This is a countdown I can get into. Like Sara, mine isn't in any order...they are all pretty equal. This was also pretty difficult. Music is a powerful trigger for me and my memories, so this list could have been really long. I went with what songs came to mind first.
(Who knows what these videos are...)
5. "Say Yes" - Elliott Smith (Either/Or)
This song takes me back to freshman year of college and the way I changed in that year. It reminds me of the time that it took from me hating being at college to me adoring being at La Salle.
4. "Feed the Birds" - Richard and Robert Sherman (Mary Poppins)
I have always felt that this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Even as a little kid, I understood the wonder and meaning of this song. Mary Poppins is my favorite Disney movie, and one of my favorite movies period, so it alone has had a big impact on my life. When I was in high school and was cast in My Fair Lady, I spent more time listening to Julie Andrews sing than the silly movie version. I used this soundtrack to break up the monotony of my "vocal training."
3. "We Didn't Start the Fire" - Billy Joel (Storm Front)
I have loved Billy Joel since I was about 4 years old, and this is one of the first songs I remember listening to with my parents. I *thought* I knew all the words. Since becoming an adult and learning what each of the lyrics is actually referring to, I have figured out the actual words. "Eisenhower backscene" is now more correctly understood as "Eisenhower, vaccine" referring to the polio vaccine. It's just the cheesiest song, but I love it (and it's historical teaching value).
2. "I Was Meant for the Stage" - The Decemberists (Her Majesty, The Decemberists)
This song perfectly describes what I feel when I perform. Plain and simple. It was also the final song in my college theatre group's senior slide show the year I graduated, so it also brings me back to watching that with Sara and Michele in the theatre.
1. "You Can't Stop the Beat" - Hairspray
Oh, A-15. This song was our calling card. We played it at every party, danced on the couches in our house, and got us ready to just be crazy the rest of the night. We also played it at my wedding to help get people out on the dance floor, with the group of us as an example. Anytime I hear this, I just have to stop and dance.
- I'm peachy.
10.18.2011
9.15.2011
Oddly Controlled.
Life has been just so different around Casa de Yinger in the last three weeks. I went back to work on the 31st, thanks to the hurricane, and balancing that with baby, Jason's class and work, and keeping up with life has been crazy, but as the title suggests, oddly controlled. Because I have so little time to myself, I don't waste time the way I used to. I'm much more efficient. It reminds me of how I was in my senior year of college during the shows. I finally had figured out what worked for me in life, and was happy with my life in general. Therefore, I didn't procrastinate as much, I got in shape, I ate better (not great...just improved), and I felt at peace with my life.
Elliott is 2 months old today. I'm amazed at how much he has changed, as well as how much Jason and I have changed. I no longer look like I had a baby, and most of my old clothing fits. I need some new jeans, but that's not surprising. I'm amazed at how much I enjoy being a working mom. I get out, talk to grown ups, and work, then come home and bum around with my baby. Playing on the floor, dancing, singing...it's awesome.
- I'm peachy.
Elliott is 2 months old today. I'm amazed at how much he has changed, as well as how much Jason and I have changed. I no longer look like I had a baby, and most of my old clothing fits. I need some new jeans, but that's not surprising. I'm amazed at how much I enjoy being a working mom. I get out, talk to grown ups, and work, then come home and bum around with my baby. Playing on the floor, dancing, singing...it's awesome.
- I'm peachy.
9.06.2011
Top 5 Tuesday: Childhood Board Games
The McGee's love board games, so this was an easy list.
5. Bonkers: This game was one of the cleverest games I've played, but no one outside of my group of friends at home has seemed to hear of it. There are a number of tiles and you lay them on the board next to the spaces as you play. Eventually, each space has instructions next to it on the tile. Every time you play, it's a new game. It also had pink and purple pieces, which was awesome.
4. Sorry!: One of my family's favorites. My grandmother used to play it with me, which taught me to strategize and to lose. My grandmother never believed in letting little kids win if they didn't actually win.
3. Mall Madness: I scrimped and saved the $35 to buy this game when I was a kid, and it was money well spent. I loved the announcer's voice and having my own "credit card."
2. Monopoly: I agree with Sara that this game is amazing. It's not a passive game; you must be engaged the entire time, and it can be days before it's over. My sister and I also played Monopoly Jr., which was set at a carnival and you paid different amounts to ride the rides ($1 - $5). It was a lot simpler, but introduced you to the basic concepts of the game. I have two versions now: Original and Seinfeld.
1. Trivial Pursuit: I've been playing this since I was a kid, and I have always enjoyed it. When I wasn't getting a lot of answers right, I was learning new things by hearing the questions and answers. Otherwise, I was kicking ass and taking names. When my family plays with my extended family, my parents and I aren't allowed to be on the same teams. :)
I also loved Yahtzee, but it didn't make the cut. As a kid, I had Disney Yahtzee, which had characters' faces rather than numbers.
5. Bonkers: This game was one of the cleverest games I've played, but no one outside of my group of friends at home has seemed to hear of it. There are a number of tiles and you lay them on the board next to the spaces as you play. Eventually, each space has instructions next to it on the tile. Every time you play, it's a new game. It also had pink and purple pieces, which was awesome.
4. Sorry!: One of my family's favorites. My grandmother used to play it with me, which taught me to strategize and to lose. My grandmother never believed in letting little kids win if they didn't actually win.
3. Mall Madness: I scrimped and saved the $35 to buy this game when I was a kid, and it was money well spent. I loved the announcer's voice and having my own "credit card."
2. Monopoly: I agree with Sara that this game is amazing. It's not a passive game; you must be engaged the entire time, and it can be days before it's over. My sister and I also played Monopoly Jr., which was set at a carnival and you paid different amounts to ride the rides ($1 - $5). It was a lot simpler, but introduced you to the basic concepts of the game. I have two versions now: Original and Seinfeld.
1. Trivial Pursuit: I've been playing this since I was a kid, and I have always enjoyed it. When I wasn't getting a lot of answers right, I was learning new things by hearing the questions and answers. Otherwise, I was kicking ass and taking names. When my family plays with my extended family, my parents and I aren't allowed to be on the same teams. :)
I also loved Yahtzee, but it didn't make the cut. As a kid, I had Disney Yahtzee, which had characters' faces rather than numbers.
8.31.2011
Top 5 Tuesday: Ice Cream Flavors!
I realize that it's almost, if not already, Wednesday, but oh well.
Ice cream is and was my vice, especially when I was preggers. So much ice cream...so little time. I could barely limit this list to 5 (I guess 6...whatevs).
5. *Tie* - Banana Fudge (Wawa) & Graham Slam (Turkey Hill): Banana Fudge is fantastic. The fudgy pieces paired with the fairly subtle banana flavor is a real treat. Graham Slam, as any Phillies fan knows, is Turkey Hill's special flavor just for the team. Eating it reminds me of being at CBP and eating it out of a plastic Phillie's hat.
4. Chocolate Peanut Butter (Turkey Hill): I love anything that combines chocolate and peanut butter.
3. Mint Chocolate Cookie (Ben and Jerry's): Just lovely. The cookies are sometimes whole in the vanilla, which makes it even better.
2. Mint Chocolate Chip (Turkey Hill): I like MCC in a lot of brands, but Turkey Hill's is extra special. The chocolate is more like flakes than chips. I usually don't like chewing my ice cream (with some exception, see #1).
1. Chubby Hubby (Ben and Jerry's): This, in my humble opinion, is the perfect ice cream. Salty and sweet, fudge and peanut butter, pretzel and vanilla. Mmmm.
- I'm peachy.
Ice cream is and was my vice, especially when I was preggers. So much ice cream...so little time. I could barely limit this list to 5 (I guess 6...whatevs).
5. *Tie* - Banana Fudge (Wawa) & Graham Slam (Turkey Hill): Banana Fudge is fantastic. The fudgy pieces paired with the fairly subtle banana flavor is a real treat. Graham Slam, as any Phillies fan knows, is Turkey Hill's special flavor just for the team. Eating it reminds me of being at CBP and eating it out of a plastic Phillie's hat.
4. Chocolate Peanut Butter (Turkey Hill): I love anything that combines chocolate and peanut butter.
3. Mint Chocolate Cookie (Ben and Jerry's): Just lovely. The cookies are sometimes whole in the vanilla, which makes it even better.
2. Mint Chocolate Chip (Turkey Hill): I like MCC in a lot of brands, but Turkey Hill's is extra special. The chocolate is more like flakes than chips. I usually don't like chewing my ice cream (with some exception, see #1).
1. Chubby Hubby (Ben and Jerry's): This, in my humble opinion, is the perfect ice cream. Salty and sweet, fudge and peanut butter, pretzel and vanilla. Mmmm.
- I'm peachy.
8.29.2011
The Morning After
Well, Irene was as scary as all get out, but we came through it with no damage to life or property, which is awesome. Barney may be suffering from PTSD (perhaps I am too), and it was quite an adventure.
We decided against leaving, despite my parents' "invitation" (I think they were using Irene as an excuse to see Elliott). Around 10pm on Saturday, I deeply regretted that decision. The lights in our parking lot were out, so we couldn't see what was going on. Our electricity stayed on (thank God), so at least we had the internet for information. At about quarter to 2, just as I was drifting off to sleep in the living room, a strange alarm started sounding. I woke Jason, who grabbed Elliott, and I attempted to wrangle Barney into his carrier, with no success. Jason and I switched "dependents," and I got Elliott into his car seat. I put my shoes on, grabbed the car keys and prepared to leave. But hold on...what is this alarm for? We had already experienced tornado warnings, so do we go to the basement, or was this flooding, in which case we should probably just chill on the 2nd floor. Or, perhaps, was it a fire and if so, where do we go in this storm during a fire? I looked out in the hall. No one was leaving their apartments. Hmm. Jason finally got Barney into the carrier, and we pondered our next move. Jason ran down to the lobby to see if anyone was down there and had more info. He returned with the report: there was one guy downstairs just as confused as we were. We headed back to the lobby, evac bag, baby, cat, and diaper bag in tow. We were totally prepared to leave at any moment because of the storm. After about 10 minutes in the lobby, where about 3 more sleepy people joined us, the alarm went off. The firemen, who responded to the alarm, believed it was tripped by the weather. Great. So much for sleep.
We returned to our apartment, frazzled and frightened. Barney was happy the alarm was no longer sounding and clung to us all night (because that earthquake wasn't enough). Elliott basically slept through the entire event, which was amazing considering how loud it was. He heard everything, but was just to sleepy to care. Jason and I stayed up until about 4, when the storm died down. I kept waking up, believing I was hearing the storm gear up again, but fortunately it never did. In the light of day, we saw the one casualty of the storm: Evil Tree. In April, my parents' car was totaled by a huge branch of a dead tree in our apartment complex during a severe storm. It was our very first night in the apartment, as they were visiting to help us move. On Saturday, Irene took care of Evil Tree and he is no more.
By Wednesday, we should be getting to our new fall schedule. La Salle cancelled classes for Monday and Tuesday, so I won't go back to work until Wednesday. Holy cow, what a week.
- I'm peachy.
We decided against leaving, despite my parents' "invitation" (I think they were using Irene as an excuse to see Elliott). Around 10pm on Saturday, I deeply regretted that decision. The lights in our parking lot were out, so we couldn't see what was going on. Our electricity stayed on (thank God), so at least we had the internet for information. At about quarter to 2, just as I was drifting off to sleep in the living room, a strange alarm started sounding. I woke Jason, who grabbed Elliott, and I attempted to wrangle Barney into his carrier, with no success. Jason and I switched "dependents," and I got Elliott into his car seat. I put my shoes on, grabbed the car keys and prepared to leave. But hold on...what is this alarm for? We had already experienced tornado warnings, so do we go to the basement, or was this flooding, in which case we should probably just chill on the 2nd floor. Or, perhaps, was it a fire and if so, where do we go in this storm during a fire? I looked out in the hall. No one was leaving their apartments. Hmm. Jason finally got Barney into the carrier, and we pondered our next move. Jason ran down to the lobby to see if anyone was down there and had more info. He returned with the report: there was one guy downstairs just as confused as we were. We headed back to the lobby, evac bag, baby, cat, and diaper bag in tow. We were totally prepared to leave at any moment because of the storm. After about 10 minutes in the lobby, where about 3 more sleepy people joined us, the alarm went off. The firemen, who responded to the alarm, believed it was tripped by the weather. Great. So much for sleep.
We returned to our apartment, frazzled and frightened. Barney was happy the alarm was no longer sounding and clung to us all night (because that earthquake wasn't enough). Elliott basically slept through the entire event, which was amazing considering how loud it was. He heard everything, but was just to sleepy to care. Jason and I stayed up until about 4, when the storm died down. I kept waking up, believing I was hearing the storm gear up again, but fortunately it never did. In the light of day, we saw the one casualty of the storm: Evil Tree. In April, my parents' car was totaled by a huge branch of a dead tree in our apartment complex during a severe storm. It was our very first night in the apartment, as they were visiting to help us move. On Saturday, Irene took care of Evil Tree and he is no more.
 |
| Good riddance, Evil Tree. |
- I'm peachy.
8.27.2011
Weather!
So, as anyone who knows me knows, I love weather, especially extreme weather, and other natural disasters. I'm fascinated. Therefore, this week has been super exciting. I've been watching MSNBC and CNN online all week (we don't have cable). I already know how to stay safe in these situations, because I've been learning about these events since I was little. When I was about 7 or 8, my aunt moved to California, and in 1994, she experienced the Northridge Earthquake. We were glued to the TV. The coverage was riveting. My family is a family that probably watches way too much TV. It's always on. The idea of an earthquake was scary to me, so my mom or dad suggested I learn about them. If I could gain understanding of an earthquake (and that they don't happen often where I live), I would fear them less. So true!
That brings us to this past Tuesday. I was in the kitchen cleaning up my lunch dishes when the apartment starting trembling. "It's just my neighbors," I thought, "they walk around like elephants." I began walking back to my room, where Elliott was sleeping the afternoon away. Suddenly, Barney bolted past me, his tail as fluffed out as a raccoon's. That's when I realized the bookshelves were swaying and everything was moving. I ran to my room and scooped up Elliott, who had not realized anything was amiss until I picked him up. Barney was under the bed already. "Good," I thought, "the cat knows what to do." I looked for a heavy piece of furniture to stow myself and my child under, but the desk wasn't really an option. There were wires and other things in the way. I went for my second best option: the doorframe. It should never be your first option, but it's better than nothing. I stood there for a few seconds and the shaking stopped. I checked the apartment for fallen items or damage, although I was sure there wouldn't be any, and then tended to my poor trembling cat. He didn't leave my side for the rest of the day, and has been clingy ever since. My neighbors, who I initially believed to be the source of the shaking, are moving out, so they have been noisier than ever. I've had a couple of "Oh no, more earthquakes" moments, but watched Barney for an appropriate response. He knows what's up.
I'm more concerned about this weekend's hurricane, Irene. It will probably prove to do more damage to the area, and since my apartment is surrounded by GIANT trees, one of which totaled my parents' car in April with just one, albeit large, limb. I contemplated packing up the kid, the cat, and the husband for a weekend jaunt to safe, only slightly damp Harrisburg, but the storm is weakening and I feel like it's not worth it. We re-parked to the car to a less tree-infested area, we took other precautions, and are ready to leave should things turn. I have a feeling it will just be super exciting.
The rain is starting outside...
- I'm peachy.
That brings us to this past Tuesday. I was in the kitchen cleaning up my lunch dishes when the apartment starting trembling. "It's just my neighbors," I thought, "they walk around like elephants." I began walking back to my room, where Elliott was sleeping the afternoon away. Suddenly, Barney bolted past me, his tail as fluffed out as a raccoon's. That's when I realized the bookshelves were swaying and everything was moving. I ran to my room and scooped up Elliott, who had not realized anything was amiss until I picked him up. Barney was under the bed already. "Good," I thought, "the cat knows what to do." I looked for a heavy piece of furniture to stow myself and my child under, but the desk wasn't really an option. There were wires and other things in the way. I went for my second best option: the doorframe. It should never be your first option, but it's better than nothing. I stood there for a few seconds and the shaking stopped. I checked the apartment for fallen items or damage, although I was sure there wouldn't be any, and then tended to my poor trembling cat. He didn't leave my side for the rest of the day, and has been clingy ever since. My neighbors, who I initially believed to be the source of the shaking, are moving out, so they have been noisier than ever. I've had a couple of "Oh no, more earthquakes" moments, but watched Barney for an appropriate response. He knows what's up.
I'm more concerned about this weekend's hurricane, Irene. It will probably prove to do more damage to the area, and since my apartment is surrounded by GIANT trees, one of which totaled my parents' car in April with just one, albeit large, limb. I contemplated packing up the kid, the cat, and the husband for a weekend jaunt to safe, only slightly damp Harrisburg, but the storm is weakening and I feel like it's not worth it. We re-parked to the car to a less tree-infested area, we took other precautions, and are ready to leave should things turn. I have a feeling it will just be super exciting.
The rain is starting outside...
- I'm peachy.
8.23.2011
Top 5 Tuesday: Constellations
Sara and Mary have started "Top 5 Tuesdays" on their blogs, so when I have time and remember, I plan on joining in. This week's is a little difficult for me, because I don't know that much about constellations aside from the ones from Elliott's Twilight Turtle nightlight.
Here goes:
5. Sagitarrius: My zodiac sign...he shoots stuff with arrows. Good stuff.
4. Cassiopeia: Named after the queen Cassiopeia, who was super self-absorbed. It's pretty easy to see, as it's a bright 'W.' In Youth and Government in high school, my bill was to make this the state constellation of PA. I don't remember why.
3. Orion: I can spot its belt every time. The rest of it? Good luck.
2. Gemini: The story behind Gemini is pretty cool in mythology. Pollux was immortal, while his twin brother, Castor was not. When Castor died, Pollux begged to join his brother in the sky, thus the constellation.
1. Ursa Major, or at least the Big Dipper: It's the first one everyone learns to find. Also, Ursa Major, the the Great Bear, is the name of one of my favorite roller coasters at Hersheypark. Lame? Perhaps, but my childhood summers were spent at the park and it has a special place in my heart.
- I'm peachy.
Here goes:
5. Sagitarrius: My zodiac sign...he shoots stuff with arrows. Good stuff.
4. Cassiopeia: Named after the queen Cassiopeia, who was super self-absorbed. It's pretty easy to see, as it's a bright 'W.' In Youth and Government in high school, my bill was to make this the state constellation of PA. I don't remember why.
3. Orion: I can spot its belt every time. The rest of it? Good luck.
2. Gemini: The story behind Gemini is pretty cool in mythology. Pollux was immortal, while his twin brother, Castor was not. When Castor died, Pollux begged to join his brother in the sky, thus the constellation.
1. Ursa Major, or at least the Big Dipper: It's the first one everyone learns to find. Also, Ursa Major, the the Great Bear, is the name of one of my favorite roller coasters at Hersheypark. Lame? Perhaps, but my childhood summers were spent at the park and it has a special place in my heart.
- I'm peachy.
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