Category: Tunes

So, last night, my Mom and I w arched 13 Going On 30. I haven’t seen that movie in like 15 years or so. I think I was a junior in high school when it came out. I forgot how much I dog and still dig this song!:

It was when this song was playing in the movie that I realized that 30 is a distant speck in my rearview mirror! I am rapidly approaching 40 and 30 seems so long ago! When I realized this toward the end of the movie, I thought of this song as well:

No, this song was my JAM for sure hand for so many reasons but I remember also thinking that 30 was old! If 30 is old, I am SO MUCH older! I’m totally okay with that regardless! At least I thought of some really good tunes yesterday no will be able to access them anytime on my blog!

I watched a Hallmark movie last night. It was the first one I had seen for a really long time! I saw it with my Mom and she had never seen them before and I had seen it hundreds of times. It was called Wedding Bells:

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I liked watching it with her because she hasn’t watched 1 million Hallmark movies like I have and she is not familiar with the plot structure of all Hallmark movies like I am. It was strange that the song that playing in the movie has been in my head since last night:

This movie is by far NOT my favorite Hallmark movie like A Country Wedding is but I appreciated the happy ending. My Mom didn’t want to wait until the end for the actual happy ending but I told her to wait, and then it came:

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Sean has always asked me why I like these cheesy movies so much and I just laugh. Last night, I realized why I like them. It’s an escape! It has a very predictable ending and I really haven’t had a lasting love story in my life like they are in these movies. I like watching that! And now, that song is STILL in my head!!!

I haven’t written about Leia In a while but we learned of a situation late Saturday night. My Mom brushed her with the mitts I ordered for her and on Sunday, we noticed that she had bare patches of her coat that showed her skin. My Mom said that it looked like mange. When she said that, this song immediately popped into my head:

You know, because when he stops at the bar in Gatlinburg he sees, “The dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue!” I thought it was pretty gross if she had mange which because of our virtual appointment on Monday, she does NOT! The vet told us to begin the flea and tick regiment and to bathe her twice a week with an oatmeal-based shampoo.

Leia has her first appointment with the vet at the end of the month. The vet said that we should do that and she will determine what is going on at her appointment. She thinks that she may have sensitive skin. My Dad had sensitive skin and hearing that made me think of him. That and the Johnny Cash song!

My Mom bathed her on Monday evening and the vet said to wait 24 hours before we administer the flea and tick medicine. Last night, she was going to put the medicine on her back, between her shoulder blades. Neither one of us have ever done this before and being in the chair, I didn’t think I could be much help.

Leia was NOT all about staying still so my Mom laid her across my lap after I turned the chair off. Her front paws were on the outside of my right armrest and her back paws were on the outside of the left armrest by the control panel. My Mom stood just behind her to keep her steady and Leia was squirming a whole bunch.

it surprised me that I began speaking softly to her to calm her down and pet her head. She kind of started to calm down a little until I rested my right cheek on her head and continued reassuring her in a soft voice. She smelled good because of her bath the night before. She relaxed then as my Mom continued putting the medicine on her back.

Her coat looks shinier and she’s not scratching as much but she will get another bath tomorrow. I think with the administration of the medicine that we finally have bonded, more than I think we have because with me being in the chair, I haven’t really gotten able to get close to her like I did on Tuesday.

All day yesterday, my right knee was KILLING me!!! I was at a loss. It was terrible! Just TERRIBLE!!! I am just not well today. I shared this video late Friday night because it showed up in my YouTube feed. It’s one of my faves!:

Reminds me of so much!!! I just have to listen to it and…

My Dad used to sing this song to my Mom all of the time, especially when she went to get her hair done:

I even put this song on the final mixed CD that I made him for the last birthday he had with us. He was 55. My Dad used to sing the just refrain often. He would just say, “You painted up your lips and rolled your tinted hair.” I never knew until years after he had died and I have gifted him that CD that there is an extra word in that line! It made me smile because my mom also uses rollers to kill her hair.

I never knew until years after he died that the Vietnam veteran in this song who is paralyzed said that, “ If I could move, I’d get my gun, and put her in the ground.” ???!!!

When I heard that line, my eyes wideNed and I beseechingly asked my Mom, is he really going to kill her?! My Mom just laughed and told me that he was. I NEVER KNEW THAT!!! I told my Mom that it is a horrible song but we listened to it a few times last night as I was getting ready for bed and I still smiled when I heard the line my Dad used to sing and just ignored the fact that my Dad was singing a song about killing his wife!

My smile continued after this song ended as I thought of my Dad fondly and him singing. My mom played another song that reminds me of my dad but all I can do when it started to play was cry! She played this one:

My Dad really liked Johnny Cash and even though I’ve never had beer for breakfast, neither one nor two, I smiled at this song too until I heard the line, “ In the park I saw a daddy, with a laughing little girl that he was swinging.” Then, I began to cry. My Dad never swung me on swings but I AM his little girl! I really miss him!!!

So, my YouTube feed is filled with horrible news again with all that is going on in the world! As I was scrolling through it, I found this video:

I remember seeing them perform the song when I went to their concert with my brother, Steve, and a few colleagues from work. I remember Bono talking about why he wrote this song and dedicated it to his dad, Paul Hewson. I dug his reasoning for writing this song and this was less than six months before my own Dad would die.

I listened to their 18 Singles CD on my way to work for a long time.

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I had just started my second year teaching and it was still dark when I drove to work. I would listen to this song continuously on my way and sing along and sob. I would put my sunglasses on as I walked into my school on my crutches in the morning when it was still dark.

I wore my sunglasses when I got my work done before school started so my eyes would not be read and puffed up in front of students, when I began teaching.

I really liked seeing this video in the middle of all the terrible news stories of the events taking place now. As I watched it, I remember driving and listening to it in the dark and crying. The tears came back today as I listened and remembered that time. I choose to think that my Dad had something to do with it showing up in my YouTube feed and for that, Thanks, Daddy!!! 💜💜💜

When I woke up this morning, I realized today would have been my Dad‘s 69th birthday. As I sat in my wheelchair in my living room and tried to wake up, I celebrated this day by posting it on Facebook and began to mindlessly play Solitaire on my phone as I tried to wake up. It took me a moment to realize that not only was it my Dad‘s birthday, it was also World MS Day:

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When I realized that was also today, I put my favorite Sara Bareilles song on Apple Music on my phone:

I absolutely LOVE that song and it reminds me of, “Walking Wednesdays” at Barwis Methods and when I was actively working on walking.

Even though World MS Day has only been a thing since 2009, I will have had it for 20 years this December. I got onto Facebook and immediately saw this and completely agreed with it:

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I told my Mom this morning that I could not believe that my Dad would have been 69 today! I cannot believe that 14 years will have passed this August

and then exclaimed that my Dad is old! My Mom immediately took issue with that statement because she is 67. I told her that my Dad is a year and a half on and then her so she will NOT be old for another year and a half! In fact, I don’t think I will EVER think that my Mom is old!

In my brothers and my Mom’s group text today, my Mom texted us all to remind us all that today is my Dad‘s birthday and he would have been 69 even though he was 55 when he died. Then my Mom texted that she is a cougar because she is 67. That text made me laugh!

I wish that World MS day was not a big deal for me but for the past 11 years, it has been. In fact, for the last 19 years. So there’s that and I miss my Dad! I am wearing a V-neck white T-shirt just like my Dad used to and I always think of getting my Dad Oreos, lemon drops, socks, and T-shirts when I was young that was orchestrated by my Mom. I made my Dad a mixed CD for his 55th and final birthday he had with us.