Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ron Howard's Call To Action

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Going out of my Abba mind

Every day, Thomas has to listen to Abba while doing school.

Every day. Every single stinking day.

No other CD will do. I have tried to introduce him to new music. I got out my CD folder labeled "mellow" and started putting CDs in. We've listened to John Denver, Willie Nelson's Stardust, Bread, America, BeeGees...yuck to all.

We used to listen to classical music, but Thomas hated that. We quit. I actually got a Mozart CD out and slipped it in instead of Abba. He didn't like that one bit.

Last week I snuck in a George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue CD. He listened, and I told him it was one of my favorite songs because it told a story with no words. He looked at me as if I was crazy. When the song had played twice (I put it on repeat--if he can repeat Waterloo, by golly I can repeat Rhapsody in Blue) he got up, pulled the disk and put Abba in.

And played it.

For the millionth time.

Abba, Abba, Abba.

I know all the songs by heart. I dream about the songs. Heck, I have nightmares about the songs.

Why Abba?

For Pete's sake, I like Abba, but I think I've had enough to last me a lifetime.

When Bob comes home for lunch, the first thing out of his mouth after hello is, "Abba, again?"

Yeah, Abba. Again.

Thomas wants another Abba CD, one with the songs that he knows that aren't on this CD. Thanks, You Tube. Thanks a lot. I am not looking forward to Ring, Ring.

But being the mom I am, I don't complain in front of Thomas. Instead I let it fester inside. I might tease him a bit (I am a gentle teaser, I think teasing can quickly become mean, so I'm mindful.)

He has always hated music. He's been exposed to music his whole life. I find it so odd, because Bob and I have always loved music. I like about anything except country, but I'll even listen to some country. When I was a teenager, I had every Kenny Rogers record there was. What was I thinking? I had other stuff, though. I didn't listen to Kenny Rogers day after day after day.

Interruption of my blog post: Thomas just informed me, right this second, that he thinks we should get another Abba album, so he can hear things like Eagle and Ring Ring.

Mom bangs her head on the table.

When Thomas was a toddler, he hated music. We'd go to a little kid event, and all the kids would be dancing in the aisle to the silly music, but not Thomas. It was so beneath him.

The only good thing I have to say about Abba is that Thomas, for the first time in his life, will SING. He sings Abba songs on almost a daily basis. That is music to a mother's ears.

However, I am still sick of Abba.

I'm thinking of getting myself an iPod shuffle so I can listen to other stuff while he listens to Abba.

And speaking of iPods, that great stereo I bought (aside from playing Abba 90% of the time) has been wonderful. We have just about finished up our SOTW disks. And I discovered I didn't need to buy an iPod for the thing, because it has an iPod docking station. I went to Radio Shack and bought a plug-in for $5 and we can play our Creative Zen on the stereo. That was big for me because I didn't have to come up with money for a more expensive iPod. Whew. I can pick up a Shuffle for $49 at Wal-Mart. That just may save my sanity.

So here we sit, listening to Abba, doing school and now the neighbor starts up his leaf blower on the vacuum setting and he's vacuuming the street again. He does this every other day. Still.

I really need a Shuffle.

I think I've posted about Abba before. Ad nauseum. I probably will again. Sheesh.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Sold

Dad's house is officially sold.

About an hour and a half after getting the news, I broke out into uncontrollable sobs. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I'm going to give myself a few days to mourn. It's almost like losing Dad all over again. Kind of. It's just weird.

My safe haven is no longer. My kitchen table chats are gone.

The house now will remain in my heart, mind and photos.

It's all so final--what I wanted, but it hurts nonetheless.

This too shall pass.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Ouch

DH and I just filled out our new insurance forms. For almost the same coverage (slightly lower deductibles) we're going to be paying $50 more per paycheck. That will add up quick.

It was an uneventful weekend. Well,I got something done that I really needed to get done that was highly stressful for me. I putzed around the house. Thomas was hardly to be seen as he was out and about running the neighborhood with his friends.

Dad's house is scheduled to close tomorrow. I am praying it goes through. I'm sure it will.

Tomorrow is Bob's birthday. He's getting old. Will celebrate by taking him to his favorite (and only, besides Taco John's)Mexican restaurant in town. He prefers cheesecake to cake, so I'll pick up a cheesecake at the grocery store. I'll be darned if I'm going to buy 49 candles, though!

Next year should be fun when he turns 50.

The house is a disaster, so I'm actually looking forward to Monday, I'll have Thomas do the work he will do (meaning, that which he won't lose his attention) alone, and I'll catch up a bit. Then we'll settle in and do the rest.

I just haven't felt like blogging lately. Usually I have lots of fluff to talk about, but I've got very little right now. Walking around in a state of numbness, I guess. I sure wish I'd hit a funny streak, or an inspirational steak, or something. That's life, though.