Anything is possible

I have a dream and I am not talking about racial equality. I have a dream to write a hit song (or two) and collect 1, big fat paycheck. But there are plenty of naysayers out there. When I played my CD for my sister she commented on my "strained" voice and tried to back track by saying folk singers don't need good voices anyway. Gee thanks.

My piano teacher, who has actually been pretty supportive, told me the CD was good but he added it's more like a "demo" CD - in other words not final quality. He doesn't think I have a chance in the cutthroat music business - to succeed.

My husband Doug, though supportive, says little.

Still I hold onto the dream of unlimited prosperity from my songs. It's fun and makes me feel like anything is possible, because you never know.

My kids ask me if my songs have been on the radio, yet. Or when will they be on? Are they naive or believers?

Anything is possible, anything. And I am grateful to the man who helped me produce the CD - he said I have a gift. Now I don't take myself TOO seriously but that was a real compliment from a real musician.

Unrelated thoughts

• I have been feeling some tension in my face between my eyebrows and remembered several years ago when a friend said I looked SO relaxed at an Xmas party, remarking my new job must be going really well. (That was after 2 Cosmos at a local bar prior to the party).

• The dogs are playing and getting along after several months of getting to know each other. I've seen the 14 year old Tia chasing Toto in the yard, barking her deaf bark. They've also been seen nuzzling each other's various parts.

• Michael wondered if he'd get swine flu after drinking out of the same cup as Daniel - YES. He brought another cup up to the bathroom but it was too late. All of us have had H1N1 except Doug.

• I remember when we settled on Michael's name before he was born and my mother-in-law asked us how we would spell that, which kind of struck me as asking how would someone spell Bob. Mikail is now 12.

• I notice my neighbor who gets v. agitated at speedy drivers when her kids are out playing, drives as fast as anyone. Ironic, no? but we do tend to see our own flaws in someone else. So what does this commentary say about me?

• I signed up for the church talent show figuring at any rate it would be something to write about. Also, I was thinking it might be inspiring to the boys - Michael and Matt are both playing the piano! I'll let you know how it goes.

I remember now

From last time the thing that set me off laughing was Doug attempting to vacuum a towel covered with Toto hair. Of course, I must have been anticipating the towel getting tangled up in the rotary mechanism - but miraculously it did not.

Speaking of hair, we've had a few hair raising experiences with hair in food in our family lore. Long blond hairs on take out pizza. Black curly hairs in a sub at a chain that I will never enter again. Of course, just the thought of these incidents is enough to nauseate me. Who needs diets? Thought control can be very powerful. While recounting one of these incidents, Michael reminded me that "Hair is in everything we eat." Nice. It doesn't bother him in the least because an adolescent boy (almost) is driven to EAT - hair or not.

Unrelated thoughts

I realize I am going to need some new pet names now that there is a boy dog in the house. No more 'Girls' or 'Little Missies' - but what's a collective nickname that's not gender based? 'How are my furry friends?' 'Hello hairballs.' You get the idea. Suggestions?

Toto proceeded to growl at trick or treaters, when he escaped from the basement where he was keeping Michael company - who has the swine flu. Anyway, I explained to one group that he was afraid of the costumes. One woman said, 'Afraid of a fairy?' Yes, sorry, even a fairy. This is one sheltered pup and we are slowly exposing him to the world.

In fact, the old man in the graveyard with the bad toupee tried to give him a biscuit and got so frustrated when Toto wouldn't come close to him and his booming voice (Is it any wonder?) After a couple tosses of biscuits, finally Toto did take a biscuit with a big snap to the man's hand.

I laughed so hard - the boys thought something was wrong

Toto's new haircut

The idea was to try to 'save' a little money by cutting Toto's hair ourselves. After a wash and dry and comb, it was painfully obvious that spending $50 bucks at the dog groomer is well worth it. (This was even before the cutting.) Such a project can take HOURS and the volume of hair was astounding.

The $100 clippers proved fairly inadequate - it wasn't like shearing a sheep - though Doug tried as evidenced by the strip of stubble on Toto's back. You can't see it but one of his front legs is shaved and looks like a chicken leg compaired to the other. Toto is surprisingly bony.

I laughed until I cried

I can't remember what set me off, except the visual, and I don't often laugh uncontrollably anymore. But this was completely out of control, so much so that I thought I might choke at one point due to the bite of pizza in my mouth. Matthew thought I was v. upset - he couldn't understand. He'd never seen me laughing this way. Ah the proximity of pleasure and pain, love and hate. I guess that's what he was witnessing. I was laughing so hard for about 5 full minutes, that I was crying and almost choking all at once.

Meanwhile, Toto is completely unfazed by all this. And next Tuesday he will get a professional trim. Anyone need any dog clippers? - they've only been used once and I can give you a good price.

Unrelated thoughts

• Another wrong-sided surgery at RI Hospital was reported this week. People, please if you are going in for surgery on a body part, mark it yourself with a permanent marker just to be sure.
• 1 lump or 2? Go for 2.
• The school crossing guard told the kids and I to have a good weekend but it was only Tuesday. Ah, to be retired
  
  

Happy Halloween - reverse order

3. Daniel and Toto make up

2. The sound of the claw alone terrifies the dog

1. Daniel warms up with the claw

Flying thoughts

I guess little boys do get conscious about the importance of being buff at a young age. Daniel, still 5, had heard about 6-pack abs but instead he calls his belly a 1-pack. Now that's cute. The older boys just kind of roll their eyes in amusement.

By the way, I flew today to Louisville and Sunday is a beautiful day to fly. It's quieter than other days.

Today, on the way to the airport Daniel said, "It's my destiny to fly." Not a minor word for a kid who is still 5. He's got a destiny alright. And from the photo/post last time, my friend Nan reminded me that Daniel must not be destined to be a serial killer or a sociopath because he doesn't pull the wings and legs off the insects he catches (that I know of).

Anyway, at the airport goodbyes, I noticed that Matt, 10, was more hestitant to hug me goodbye than Daniel. Mom must be losing her cool a little.

BUT, I did get a big hug from Daniel when I brought home a Wolverine claw courtesy of my boss (long story). When I presented the boys with caramel apples that night for dessert, Daniel wondered if these too were from the boss . . . he's taken on mythical qualities.

Unrelated thoughts: I bought a black sweater yesterday at Fashion Bug for my trip. It was size XL but seemed to fit me fine even though I don't see myself as XL. But today I discovered why - you need some honkin' big breasts to fill out this sweater and it kinda droops on me now. Perhaps after a wash and dry - it'll fit a little more snugly.

Speaking of breasts, it is supposedly the 1st thing men notice. And I realized this was true the other day when Doug described an x-colleague of his as the one with the huge knockers. Meanwhile, I hadn't even noticed. Men. . .

Somewhere recently I was reading about maggots, of all things and the fact that trashmen in NYC refer to them as disco rice. Now that's funny.

My friend Carrie the painter has noticed if she's painting en plein air - people feel like they have the right to comment about her ability, speed, and what not. Kinda reminds me of when I was pregnant - out there exposed for the world to see and people feel free to make comments both good and bad. 'You look great. How far along are you - only 6 months? How much weight have you gained?' Etc. Etc. They offer opinions about almost everything from birthing to child rearing.

Sometimes it's nice to do things en closed air - anonymously.

This new book I am reading Outliers is fascinating. Alot of successful people have 1 thing in common - excellent timing and circumstances.

On a serious note, working f/t and being a mother leaves little downtime and it's stressful . . .

Headliners

These are the caricatures Michael drew in church that had us is stitches

- the order from left to right being Michael, Matthew, Daniel.

The delicate hands of a 5-year-old collecting bugs for kindergarten share.

• Who the heck are these new contestants on Dancing with the Stars? Well sure I've heard of Michael Irvin and Donny Osmond but none of the rest except I did know Tom DeLay's name. He was House Majority leader . . . when I am not sure. But I wouldn't recognize him in a crowd if my life depended on it. They solve this problem on the show, by having an introductory biography segment to explain why these people are in fact stars. It just goes to show you we all could be on the show as stars and have as much name/face recognition. They could simply make up stories about us about why we are famous and no one would know the difference.



• How come I was the only one that thought it was funny when my boss was talking about 'laying down some pipe' in a staff meeting. This is an expression Doug uses and my boss said this after he had just asked the 401K bank representative to discuss 'load' funds, as he snickered.


• This gem of a headline was in the Pro Jo today - Man in fatal cycle accident free on bail. Now I don't usually like to make fun of death but this was funny.



• This gem of a sign was posted at URI this morning - If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms please refrain from working out. Do we really need to be reminded to refrain from working out when we have the flu? God I hope not. I can barely get myself to the pool at 7 a.m. when I am perfectly healthy, nevermind when I have the flu.
  

It's been a while

It's been a while for a new post because I have been BUSY. Fourty hours can take a big cut out of my blog time. In any case, the last couple of days I have realized if I focus - I can still find some funny topics to write about. And Doug has the camera, so no pics this week.

• We just got back from church and a couple of funny things happened. One happens to be bathroom humor, so avert your eyes if you don't like it. Matt returned to the pew from the bathroom and announced he had sprayed Airwick down his pants - specifically down his butt. He recounted that he had created something in the bathroom that had smelled very bad and he couldn't get rid of the smell, so this was his solution. The Airwick (presumably a brand of air freshener) wafted my way throughout the service.
• Michael proceeded to draw cariactures of his brothers during the service. He expained a couple of times that they were cariactures - one brother had an exaggerated big nose and one had a chubby face complete with a chin roll. These were pretty funny and even the boys laughed at their own expense. But the funniest drawing of them all (did I mention that the boy can draw?) was the one requested he do of himself. It looked like a comic book superhero complete with Adonis like features and a big muscled chest.

Outside of and inside of church, I am noticing some mild behavior problems with Daniel like refusing to listen and generally being fresh (did I mention he's still 5?) At Matt's soccer game, Daniel kept battling with me for a borrowed chair. I even let him sit in it alone for a time or two - he was simply obsessed with the chair and practically wrestling me for it. He did sit in my lap for a good stretch but he wanted that chair. To add some levity to the situation, I offered to rent the chair from him but he wouldn't get out of the chair without first securing payment i.e. he had no intention of getting up. He's smart. Me thinking I was smarter tossed the nickle a short distance a way, figuring he'd have to get up from the chair to retrieve the nickle. Did I mention he's smart? He simultaneously started dragging the chair and gropping for that nickel in the grass.

On another totally separte note, I'd like to mention it's nice to have a dog that can hear. For the last few years we have had two dogs - but neither one could hear. That means they don't get up to greet you unless they see you and you, the owner has to go find them for feeding time or to put them outside. Well, halleluah - our new dog Toto can hear! A whole new world has opened up for us - he greets us in the morning - hearing us before we even are aware we are awake ourselves. His hearing is so acute that he actually hears slugs slithering on the flagstones outside. Well not really but it's so acute that he actually never sleeps that we know of while we are awake downstairs. He doesn't want to miss a thing.

Hope you've found these stories entertaining. Now time for our Internet poll: Should I participate in the church talent show. I feel a certain pull to do it but realized that I don't actually like being exposed or performing in front of others. Is this a good thing to challenge myself with and why? Because in my dreams I am on Oprah due to a hit song and better get used to performing in public. . . .

Did I mention I wrote a new song that I really think could be a big hit?