Tuesday Tunes- Gone and Still Into You

     Even when I don’t have a shred of desire to write I can summon up some inspiration for Tuesday Tunes because I love my music.  Today is the day I get to share my picks for the week; you know the tunes that are rocking my mp3 player at full volume.

     Where did the summer go?  Didn’t school just let out?  It went by entirely too fast and tomorrow is the first day of school.  It blows my mind and today I am contemplating what it will be like after I put the kids on their buses.  I know about the silences that will envelope the house soon after they are gone.  It usually takes me a few days to realize that I have the house to myself and then I react much like Macaulay Culkin’s character in “Home Alone”.  Yes, I run through the house screaming and waving my hands celebrating my freedom.  Then I crank my tunes to full blast and have the time of my life.  Of course, by afternoon I need a nap because I have worn myself out and need to regroup before the kids come home…but still I enjoy every minute of it and look forward to when they come home so I can hear about every little detail about their days.  My first song captures the spirit of my feelings as my kids head back to school perfectly.  I love everything about “Gone, Gone, Gone” by Phillip Phillips.  It has got a great beat and the lyrics are so poignant.  I find myself singing and swaying along when I hear it.  I love it!!!

       Lately every single time I drive anywhere I discover Jake Owen's crooning on the radio “The One that Got away”.  I find myself singing along to this one too.  I think we have all had that one special one that got away. If you are lucky, there might even have been two.   You never quite forget them.  The magic of that first meeting and the time you spent with that person is locked in a secret place in your heart forever.  It is a memory you never lose…because after all they were amazing but somehow they escaped your clutches.  Still looking back, you remember them with a mischievous smile on your face and this song definitely in your heart.

    My last pick for this week is a fun little ditty called “Still into You” by Paramore.  I love this song!  It is a feel good bouncy song that spells out how I feel about my husband.  We will have been married 16 years September 12.  After all this time, I am still into him.  Through thick and thin and sick and sin…he’s still the only one for me.

     I leave you with another Tuesday of great tunes.  Feel free to pump up the volume and give a listen.  Let the music take you to a special place filled with unicorns that poop out rainbows and fanciful pixies.  Life is much better when you are happy!!

Letters Unsent

This letter is in response to the Write Tribe writer's prompt "Letter's Unsent". While I struggled with this prompt, I woke up this morning and the words and tears flowed. So, thank you...I needed that.

To My Dearest Friend, 

    It seems unbelievable to me that nearly 20 years have passed since we last laughed.  Tomorrow it will be exactly 20 years to the day since you left.  I learned so much from you Mom.  Didn’t we have fun?  Oh the memories we shared!  I know you didn’t want to go, but had little choice.  I knew as soon as I found you your pain was finally gone and you were at peace.  You looked joyful and I have carried that image with me ever since.  It was at that point I realized my life would never be the same.  To be honest, I never once believed you would actually die and leave me.  Maybe that is why the loss rocked me to my very core for years after.

     From your life and death I learned that life is all about changes and that nothing stays the same.  I learned friendships don’t last.  All those so called best friends I had throughout school that dropped me one after another were only ever acquaintances.  You would disagree with me once you knew they were friends with me on Face Book.  I can hear you know saying “Kathy, look at all the friends you have!!”  What I have learned is most people who friend you there only want the connection.  Their inborn curiosity demands to know your business and take a glimpse into your life.  With social networks they can do that without ever having to really connect with you in person.  Still the encouragement I find there gives me so much comfort.

         I can finally look back and understand that friendships are fleeting.  They never last.    After your death I made up my mind that I would never waste my time on believing someone was my best friend again unless they were my family as you were.  They come and they go plain and simple and it is best not to get too attached but to appreciate them while they are here and let them go when they are ready.  It is amazing to me how people pass through one’s life.  Still there are a couple of those Face Book friends who have touched my heart.  One in particular chats with me constantly.  It is amazing that she and I have never met in person but I know if we did, we would be the best of friends!!

     You will be happy to know that I have a daughter who is the image of you and of me.  I also have a son who I love to pieces.  You would have loved them both so much and it breaks my heart that you never got to meet
them. I know you would loved my husband and I know he would have loved you. They have become my best friends in your stead.   I thank God for my memories where you still live so vividly and I can’t wait until the day when I see you again.  I realize now how lucky I was to have a best friend in you.  I know now, you weren’t perfect but I also know that I loved you with every fiber of my being, that I would of done anything for you I could and did, and that with you I have no regrets.  Twenty years later, my heart still aches for you and the tears still flow.  Don't worry Mom, I am OK, really!  I love you.  I promise I will see you again!!

 Love, Me

    

     

Sexy and I Know It!

NaBloPoMo asks today…

Is someone hot forever once they're labeled hot? Or is hotness fleeting?

 
    When you are hot you’re hot, and when you are not, you’re not.   The state of looking hot is a lot like beauty and strictly in the eye of the beholder.  There are some folks, like me, that never reach the status of hot all their lives.  The most we can ever achieve is “cute”.   I have never in the history of time had someone look at me and said “Damn girl, you are hot!!!”  If they did, I seriously would have looked at them and figured they either needed new glasses or their head examined.  It is a state of mind and being.  Yell out “I’m sexy and I know it” to the masses and they are going to laugh themselves silly or chances are someone out there is going to believe it.  Check it out…because you got their attention!

      Some folks will do everything in their power to be hot even resorting to plastic surgery.  They pour thousands into Botox and lifts here and there until it gets to the point they no longer look like themselves.  They will hold onto youth with both hands and plastic surgeons make a killing on these people.  The sad part is instead of looking better; many times they become a grotesque version of themselves and become addicted to the process.  What disgusts me the most about plastic surgery is that it essentially screws with the cosmic universe and what God intended in the first place.  

  

     With all that said, hotness is fleeting.  If you have it when you are young, you are really lucky if you retain it as you grow older.  Often if you weren’t hot, you can sometimes obtain a level of hotness with a healthy dose of attitude.  A healthy dose of self-confidence goes a long way to being hot in my humble opinion.  Some folks grow hotter as they age.  They get better with time just like a fine wine.  Again I think that has a lot to do with that whole attitude and confidence factor.

      Why does it matter if you are hot or not?  Does hotness mean flaunting what you have and wearing as little as possible?  In some people’s minds, probably, but the bottom line is…hotness is determined on an individual basis and always in the eye of the beholder.  Walk the walk, dress the part, and get the moves…or simply be you. It is whatever works.  After careful muddling through this concept I have determined it is all about attitude and personality.   If all else fails pour some jalapenos on it and crank the heat to full blast.  If that doesn’t heat you up, nothing else will.