We All Do It - I'd Just Like To Know If Someone Is Watching

I'm checking out a Salvage Store in our area the other day and look up to see a TV in the corner flashing images from their video surveillance equipment. My only thought was, 'what embarrassing things have I been doing while walking around here that everyone could have been watching without my knowledge?'

It's not that I do anything secretive like shoplifting, but I know me, I'm sure I was singing at some point - looking like a crazy person talking to no one. And I probably did that too, talked to myself. And who knows if I adjusted a bra or wedgie or heaven-forbid picked my nose!

Then I got to thinking about how all stores have those cameras, they just aren't normally where the general public can sit and watch them. Instead some crazy person is probably sitting in a room alone watching them and laughing his butt off.

Now that I think about it, I just might take me a chair next time I go to the Salvage Store, buy me some popcorn and then sit down and enjoy the show!

Music Review: Five For Fighting "Slice"

I recently had the privilege to review Five For Fighting's new album, Slice. If you're a regular visitor to my blog you know that I'm a Five For Fighting fan. I've featured them more than once on my Music Monday posts.

Although known as Five For Fighting, (FFF) the talent behind the name is John Ondrasik. John has been an accomplished pianist since he was a child and writes lyrics that are poignant and stirring; telling stories of his life and sentiments, along with current issues - lyrics we can all relate to.

John, himself, is quite an interesting person I found in reading his bio. He's not just a composer/songwriter/musician, he uses his talent and celebrity in many other ways. He's a husband and father, writes for Sports Illustrated, scores music for films, and is heavily involved in charity work. He's even started a site, http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/, that is a charity "You Tube" of sorts. Anyone who wants to help can make and submit a video and when people watch that video money will be donated to one of five charities. Over $250,000 has already been donated.

John's lyrics are probably the reason I love his work so much. When my husband hears a song he only hears the music. I, on the other hand, mainly hear the lyrics. I love a song that touches my soul, my feelings, on a matter. John's music does that. I think of his song, 100 years, which I used on my son's graduation video. It came out just around the time that my son was 15 and the lyrics, "15 there's still time for you. Time to buy, time to lose yourself within a morning star. 15 I'm all right with you. 15, there's never a wish better than this, when you only got 100 years to live." brought me to tears the first few times I heard them. I couldn't help but think about how time flies and how much I wanted for him to experience in that short amount of time.

In Slice, his newest album, the tracks are no different. In the title track he ruminates about a by-gone era when music was more important. He brings home the point by saying, “There was a time a long, long time ago/Chevies and levies played on the radio/No cell phones just 20,000 lights, swaying on a Saturday night.” Most of us will relate immediately because we are familiar with the song he is playing off of, American Pie.

I've listened to the entire album five for more times now and on my first listen I thought that the forth track, Chances, was my favorite. However, I now wonder if it wasn't just because I was subliminally more familiar with it. I say subliminally because I noticed a few days after listening to the album that the song was being used in a commercial for one of my favorite shows. Either way, it's still a great song with the message that we have to dive in, head-first, to the unfamiliar, which will sometimes end badly but sometimes we get lucky and as the song says, "chances are more than expectations...the possibilities."

I told you I was a lyrics person and because of that what I thought was my least favorite of the eleven tracks has ended up at the top of my list. That song is track number 11, Augie Nieto. I have fallen in love with a quote from that song, "It's not the breaths you take, It's how you breathe." I listened to that song and realized that Augie must be a real person who had ALS, so I came home and Googled him. After reading a bit about him I realized why John was inspired to write the song. His positive outlook is something we would all do well to imitate.

There are so many aspects to this album. It's not just a bunch of the same story set to different music. In addition to the songs mentioned above, others of note are, Story Of Your Life, (track 9) which was written for John's wife of 12 years, but I think it would make a great backdrop to an anniversary video. This Dance, (#5) which is very romantic -- what girl wouldn't love to be told, "You put the beautiful in life"? and Note To The Unknown Soldier.

This is, of course, not an album that will make you get up and dance, but more of one that will make you think, feed your soul, and maybe even put you in the mood to relax or be romantic. It would be a great backdrop at a dinner party.

Overall, if you are a Five For Fighting fan, love incredible piano music, and/or are someone who wants to enjoy lyrics that have real meaning, you will be as impressed with Five For Fighting's new album as I was. I'd love to know your thoughts on it, so be sure to comment if you've listened to it.





(The only compensation received for this post was a free download of the album, which did not affect my review.)

Going Back To School... Would It Be Cool?

Education seems to be not be a luxury but more of a necessity in this day and age. My husband has a part-time business (in addition to his salaried job) and he had thought about building it up and hiring my son to work for him full-time but just couldn't get enough work for them both.

I lost my accounting job at the end of December due to branch closure and finding another job that paid what I was making, without a degree, didn't seem to be happening. I finally decided to start a cleaning business.

Both DS and myself have weighed the pros and cons of getting our degrees. He was, fortunately, awarded two academic scholarships that have not only paid for   his schooling, but also for his books and meal plan. As for me, I'm still trying to decide what to do. I love the flexibility of my business, and it pays well, but it's very labor intensive.

Something both of us (before he was sure he was getting the scholarships) have thought about was getting an online degree. What some people don't realize is that there are online schools that are accredited. Actually, I have a friend who is a librarian for the public school system and got his degree entirely online.

One such school is the Western Governors Online University. They have programs that allow you to get your Bachelor's or Master's in Nursing, Teaching, Business or you can even get an online IT degree.

Tuition is affordable (less than the state school my son attends) and the programs are accelerated, allowing you to get your degree faster.

I'm going to think on it a while still (even though the Obama administration wants to help me get more training) and see which option suits my lifestyle better. (You know I enjoy going on vacation at the drop of a hat.) And, I'm not sure what I'd major in.  I don't think teaching is for me, and I know I'm not cut out to be a nurse. However, I do enjoy 'playing' on the computer - so maybe IT would be a good option... 

Fall Family Fun = Football (Blog Hop Tuesdays)

The Blog Hop theme for this week "FAMILY FUN". We are supposed to give the blog hoppers our idea(s) for something fun they can do as a family. Autumn is in the air... let's put up a bunch of great ideas for families to have a great time together. Try to make it something that is not dependent on location (like visiting Disney) or overly expensive (free is GREAT)!

Fall is the perfect time for family fun. In the summer we like to visit the beach together, but in the fall we do things closer to home. For instance, just this past Sunday my son and his dad joined in a touch football game with other neighborhood family members. The players ranged in age from 9 to 62! I didn't play, but I made a good sideline photographer. See for yourself:

 

 

Something else we enjoy as a family is hiking. With the leaves turning colors and the cooler weather it's the perfect time to be outdoors! Here we are a couple of weeks ago at our favorite hiking place, Red River Gorge in Kentucky:

Me Man, Me Make Fire

We love to camp, especially in the fall. Our favorite place to go is the Natural Bridge/Red River Gorge area in Kentucky. We've hiked all of the 'official' trails and are now venturing in to the less-known unofficial ones.

I love nature and this time of year, with the leaves on the trees turning gorgeous shades of gold, red, orange and brown, it can be quite breathtaking.

Hiking and sitting around a campfire are my favorite two things to do. Although the mornings, getting up when it's still chilly, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting by the warmth of the fire while the fog makes everything seem a little unreal, are so peaceful that I find myself missing them during the hectic mornings when I'm rushing off to work.

While my main goal is to relax and eat myself into a stupor, (you wouldn't believe all the junk food I bring with us) hubby's goal is to make the biggest best campfire in the campground... because making a good-burning fire is apparently a test of one's manhood.

Win Free Housecleaning For A Year From Murphy's Oil Soap

I have my own cleaning business and one of the products I love is Murphy's Oil Soap. When you finish cleaning floors in a house with Murphy's Oil Soap, it smells so clean. My clients love it! I love it too because it leaves hardwood looking great. Additionally, I found it also works great on tile and laminate floors and wood cabinets. And, it's 98% natural!

I was visiting their site the other day and found that they are running a contest, through October 31, where one person will win a full year of housecleaning service, a $3500 value!

I entered immediately. I am a great house cleaner, but I get so sick of doing it that I tend to let my own house get dirtier than I would like. I'd love to have someone cleaning my house while I'm out cleaning someone else's. :-)

You can enter too, unless you just enjoy housework, by Clicking Here.

Who's Your Favorite Biggest Loser?

I finally caught up on my recorded episodes of The Biggest Loser and realized I haven't even commented on this season's show.

I've mentioned in the past that I'm a Biggest Loser fanatic. I find the transformation (both physical and emotional) these people make to be such an inspiration! They prove over and over that it doesn't necessarily take drugs or surgery, but by just having a good, healthy diet and exercising you can get fit.

I'm sure it's the editing, but I can't help getting emotionally involved with the participants. This season Abby has to be one of my favorite players. Abby lost her husband and two children in a car wreck a few years ago. How someone can go on after a tragedy such as the one she experienced amazes me. Her strength of character draws me to her.

On the flip side, Tracey is my least favorite player. Tracey is such a game player, and yes, I know it is a game, but she also seems so impulsive with very little self control. She told people in the house she was concerned about them and then turned around and put them in a position that would land them on the chopping block.

Amanda and Rebecca are both young and cute and I'm sure when the entire process is over they will be stunning.

Daniel was on The Biggest Loser last season and you can't help but love him. And, Danny loves his family so much it's almost visible. Whereas Shay, the largest person ever on The Biggest Loser has a hard time finding any love for herself.

I'm sure my opinions will be swayed in the weeks to come, but whatever my opinion of each individual, I know that by the finale I will be amazed with the results of each and every one of them.

Do you watch The Biggest Loser, and if so, who's your favorite player?

Jump Links Now Available For Blogger

I just read that Blogger now has the Jump Links ability and I have to try it out. So here we go...

Wishing I Was Still On Vacation

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We went on another vacation. Yes, it seems like we have been doing that a lot lately, but hubby gets seven weeks vacation and loves to go, go, go if possible.

This time we visited a friend who owns a place in Panacea, Florida. Never heard of Panacea? Your not alone. It's definitely not a tourist spot like orlando vacations are.

Instead Panacea is a little town near the Panhandle of Florida in an area some call "The Forgotten Coast".

There's no putt-putt, no water parks, no souvenir shops and there are very few restaurants. But there is the ocean! We drive thirty minutes to the nearest Wal-Mart and thirty minutes to visit the quaint little shops on the waterfront in Apalachicola. But it's worth every minute of the drive when you wake up to the sun rising over the bay or drive just a few minutes down the road to watch it set over the ocean, when you stick your toes in the cool sand or when we sit in the boat in the middle of nothing but an ocean of water waiting for a fish to bite our hooks.

They say a photo is worth a thousand words, so maybe these shots will give you a little glance into what we got to enjoy, even if it was only for a few short days.

 

 

 

All I Know On Music Monday

I'm late with this post but I heard this on my way to work this morning and have not been able to get it out of my head! I've sang it over and over and over again all through the day. Fortunately, I really like it. I hope you enjoy it too, even though there isn't an official video for it, you'll just have to look at the lyrics and sing along. It's Five For Fighting doing the cover of the Garfunkle hit All I Know.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!