Random Thoughts Tuesday: Hokey Pokey

• Just sitting here watching American Idol. (I think I begin every RTT post that way.) Danny is fixing to start singing one of my favorite songs of all time, "Come Rain or Come Shine". I have sang this song to my husband for years and years. I don't know why i've never done it for a show??? Could someone who reads this PULEEZE remind me to sing it the next time I'm in the ASS?
• I guess I should clarify for any reading this who suddenly think I have a booty fetish, LOL. One of my fave divas here in OKC hosts a monthly show called The Alison Scott Show, which we have lovingly shortened to the ASS. We like to throw it into random conversation such as, "When are you gonna be in the ASS next?" or "I love being in the ASS" or "I made SO much money in the ASS"!! You get the drift.
• Gokey just killed my song. I wanna do the hokey pokey with Gokey.
• My hubby seriously looked at me tonight and told me to get off my butt and make dinner. Yes. He really did. I hope he was joking, I really, truly do. Cause all that made me do was turn up the volume on the TV, nestle further down in my comforter and get to typing this post. I'm sorry-- I wrote our vows and I'm sure the words "I swear to be your bitch for all time" were NOT in them.
• Tomorrow night I'm heading to the big T-Town (Tulsa, OK for those not familiar with the Okie lingo) for the Jason Mraz concert (opener- Plain White T's). And of course, I'm totally jazzed about it. I am wondering how to get a song request in to Jason though. When I saw him in October, he sadly did not sing my favorite song of his-- possibly my number two favorite song of ALL TIME! And for me to say that, well... you know it's amazing. If he doesn't sing it tomorrow, I think I may cry. Truly.

Happy Random Tuesday to everyone:)

While You Were Blogging

Here's what I've been up to while you were blogging, and I was... well... not blogging.

• Laundry. And when I say piles and piles... well, obviously I'm not exaggerating. I do laundry EVERY weekend, and since I wear the same five things over and over... this pile can not be blamed on me. How does this happen?? I place sole blame on my DH who owns more jeans at this point in time than I have owned in my entire life.

• Paying "the man". Check out this stack of bills! HOLY SHIZ! It's like they all rolled in at once for some reason this month. There should be a law that regulates how many bills are allowed to be placed in your mailbox at one time.

• Reading. I tend to go thru cycles on my reading. I'll consume numerous books for a couple weeks and then kind of taper off. Oddly enough, summer probably rates as my most productive reading time. I chalk it up to all the time I spend sitting on the porch and/or patio watching the kiddos run around. Here are the titles I currently have in rotation. 1. The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose 2. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster and 3. Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig. God bless the local library. (Except for the Jen Lancaster book-- her books are always "buy-worthy". If you don't follow her blog titled Jensylvania already-- GO NOW! Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. )

• I've also been spending much of my waking hours lately staring at these amazing new photos of my babies. How in the WORLD did I spawn such beautiful creatures?? (And yes, I took a picture of the picture. I was too lazy to scan it.)

• And finally, we spent Saturday hitting up the local Arts Festival. Indian Tacos. Botanical Gardens. Face-painting. People watching. All in one beautiful location. As you can, my boy has learned how to give you rabbit ears in photos. This, too, I blame on my husband.

I missed you all dearly-- and it's only been a few days!! I must get to reading all the blogs that you were writing while I wasn't!

XOXOXO!

Wordless Wednesday: What Happens When There Aren't Enough Guitars to Go Around

Random Tuesday Thoughts: I'm Not Even a Popstar

• Ryan said "Abdul drool" tonight on AI. I'm totally stealing that line. Don't know when or how I'm going to insert it into daily conversation, but I'll find a way.
• Went out Saturday night with the crew. And wowzer. I am WAY too old to partay like that. (BTW, I say that every single time I go out. That, and, "I will never drink again". You see how well that works out!). Started the night with a delicious dinner (and beers). Moved on to a friend's house for conversation (and beers). Then joined up with the hubby for some pool (and beers). Are you seeing the pattern here?? Me and my headache stayed in bed till about 3 the next day. That will prove to you that I am not making it up when I say that "I am not a rockstar". As my loving friend DeAnna said, "Jess... I don't think you're even a popstar".
• While recovering from the night before, we watched a bunch of movies on Sunday, including "Beerfest" which made me nauseous as hell the entire time I watched it. WTF was I thinking??
• My little baby girl went on her first school field trip today. They traveled to the zoo and of course, her favorite part of the whole trip was the bus ride. She thought that was AWESOME!
• My sweet son has decided to start busting out inappropriate song lyrics. The most recent example is "I like big butts and I can not lie...". I blame it all on Shrek. If he had learned it from me, I would have at least taught him the acoustic stripped down version.
• I wish there was a dinner fairy that would visit my house every night. I really hate having to come home and figure out dinner after a long day at work. Especially in the summertime, my appetite drops and it's hard to get excited about cooking a full meal when I'm not even hungry. My kids have learned to make a mean PB&J, LOL!
• Oh, I almost forgot! I finally watched Twilight. I read the books long ago and I had such high hopes for the movie... but nope. I spent the first twenty minutes thinking how stupid Edward was acting. Like the scene where he puts his hand over his mouth and rushes out of the classroom? Fo reals? Nice acting there, Robby. I'm going to watch the commentary version though and see if it changes my opinion any. I bought the damn thing, so I'm hoping it grows on me. Like a fungus. Like Abdul drool. HA! Told ya I would do it! I know it didn't make sense, but it still made me giggle:)

Night, all!

River of Love, Take Me Away!

After an insanely crazy day at the office, I am left sitting here fiending, lusting and craving a vacation. I've taken a few days off here and there (sick kids, dental surgery, random other necessary appointments), but I haven't taken any time for FUN things since last August when we went our honeymoon. Man, I loved that trip. We had such an amazing time. What I found so funny about it though is that our honeymoon was the FIRST trip E.V.E.R. that we had taken, just us, for longer than two days. How ironic is that? We get hitched... then decide to test the waters for our traveling compatibility, LOL. Thankfully, I think Jr.'s a pretty cool dude, and he seems to be able to tolerate me better than most, so our trip went very well:)

When planning our honeymoon trip, we had a couple criteria that had to be considered:
1. Couldn't cost a ton of money (that seems pretty obvious, huh?:)). We had already shelled our fundage for the wedding, so the honeymoon fund wasn't exactly huge.
2. Didn't want to spend our small amount of allotted honeymoon time traveling, so it needed to be somewhere close by. (I also didn't want to be ten hours away. What if something happened to the kids?? Always a mom:)).
3. It needed to be private. We rarely get time with just the two of us, so I didn't want to be surrounded by masses of people.

With those criteria in mind, I got to searching the big ole' web, and found what seemed to be the perfect deal for us-- River of Love Cabins in southern Oklahoma. (For some reason, I can't get my little link thing to work, so here's the address-- www.riveroflove.com). Named such due to being located in Love County, they consist of two privately owned cabins on about 60 acres of land that you are free to roam. Located near Lake Murray, a huge casino about 10 minutes away, and other fun activities, it was ideal for us. We went fishing, we went hiking, we went gambling, we went shopping at the nearby outlet mall. Kelly (the owner) would come pick up our dirty items everyday and change our linens while we were out running around. She had homemade cookies waiting for us when we arrived. But other than that, we didn't see a single soul. And that was wonderful. Even more impressive, the cabin, and almost every single piece of furniture inside it, was made by Kelly and her husband. Here's a few pics I stole/borrowed from her website.




**Note the hot tub on the back porch. Yes, we spent a lot of time there:)**

During our stay, Kelly and her hubby were working on their newest project-- The Love Caboose. They had purchased a real train caboose and had totally gutted the inside to turn it into a cabin. Here are a few pictures of the results:





We've decided to go back for our anniversary, and to take the kids this time. Check out where they will sleep!



And this is where I plan on spending a lot of time:)


Even though it is months away, I'm just so excited about going. This will be the first "official" family vacation we've ever taken and the kids' are just going to go apesh*t when they see the caboose!! I'm really looking forward to that:) And I'm also really ready to sit on my butt and drink a cold one, watch the kids get filthy in the dirt, all while my man grills up some yummy food. Summertime rocks. And so does the River of Love.

She's (a) Country Backstage Bettie Waiting on the World to Change

One of my dearest (and sadly, not nearest) bloggy friends, Sam, posted a fantastically fan-atic blog this week entitled "I'm Not a Stalker: I'm *Devoted*". You can check it out here. It is a wonderful tribute to all the men in the world that she is allowed to cheat on her husband with should she ever run into them at Wal-Mart, Costco, or other random location. Now, all us married folks have these lists. We may not admit it... or talk about it with our spouse... but it's an unspoken rule that just, well... is.
Sam, I hope you don't mind that I'm going to steal your idea--I just had to get on this bandwagon:) The thought of googling images to find The.Perfect.Picture was just too damn appealing to pass up. So let the list begin...in no particular order of course:

Colin Firth. Pic from the movie "What a Girl Wants". This girl wants.


Charles Kelley. From the country trio Lady Antebellum. AKA the brother of Josh Kelley, who is AKA Mr. Katherine Heigl.


Dierks Bentley. This guy can rock a guitar... and a tight pair of jeans.


Hugh Jackman. Hey... he wasn't voted World's Sexiest Man for nothing. This guy can do it all.


Philip Sweet. Of the country group Little Big Town. What can I say... I have a weird weakness for red headed men? (PS I chose this picture so that you could see how much hotter I am than his wife. Right....right???)


Nic Cage. Don't ask me why... I've just always had a thing for a brooding man in black leather driving a fast car.


Ryan Gosling. Just something about those bedroom eyes.


John Mayer. I'll forgive his previous indiscretions (aka Jessica Simpson) simply because of his amazing talent and hot tattoos.


Jason Mraz. Oh, I'll be his Backstage Bettie, alright. (PS There must be something too that raw diet. Fo' realz! Look at that body!! And no, I don't know what the knife is all about. Although it took me about five views to even notice.)


Ok. So I lied. This list is in random order for numbers 10-2, but this, my friends...is my number one. Introducing - for your viewing pleasure- Mr. Jason Aldean. Every girl has a weakness. He just happens to be mine.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I get so excited about blogging on Tuesdays-- it's means I can get out all this CRAP that is in my head!! So let the crap flow:

• I'm watching Idol. I've been an IdolWhore since the beginning days of Season 1. Kris Allen (or however you spell that extremely common, but difficult to spell name) is about to sing Falling Slowly. God, how I love this song! Ok.. it's over.. and I knew I was crushin' on him for a reason. FANTASTIC!
• Busy weekend ahead of me. I'm a team captain at work for the American Heart Association HeartWalk which is this Saturday. We lost one of our attorneys to a sudden heart attack this year, and a fellow secretary had a massive, yet thankfully, non lethal heart attack just a few months ago. We're so glad she's still with us to walk this year. (Technically she'll be cruising on one of those cool Segways - which I'm totally jealous of:)). Then Saturday night we'll be rockin' it out for my boy Shannen's birthday party. I can't wait to get my dance on! This little white girl doesn't have much rhythm but I sure do try:)
• My husband (that is normally such a sweetie) said the most hateful thing to me last night. I'm not even going to repeat it here... trust me... there would be some girls up. in. his. face. What is it with men??? If roles were reversed and I had said this particular thing to him, he would have smooth walked out, I can promise you that. I acted as if I hadn't heard him clearly and I said, "What did you say?" and he of course, said, "Nothing.. never mind.". I was like, 'Um, yeah, that's what I thought." (insert extremely sarcastic tone here).
• This new show Fringe flips me the f' out. Gonna have to change the channel.

I guess I don't have as much randomness as I felt like I did, LOL! Think I'm gonna go watch Twilight... FINALLY! Can you believe I still haven't watched it?? Have a great week everybody!

Musical Mondays: Does That Make Me Crazy?

"I'm worried that the person who thought up Muzak may be thinking up something else."

Lily Tomlin

I'm always intrigued by cover songs. I just wonder what it is about certain songs that have that power--that cross-genre, universal appeal-- that makes other artists want to record them? And even more importantly, how in the he** do they hear something so different from the same song??

Case in point: Crazy- originally recorded by Gnarls Barkley. Not one of my favorite songs, really. Good to bob your head around too, makes you want to drink a beer and tap your toes (well, at least it does me:)), but not something that I would rush out to buy. But if you do a little further digging, you'll see that many artists disagree with me. And I'm so glad that they do, because I love the covers MUCH more than the original.

Out of the smorgarsbord of covers available, these are the two I've most come to love over the past few years. I find it so musically inspiring to hear one song, recorded in different ways, by artists that couldn't possibly be any more different. We have hip-hop, Latin, ska lovin' Nelly Furtado and gypsy -folk-soul singer Ray LaMontagne.

See what you think.... which one do you love the most?

Nelly Furtado (with British singer & talk show host Charlotte Church)


Ray LaMontagne (unfortunately, I was unable to find a live version of this. It used to be on youtube, but they must have pulled it. Boo.)



As mentioned before, there are various other versions of this song available as well-- Pink, Violent Femmes, Shawn Colvin, One Republic, Cat Power, Beyonce... well, you get the idea. There's certainly something for everyone out there. Let me know if you have a fave version of Crazy, or if there's another cover song out that you adore!

The Greatest Fall of All

I have an obsession. Not unusual, really, for me. I have what some kindly call "a highly addictive personality", and what others call "crazy ass stalker" type attitude towards some things in my life. I'm not proud of it. It's not something I share with just anyone. I hope you realize that I trust you, my dear readers, to not judge me (or suddenly de-friend me) for this shortcoming. So (big breath), here it is:

My name is Jessica, and I like to watch people fall.

Whew. I feel so much better after getting that out. Now let me explain in a little more detail. I'm not saying that I enjoy seeing people tumble down a flight of stairs and injure themselves. Or that I particular treasure seeing someone I know and love fall off a roof. Not that I have ever actually seen that. But I do enjoy a good "fall" video. I've expressed before my love of AFV (America's Funniest Videos). And although I giggle at funny animals or farting babies... give me a nice, graceful fall (with mood music and witty commentary as well), I will be on the floor, busting a gut, tears rolling down my face. My six year old son takes a lot of offense to this behavior of mine. One evening, he looked at me and said, "Mom! I've told you it's not nice to laugh at people getting hurt!". Oops. My bad.:)

After the shiteous (is that even a word??) week that I've had, I need some belly laughs. So I've decided to share with you all a couple of my favorite falls. Please don't judge me to harshly. But hey... .even if you do.... I'm probably laughing too hard to care.


Kelsey Grammer (aka Frasier) exhibiting his gracefulness. How in the world does he not curse??? "Good Lord", what restraint.


The newscaster just makes this one. He's a man after my own heart.



"Here she comes, Miss Ameri... oh shit!"



"All the clumsy ladies... all the clumsy ladies...."


And in closing... my favorite fall of all. Introducing Mr. Robbie Williams, who "falls over like a twat". And that, my friends, says it all.

What Goes Around.....Comes Around

I've been tagged by my friend Kaye to participate in this kind of "Get To Know You Better" survey. And I admit it, I love these kinds of things. Surveys/ questionairres of any kind are always fun to me. Here's how this one works:

1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention.

2. Tag several un-tagged people.

Let the fun begin!!

What is your current obsession? Gregory Douglass; reading blogs; cups of crushed ice.

Good fika place? (That would be coffee to us non-Swedes) I would have to say work, LOL. I rarely buy coffee anywhere, but I sure do enjoy my free coffee first thing in the morning at my place of employment.

Do you nap a lot? No, sadly those days are gone. I used to be the queen of naps. No day was complete without one. (I also used to think I was so busy. HA!) Now I try to take a nap at least once during the weekend. Just to pamper myself a little.

Who was the last person you hugged? My daughter. I just got her out of the tub... I love freshly bathed kid hugs:)

What one thing do you dream of accomplishing before you die? Hmmm... that's a good one, Kaye. I would love to complete my kids' scrapbooks before I die. I guess I'd better get started on them, huh?

If you could go anywhere in the world for a fully paid for vacation where would you go? Tuscany. Hands down.

What are you listening to right now? The kiddos playing with their new toy thing-a-ma-jiggies and Darrell playing video games.

What’s on your bedside table? A lamp, three books, contact lens holder & saline, basket of makeup and other odds and ends, my wedding ring, two little flower arrangements from our wedding, and two boxes of checks. It's kind of full at the moment.

Say something to the person/s who tagged you. I'm so glad we found each other again. I TRULY wish we still lived in the same town. I miss talking to you for hours, and wish I could meet your boys. I hope you guys come visit OK soon:)

What book have you reread the most number of times? (My question) Mine would have to be either "Under the Tuscan Sun" or "Operating Instructions" by Anne Lamott. Can't get enough of them! Although I have a feeling that "Eat Pray Love" is quickly going to take a top spot as well.

Favorite vacation spot? Anywhere. I'm not picky. Anytime we get to go on a vacation at all, I'm happy!

Name the things you can’t live without. My family, a house over our heads.

What would you like to have in your hands right now? A million dollars!

What is your favourite tea flavour? I love sun brewed tea. My mom used to set out a tea jug full of water with tea bags, oranges, lemons... all types of citrus fruit... and let it brew in the sun all day. Absolutely delicious.

What would you like to get rid of? Worry. I'm such a worrywart. Most of the time about things that I have no control over.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? I only get an hour?? Then I would say Tattered Cover bookstore in Colorado. Man, I miss that place, and I'm jonesing for a bookstore fix, right now. I was going to say to Kaye's house, but I doubt an hour would be long enough to catch up!:)

What do you miss? Quiet. Although when I have it, I don't like it, LOL.

What are you reading right now? Ciao, America!, Promises in Death, and Very Valentine.

What do you fear the most? Other than the obvious fear of something bad happening to my kids or my husband (and other loved family members), my weird fear would have to be mice. I'm deathly afraid of them.

What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)? I could really care less about designer stuff. I always think it's really overrated and way too expensive. There's always a knock off that looks just the same out there somewhere.

Admit one thing you feel awful about. Once you have written it down, you are no longer allowed to feel bad. Oh Lordy, this one could go on forever! I'll just go with anytime I yell at the kids. I always always always regret it instantly.


Here are the people I am tagging... I'm choosing these folks simply because I don't know them that well, and want to learn more!!

Chelle at Creative Thoughts (and today is her birthday! Happy Birthday, Chelle!!)

Kat at 3 Bedroom Bungalow to Let in CrazyTown

Peggy at Stir Crazy in the Suburbs

and last, but certainly not least,

Cyndi at SMMTAM

Musical Mondays

"I was born in a boy's body...but there's a diva lurking within."

Gregory Douglass

I've decided to use Mondays to share my new favorite musical finds with the masses (or the 5 or so people who regularly read my blog:)). I am a self-proclaimed musicwhore. I spread my musical love around- country, pop, rock, Broadway, folk, hip-hop, rap... no discriminating here, I love it all. But I must admit that I have a special place in my heart for singer-songwriters. To me, it's all about the lyrics.

Every Monday, I eagerly boot up the AOL Music, MSN Music, and CMT.com to hear the new musical releases for the week that are available for streaming. Not only a fantastic way to hear things before you make the decision to purchase an album, but an amazing way to discover new artists.

A few weeks ago, AOL posted an album called "The Battler" by Gregory Douglass. I was intrigued by the name of the album and decided to give it a shot. Thus began the newest obsession. AOL only keeps their postings up for a week, and since The Battler isn't technically going to be released till April 21st, I had to do some web-digging to fulfill my craving for GD's music. Here are my finds for those of you who want to hear an amazing vocalist sing some of the most moving lyrics I've heard in a long time. And not to mention the stunning instrumentation.

Enjoy!


GregoryDouglass: His official site with tour info, blogs and three of the new songs available for listen.

CDBaby : Click here for samples of the new album and a great bio article.

In closing, if you don't listen to anything else by this man, you MUST listen to this one:Ordinary Man. The fact that it's a duet with one of my favorite female singers, Grace Potter, just makes it even more incredible.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go figure out how to get Gregory to travel to OKC for my very own house concert.

This is the kind of thing I think about.

This is the kind of thing I think about during the day.

When using an auto-flush toilet (oh so common in today's society), how do you handle the need for a "courtesy flush"? Since the toilet doesn't flush unless you physically lift up and move away from the commode, what are you supposed to do? Stand up (and pray that no one in the stall next to you sees you standing there with pants around your ankles) so that the toilet thinks you are gone & flushes? Or do you just sit there and hope that no one walks in?

Welcome to my world. Hey.....

.

I'm Goin' Green!

I wish I could say that this post is a chronicle of my goals and action list of ways to become green (i.e. more environmentally conscious). But in reality, this is just a place for me to post pretty pictures of all the things I am currently lusting after that are in my favorite color of all colors--- green! I love grass green, lime green, sage green-- pretty much all shades (although I'm not a tremendous fan of hunter green. That phase passed in, oh say, 1997). Here are the items that I dream about during the night (and the day).

Item Lust #1: Peridot Ring. Peridot is my birthstone, so I must have this. Right?


Item Lust #2: The shoes are seriously cute. Seriously.


Item Lust #3: I have green flippies. But really, can a girl have TOO many flippies? I think not.


Item Lust #4: Summertime = Dinner on the patio. So these plastic dishes are a necessity.


Item Lust #5: Definitely time to invest in a laptop that I love. And this one definitely fits the bill.


Item Lust #6: This is my favorite candle ever, and I'm all out. Time to go to the mall.


Item Lust #7: Anybody else remember Lil' Miss books? These green Lil' Miss Happy pj pants are practical and practically perfect.


Item Lust #8: And a girl needs a place to relax, rewind, rejuvenate... and blog.


So there are the items that I am sinfully lusting after these days. What about you? Are there items that you just can't resist??