Music Edit and Memorial Day

Hi everyone!  Memorial Day weekend was really great.  We had so much fun visiting friends in PA and you know what? I drank responsibly and didn't make a fool out of myself!  Then an impromptu stop at my parents for an afternoon of swimming and food. The ride back Sunday evening was a little dicey.  Our son was out like a light, but our 16 month old daughter is the only child I have ever known who does not sleep in the car.  She grunted and groaned until almost 10 pm.  She didn't fall asleep until i got in the back seat with her and put her head against her blanket and patted it! She hates car rides and now, so do we.  We were so spoiled with our son.  I could plan road trips with his nap schedule and it would be awesome!  Now, I seriously don't want to go anywhere.
Memorial Day itself was great as well.  More swimming for everyone.  Our son and one of his friends frolicked in the water entertaining each other.  It is so nice to finally to get to this part where they don't need your undivided attention and would rather play with their friends.  Don't get me wrong, I love to play with my son, but I welcome the time where he is engaged with a more age-appropriate playmate.  He and my husband got a little too much sun and are a bit crispy today.  We will have to remember to re-apply next time. I also can not believe that I didn't take one single picture this whole weekend.  Oh well!
Also, I have updated the music player to turn the auto-play off.  So if you want to listen to it, you will have to manually press play. Sorry (to those of you who like it) and for those of you who didn't, you can thank me later. I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend! TTFN!

Reality Check

I just want to say that I need a few mental health days.  Without going into too much detail, this week has made me realize just how important family and close friends are. This week I have appreciated life and the relationships I have with the people around me.  I have a new appreciation of all the great things I have in my life.  Live each day and love to the fullest.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Tiny

Throwback Thursday: Book It

Let me begin by saying that I was having issues yesterday coming up with a Throwback and a trusted source served this one right up!  If you do not know what book it was/is click here to learn more.  According the Wikipedia:

Book It!

Pizza Hut has been a longtime sponsor of the "Book It!" program (started in 1984^[24]), which encourages reading in American and Australian schools. Those who read books according to the goal set by the classroom teacher are rewarded with Pizza Hut coupons good for a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza or discounted menu items. In the late 1980s, Pizza Hut threw free pizza parties for classes if all students met their reading goals. The program has been criticized by some psychologists on the grounds that it may lead to overjustification and reduce children's intrinsic interest in reading.^[25] However, a study of the program found that participation in the program neither increased nor decreased reading motivation.^[25] The program's 25th anniversary was in 2009.

I love the part of this that says that a study shows participation in the program neither increased or decreased motivation to read.  You know why?  All we cared about was getting our damn Personal Pan Pizza!  I mean I was definitely one of the nerds who took pride on getting my star sticker on my pin, but I am sure there was Book It! fraud.  

I'd also like to add an anecdote about a night we went to the Pizza Hut on Hamilton Blvd. with the family.  My brother was just an infant and my parents had his infant carrier on the floor next to one of their chairs, I can't remember whose.  What I do remember is the waiter, who was preparing either mine or my sister's pin, again I don't recall, dropped it on my brother's head.  An open, sharp object falling on an infant with special needs.  I thought my dad was going to blow through the roof.  That poor guy, he is lucky he made it to the end of his shift.  My brother was perfectly fine after the once over he was given for puncture wounds to his skull.  

For me Book It! was a great motivational tool, even it used food as a reinforcer, um can you say No No?!  Now, I don't have to read books to get my Personal Pan Pizza, I just head down to my local Target and order one up.  But, I don't get a gold star on a sweet pin.  I just get a stomachache and clogged arteries.  TTFN!

New Uses for Old Things #3: Hair

If I know my sister, she will die reading this.  However, being the aspiring gardener that she is, she should listen up.  A few years ago I shared with a former co-worker that I was frustrated about 'something' that was eating my plants.  She told me that if I sprinkle human hair in the garden, the pests won't be attracted to the plants.  It makes perfect sense.  The animals smell humans and then stay away!  I have implemented this little tidbit the two past gardening seasons and it really does work.  How do I get the hair? That is the part that is going to put my sister over the edge.  I take it out of the hairbrush of course.  I do have a bit of a habit of letting it build up in the first place, so this is not difficult for me.  My sister can not stand hair build up in a brush, so it may be a bit more difficult for her to collect.  Anyway, then I just snip little bits and sprinkle it around the plants.  This little tip has helped turn my black thumb to a darker shade of green, so I share this with you and hope you use it,  if you have the same unfortunate skill of killing plants as I do.  As for indoor plants, I'll keep working on it :)  TTFN!

If you started a music band, what would the name be?

I have never aspired to start a band, however my childhood best friend and I did video tape our own talk show called "Bodacious"  This had to have taken place sometime around 1991.  It was incredible. We both had big Champion sweatshirts on with turtlenecks and hairsprayed bangs.  Wow, what were we thinking!  I wish more than anything I had that video to upload.  One of these days I'll get my dad to transfer it to me somehow!  Bodacious is one of our top funniest things we have done together (and we have a lot), but the following photo takes the cake:

Really, what the hell where we doing?  This picture 100% belongs on Ellen's Bad Paid for Photos, which is by far the funniest bit on any talk show I have ever seen.  It never fails to bring a smile to my face or make me laugh out loud.  So, while I never had dreams of being in a band, naming a talk show Bodacious is about as awesome as it gets.  TTFN!

Music

I have decided to go against what virtually everyone has told me about adding music to your blog.  I know 99.9% of people who read blogs say it is a huge nuisance and they dont' care for it.  However, if you know me at all, I really don't conform to what others say.  I happen to enjoy musical selections that play on a blog that I read a lot.  That being said, I have added a player to the sidebar from Playlist.com that you can turn off if it annoys you.  Music is a big part of me and I use it as a backdrop in my life (does that make sense?).  I look forward to sharing some of my favorite music with you.  I will continue to update and add songs to reflect music that helps to tell the story of my life. Maybe you will love one of them and it will inspire you.  Maybe you will turn it off and never hear them.  Whatever the case may be, they will be there for your enjoyment.  TTFN!