Weekend Playlist, November 11

Music really is one of the coolest stimuli in the world. You know that ages old philosophical question "if you had to give up your ability to see or your ability to hear which would it be?”

Oh I'm not going to answer that question. As a scrapbooker, how could I ever think of not being able to see? It would be the end of one of my favorite hobbies. Every year when David puts his best train photos together and picks out the music to create his end-of-the-year multimedia presentation, I do the editing which absolutely requires vision and hearing. Editing has been my favorite part of every video job I’ve had and working on David show, in addition to some other small things that I do, is one thing that makes me feel totally alive. So for me the answer to the philosophical question is another philosophical question. "at what point does a person lose so much that they don't care what else they lose?"

So here are the last 5 songs that played with my library on shuffle before the feature song today:

She’s Like The Wind, Patrick Swayze

Chocolate Girl, Keith Sweat

Ant Music, Adam and The Ants

Knocking On Heaven’s Door, Heaven

All In A Mouse’s Night, Genesis

All In A Mouse’s Night was on the Genesis album Wind & Wuthering, released in 1976. The first time I had ever heard this song was on February 14, 2006. It was the first truly romantic Valentine's Day I ever had. I used to host "Stag Parties" on Valentine's Day when I would invite anyone who didn't have a date over for chili and what ever the worst B-film we could find on video tape. I am absolutely sure that there will be people who read this that remember The Toxic Avenger and films as such. Heck, I even remember word about those stag parties getting out and one couple begging me that if they promised to sit I'm opposite sides of the room and never look at each other could they please come this year? I have to admit that made me kind proud but my mom donated the chili every year and it had quite the reputation too.

But into 2006 it was different. I'd had dates on Valentine's Day before and it had been many years since we did the stag parties. But in 2006 there was this new guy. He’d been in my world almost a year and we even frequently used the “L-word.” I was almost 40 and had decided I was fine with, in fact I wanted to be, my own person. Casual dating was fine, even in the occasional relationship as long as it wasn't serious, but I liked me unattached. But then 6 foot and 5 inches with light blue eyes on top that I absolutely melted over walked into my life and screwed up everything.

David worked late enough that I could get to Toledo and prepare shrimp scampi for dinner with a little help from Wolfgang Puck for the lobster bisque. I chilled a bottle of Savignon Blanc (no that's not great memory about the wine. That’s been my standard to go with shrimp for, like, ever.) But what I cooked I do remember. I'd put together a chocolate fondue for two and we ate by candlelight.

I remember talking about music and discussing what we thought were romantic songs. Mine was Diamond Rio’s I Know How The River Feels. He told me is wasn't so much a romantic song as much as he wanted to dance to it. I was cleaning some dishes in the kitchen and he started the Genesis song Your Own Special Way and he came into the kitchen and we danced. Guys, you may not totally get it, but gals, I'm sure you understand that everything around you disappears the moment your significant other pulls you away from the sink and slow dances with you in the kitchen.  * sigh*

In further conversation about music while we had our dessert he played this song for me, just a fun and really cute song about a mouse. Oh, this song is so strange too to entertain two cat-people. Think about it. Why is the cat always the bad guy in cartoons? Poor Tom, Sylvester, PePe.. Wait, no, he's only attracted to cats (LOL) but you get one I mean.

This song is not a hit single, so no video this week, but I hope you enjoy giving a listen.

Wednesday Hodge Podge

1. What is something you are loving right now?

Bookcases. In my White Tornado project, shelving units are key to progress and I’m dreaming of bookcases and organization. Anything that organizes makes my pupils big.


2. Paris, Venice, New York, and Rome are considered four of the most romantic cities in the world. Which one would you most like to visit?

This one’s easy. I’ve been to all of them except Paris, so it’s Paris.

I don’t get how Rome and Venice are romantic. They are pretty, but dirty. New York I went to for the first time at Christmas with the boyfriend I married. Yes, that was very romantic.


3. Are you a romantic?

I am, but not a textbook romantic. I like some common romance things, like roses, chocolates or a candlelight dinner, but there are some uncommon things that romance me that, well, David got the job because he does them.


4. What's your favorite love story made for the Big Screen?

I’m not much of a movie watcher and I don’t watch a lot of love stories. Bull Durham?

5. Everyone loves Pooh bear and friends...which character are you most like and why? Click here for help in answering this question.

I love Eeyore! In fact right now I’m wearing my Eeyore fleece. Eeyore is about as UNlike my own personality as it gets. Opposites attract.



6. What's the best chocolate something you've ever eaten?

We had a dessert at Montana Jacks in Moline, IL, that was absolute chocolate ecstasy! It was a chocolate crumb crust with a layer of fudge on top, then a layer of chocolate mousse and whipped cream on top with a candied nut and cocoa power top sitting on top of a pool of chocolate fudge sauce.

K, if I leave now, I can be in Moline by afternoon snack time.


7. Share a favorite quote about love.

Love is like coffee;

Sometimes it’s good, sometimes bad,

Sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter,

Sometimes it’s all glitzed up and sometimes it’s plain.

Sometimes you go out to find it and sometimes it’s right at home,

Whatever way you get it, there’s no point in waking up without it.

                                                                                                  -Nani                                     

(But if he turns into Folgers, I call my lawyer.)


8. Insert your own random thought here.

My love-coffee quote wasn’t random enough, huh?

I had a weird dream the night before last. I believe that dreams are the subconscious processing the record of what you did and what you thought about during the day. Bad dreams are the subconscious processing things that worry you.

In this dream, I was meeting David “downtown” for a baseball game. I drove up to the lot right next to the field. I got a phone call from David asking where I was because I was going to be late. I told him I was in the lot across the street. He said he thought we were parking in the lot by the ballpark. I told him that the lot across the street IS the lot next to the ballpark. I was at Fifth-Third Field in Toledo. David was at Comerica Park in Detroit. He’d bought Tigers tickets, not Mud Hens tickets.

Am I worried about our communication in the back of my mind?? Maybe it’s just winter anxiety.

Monday Mug Shot

SpongeBob Squarepants

It was a very coffee Christmas in Naniland! My surprise gifts from my cousin were just the start of something…something truly inspired and caffeinated!

Okay, technically, the SpongeBob mugs aren’t coffee mugs. They came with packets of hot chocolate. Believe it or not, they are marketed for kids! I’m a SpongeBob fan. I even watch it when there are no kids around. I credit Tori and Rina for introducing me when they were little. Much in the Bugs Bunny spirit, SpongeBob Squarepants is written on 2 levels, for the kids and their parents. There are so many references and musical moments tipping their hats to the 80s that a parent of kids in the 90s can’t help but laugh along. That includes an actively participating aunt of kids born in 1994! So when David saw the SpongeBob mug set sitting next to the Disney Princess set he picked out for JP, he picked it up for me. I’m guessing that he bought them at the same time because going back to a store a second time is so NOT a guy thing.


A week after my surprise K-Cups from my Cuz, we hosted UNO and the Fabulous Dessert Bar. Sheri brought me the sweetest gift basket! Now, she had not read my blog about the difference between a coffee gift from a man and a coffee gift from a woman, but she gave me a half pound bag of Starbucks Christmas Blend with a few packages of cookies to go with, which included a Caramel Macchiato Biscotti that was heavenly, and a wonderfully aromatic rosemary “tree.”

Sheri apologized because she’d forgotten about me having the Keurig Brewer, but I’d told her it was fine because Starbucks Christmas Blend is a holiday favorite of mine that doesn’t come in K-Cups and I could use my My K-Cup adapter to make Christmas Blend cups. When I posted pictures from UNO on Facebook, she apologized again about not getting K-Cups, an unnecessary apology because I am SO glad to have my Starbucks Holiday Blend, but even more unnecessary with the reply I gave to her comment. “And then the Keurig died, so you kinda saved Christmas. ”

It’s true! On December 19, the Keurig was acting up. It was only brewing a half a cup of coffee. I went to the help page to troubleshoot. I descaled it, running undiluted vinegar through it, a few times, still a half cup of vinegar. Then I went through the steps for unclogging the spout where the coffee comes out. Now it wouldn’t stay closed. When I did coax it to staying closed, the first time it still only brewed a half cup. I brushed the exit spout again. This time it stayed closed but as the water was heating, it popped open with a force that made me jump. The coffee pot that I considered our best wedding gift died less than 4 days before our third anniversary.

I was looking for a new Keurig maker as soon as the final drip fell from the old maker. I mean, never having stale coffee, a great variety, not overdoing the caffeine and the fact that from when we got it, the maker lived 2-1/2 years of everyday use with moving parts that are moved quite a bit by human hands for every cup, it really was quite durable and the coffee that wasn’t wasted alone paid for the extra cost of the portion packs. I chose the Keurig Elite, which is a small upgrade from what we had. The old pot was a B30, a single cup at a time pot that required a water refill for each cup. The elite was a little more expensive than the original price on the old brewer, but not much and it has a water reservoir so you can make one cup right after another without adding water. The reviews on it are great. I don’t buy for myself at this time of year, well maybe now after Christmas, but I figured I’d be able to use my coffee bucks, that is the coffee fund I save from my blog sponsor earnings, to buy the Elite by the end of January. I haven’t made an 11th Street Coffee purchase in a few months, so I’m not far from affording the Elite!

A friend suggested on Twitter that I could “ask Santa Dave” for the coffee maker. But I’d already asked for a wand scanner for scrapbooking and truth be told, I wouldn’t buy myself the wand scanner, not right away, because it’s a want not a need. Yeah, coffee is a NEED! I told David that too.

Working my way up to Christmas Eve I’d made a pot of coffee on Wednesday and kept it in the thermos carafe. The second day it was warm and I nuked a cup to get it hot. Friday it was cold and I nuked the last cup. Dilemma: Christmas Eve morning coffee. I can make a pot of the Christmas Blend, but then we’re reheating day old coffee on Christmas morning, or I can go without and make fresh for Christmas. David’s answer? “This is too big to wrap, so you get it early.” MY new Keurig Elite! On Christmas morning, I got my bag of Verona and 2 boxes of K-Cups from “Santa Dave” too! It was a Joyously Java Christmas indeed!

By the way, David and I are going out to pick out the rest of the main gift, probably in January my wand scanner! Remember what I said about giving and receiving? I’m spoiled generous!

Plasma…. Cat Plasma!

Do you remember that old cartoon? Okay, a lot of people don’t. The guy and his dog get run over and the ambulance guy asks for “plasma” and looking at the dog “dog plasma.” Then he confuses the two and the man and dog take on each other’s tendencies, to the chagrin of the wife and French poodle at home who finally say “we’re leaving,” get run over and the same attendant makes the same mistake and they all live happily ever after.

Here it is: Crazy Mixed Up Pup

That didn’t happen to Carla and me at all, but two doctors visits in one day and, well, I like that cartoon!


Okay, you might look at the time stamp and wonder what I’m doing blogging at barely Wednesday in the morning. I grumble and ask that too! I couldn’t sleep, well, not true. I wanted desperately to sleep, but this arm, grrr…

I had an 8 AM doctor’s appointment today… yesterday, um, Tuesday. My arm is still hurting a week later. Actually, it’s reached the healing point of muscular exhaustion. It’s like the nerves are re-meeting or something and I get spasms between my shoulder and elbow ranging in intensity from annoying to scare the cats. I just had one of those scare the cats ones in bed before I got up and decided to blog. Carla was under the covers next to me and David was asleep already. If I had screeched like I wanted to, I’d have awoken him in a panic for sure!

So the outcome of the doctor’s visit is that my physical therapy is being updated. No pool for a few weeks because with the arm pain, I can’t get the walker in or out of the car. I have to have the walker after I get out of the pool! Now my arm is being added to my PT roster and the bad knee is being added back on too. Seems the wonderful insurance company regards the initial therapy on my knee as no longer valid since it was a year ago and I have to do it gain. The doc’s not happy about the way they do it either, but he doesn’t want me to empty my savings account to get the MRI without their blessing. I have to agree. Empty savings account means school is done, and school is NOT done yet!

Insurance pays for 30 therapy sessions per calendar year. This is actually the perfect time for this. I considered the math. 30 sessions at 3 a week is 2 and a half months a year. If we do it their way and attend a month of therapy before they’ll let me get an MRI, if I need surgery, which it won’t surprise me if they say I do, it only leaves a month and a half of recovery therapy. I really do prefer my doctor making my medical decisions because my doctor has a CLUE. The insurance company just has a budget.


I ended up running to the Vet’s office this afternoon with a carrier of meowing Jell-O! When Carla got up from her nap this afternoon she was sneezing, repetitively and frequently sneezing. Remembering her respiratory infection last year, I was concerned. When I talked to David on the phone, he mentioned that she was sneezing like that in the morning when I was at the doctor’s office too. I called the Vet and they had nothing until Thursday, unless I could get her in in a half hour. They had one spot open. I was pleased that I could get her in that quick. Carla wasn’t so pleased.

Her doctor thinks it is either a cold or the very beginning of an infection. See? Waiting until Thursday wouldn’t have been good. She got a shot of antibiotic and we went home. She’s still sneezing, but already not as much.


Okay, I think the Vicodin is kicking in now, so I’m gonna try to get some sleep!