Step Outside 'Cause Summertime's In Bloom

It's been a while since I've blogged. It's sad really, because I'm quite clever. But you'll get over it. after all, I'm here now.

I'm posting a song because it's one of my all time favorites. I have a fifteen year old daughter. She mostly thinks I'm totally lame. It doesn't really hurt my feelings because it's age appropriate behavior. She's trying to be anything but like me. She's trying to figure out who she is and what she stands for. I applaud it, really- It's a big task. As she's trying to figure out what she thinks about things, I try to find ways to connect with her. One way we have always connected is through music. She loves music and so do I.

When she was a baby, Mikey was in the Navy and he was gone quite often. On the nights that he was gone, she would not go to sleep unless I played "Somebody" by Depeche Mode. When she was a toddler, her favorite songs were "Roxanne" (she thought it was about rocks and sand- I let her believe it) and "I Love Rock and Roll" (She would sing- very loudly I might add- in her little girl voice "Put another dime in the juicebox, baby!") As she's gotten older, she still loves those songs.

Unfortunately, she's also discovered Skrillex and Tokio Hotel- but that's another entirely different post- I haven't the energy to discuss it today.

But.... I have kept her as cool as possible by adding Morrissey and The Cure, as well as other important peeps to her Ipod. She has rebelled forcefully against The Killers, but I think she'll come around. She has good taste, after all. For now- we simply agree to disagree- although I maintain that she's dead wrong.

One song we both love and sing together is "Don't Look Back In Anger" by Oasis. It's a classic. Catchy and beautiful. I pretend she doesn't know what starting a revolution from one's bed means and she allows me to do so. Ignorance is indeed bliss, you know.

I love her, she's amazing and she teaches me every day. Thanks to her, I became a mom. It's one of my most cherished titles. I have great kids. We rock out on a daily basis. I'm not a perfect mother, but I'm a damn good one, and my kids know without a doubt that I love them more than life itself- because I tell them. Daily. I don't care how old they get (I've managed to stop aging- I'm lucky like that)- we will continue to jam.

There's always a reason to dance.

Enjoy this tune. It's fabulous.



/>

The Fighter

Whenever I'm doing ab work at the gym my trainer is constantly telling me one thing, "Keep your chin up."  It's kind of amazing how much harder it is to do a stinking sit up when your chin is up and not resting on your chest.   Life is kind of like a sit up.  It's so easy to get down and hide and let people get the best of you.  It's keeping your chin up that is hard.

 I was told the other day that someone said I was too immature to handle the things in my life and I was going to fall flat on my face.  I was really offended by that.  First off because who's more mature than me?  Duh!!  No one.  Secondly, how dare anyone say I'm going to fall.  Then as I thought about it I realized that they are probably right.  I don't believe it's a matter of immaturity.  I think it's a matter of growing.   People never stop growing and learning, right?  And in this process, we fall.  Some of us a lot of times.  It's how we learn.  It's how we get better.  It's how we figure out who's there for us and who isn't.  I'm very lucky to have a hand full of loyal friends and an amazing man in my life who may sometimes have to let me fall, but they always have a hand out to help me back up.

I'm not ashamed of falling.  I'm not ashamed of the mistakes I've made.  I've learned a lot of hard lessons.  Some of them two of three times before they sunk in.  Some of them still haven't.  But I'll get there eventually.  And all I can say right now is my chin is up and I'm not on the ground. That must say something about who I am becoming.