And so They Say.

Mr. Reaper not only took the lovely Farah Fawcett and the talented Michael Jackson last Thursday, he also took our home computer, which proved convenient for my husband.

True to form, I reacted just as my husband thought I would. The timing just seems really fishy to me :) I am grateful that we had all of our files backed up before the time of meltdown.

Our next homebrewed (as Andy calls it) computer is ordered and should arrive this week. In the meantime, perhaps I'll work on changing my predictive behaviors, I hate when he's dead-on.

Three deaths in one day - myth? I think not.

Peace be With You.

Michael Jackson was the King of Pop Culture and will live on forever as an integral pillar of the music industry. I loved his music, still do and probably always will.

It's kind of strange to loose what I view as the first icon from my generation too early. I understand sadness over people like Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and John Lennon a bit more today.

And who didn't try to moonwalk a thousand times over? No one ever came close to touching this:

Throughout his life, it was apparent his soul was in turmoil and I hope he's found peace.

Thanks for the tunes and your humanitarian efforts, Michael.

Decision Made.

We are PAINTING!

Now, I understand this may not be Earth shattering news to anyone but us. However, we both have been living in places that were 100% white for almost four years now, since our move to Chicago, and we are tired of feeling like mental patients.

Andy sent me off to pick out what I'd like and I have surprised myself thus far.

Curiously, I've still gravitated toward the "clean" look, despite my desire to add color. Check these rooms from pottery barn - aren't they just "ahhh" and refreshing?

I do love the blue wall, do I dare?

One Concert, Two Cars.

This morning, husband calls while I was jamming out to Ray Lamontagne's "You're are the Best Thing" in the car. He was also enjoying the sweet tune and call to tell me.

I have a sneaky suspicion had this song been out when we were married, it might have been our song. Gosh just saying that is major cheese...

Anyway, we had one concert in two cars this morning and it was a fabulous way to start the day. I do imagine my concert included a lot more fist pumping, screaming and drumming on the steering wheel but hey that was my part of the concert :)

Barry!

On Saturday night, a few girlfriends and I were on the Kennedy and ahead we noticed a truck carrying none other than President Obama's bust on it. While we could not close enough to confirm due to every other single car on the road vying for position to see what it was, we guessed that it was our President.

Turns out we were right. You see my girlfriends are very smart people! I found my official answer in my Google Reader. Another blogger kindly wrote about the origin of this bust.

Enjoy!

I Lied, I Wrote.

I ended my 27th year with a really great laugh, thanks to my husband and it was the perfect way to end a year of life and begin another.

Today is my birthday and I am exactly where I want to be and that feels good.

I take each day as it comes with the love of my life by my side (he's the best too!). I am loved unconditionally by two families and a cute puppy. Who could want for more?

When my kids read this some day, I want them to know that they should not fear age. This year in particular, I finally realized that life only gets better with age and it took me a number of years to reach that conclusion but I did.

I am where I want to be and it feels good.

Now, because I'm not one for just settling in and being comfortable, I have two small items on my list that I would like to accomplish in the next year. For now, I plan to keep them to myself and I'll let you know how things turn out.*

*And no, neither is having a child (Moms and Dads) so don't get any ideas :)

Blog Break.

I've been writing my brain out at work this week for the employee newsletter.  It seems when I get home from a day of writing the last thing I want to do is... WRITE.

So to my legions of fans, yes, I am still a blogger and will pick it up again in the coming days.

I've written five partial blogs this week and they are in my cue!  Massaging them to be just right seemed like a daunting task this week.  And no, I do not take myself that seriously.  I realize this blog is not rocket science - it's just my little life.

Until early next week - Cheers!

Happy Birthday, Brother!

Whatever your new year brings take solace in the fact that two things will always remain the same - you will always be taller and younger than me!

Best wishes for a great year ahead - Sto Lat!

Hello, Jetlag.

Well, my friend, my dear, dear friend, it took many years to finally meet you and now I understand what I have not been missing all of these years.  

I was away from my blog for so long that my Google Reader tool almost blew up tonight as I tried to pull my feed from the last 13 days or so.  That baby churned and alas, 15 minutes later I was good to catch up with the blogosphere again.

My trip to Tokyo, Japan alongside Andy was amazing.  We chuckled to ourselves the entire time, however, that Tokyo is everything you hate about life x 30 million people.  The subways were packed.  There were 80,000 restaurants to chose from - an indecisive person's worst nightmare and by the way, that's me.  It was expensive.  They dress to the nines no matter the weather or what they are doing.  Raining?  Dressed to the nines.  Hot as all get out?  Dressed to the nines.  Walking uphill for the next two hours?  Dressed to the nines in 7" heels.

But among the chaos that is Toyko, due to it's sheer amount of people, I found a beautiful city, culture and people.  It was truly beautiful.

Since it is only my third day back, I will save my commentary for another day when my head is completely clear of my dear friend.  I want to paint the picture as it was and need a little time to gather my thoughts.

One thing I will note, my remedy to get over jetlag - a HUGE bowl of pasta and a two tablespoons of Nyquil will put you to sleep for eight straight hours.  Sadly, it took my a number of sleepless nights to discover this little detail.