Why can't stormy skies, psycho guys, and rainy days, stop following me...

Music can evoke so many feelings. It can make us cry, it can make us angry, it can make us smile, and laugh. Music is such a huge part of my life. I listen to it daily. I sing daily, and sometimes I even write. Not that I think I will be an amazing song writer some day, but it's just another way to express my feelings. I can still remember what was playing the last dance of my junior high graduation, and I can't ever hear that song, and not think of that night. There will always be songs that make me think of Wild Hare, and all the times I would jump up and dance when they played The Jackson Five. The way I would feel when Eddie would play Down Stream by Supertramp will always make me smile.

Adam Lambert's new album Trespassinghas gotten me through more than a few days of pain. Well, that and wine... OK MOSTLY wine, but his album AND wine, that's good stuff! I am able to be angry, glittery, dancey, poppy, and silly, and there is no one there to say it's not OK. Because it IS OK damn it! It makes me sing loud. It makes me dance in my livingroom. It makes me blow out the speakers in my car. I can relate to the lyrics. Thank you Adam for being you, and glittery! I *heart* you! I am so excited to be seeing him in concert in just a few short weeks.

Megan Joy...OMG her performance of "Longing" (In The Video Above) not only makes me weep, but also give me strength. I think she is just so beautiful. Maybe it's where I am in my life, but I can so relate to this song, and "Rainclouds. It's almost like she wrote this album just for me! If it were a record I would have worn it out by now.

I miss records. I miss how it would feel in your hand and the popping sound it make as you laid the needle down on it. I miss listening to a song over and over while I read all the liner notes, and gazed into the eyes of the artist on the cover. I would always imagine what it would be like to have my own album, and what I would call it. What would I wear on the cover, and would it be sad or fun? I will probably never know what that feels like, but I will always have that dream.

What are some of your favorite albums, singers, or songs? What memories do the bring back for you?

Get Out Of My Head!

Last night was a setback. I was unnerved by something I had seen on the internet that made me think everything CS had ever said or done was a lie. Most likely I am right. However, I shouldn't have let it get to me the way that it did. I can't let those thoughts consume me. Blogging helped but now my blog has turned into this depressing rant of how miserable I am... that does no one any good, and I am sure my readers are bored to tears.

Moving forward today I got up, got dressed at met Coffee Girl for a mile walk around the lake. It was hot, and dirty, and my legs feel like jello. However, It felt great! I feel so much better than I did last night. It's amazing what a little walk will do for you. I will most likely have to get into a gym at some point but for now these are baby steps. A mile today. Maybe by next Sunday I can do two miles?

Today I am going to take my measurements, and take a "before" picture. That shouldn't be depressing AT ALL! *sigh*

A Make Over...

It's not just my blog that is going through a makeover. It's also me. My body, my soul, my life, and the people I choose to keep in it, and the ones that I let go of for the sake of my emotional health.

I am finding out, that when you go through a breakup as devastating as mine was to me, that your life has to go through changes. It's forced change. It's hard and it's not fun. It's almost debilitating. However, it is necessary. There were days in the beginning that I didn't want to get out of bed. Now I get up every day. That's an achievement. It's a small one, but one nonetheless. There were days when I would cry uncontrollably for hours at a time. I still get sad when I think about something that we used to do together, but the days of immense sorrow are gone. I need to reflect back on where I was a few weeks ago and remember how far I have come, and also how far I need to go.

It's been a month since I decided to start this journey of change. That's when I started blogging again to go along with it. In that month I have watched my son graduate from high school, lost 11 pounds, changed my hair color, started updating my blog, and found out who the people are in my life that I can always count on. That includes new friends I have made. Some of those people don't even know how much they do to get me through a day with just some simple words on a screen. However, I am grateful. 

There will be more changes. I am going to blog about losing weight. I want to be able to look back on this entry a year from now and see all the progress I have made. I am going to stay on Weight Watchers, and keep trying doing Zumba and walking on a regular basis.

Thank you to those of you who have stayed on board for this journey. It's only going to get better!

A Little Redder Please...

Last night my best friend Jen and I decided that the change I so drastically needed was to take place. It was time for "operation hair color change". We had tried to change it on Saturday but it wasn't red enough. My hair is a very dark brown, and when you try and go to a red you have to do it via a certain process. One shade lighter is NOT going to do it. Why didn't someone tell me before we started this?! It was lighter, and sort of red, but not what I was looking for. So back to the beauty supply we went... After 45 minutes and me asking "should this be tingling?!" I ended up with something closer to the shade I wanted. It's still dark, but in the sun, it's definitely got the red I wanted.

Just another step back to the life I used to have, and back to being me.




Today's Soundtrack: Changes ~ David Bowie

Microfiber Goodness!

In my quest to be more self sustainable, and "green" I have started changing the way I clean, cook, and generally live. I will feature different products on my blog that *I* have used, and let you know what *I* think about them. Think of it as a review from one mom to another, from one girlfriend to another, or one rocking chick who happens to love wine, to another?! You decide.

I admit it, before I discovered these little microfiber gems of magic cleaning goodness I used old cloth diaper, T-shirts, old dish towels and bar cloths to clean. You still can, but once you try these you may re purpose your old cleaning rags! A friend told me about microfiber and I haven’t looked back since. If you haven’t tried these, you must! A few reasons why I *heart* microfiber should be enough to convince you, right? You purchase, or make less cleaning products, which means less chemicals in your families home! You use less paper products, and you spend less time cleaning!

Before I start let me say do not go super cheap on these. The dollar store will have them, but they aren’t as good as a package of better ones. They last for a long time, so the money you save in the future on cleaning supplies and paper products will be a nice return on your investment. For The Cleaning Fairy I use different colored cloths so as not to cross contaminate when I clean. I suggest getting into that habit and always use the same colors for the same task so you don’t accidentally grab the bathroom one to wipe down your kitchen counters. Ewww! Maintenance on these little grippers is easy peasey too. All you have to do is toss them in the laundry with your towels. I wash them in hot water, and if I can, I hang mine to dry to save energy and help prolong the life of my cloths.

I rarely use glass cleaner, furniture polish, or shower cleaners when I use these. There is no need! I can dry dust with one, and it leaves the furniture clean, and the microfiber holds all the dust in the cloth. I can also mop with these. I use one on my swiffer instead of using the refills that you can buy in the store. You can either dry mop with them to collect dust and pet hair on hard wood floors, or use them wet. I sometimes will just use them dry with my spray bottle of vinegar and water solution to mop, because I like the disinfecting results of vinegar. When I do any type of glass, I wet half of my microfiber cloth and clean the glass, and dry with the other half. They have amazing absorbency  and don’t leave streaks. Showers are a little more work, but once you get your tub/shower cleaned up and sparkling clean, taking a microfiber cloth with a little vinegar and water solution to your tub once a week should keep it clean with very little effort.

You can buy these in bulk at Costco, and Sam’s club, or you can buy the ones I use HERE!

Have you tried microfiber? Do you have other uses for them? Let me know in the comments!

I Love To Mop!

I know I know what you are thinking. I have had too much wine again, and now I am drunk blogging! I would never rarely do that!

Here is the story. My girlfriend who cleans houses was raving about just how great her client's steam mop was, and how it didn't bother her to mop anymore. I thought, how could mopping be great? How can she enjoy this? Well I raved about it so much to my mother, that she went out and got one. She raved and raved about it so much that *I* ended up with one as a gift. Can I say, how much I usually hate practical gifts like banana hangers (yes that really happened) and robes. However, this little green gem has not only saved my hours of bending over breaking my back, and having to replace the swiffer pads all the time, but my floors are so clean! Back before my steam mop of delight, I would spend an hour just mopping three floors in my house with a swiffer and vinegar and water. I would walk on the floor and it would still feel dirty to me. I thought ok how great is this steamy thingumabob?

I mopped like I usually do, and then I mopped with my new steam mop! O M G! There was so much brown on the mop pad after I was done, that I was shocked! My floors sparkle, and feel so clean now! I have only used the carpet steam pad once when something was spilled on the carpet... I'm not saying it was wine, but it could have been. It cleaned it right up.

My 17 year old son actually asked me the other day if he could use the steam mop. So it must be some kind of magic steam coming out of there, right? How else could I get a teenager to clean without paying him? He told me anytime I needed the floor clean he would do it since it was so easy.

Maybe this is all a dream, and I am going to wake up... maybe not. No matter where you get your steam mop, or which one you get, just make sure you get one. It cleans, and sanitizes icky floors, and I know your floors are icky! I can see them behind you! I have provided a link to the steamy little friend I got just in case you want one like mine! You know you do! :)

Euroflex Monster Steam-Jet-II 1200w Disinfecting Floor Steam Cleaner With Carpet Glide and 2 UPGRADED Microfiber Pads

Happy Cleaning!