As soon as I haul my tired carcass out of bed in the morning those dogs jump in my grave, leaving only for the occasional snack or pee break. I have to bribe them with treats to get them to move long enough that I can make the bed, and most days anymore I don’t even bother, because they’ll just burrow and dig the blankets back to their liking.
Seriously, why my side? What difference can it make to a dog?
Would love to hear your amateur Dog Whisperer theories.
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons.
You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
A little indulgence, if you please.
(If you’re reading this in a reader, you may have to click through to view the videos/ hear the songs.)
My list begins and ends, as so many do, with Bob Dylan. But Adele takes his “To Make You Feel My Love” to a whole new soul-wrenching level. (This was what I wanted to be my wedding song.)
The most real love song of all time. G Love gets me, man. “Still Hangin’ Round.”
Mazzy Star’s “Give You My Loving.” It’s not even the lyrics so much as her voice and the music. She feels like love to me.
This is truly embarrassing, but I gulp back a sob every time Taylor Swift sings that line “he knelt to the ground and pulled a ring, and said–” in her “Love Story.”
Another Bob Dylan. The love of true friendship, taken too early. I really, deeply regret that I didn’t play “He Was a Friend of Mine” at my dad’s viewing. He would have loved that. In any case, this song came on the radio recently and I had to pull over for the tears. Music at its best: universal, raw emotion.
Edwyn Collins’ “Never Met a Girl Like You Before.” Such a sexy voice for such a dorky looking dude. They don’t play this song nearly enough on the radio, never did.
John Mayer’s “Daughters” is another one that never fails to wrench a couple of tears out of me. (Hmmm. I cry a lot.) Anyway, it’s one I think all dads of girls should take to heart.
Jake and I saw The Pixies play in November and damn, they are better than ever. He says that “Gigantic” isn’t really a love song but I think it is. And it’s a lot of fun to sing along to, especially in concert.
I started a relationship just as Romeo + Juliet was released and you couldn’t escape “Lovefool” on the radio. It’s inseparable from the movie and the feeling of being 19 for me, and that’s a good thing.
I know people say this is the ultimate breakup song. I’ve never heard it that way: to me it’s about loving someone who didn’t love you back. Loving them in spite of the way they’ve treated you. Loving yourself enough to carry on. It’s my favorite song of all time, and damn, there are a lot of covers of it on YouTube, so I’m thinking I’m not the only one who loves it.
Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.”
That was fun. I wrote this post to play along with High Impact Mom’s Tuesday Tunes series; you should join in. Music is good for you.
Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.
-Victor Hugo
I always hated V-Day until the kids came along. But I love doing stupid little things for them on this day.
(You can read my previous rantings about the dreaded day of romance here. Seriously, you want to click on that link, there’s a dirty picture of bugs. One of my favorites.)
This year I’m showing some lovin’ with food… although really, don’t all mothers show their love through food every day?
We’ve got kiwis and strawberries and Pink Ladies… organic lemonade with organic pomegranate juice ice cubes… and healthified Heavenly Dip.
I don’t know if everybody calls it Heavenly Dip. That’s how they label it at my grocery store, and its cream cheese sweetness is one of my weaknesses. I will eat fruit all day and night as long as I have this dip on hand.
I’m fairly certain the stuff at the grocery store is full of sugar and preservatives, so I trial-and-errored my way to a fresh homemade version.
As always, I played it fast and loose with the measurements. Taste test to your heart’s desire.
I looove organic lemonade with pomegranate juice. Usually I make juices fizzy with carbonated water from our SodaStream (it’s a great way to stretch your juice dollar, esp when you’re shelling out for the organic versions; but it cuts down on sugar intake too. Just tell your kids it’s soda!).
For V Day I show the love with full-flavor lemonade; the pomegranate gets frozen in candy molds to make heart-shaped ice cubes.
When the ice cubes melt, you’ve got pink lemonade 🙂
(In the summer, freeze the lemonade into cubes… drop them into water or iced tea for a bit of sweet zing.)