Category: Tunes

This morning, as I waited for my mom to come over to help me and burn, I put my U2 playlist on shuffle. This is the song that I heard:

A flood of memories in an instant came rushing to my mind. The album came out during my first few years of teaching. I was semi-able-bodied back then. The most vivid memory is of a comedy show that we saw at the Fox theater. I had decided to be in my wheelchair because there was a long line wrapped around the building. We took our places at the end of the line and I will never forget a young man came up to me and asked me if I was going to the show.

I nodded and he motioned for me to follow him. I looked at the rest of my group and we all followed. He took us past the front of the line and to better seats than we had bought tickets for. I looked at my friend unsure of what was happening and I looked at the guys we went with and told them that, “I guess this walking stuff is for the birds.“

One of the guys clarified and told me that it actually isn’t but we got really good seats and another guy in my group brought me a beer. We heard this song on our way to a bar. It seems like a lifetime ago!

I stayed in my bed when Sean left for school this morning. He was running late and I did not sleep so well. I knew that my Mom was coming very shortly so I rolled onto my stomach (thanks Michael Rhoades!) and played, “Kite” that I posted yesterday. I clicked on a mix I guess because the second song I heard was:

I was immediately taken back to my first year teaching, when we used to have to administer the MEAP. (that really dates me!). I’m sure that I still have my, “Road Runner” poster that I made with the speech bubble, “MEAP, MEAP!” A friend and former colleague made a bunch of teachers a mixed CD to get us through administering the aMEAP. He is a fellow U2 lover and he was in the group I went to the U2 concert with.

My Mom doesn’t really like that song because she said it is very, “Yell-y.” Well, it is but I absolutely love it still! As I laid in my bed and waited for my Mom to get here, I thought of my first year teaching and my heart was warmed from all of the teachers I taught with!

Sean got me out of bed this morning and kissed me on my forehead when he left for school. I was feeling rather nostalgic and decided to listen to my U2 playlist on shuffle as I brushed my teeth. That playlist is so good!

Ny phone gave me the alert that it was on low battery so I went into my kitchen where my charger is plugged in and plugged it in while various u2 songs were still playing. My clean Yeti was on the counter so I decided to fill it with water.

Last Mother’s Day, my Mom purchased a 30 ounce Yeti cup with a handle for me. I use it every day. That’s for me to stay hydrated. I need to drink at least 30 ounces of water each day so my kidneys don’t hurt. I choose to drink it in the morning before I get ready for the day.

So, this morning, as I filled my cup in the kitchen sink and added the lemon essential oils to it, it was nice sitting in my house all by myself. I decided to sit in the kitchen because the sun had started to rise in such a way and I could see it through my kitchen window that faces my backyard. It was kind of gray but the sun was peeking out from behind my neighbor behind me’s really large pine tree. As I sipped my water, it glinted off the lid to my cup.

Because my playlist was on shuffle, I thought of everything from my first year teaching, to being in college, to going to the concert with my brother and some colleagues, and so many other memories for each song. I really enjoyed listening to it as I watched the sunrise in my backyard and slowly sipped my water.

I know all of the words to u2 songs but I can no longer sing them so I occasionally would mouth them along with the music. I enjoyed the silence and listening to songs as I was by myself in my house. I heard many of my favorite songs to start my day off well but there was one song I did not hear and I have not heard in a very long time.

It is this song that I played for the kids I student taught on my final day there. I think my commencements were that following weekend. I think I saw one student who was getting her bachelor’s degree at the commencement where I received my masters degree. I haven’t thought about this song for a while but I really wish it was one of the songs I heard this morning well I stared at the sunrise in the silence of my house. Since it was not, I am sharing it here:

My Mom came into my house and was on hold when she was paying a bill. I just found out the music you hear when you’re on hold is called, “Piped music.” This is the ”Piped music” I heard:

My mom got irritated at being on hold for so long but I was jammin! It’s official, I am old!

Today, Sean returned to school after his two and a half week absence with pneumonia. He came into the house to change before he left for work. As he walked in, I stared at him as I seem to be doing a lot these days but raising a child for the past 18 years and seeing him turn into a young man is difficult to believe most times!

He always catches me looking at him and will give me a moment before he asks what I am looking at. I usually just answer with, “I love you!” Today, he reciprocated and told me that he loves me too. After he said that, I smiled and said, “Thank you!”

He started to laugh and asked me who responds with a thank you when someone tells them that they love them. Of course that queued the Bon Jovi song in my head!:

I replied with a simple, ”Bon Jovi”. So I had to raise my arms next to my chin and clenched my fists and did my best to sing the refrain! I told him that it was exactly how it sounded from Bon Jovi and I told him I would send the video to him while he was at work.

I sent him just the lyrics because given that he is my son, a bride burning through the city isn’t exactly applicable. Here is the lyric video I sent him:

So, of course I had to listen to this song a few times. I was taken back to a time when I was 18, naïve, able-bodied, and seemingly in love that ultimately did not last. I remember seeing this video on the TV when I was in Kalamazoo during my freshman year at WMU. It all seems like a lifetime ago! But, the point is, and what I conveyed to Sean, that you can thank someone for loving you as I thanked Sean today.

Sean just returned my text to him with, “Exactly alike.” When I included with the video that is “ Sounds exactly like me.“. I replied to the text in all caps, “I KNOW, RIGHT?!”

So, sleep does not come easily to me. end it hasn’t for a while I usually end up finally getting to sleep at about one or two in the morning. After I lay in the dark for a long time, I tend to scroll through Facebook for a little while. Last night, a Facebook friend posted this video that I HAD to watch:

I watched it a couple times because I was so impressed with their body control and their artistic use of that body control. I watched it a couple times and then I thought of this specific version of Simon and Garfunkel’s song, I remember that Nyle and Peta’s used the same song and Disturbed’s version of it as well:

By the time I was finished watching both of these, it was about 2:30 in the morning and I needed to get some sleep. So, this morning, of course I had to rewatch both of those videos! As I watched Nyle and PETA, I thought of when Von Miller was on Dancing with the Stars if we’re talking about shirtless guys:

Phil Collins’ song is also iconic but I just wanted to see Von Miller without a shirt! But seriously, this all was some seriously impressive body control!

I’ll post videos of both of these songs here as well:

Disturbed:

Phil Collins:

So, Sean and I just completed a successful binge and we are caught up with Prodigal Son and now I have to wait until Monday to find out what happens to Martin Whitly!:

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With that being said, one of the episodes I watched with Sean yesterday had this in it:

I am a huge fan of Malcolm and Dani getting together in this video clip illustrates that! But then, is song started to play just as Malcolm is thinking of a plan;

This song has been in my head since that episode and I can’t wait until Monday! Actually, I’ll probably watch it Tuesday when Sean is home.

I have seen parts of a Hallmark movie a few times but I’ve never seen it. I didn’t watch it today either because my son wanted to watch what ended up being two episodes of Prodigal Son with me. That took precedence over this Hallmark movie, FOR SURE!!! But, I heard a song playing that I think the two main characters were dancing to:

It took me aback to hear Pat Benatar, soundtrack from my childhood, playing in a Hallmark movie. Really?! I know that I will get around to watching that movie but hearing that song really blew my mind!

I had a huge memory come back to me on the first time someone saw me fall. It was a ridiculous MS fall. The one where you trip over nothing and fall to your knees. Well, the first time I did that, I think I was 20 years old. I was walking with the teller supervisor back to my station and I fell right by the first disabled window.

I remember feeling my face burning and I was told that it was really red. I got a laugh then when it happened, but it wasn’t a mean laugh, as he was there, Matt (I called him, “Matty”) told me that I looked, “Really cute!” I was SO embarrassed and wondered what I tripped on and I didn’t know that that was the beginning of the end of me walking.

Anyway, I had forgotten about this memory until I saw yesterday’s halftime show:

It was J Lo‘s first song. I had completely forgotten about this for almost 20 years. It was her first song, or rather, the first part of the medley:

I had worked with a guy named Matt Davis. He was a year younger than me and I think he was hired shortly after I was. it wasn’t until after I had my son that I experienced that first fall and he is the one who witnessed it. I started thinking of this memory when the halftime show was just about over.

in a conversation once, and let him know that are used to be called, “Jenny” in high school. Now, most people call me, “Jen.” Back when I was working at the credit union with Matt, I was called, “Jennifer” because that was the name on my name tag. From the day I told him that I was called, “Jenny,” he would sing the J Lo song, “Jenny from the Block‘

in the mornings, all of the tellers would wait in the parking lot until one of the administrators unlocked the front door and that is where we would enter the credit union and wait downstairs in the break room until just before opening. Every time I got out of my car, I would hear Matt singing that song to me! He did it all of the time! I didn’t realize how endearing was until now that I was reminded of that song in watching yesterday’s Super Bowl.

I haven’t seen or talked to him in about 17 years. I’m sure he has kids now and I often wonder about him as I have memories of working at the credit union. I know that he has to live somewhere nearby and I’m sure someone I know knows where he is and I think I would like to know that!

i’m sure if I talk to him now, he would sing that song to me again! When we worked together, I just kind of rolled my eyes but I think now, I would laugh. I will tell him that I still have, “A little” but I don’t know that he would recognize me now in my wheelchair.