for a few hours that day ... and it'll give me some time to have some serious heart-to-heart talks with the most important person in my world.

Apologies if you've seen these pictures on my son's blog or on my MySpace page, but here they are again ... a few shots from her "3 Months Old" photo session ---

I know, right? How could we be more blessed?

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Hey! I have a new washer and dryer! Sadly, doing laundry is still just doing laundry. Oh well, it's a little more incentive to (one day soon) start the massive task of cleaning and organizing the laundry room. Oy. That'll hurt.

So, what's new with you?

Hello?

Is there anyone still out there?

Aw crap. I'm talking to myself. It serves me right.