Music tames the savage beast

If I am feeling low, all I have to do is plug in my earphones and let my playlist go. My favorite country songs, some dancing Bollywood tunes, some beating hip-hop routines ... and I am bouncing in my seat. I forget why I was upset (at least for the time I am listening to my music).

I read when I am bored. Reading takes me away to the world inside the book's pages. Sometimes, people have had to call my name several times to get me to pay attention if I am engrossed in my book. I am living the story in my head. I am one of the characters. I draw the scenes in my mind. But, if I am not feeling good about something, I cannot turn to my books.

I love going to movies. I love going to movies with improbable storylines, with the happy endings that seem to materialize out of nothing. But, if I am sad, I don't want to sit and watch a movie. I can't pay any attention. Additionally, any sad parts of the movie just amplify my mood.

But music. It soothes my soul when it's all tangled up. It calms me down, dries my tears, makes me smile.

I leave you with lyrics to one of my favorite songs. It has nothing to do with this post, just happens to be the song playing on my iPhone right now.

It Happens - Sugarland

Missed my alarm clock ringing
Woke up, telephone screaming
Boss man singing his same old song

Rolled in late about an hour
No cup of coffee, no shower
Walk of shame with two different shoes on

Now it is poor me, why me, oh me
Boring the same old worn out blah, blah story
There is no good explanation for it at all

Ain't no rhyme or reason
No complicated meaning
Ain't no need to over think it
Let go laughing

Life don't go quite like you planned it
We try so hard to understand it
Irrefutable, indisputable
The fact is psssh it happens

My trusty rusty had a flat
I borrowed my neighbor's Cadillac
I'll be right back
Going down to Wally World

That yellow light turned red too quickly
Knew that truck the moment it hit me
Out stepped my ex and his new girl
Sorry 'bout your neck baby'

But it is poor me, why me, oh me
Boring the same old worn out blah, blah story
There is no good explanation for it at all

Ain't no rhyme or reason
No complicated meaning
Ain't no need to over think it
Let go laughing

Life don't go quite like you planned it
We try so hard to understand it
Irrefutable, indisputable
Fact is it happens

Ain't no rhyme or reason
No complicated meaning
Ain't no need to over think it
Let go laughing

Life don't go quite like you planned it
We try so hard to understand it
Irrefutable, indisputable
Fact is

Yeah, the irrefutable, indisputable
Absoluteable, totally beautiful
Fact is psssh it happens

Our deepest gratitude

When I set up the donation page for Brenda and my 5K run, we had no idea the kind of response we'd get. I am heartened and amazed by the support our friends and family are showing. I am also a little unsettled by the faith they're putting in us to complete this. What started as a "maybe" is definitely a "definite" now.

I think Brenda said it best, "When there was a single $10 donation, getting up in the morning at 5 a.m. seemed so damn hard. but, when we are up to almost $300, I can't afford to pay them all back and we have to do this!"

And, it's not just the money. If all these people can have the faith in us, why can't we?

As George Michael put it, "Gotta have faith, faith, faith ..."

So, thank you all for putting your well earned money and hopefully what will be well earned faith in me and Brenda!

Couch to 5K

As part of the training for the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K on June 27th, my friend Brenda and I have been getting to work at 6 a.m. every day. Every other day, we work out in the morning at the gym here. The first 2 weeks, we just sprt of walked/ran without any plan. and, I got bored. If you know me, I get bored without a plan. Which meant, that any motivation I might have ahd was about to fly out the window. So, I decided to change things up. And, thankfully, Brenda was all about sticking with me.

I had looked up the Couch to 5K plan last year but without any plans to do a 5K, it hadn't appealed to me. Well, now that we're registered for the 5K and people are actually donating money for us to drag our butts 3.1 miles down the road, I decided maybe it was time. I looked it up last Friday, found the chart online and yesterday was our first day of the first week of that training. I was very surprised to find out that we did ok. 5 minute walk, followed by repetitions of 1 minute run/1.5 minutes walk for 20 minutes, then cooldown. We do that tomorrow and Friday. I think I underestimated us.

Next Monday, we move up to 1.5 minutes of jogging and 2 minutes of walking for those 20 minutes. I'll update the blog after our workout if we're not lying in a heap behind the treadmills ;-)

Brooks and Dunn

I just got 2 tickets to go see Brooks and Dunn on June 19th at the Jiffy Lube Live (formerly known as Nissan Pavilion). I am SO excited. I saw them with Big & Rich in Detroit a few years ago and they were awesome. Every song was a major hit and the crowd was energized and sang with them. I have been telling Jeff how great they were and now we get to go see them.

I am also going to start tracking on the sidebar the concerts I've been to. I am getting too old to remember them all!

5K & fundraising

I have never raised funds for anything. So, for the 5K this June, I am going to try my hand for the very first time to raise funds for us. We are only aiming to raise as much as it cost us to participate.

http://www.active.com/donate/bwc5k/birthdayrace

Yay!

Dry hands

Man oh man, is this winter wreaking havoc on my poor hands. With this cold streak showing no signs of ending anytime soon, I am going through hand lotions like nobody's business. I have a few that work really well and I have them with me at all times of day.

1. Hemp hand protector by the Body Shop: this is probably the best hand lotion I have ever tried and my favorite. It;s also on sale for $10 (down from $18.50) right now. It is in my purse day and night. It is slightly greasy when you put it on but it absorbs into your skin within seconds and keeps them moisturized for long periods of time.

2. C. O. Bigelow's Quince hand lotion: I keep this one at my desk at work. All day long with typing and handling papers, my hands get really dry. I reach for this lotion at least a dozen times a day.

3. Aveda hand relief: This is something I just got a sample of with another purchase. I keep it on my night stand. Every night, without fail, I put this on before going to sleep. It keeps my hands nice and smooth till morning and repairs some of the damage done during the day.

Lists

I love lists. I get work done very quickly and errands run more efficiently if I make a list. I usually have a scrap of paper for everyday with things written down that I need to do. Now, I do have that new fangled piece of technology called the iPhone and I love it. It stores my passwords, it reminds me when I need to buy tickets for Russell Peters (which, by the way, I have tickets for - April 25th in DC), it even allows me to take random cute photos of the puppy! However, the one thing I cannot do is make my to-do lists on there. I mean, I am physically capable of doing so, but then I forget that I made a list in there and forget to do stuff. Important stuff.

So, this is what I carry around usually. Today was a bad day, I had 3 pieces of paper. And, as you can see, some things get repeated on different sets of paper.

But then, this afternoon, I walked into the resource center at my work and viola! What do I see? This:

I love it. The pen it came with doesn't work but I have a tiny pen that fits in there. And, I can see the first page without opening it. So, I can just read my list through the cover. I am excited!

I am lame, yes?