Things you probably didn't want to know, but I'm going to tell you anyway

Classical music you need to hear even if you think you don't like classical music~

*Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber~ I can't tell you how much I love this piece of music. It gives me goosebumps, and hearing it live is an experience I will never forget.

*Pavane by Faure~ Again, goosebumps. It is beautiful.

*Variations for Clarinet and Orchestra by Rossini~ I'm biased, I guess because I play the clarinet and all. It's fast, it's slow. It's seductive and exciting. The last movement has always reminded me of jazz.

*Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughn Williams~ I love Christmas music and Greensleeves is no exception. A "fantasia" is like a variation. Its awesome.

*Cello Concerto by Dvorak~ Like the violin concerto, I heard this live and it was amazing. I wish I played a string instrument. They are breathtaking.

Albums you need to listen to. Because I said so.

*Abbey Road by The Beatles~ Its like a story from beginning to end. It shows signs of classical music all over and really shows the musical genius of these 4 men. A song is heard here, and then you hear melody lines from it in a totally different song. Genius, just genius.

*Red Light Blue Light by Harry Connick Jr.~ I love albums that you can love every single song and not just a few. This album is that. "Jill" is a beautiful song written about his wife. "If I could give you more" is my favorite. I love the solos.

*The Broadway Album by Barbra Streisand~ Barbra covering Broadway standards. I've had this album forever. Her versions of some of these songs were the first I ever heard of them. Love it.

*Crash by Dave Matthews Band~ In my opinion, Dave Matthews is one of the greatest songs writers ever. His lyrics are something everyone can relate to, and I think that is why every college student in the late 90's gravitated towards him. This is another album that is just brilliant, start to finish.

*Gordon by the Bare Naked Ladies~ I'd never heard of the BNL when my college boyfriend took me to see them at the Meadows. The only group who does a better live show than BNL is Dave Matthews. They are awesome. Gordon is a great album, "The Flag" is my favorite. Rock Spectacle is their live album, also amazing.

If I were on a deserted island I would need...

*My Ipod. ~Obviously.

*Rex. ~He'd protect me, keep me company and keep me laughing.

*My Birkenstocks. ~I've gotten a lot of shit over the years for my Birks, but let me tell you they are comfy. Plus it is really hard to walk in the sand in flip flops.

*My pillow. ~I could do without a blanket, but not without a pillow.

*Swedish Fish. ~I love me some gummy candies.

Things I want to do before I die~

*See a breeching humpback whale in person.

*Go back to Israel with my husband.

*See as many of the 50 states as I can.

*Have a job that I love, love, love.

*Sing karaoke.

Thankful Thursday #5

~Thankfully Sprint was able to send me a brand new Blackberry to replace the one that Penny ate at just a third of the retail price.

~Thankfully The Dog Whisperer is just a phone call away when I'm not sure I'm doing what I'm suppose to.

~Thankfully Gordo has way better health insurance coverage than I do.

~Thankfully tomorrow is Friday. Sweet, sweet Friday.

~Thankfully there is hope. All kinds of hope.

Things you probably didn't want to know, but I'm going to tell you anyway

Movies I know almost entirely line by line
*Jaws
*You've Got Mail
*When Harry met Sally
*Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
*Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
*Dirty Dancing
*Finding Nemo
*The Little Mermaid
*Annie
*Alice in Wonderland
*Mary Poppins
*The Wizard of Oz

Musicals I could sing word for word for every character
*Annie
*My Fair Lady
*The Sound of Music
*West Side Story
*Fiddler on the Roof
*Oliver
*South Pacific

Things I think make me a little crazy
*I always put my left shoe on first
*Whichever sock I unfold first is the one that I put on first (on the left of course)
*If I eat something bite size, I almost always eat two. One for each side of my mouth.
*The volume control in my car is digital by numbers. I have to have it on even numbers. Except for 5's. (5, 15, 25 etc) For whatever reason I've never thought of multiples of 5 as "odd".

Musicians I think are brilliant for all kinds of reasons
*Dave Matthews
*Sheryl Crow
*All four Beatles
*Gene Simmons
*Beethoven
*Mozart
*Rodgers and Hammerstein
*Stephen Sondheim
*Leonand Bernstein

There's not enough wine in the world...

Every morning when I get to school, I turn on my computer, sit down and read my blogs. I am a creature of habit and this has become a wonderful way to start my day. My favorite blog, the one I look forward to the most, is "Nat the Fat Rat". I love the way she writes, I love the pictures of her husband and her dogs. I love that she is just so darn cute. I love that I could totally see her hanging out with my friends. And she's been struggling with trying to get pregnant too. I feel like we could be the same person, she and I. The last few days she's been talking about going for a "thing" and how many would be in the "thing" and how unfortunate it is that her husband is away for the "thing". People commented, excited to find out how many babies would be in the ultrasound, but "thing" is so vague. Then another vague post yesterday. Maybe the "thing" wasn't an ultrasound and the "how many" wasn't babies. So today when I turned on my computer, I was eager to find out. And there it was, in the middle of the screen at 7:30am. Big, black and white and blob-like. And I sat at my computer, at 7:30am and cried. And cried. And my eyes are welling up now almost 5 hours later.

I just got my period this morning, you see. Just like I have for the last 19 months. But this time I didn't think it was coming. I didn't feel it at all. And then like a bat out of hell, there she was. What a bitch Mother Nature can be.

Thankful Thursday #4 (on a Saturday night)

~Thank you for dog trainers. Dog whisperers. My Rex is walking without a harness, without pulling, without stopping every five paces to sniff for the first time in almost three years.

~Thank you for husbands who not only get raises, but bonuses, and call it "our" money.

~Thank you for Girl Scout cookies.

~Thank you for friends, red wine and breakfast food.

~Thank you for hope. All kinds of hope.

Yea, he's got her head in his mouth in that picture.

Tuesday

I will be eternally jealous of people who are not affected by what others think of them. Are there even such a people? People who aren't bothered by what their mother, friends, co-workers think of them. Does such a person exist? If they do exist, I know that I will never be one of those people. You can say whatever you'd like to try to convince me otherwise, but I know that it will just never be.

***

The days are long and exhausting when you are constantly wondering if that thing you said was said to the wrong person, and will then be repeated to another wrong person, resulting in everyone thinking you are a not a good person.

The days are long and exhausting when you are upset about thing A, which then makes you upset about thing B. And then thing C becomes you getting frustrated and yelling at kids for which it is certainly not their fault. Then that of course turns into thing D, E and F.

But then I get in my car for the 30 minute trek home and Dave Mathews tells me "Sometimes its easy to be myself. Sometimes, I find it better to be somebody else." And I think he's the smartest man alive, and I start to feel better. Then Sheryl Crow say "I wanna soak up the sun. I wanna tell everyone to lighten up." Yea, Sheryl, yea.

And then I get home. And at the top of the steps, my big, black, furry baby smiles and wags his tail at me. And my curly tailed little girl wimpers and jumps at my knees. And I feel a little bit better.

Oh, and my crocuses are blooming.

Thankful Thursday #3

*I bought two super cute shirts at Target on Friday. I went to put on one of the shirts Monday and it didn't fit. Not happy. I had already taken the tags off! I tossed the receipt! I tried my luck and went to exchange them today, with no high hopes. Ta-da! They did the exchange, no problem! I now have two super cute shirts that fit. I am thankful for Target.

*I love the Olympics, I really do. But I am so glad that my shows came back this week. Thursday night on NBC just wasn't the same when it was skiing.

*Our Dog Whisperer is coming to the house in less than a week. I am so thankful that we will be getting into a routine with him.

*I am thankful for my health and for my husband's. Health and happiness.

*I am thankful for doctors named Pasquale. More than that, I love that I am seeing a doctor named Pasquale and my husband thought he was Israeli.