Stupid freakin’ NBC and their Olympic monopoly. I wanted to show you Phelps’ amazing 100m fly swim last night which was easily the greatest minute of Olympic competition I’ve ever seen. But, nooooooo, NBC wouldn’t allow me to embed it. /rant So if you haven’t seen this swim to gold, I won’t spoil it for you. Just make sure you check it out on the NBC site even if they currently suck at life.

My favorite time of year is here!!! Back to school! Not because I’m that thrilled about school itself, but because every store on the planet now has every paper product, writing utensil, and craft adhesive known to man. Every year at this time I stock up on Sharpies of every color to decorate my world, every size of Post-It notes of various shapes and sizes to keep my life in order, and any other product that I just can’t live without. (I’m really eying a JoBros lunch bag, but I’m not sure if I’m on Team Demi/Selena or Team Miley.)  I found the motherload for this Back To School season today at Staples in the form of paper clips in the shape of treble clefs and guitars.  I plan on using these babies all year long and even made sure to get enough to send to my mom for her music classes.

I’m sure you’re tired of all the Mayer dialogue found here as of late, but instead of gushing about my love for such an obvious douchebag (according to all the boys that are pissed he says such unmanly things and still gets the girl), I’m here to ask for your help.  Since I first heard/watched/memorized Mayer’s Where The Light Is dvd, I have been convinced that at the end of Free Fallin’ he says “Now, I’m free freeballin, freefallin” at 3 minutes and 27 seconds in.  Of course none of the other JM lovers are quite as convinced as I am that his happens.  So be a darling and do me a favor and take a listen and let me know what you hear.  (But, only tell me if you think I’m right.  I can’t stand losing.)

I am a blessed girl.  I have a family that is more incredible than I can even grasp most days.  I have a job that I love and wouldn’t change for anything (despite the days that I appear discontent and frustrated).  I have a perfect new home that is just that … a home, and I have friends that love me. What more could a girl ask for?  It’s funny. At this point in my life, I have more close friends than I even would have thought possible ten years ago when I was the outspoken, misunderstood geeky girl hanging with the teachers in the Teachers’ Lounge. Sometimes life is like that… full of unexpected blessings.

A few days ago as I was putting the last minute touches on my new apartment, I found myself in the middle of my bed surrounded by photos…  Sarah and I at the 2004 Bush Rally (don’t judge).  Lauren and I ice skating with rosy red cheeks and scarves.  Jeff and the girls at Matty Nay. The Anti-LIT squad on the coasts of Ireland. Hero and I at the BSM camp-out. Hugs with cousins from California to Montana.  Stacks of pictures of the brother and I.   It was overwhelming to see the physical evidence of such happiness in my own life.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I don’t believe that friendship is based upon Facebook or MySpace pics unlike so many in my generation.  There is more than one cherished friend of mine out there whose face doesn’t wallpaper my apartment, but instead, those that do serve as a daily reminder that despite the bumps in the road and nights that for some unknown reason I feel alone… I’m not nor have I ever been.

One of the coolest chicks I know, Heatherbee, falls into that category of unexpected blessings.  (I mean, our original bonding moment came from our love of John Mayer.  Stalk, much?)  From late night phone calls to finding ourselves on the same page of our lives’ novels, I love this girl.  Knowing my fondness for capturing memories in photo form, I told Heather as she was packing to fly to Arizona last week to visit me that we had to make sure and get at least one good picture of us this time around.  Last time, we had seen each other (Mayer/Rouse ’07 in OKC) we had managed to walk away with one poorly lit hotel room photo, and that just wasn’t going to fly this time.  Somehow amidst the foreign tourists in the National Geographic Grand Canyon store, we found spelunking helmits and took this picture.  I’m not sure if this was the typical ‘memory’ most would want to capture forever.  But to me, it’s perfect, and you can bet you’ll find it on my wall.

Confession #39: I’ve lived in Flagstaff for the past eight years and have NOT been to the Grand Canyon.

Don’t freak out.  I have seen the GC but not since I was ten years old. It seems that every time someone was going, I was working or too busy to tag along. So since The Bee had never been and the monsoons had squashed our idea of walking around anywhere, we found ourselves driving to the Grand Canyon on Sunday afternoon. Of course, our impromptu trip meant that I didn’t have either of my cameras, but Heather’s camera and my cell phone camera did a pretty great job.  Sometime in every one of your lives, you need to take the time and see this world wonder.  Despite my overwhelming fear of heights, you can’t help but sit as close to the edge as possible and observe the beauty of our Creator.

I’ve waited to post pictures of my new apartment until both Heather and my family had seen it.  (Didn’t want to spoil the surprise.)  Now that they’ve all seen it… it’s your turn!!!  I’ve linked larger photos to each smaller one so that you get the full effect if you click on it!

Living Room:

Living Room Into Kitchen:

Kitchen:

Dining Area:

Spare Bedroom/Office:

My Bedroom And Favorite Room Of The House:

If you haven’t watched this yet, GO NOW! The boy/man is a beast.

After a long day fighting with the issues of all things automotive, I came to home to the most amazing surprise. There’s really no way to explain it except to share it with you. Try to hold back your jealousy. Please and thank you.

Greetings,

I am sure this mail would be coming to you as a surprise since we have never met before and you would also be asking why I have decided to chose you amongst the numerous internet users in the world,precisely I cannot say why I have chosen you but do not be worried for I come in peace and something very positive is about to happen to your life right now and to the lives of others through you, if only you can carefully read and digest the message below. Permit me to give you a little of my biography,I am Mother Emily Olivier, 87 Years old woman and the wife of Late Sir Jackman Olivier who died in a Plane crash on Monday the 7th of September 1998 GMT 14:22 UK while they were flying
from New York to Geneva.

After the death of my husband I became the Head of his investment and now that I am old and weak and need to rest with my friends and family. Before the death of my husband we had a plan to use the last days of our lives to donate half of what we have worked for to the less privilege and charity homes and the other half for our family, its unfortunate that my husband is not alive today to do this with me. Hence I have decided to do this philanthropic work on behalf of my late husband and I. Despite the agreement between my late husband and I to give aid to the deprived, we also agreed to render support to an individual we have not meet before in life due to the fact when we were still young in life we receive an anonymous help from an individual we did not know and which we have not being able to know till date, the impact we got from such gesture made us to do same. I am sorry to inform you that you will never have the chance to know me because I have just concluded the assignment which my husband and I have agreed upon before his sudden death and you happened to be the beneficiary of our last WILL, irrespective of your previous financial status, hence I need you to do me a favor by accepting our offer that will cost you nothing.I have deposited a Cheque of £350,000.00 with
Sky Express Courier Service to deliver to you, You are to contact the Sky Express Courier Service as soon as possible to know when they will delivering your package to you due to expiring date. For your information, I have paid for the delivering Charge and Insurance premium Fee of the Cheque.

Below is their contact for them to arrange delivery of your cheque;
Contact Person: Mr. Mark Robbins
Email Address: skycourierservices2@live.com
Phone: +44 703 193 6118

For your information, I have paid for the delivering Charge and Insurance premium Fee of the Cheque. Again, you are not to pay for the delivering Charges and Insurance premium Fee of the Cheque because I have already paid for them, the only money you are expected to pay is $490.00 for the security keeping of the cheque so far. I would have paid the fee but the company insisted that I should not because they don’t know when you will be contacting them and to avoid demurrage or further cost. You are to reconfirm these code to them SCT0433CC to avoid any mistake on the Delivery and ask them to give you the tracking number to enable you track your package over there and know when it will get to your address; You are to provide to them;

Full Names:
Postal Address:
Direct telephone number/Mobile number:
Security Keeping Code: SCT0433CC

Note: Please I do not want you to thank me, all I need you to do is to invest wisely with it this is the only way this world would be a better community if we render selfless services to one another.All further correspondence should be forwarded to the courier company for the delivery of your cheque to you.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Emily Olivier.

I’ve always wanted a sugar daddy, but a sugar mama will do just fine. I wonder if I should send my bank account info, pin number, and maybe my Facebook password. Hmmmmm.

Phenomenal Photos From The Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

Finally, the Olympics are here, and there is SO much to be excited for.  Is the USA Basketball team ready to reclaim gold? Can Phelps walk away with eight medals and records? Will the men gymnastic team do it without the Hamm twins?  Are you ready for it?

Why do some songs enter our daily lives to disappear into the wind, while others attach themselves to our cores and haunt us?  Today’s musical offerings have done just that to me.  I’m not usually a female vocalist lover.  I don’t tend to gravitate to songs with synthetic sounds. There’s no logical reason that this trio should so profoundly mark my week, but thanks to the shuffle feature on my iPod last Saturday, they have. 

Maybe it’s all the newness and change in my life. I’ve felt lately like I’m molting and leaving the old skin behind. It’s an age-old truth. In order to keep growing we have to clean up cob-webbed covered emotions and trim back the branches of those relationships that have long since stopped bearing fruit. However, instead of laying awake pondering why my subconscious is obsessed with these songs, I present them to you not for their depths of untold meaning but because maybe it’s time “to shed that skin you’ve been tripping in.”

Plumb – Damaged :  “I didn’t say all the things that I wanted to say. And you can’t take back what you’ve taken away. ‘Cause I feel you, I feel you near me.”

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Bird York – In The Deep : “Thought you had all the answers to rest your heart upon. But something happens, don’t see it coming, now you can’t stop yourself. Now you’re out there swimming… In the deep.”

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Sia – Breathe Me : “Be my friend. Hold me, wrap me up. Unfold me. I am small and needy. Warm me up.
And breathe me.”

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I swear every time I babysit my favorite munchkins I spend the whole evening wondering how so many mothers do it. My evening last night went a bit like this:

1) Say hi to parents and console screamin’ 3 year-old (M) who’d just fallen down and help her find new, clean clothes. Yes, it is awkward when she asks me to chose her underwear and when I refuse she chooses pink ones cause they are my favorite color. Thank goodness, her parents don’t consider me a chimo.

2) Take 1 year-old (A) outside to distract him from parents’ approaching departure. Stop him from throwing rocks, chasing cats, and eating bugs.

3) Bring A back inside to empty house and pray he doesn’t freak out when he realizes parents have abandoned him. Start to make dinner while trying to keep him out of EVERYTHING. Still wish I knew where he found the screwdriver that instead of giving to me when I asked him to… he stabs me with.

4) Call M and J (7 year-old) in for dinner and handle protests that they should be able to keep playing because the sun was still out. Feed kids and dodge flying bite-sized pieces of pizza A is enjoying tossing. I should have stopped him but for the first time he wasn’t wailing. I’m only human.

5) Let M and J chose a tv show to watch before bathtime. Try to soothe screaming A because M has accidentally knocked him down. Deflect question from the 3 year old about what kinda boy I want to marry one day when I grow up and become a mom.

6) BATHTIME! Run Bath for M while J watches Hannah Montana. Get her in bathtub. Try to help her wash her hair while keeping baby from hopping into the bath water or tossing every item from his parents’ bedroom that he can find into the water including his dad’s Nikes. Try and convince M that aftershave is not ‘pundisioner’ that her daddy uses on her curls.

7) Finally, get naked M out of tub and dried off and in pjs while J showers and readies herself bed. Put girls to bed after minor meltdown when nightlight bulb burns out. Am forced to sing Hannah Montana songs as lullabys to calm M. Lose all dignity.

Spend next 5.5 hours with sleeping A on my chest who refuses to let me put him down without punching me and screaming. Trying desperately to not wake the girls or neighbors, allow baby to win battle and sit motionless for hours with human furnace on my chest and the remote control across the room under the couch. Lose my mind while watching the same episodes of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, Cory In The House, and Wizards of Waverly Place three times each.

9) Minutes before parents arrive home, baby wakes me up by slapping my face and giggling. Before I can sell him to gypsies, parents rescue him and take baby out of my arms. Realize he has managed to cover me in sweat and drool over the course of an evening. Lovely.

10) Say goodbye. Drive across town without seeing a single other car. Stumble into my apartment minutes shy of 3am. Crawl in bed and swear to never, ever have children.

(There’s nothing like washing hair while keeping a baby restrained with your foot.)

While giving her a bath:

Laurel:  M, please stop swallowing the dirty, soapy bathwater.

M: But, I like it.

L:  It’s gross, M.

M:  What if I don’t swallow and just let it hit my tongue and then fall out of my mouth?

L:  Ask your mom when you’re older.

There are very few musicians that I would even consider standing outside in 100+ degree weather to see live, yet every summer no matter what the weather conditions, work situation, or any other influencing factor, you’ll find me at least one time watching my boy Johnny Mayer in concert.  This year five of my friends and I decided to save a few bucks and hang out on the lawn of Cricket Pavilion (i.e the space with no shade) and have the benefit of both the music and great people watching.  We were not disappointed.

After the so-so openers, Mayer came on stage wearing a black wife-beater and capri pants.  I was worried that the painful fashion sense he was showcasing was a hint at the quality of his setlist, but I couldn’t have been further from wrong.  After already seeing him twice since the release of his latest album, I had my reservations about paying top-dollar for amazing seats this time around, but as always, he blew my socks off by playing new songs, awesome covers, and reinventing songs I had forgotten.  From the first time I saw him five years ago until today he’s progressed from the awkward kid to a skilled guitar player and entertainer despite his moments of self-proclaimed douchedom.  Hush, to the Mayer fans… you know I love him.

Always eager to spread my Mayer love, I have a few of Wednesday night’s songs to share with you. Most of them aren’t the Mayer songs you’re familiar with and have heard on the radio, but that’s ok. Instead, I present to you the ones that left me speechless, standing between my two girl bffs, swaying to the music that has been with me for so much of my ‘adult years’. Nope, you won’t find Daughters or Your Body Is A Wonderland on this list. I’m guessing you won’t mind.

I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You): Zac hates this song because it reminds him of Napoleon Dynamite, but this song gets me (as Lauren would say) in the lovespot every time. The horns were exceptional live and even anti-Mayer Jeff was jamming along as David Ryan Harris took the second chorus. But my favorite part happens at 3:22. Be careful. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself listening to that plea over and over and over and over again.

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Ain’t Nobody’s Business: Covering a song is about so much more than replacing voices. No, it’s about making that song your own, breathing new life into an old classic. If you know this old Blues standard, hopefully you can appreciate John’s take on it. Otherwise, enjoy experiencing it for the first time.

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Untitled into Free Fallin’: This cover song has found its place more than a few times on this blog, but I just can’t get enough of it. Wednesday’s version was spectacular with the brand new intro.  Yet, even without it, I’d still love this song no matter if it’s sung by Mayer or Tom Petty. I stand by the claim that no lyric has ever summed up my life the way “She’s a good girl, loves her mama, loves Jesus and America, too” does.

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Something’s Missing: Sometime between the Trio and Continuum this song slipped off the radar for me, and after hearing it live again, it’s back. I don’t know about you, but I’ve lived the words of this song over and over again in the past eight years. If there was an anthem to my personal quarter-life crisis, you’d see me arm stretched above my head blasting this tune to the world. “I can’t be sure that this state of mind is not of my own design. I wish there was an over-the-counter test for loneliness.Something’s missing, and I don’t know how to fix it.” Me, too. Yet, my favorite moment comes at 4:25 during the bridge. Whether or not he means for us to be able to understand him, there’s something cleansing in just saying the words even if no one knows what they are.

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Sweet Child Chad Of Mine: One of the funniest moments of this show came toward the end in the encore when Mayer started singing Happy Birthday to his friend Chad. Never before have I seen him as happy and playful as he was in that moment, and for diehard fans that’s great to see. I’m still not completely sure how he made his voice do what it did or how he imitatef Axel’s sway so perfectly, but he did.

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Not sure when the last time I witnessed something so adorable and loving as M taking her lil brother for a ride today. He couldn’t have been happier with his sister’s generosity, and she just looked up at me and asked, “I’m a good big sister, huh?” I think we all know the answer to that.

I turned in my keys to my old apartment yesterday. It still amazes me how different it looks empty than it did with all of our stuff and countless kids. Those four walls stood strong while I learned a lot about who I was and what the world was like. We saw more bad times than I could possibly recount but also laughed so hard we cried on more than one occasion. For 51 months it was my home… and now it’s just an old house of mine. Funny how life works that way.