That's what weekend s are made of.

I got a chance to go to the sold out John Mayer show Friday. And I was happy to take my little ass down to Lakewood and check it out.

It wasn't the best JM show I've been to, but I know he is still recovering from his throat stuff so I'll give him a pass. The highlight for me was definitely Slow Dancing In a Burning Room. I'd post a video, but I'm on my phone, and I'm not quite sure how to to insert one from here. The weather was perfection. The music was sustaining. Life was lived. Happiest happies.

Saturday night was make-up fireworks night. The Fourth of July came to September, and it didn't disappoint. I wish the fireworks would rain out every year from here on out. An early fall night is much more conducive to outdoor enjoyments in Georgia.

Today B and I had lunch and split a caramel milkshake. Then I made it through Sunday afternoon grocery shopping with out murdering someone, coupons and all.

Now it's all cheese and crackers for dinner and DVR clean-up. Maybe do some wedding stuff if I get the itch.

Life is good when you let it be.

Wah, waaaah.

I may not be quite off the wagon, but I'm definitely hanging on for dear life. Working out was non-existent last week. Zero energy, zero motivation. It was almost like I forget where the gym even was. But tomorrow is another day and so forth.

The highlight of the month has been the Avett Brothers show Friday. We were in the pit, and I've never been that close before. It's what some people might call mega-winning at life. Drank some beers, met some cool people, and generally enjoyed life.

Okay, Okay, Okay, Okay.

This thing has been dormant for a bit too long. So long in fact, that I have not clue as to what I'm doing on the new layout.

But here's what's been going down with me:
1. Four month long sinus infection.
2. Shingles (brought on by #1)
3. Spending time with the boy.
4. Prepping (in my mind) for a big spring clean up/out.
5. Prepping (with my ears) for The Avett Brothers in May. It's been far too long.

That about wraps it up. Except I also joined a gym, and I'm going for the first time today. Am I a gym person?? We're all about to find out.

Oh, and follow me on intstagram-- bestcharityever.

Oh, and watch this video:

Uh-Oh Spaghettios

I've sorta blown goats in the seven blogs/seven days plan. Monday was a pizza coma, and yesterday I just plain forgot. I also blow similar goats at taking my vitamin daily. Any suggestions to remember???...I already keep them by the sink in the bathroom. I should probably invest in one of those old folks pill boxes with the days of the week on 'em. At the very least I'd have one with me at all times.

(You could also probably surmise at this time that I DO NOT use the pill for birth control, haha.)

I got new glasses this week, lost one pound, and replaced the battery in my watch necklace. All of these things make me smile big. I think I need more friend time. More out-of-the-house good times....let the good times roll or something like that. Anyone interested?? Let's paint the town red.

For now it's rainy and dark and DVR time. Love.

Seven blogs in seven days

I'm gonna try to get of my lazy bloggin' butt here, get down to some dirty work. For the next seven days my goal is a post a day. Not too much considering the amount of free time I've got happening right now.

Only boring people get bored?? Maybe so, but lately I've been bored outta my mind more often than I care to admit. Read some, watch some TV, do my nails....recipe for laziness for certain.

I did get the chance to watch Moneyball (not to be confused with Murderball which is also pretty good.). I really liked it a lot. Gives you another perspective on baseball, winning, starting over, and life in general. I've thought about reading the book, but I'll have to make it through the last half of my Goodwill purchased read first.

So, this is my seven day journey to becoming un-bored. Take it with me and/or give me some ideas of shit to do. I'm pretty much open to anything at this point. Except maybe Pintrest...I'm not exactly sure I get it. Yet. Lots of girly stuff happening over there.

Oh, and here's something not boring....and if you don't think it's one of the most precious songs you've ever heard, you, my friend, should get out more.

I'm so lonely, that's okay I shaved my head.

Eleven Things

1. Dave Grohl should play only drums. Always and Forever.
2. A sexy bass line turns me on.
3. Shower caps are awesome; I should have paid more attention to my Grandmother.
4. Pudding cake is the devil.
5. Heavy Mojo a week from Saturday, yes please.
6. ^^ For free. Uh-huh.
7. Already planning my Dan Akroyd: Two Wild and Crazy Guys Halloween costume. Boom!
8. I smell like Grapefruit, and I like it.
9. The pool changed my toe nail polish from pink to bronze. Odd.
10. I will not open the bottle of wine. I will not open the bottle of wine. (until at least Thursday)
11. Chicks that play guitar are hot.

You may now go back to your Tuesday.

Past Lives

I wish that I was good...
Nah, I wish that I was great.
I wish that I'd been early more often than late.
But nothing lasts forever,
maybe that's fate
When you're alive you're alright,
but when you're dead you're a saint.

Sometimes I forget about the chances we get in life to start over. They happen every day, thank God. I don't have to be the person you thought I was, or even the person I really was with you. I can be a different "me" right now if I wanted. And that's a glorious feeling. I think it has taken me a little while to get here, but I'm always a work in progress. And I'm OK with that. It's fun to evolve; it's also necessary. The big picture for me is that no one piece of my life (no matter how blissful it was) defines me...that no one interaction is who I am....that it's just a Past Life.

(also I'm more obsessed with Langhorne Slim by the minute, so please enjoy the music.)

Always remember there is nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.

In life we should all be this lucky: To love and be loved for seventy some odd years, to bring up three children, and to have those children spread the love to seven grandchildren. This is what my Grandmother did with her life. If I were to ever wondered what love looked like, I never had to look too far....I could watch her face light up when one of her sweet great-grand babies came in the room. I could close my eyes and remember the countless hours she'd spend scratching my back with her perfectly manicured nails while I lay in her lap, or remember all the time my Grandfather would pull the picture of her out of his wallet. He'd only been holding on to it since she was 19 or so. ;)

I've always said that since God only gave me one Grandmother He knew she had to be awesome. And she was. There is nothing about her that doesn't make me smile and be eternally grateful for how blessed I was to have her. That sweet heart, that smart mouth, and those outfits that always matched head to toe. But the very best thing she gave me was my family. Hands down. My Daddy is definitely his Mother's son, and I love it...My cup runneth over.


The talk of the town last week was a picture of my Grandparents being baptized together in 1939ish. As a family, to have this picture is so special and so rare. For those of you unaware back in the day a lot of baptisms took place in a lake or river. The picture of them standing together in the lake has left this song on my heart. It has always haunted my soul, in a good way...now it just touches me even more.




PS I had to BEG them to let me take that picture. True Mama Nell fashion. :)

The distance between excess and deficiency

Read Me

It's been about thirty some odd years that I've been on my journey of life. And I think I'm just now beginning to understand and appreciate the virtue of living in moderation. Aristotle speaks of virtue to be habit or a trained faculty. Saying that I've had to train myself to search for the mean in life is a huge understatement. He goes on to allude that the mean will be different for different people. That living in virtue and happiness is relative and not mathematical in nature. Thank goodness!

I have come to the conclusion that the only way to truly celebrate life and squirm around in the rich decadence that is waiting beyond every corner is to live in moderation. (most of the time) It seems really simple, but in this overindulging society we live in there are so many that take it to the extreme, myself included for these past 33 years. But I have discovered I simply enjoy pleasure much more deeply if it's special....and isn't that the point....to enjoy it?

"With regard to pleasantness in amusement, he who observes the mean may be called witty, and his character wittiness; excess may be called buffoonery, and the man is a buffoon; while "tedious" may stand for the person who is deficient, and "tediousness" describes his character. "

I had to read all the way to the end to make it to my favorite part. Since my focus lately has been on trying to extract pleasure from life.

I'm having a rough couple of days in the "joy-finding" department. I'm hoping soon to see how I can figure this thing out. Guessing and second guessing and third guessing myself is exhausting. And at the end of the day, I'm the only one who has to live with the consequences I suppose. As much as I seek moderation, I think it doesn't exist in all scenarios. I guess that would be all too easy. My brain is starting to smoke so I suppose this is all for now. I think I kinda took a turn for the vague, but oh well.

Just do your best ....

It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity.
Maybe I don't have to be good, but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far.

Those darn Avett Brothers get me every time. I think insecurity is an epidemic. Something we all lose some sleep over from time to time. It's rough trying to be everything we think we should be; it's probably downright impossible. I'm my own worst enemy, critic, nit-picker. And in that process, I become my own sabotage. (Now I'm singing Beastie Boys....I'ma set it straight, this watergate.)

But back to the point....We should let ourselves off the hook and some point, yes? This has been one of my continuing inner monologues lately, so if you feel I'm a little redundant oh well. If I can be a better person tomorrow than I was today, that will be my sanity. Trying is what matters, and I shouldn't be scared to try just because I think I won't be great. blah, blah, blah.

Now on to the nitty gritty. I did some pretty serious cleaning today. Serious enough that I found a dead lizard behind my couch. Like really, really dead. So dead I didn't even know if it was real. All of the cleaning reminded me of something: I hate cleaning. I swear that's why I'm happy in my itty-bitty apartment, less to clean. Oh, and I've been watching reruns of The Ghost Whisperer. It's pretty decent. I think I'm coming up to the last episodes and about to wrap around to the beginning.

The End.

PS The Avett Brothers concert is a mere month away, hence why there back on shuffle 24/7. :)

For now that's good enough for me.

Summer starts tomorrow, but if you live where I live you'd call BS. It's been so hot, and we've been getting these amazing summer storms. Ba-da-ba-ba-baaaaa, I'm lovin it! Loving the pool, the sun, the sweat, and the thunder at night. I'm also loving mixing in some peach bacardi wth sweet tea!!

I'm also loving that it's the half year mark...a good time to look back at what you've went through/accomplished/struggled with/loved/hated during the first half of the year and scrap it and move on. Screw the idea that January 1 is the only time to resolve to live. Today is a better time than ever because after all life doesn't have a tivo: it does not pause nor slowdown for any man. I'm wise enough to realize when someone has said best what I'm feeling so I steal the following from a much wittier person than I:

"For a few sunny and sweaty months, why not just shut the fuck up & suck on whatever makes you happy. For some that might be a breath of fresh air, for others it might be a tall glass of mental medication. Put a smile on your face. Or at least keep a gleam in your eye & wink it at someone once & awhile, just to let ‘em know that you’re in on it."

Thanks Tim :)

I think everyday can be our best day, if we just allow it to be. And if you can just decide that waking up each day and living a life you enjoy is good enough, how can you be disappointed? You can't. Period. The end. And that kind of pressure-free joy really opens up life to be so full and robust and ultra-luscious-sexy-satisfying. Afterall, eulogies rarely mention someone living a "perfect life" because on one really gives two shits about perfection in the end. What lingers is joy, love, friendship, and experience. So if you feel like it, start over tomorrow and let me know how it goes.

This song helps me breathe out when I get too caught up in myself. Maybe it'll work for you too.

Rain sounds so cool when it hits the barn roof

There are certain things in my life that are just givens. Knowing there are constants in life make me comfortable. For instance: Over the Hills and Far Away will always make me smile, kissing someone with a little scruff on their face will always give me chills, Jim Beam will always remind me of my first college party, etc. With this in mind here is my list of things that will always ring true for me:

1. Never leave the dance floor when Prince is playing.
2. Always remember if there is something you don't know you can always ask someone (even if that "someone" is Google).
3. When in doubt, play with a kid. This inevitably solves all the worlds problems.
4. Rainstorms are natures sleeping pills.
5. Never take a man's chili dog.
6.There are no such thing as guilty pleasures. Pleasure is always a good thing as long as you aren't hurting anyone.
7. You'll be fine if you go an extra day without shaving your legs or cleaning the kitchen.
8. Grilled cheese that someone makes FOR you taste much better than one you made for yourself.
9. When in doubt, sleep an extra ten minutes.
10. Save your pocket change.
11. Going barefoot never hurt anyone....that's what tetanus shots are for.
12. If it's important, write it down. Trust me.

And I'll close with this little paraphrase of JM describing what Your Body is a Wonderland is about.......It's like when you to bed at 4:00 and stay until dinner. Like when you go to a movie, and come out and it's dark. Except it's sex.

Sometimes I could....

really use a break from life. Not in a bad way, quite the opposite. Not a vacation, because a vacation is life at it's best. A real honest to goodness break where I get the chance to see things only through my eyes. Where my vantage point is the only one that matters. FYI I could REALLY use a break right now...


Breakdown
Jack Johnson
I hope this old train breaks down
Then I could take a walk around
And, see what there is to see
And time is just a melody
All the people in the street
Walk as fast as their feet can take them
I just roll through town
And though my windows got a view
The frame I'm looking through
Seems to have no concern for now
So for now

I need this
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown

This engine screams out loud
Centipede gonna crawl westbound
So I don't even make a sound
Cause it's gonna sting me when I leave this town
All the people in the street
That I'll never get to meet
If these tracks don't bend somehow
And I got no time
That I got to get to
Where I don't need to be
So I

I need this
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I need this
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I wanna break on down
But I cant stop now
Let me break on down

But you cant stop nothing
If you got no control
Of the thoughts in your mind
That you kept in, you know
You don't know nothing
But you don't need to know
The wisdoms in the trees
Not the glass windows
You cant stop wishing
If you don't let go
But things that you find
And you lose, and you know
You keep on rolling
Put the moment on hold
The frames too bright
So put the blinds down low

I need this
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I need this
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I wanna break on down
But I cant stop now

La Joie de Vivre

Who'd have thought I'd be getting some wisdom from Jessica Simpson. (I DO love her, and think she is one of the sweetest things ever, but I didn't know she'd get me thinking.)

So she's got a show on VH1, The Price of Beauty, and it's interesting to say the least. In different exotic locals she looks into what that culture perceives as beautiful. And then the flip side where someone went too far for beauty. I guess we Americans aren't the only ones capable of going to extremes.

While in France she is turned onto the phrase, "la joie de vivre"...Joy of living. Wikipedia has this to say, "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And joie de vivre may be seen as a joy of everything, a comprehensive joy, a philosophy of life, a worldview."

I aspire to this...I dream of this...I lie and say I live this. I do my best, but often come up short. I so many times forget that there is so much joy to be found in living. It's easy to find the joy in the big things, but my goal is to extract all the joy from even the most simple moment.


Por ejemplo...
When I wake up before my alarm goes off I get pissed for missing an extra fifteen minutes of sleep. Instead I should be happy to know my body is rested, ready to start the day, and joyful to start the day in such a peaceful way.

The phrase is about the joy of living; not the joy of life. I want to be very specific about this. Enjoying life seems so passive. Enjoying living is an action. A conscience decision I must make every day. An active process of extracting the happiness from everything I do. Hopefully, I'll get get better; for now I'm gonna go find the joy in a bubble bath.

My Stupid Mouth

One of the worst feelings I have in life is hurting someone I love. We've all done it, sometimes intentionally sometimes not so much. The accidental time suck, but the times I do it on purpose are the real knives to the heart.

When you're in the moment and are feeling angry, hurt, or backed into a corner who knows how you'll swing back. My ideal response is to breath deep and let it go. After all one of my biggest life philosophies is that everyone (even the person backing me into a corner) is allowed to feel however they want whenever they want. But sometimes the claws come out. Sometimes I say that thing that I know will hurt the most. And instantly I regret it.

I don't regret much in life...just because it's a waste of time. But deliberately hurting someone is the one thing I can rarely get over. Mostly because I know how it feels to be on the other end. When someone hurts me on purpose it breaks my heart, and I play it over and over in my head. So when I do it, I seriously hate myself for it. I hate that I can apologize and admit guilt forever, but that the person may never forgive me. I hate that they will carry around the memory of the stupid shit I said to them just because I couldn't shut my stupid mouth.

So here's some good advice we all should take: Whenever you feel the word vomit coming up, get the fuck out of there. Go do yoga, take a walk, phone a friend, have a cigarette, blast some music, whatever it takes. You'll thank me later.

Happy Birthday Morgan!!!!

It's this simple y'all...