Shipoopi - The Music Man

Here's the Music Man version for the purists and the ones who feel like comparing.

Family Guy - Shipoopi

OK this is hysterical, I love all things Family Guy and ever since this played in my living room it has been sung by D and I. Even K gets in on the fun as she now knows the words to this song. This morning I mentioned something to D about it's origin and he had no idea where it came from! I always thought it was so funny because I remember Buddy Hackett singing it from The Music Man it was always the stupid song. I played it for them this morning and now they both love it even more. K has a thing about dancing and her eyes were glued to the screen, she watched it over and over. I'm so glad she likes this kind of stuff better then the crap other kids seem to be into. Give her a well choreographed musical number and she's happy.

Anyway I'm tired from long day of relaxing in the cold and fog by the pool and then off to a party, instead of complaining about watching my six year old pick up cute boys at the party I thought I'd share both versions of Shipoopi. This is the obviously the Family Guy version, the Music Man is right above it.

Enjoy!

The long road home

The other day when I was picking K up from hip hop a few of the moms were chit chatting while we waited. One of them KH is a mom I knew from last year and one of the "cool' ones, our daughters are friends and I like hanging with her. She told me that she saw something earlier in the week that was so sweet and I was part of it. She said she saw D at pickup on Tuesday and then she saw me getting out of my car to greet him. She said the she could tell how glad I was to see him and then we joined hands and walked off together. She told me it was like a scene straight out of a movie and it made her happy. Happy to know that there were people out there that were actually happy and in love. Then another friend told her she should see the messages we leave for each other on Facebook. They they all made fun of me. It was sweet.

It's been a really long journey to get to be the romantic inspiration for a friend. I told her it took a lot to get there but it was worth it.

The moment that KH witnessed happened on my birthday, this past Tuesday. I was early picking up K (like always) and was in my car reading a book, I looked up and saw D walking towards me. He had tried to come home early so we could go together but he had too much to do. No biggie, I was going to take K to karate and then maybe grab a treat. Anyway he managed slip out early and meet me and I was thrilled to see him. This was obvious to D and KH who saw us greet each other. I think I said something like "What are you doing here?" but in a good way, last year it might have sounded more like "what are you doing here?"

The road to happiness is full of bumps and detours and there are no rest stops. Sometimes the road has been washed out from the rain and it takes a keen driver to stay on track. There were times in the past when I wanted to cut left and double back to the main road but I remained focused, took some deep breaths and continued. D did the same. We don't always drive the same speed but at least we're both still on the road and driving in the same direction. Did I kill that metaphor or what?

I always wanted to be part of that couple, you know the one I mean, that really great couple that everyone loves and always wants to be around. The couple that puts everyone at ease no matter where they are. Not the fake plastic kind but the real kind that laugh and make fun of each other in a loving way. I think we were that couple a long time ago but somehow passed each other on that road. I'm so glad we met up again, I hate driving alone.

I went into my bedroom earlier to write today's blog and relax while D and K watched a movie but I fell asleep curled up around my laptop. This is a big thing for me. I am a terminal insomniac, suffering with sleep issues my whole life. The thoughts in my head never stop long enough for me to relax. Today before I fell asleep I thought about what KH said and it made me happy, happy enough to relax and drift off to sleep. When I finally woke up it was to the laughing of K and D and I realized how happy they made me. How happy I was to have my D back.

This is a love letter of sorts, to my leading man.

I love you D.

Hair soaks up oil spills

From Squidoo.com:

Hair/Fur As Cheap and Effective Oil Slick Cleanup

With the oil spill Gulf of Mexico threatening the ecology, people worldwide are watching wishing they could help. Perhaps they don't realize just how much they can. Human hair and animal fur can be used to help clean up the oil and stop its spread. That's right - human hair. Hair collects oil. That's why you have to wash it. Just as it collects oil from your skin, it also collects oil from an environmentally threatening oil slick.

After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, a hairdresser in Alabama named Phil McCrory noticed how the photos of the otters showed the water right around them to be cleaner that the surrounding areas. He recognized that their fur had collected the oil out of the water. Hair, after all, has a natural tendency to collect oil. He went to work inventing the hair mat, using human hair clippings and a kiddie pool in his yard. He soon realized that one pound of hair can soak up about one quart of oil, and when formed into a sturdy mat, it can be rung out and reused over a hundred times!

Let Down

The video above is from my all time favorite band, Radiohead playing their song "Let Down" from OK Computer. It's a song they rarely play live, it's hard to reproduce live so this video is a treat! According to Thom Yorke the song is about an enormous fear of being trapped. This post isn't about music or Radiohead, last night when I was out to dinner with my bestie A she told me to write about how I foiled her plans for a birthday party that she wanted to plan for me, I didn't exactly foil anything, I just never told her the truth about how old I was (it's all right here). She told me to write about how she was let down, and the picture can be a breastfeeding baby (let down, get it?). I'll give her the title but I don't really want a stranger's boobies on my blog.

So A, this is for you:

So recently I started a huge Spring cleaning project, one of the things that desperately needed cleaning was my conscience. When I met A somehow she got the impression that I was a few years younger than I really was. How did she get that impression? I told her, and then I forgot about it. She would make a comment here and there but I never really thought about it. Then as it got closer to my birthday she kept bring it up, she did the math and thought that the birthday that was fast approaching was a "big" one. Crap. I knew that ignoring it wasn't an option. I had to come clean, I just wasn't sure how. The more I talked to her the more she would grill me about what my plans were, the more that happened the more I retreated. She started talking to me about calling D to get a list together for a party she was now planning, a party at her uncle's beach house. Crap! When we went out for lunch recently she followed me around a jewelry store to see what I liked. She was so into this.

When I finally told her she wasn't the least bit upset that I wasn't truthful (actually she didn't believe me and thought I was now lying to get out of a party) she thought that part was funny. She was upset that she wouldn't be throwing me a party, she was serious too, I believe this implicitly. Last night we talked about this, she didn't get to throw the party but she insisted on taking me to dinner. I'm not really big on birthdays, I like going to dinner with D and K, that's about it. I went out with A because I owed her that. It was actually a really fun night, we went to a newish place in Santa Monica and were both happy to see that it was packed when we walked through the door. We were happier to see that our waiter was somewhat of a comedian. We tormented him throughout the evening and he gave us a fair amount of crap as well. At one point A decided to tell the waiter my birthday story and then proceeded to tell him that I was now 50. I was happy to see that he didn't believe it, I don't think he believed my real age either but that's OK.

Usually on our "dates" I have a glass of wine and worry about getting home early. Last night we split a bottle of wine over three hours laughing and swapping secrets along the way. She also made me open a present at the table (something that would usually never happen) she had selected things for me that she knew I would love but never buy for myself (thanks again A, I wore it all today!!) We even had dessert, which was brought out with a candle and "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate. Thankfully there was no singing.

We stayed until the place was almost empty torturing our poor waiter until the very end, of course he loved every minute of it coming by our table often.

I hope A is over her let down, I hope she feels like she properly celebrated my birthday with me. I know that she feels like she missed the "big one" but I didn't do anything special for that one. D and I had a nice dinner at Nobu and that was fine with me. I don't really like big parties that celebrate me. I got over that for my wedding but that was difficult. I do like the intimate dinner thing, I can do that every year, maybe next year I can add a few people. Maybe even do something at my house. Maybe.

For now, this one is over and I have a long time to worry about next year.

Not that I'll be worrying.

Much.

Emotional Superhero

I coined that phrase today at Dr. Phil's. We were talking about the anger I tend to exhibit after certain sessions, like the ones where I am told to take the high road regarding my MIL. I get it, I know what I need to do, I do it all the time, I just don't have to like it. It's the same kind of anger I get while watching the news and seeing BP's head asshole Tony Hayward tell the world he wants his life back. He is partially responsible for 11 people who lost their lives, for polluting the ocean, for killing ecosystems and the list goes on and will continue to go on until his company does something about it. What will be the fallout from this? Besides the death and destruction? Probably nothing. A fine maybe? Even a huge fine isn't enough. This company should be shut down and all those involved in ignoring safety measures should be tried for murder, all profits should be put back into the businesses that will have to close.

This is the stuff that gets me angry, when crimes and actions go unpunished. I cannot watch the news anymore for this reason, priests are molesting children and the Vatican covers it up, these are CRIMES and they go unpunished every single day. Politicians are lying and committing treason (a crime) and nothing is done. Sometimes I feel like I'm screaming and nothing is coming out. It's infuriating and I cannot stand it. When it happens in my own house I do something about it. I understand that my MIL will never change, I understand that if she wants to spend the rest of her life in complete denial about who and what she is that's her business, the only thing I can do is not reward that behavior with family visits. The other thing I can do is make sure she knows why. She cannot simply blame what is happening in our family on her bitch of a daughter-in-law, I mean she can do this to her friends but that doesn't bother me. I want her to know why this is going on, she can refuse to acknowledge her own behavior but she needs to know that she isn't fooling us.

I know this confrontation is going to be difficult for D, I would do it for him if I could (I don't think I would be as effective or nice about it though). I just need to see her receive some sort of "punishment." I've taken so much crap from her already and although I know it's childish and immature I want her to know what it feels like. We talked about injustice yesterday and I brought up karma, yes I believe the life (or lack of) my MIL has created for herself has some sort karmic value, but in order to go on I need her to know she's only fooling herself by denying her reality. Dr. Phil asked what happens if she doesn't change (she won't) and I repeated once again that I just need this out there. I need to have some sort of balance in this situation. I will no longer keep quiet when she makes one of her awful comments or plans a family reunion when she knows I won't be there (yes, she really did this). I'm not as nice as D, my responses will be quick and cutting, I think she needs to know that they will be coming.

I talked about being an emotional superhero because things like the BP spill, the Vatican abuse scandal, the wars we continue to fight, the ban on same sex marriage, the teabaggers, Sister Sarah, Rush, Glenn and the rest of the big mouthed idiots get me so angry. I feel a violent reaction in my body when I think of these things, I want to fly down to the Gulf and stop the leak myself. Surely my will alone is strong enough? I feel powerless, ineffective and weak when I think of how little I can do about the things that make me so angry. I have no choice but to become emotional over them. What am I supposed to do with these feelings? How can I see pictures of the Gulf and not react? Who can do that? I try to avoid talking about it or watching the news but I can't. It's everywhere. I need to see some sort of action to quell these feelings, if it can't be done with the current plagues of our world then it has to be done with the issues in my house. I cannot attach my cape, fly around the Earth at incredible speeds to create a force making time run backwards until all the oil is back where it belongs and the 11 people that were killed are alive again. I can only help my husband compile a list of past grievances and offenses to bring up to his mother. I can support him and give him the strength he needs to get this done effectively. I can try to not want to beat the crap out of her if she does anything egregious to me again. I can do all of these things.

I am M, an emotional superhero.

Wanna join my team?

Another year

I'm not big on birthdays, that's not true actually, I like other people's birthdays. Mine is not that important to me, it seems foolish to make a big deal about something you had nothing to do with, at least that's the way I see it. I do understand celebrating with other people though. So today was mine, not a big deal to me but to my child it was huge and that was adorable. She woke up super early and pulled D out of bed, together they made me breakfast in bed which we all ate together. It was lovely, her happy face in the morning is really inspiring, especially when she gets to help open presents. She gets excited over anything relating to birthdays and I was happy to let her.

After they left I was kind of sad, when the school nurse called 30 minutes later saying K was complaining about burning eyes I was halfway out the door to get her. She was calling to make sure that K didn't have pinkeye, instead of saying she might I told her the truth: she was in the pool all weekend and lately she gets a little itchy (K's word) when she has eggs, which she made me for breakfast. "Should I come get her?" I asked. "No, she's fine, we're just making sure." Waaaaa. I wanted her to be home with me. Instead of giggling with my daughter I slowly got myself ready for the day. I was going to go to a local day spa but scrapped that just in case the school called again and K wanted to come home. I remember that feeling of wanting to come home from school and then the school never being able to reach my mother. Instead I took a ride to visit the brand new TJ Maxx that opened in Santa Monica, it was a shoppers dream. Seriously if you know labels there are incredible deals there. I bought two dresses, I wanted to wear something new to dinner, besides they were cute and it was my birthday. Double justification.

I got to school early as usual and was surprised to see my husband walking up to my car a few minutes before dismissal, he left early to spend the rest of the day with me. Of course when K saw us both she opted to go home with daddy, I wasn't surprised she always comes home with me. As I turned the corner passed D's car he told me he had to pick up something at a friends house on the way home. I figured I'd be about 10 minutes ahead of them and I took my time coming home. After about 20 minutes I sent D a text: uh hello? He called immediately, apparently he and K had a few other things to do. I felt bad complaining when they were trying to do something nice for me but I was tired of being alone. I missed them. They finally came home with gorgeous flowers and a little red velvet cake for me. Yum, thankfully all diet rules are suspended on your birthday.

We tore through the cake and hurried K to to change into her karate gear. I'm glad D got to go with me, Saturday's karate class is so crowded he never gets to really see what goes on in the dojo. He doesn't get to see how it's like a second home to the kids and moms (and nannies and dads) how we all tend to stay long after our kids are done with their class. He got to see that today when we lingered a bit after class talking to D in the office about the weekend and our plans for dinner. Later in car he asked me where I met D, I told him when K started karate. He thought we had known each other longer, I told him that's why we love karate, it's so much more than an activity that K does a few times a week, it truly is a second home.

We got home and changed quickly, we were having dinner at Luna Park a restaurant I have passed a million times but never stepped foot inside, a few weeks ago K and I were watching "The Best Thing I ever Ate" (again) and Sandra Lee said the s'mores were amazing. We watched as she made her own s'mores at the table and we were jealous, I told K that we should go there on my birthday and she agreed. So we did. We went there because of s'mores but I have to say that we had one the best meals ever. The cioppino I ordered was superb, D's pot roast was unbeatable and K's mac and cheese with ham wasn't just great it was super great. The s'mores however, were heavenly. We decided right there to make it a family birthday tradition. It was that good.

Overall it was a great birthday. The coolest gift I got? A leather bound copy of the first three months of this blog. I had no idea that while I was writing the random thoughts in my head I was writing a book. It's beautiful too, my very own coffee table book! I better go out and buy a coffee table now.

I am supremely happy.

See, wishes do come true.