Hug a mom today

It's been a nice weekend of celebrating my mom (whose birthday always falls on the same week as Mother's Day). She's smart, funny and patient and has given me more hugs than I thought humanly possible. (And just like me, she likes to tell the long version of every story. Every detail is important!)

I moved back home for a year after college and on one day—a really bad day—I remember my mom coming into my bedroom, sitting on my bed with me and singing this song:


We laughed, we cried, oh yeah, it was like something out of a Hallmark movie—a Hallmark movie MUSICAL, even better! Nine years later, I can still hear my mom singing (badly) "Where can you goooooooo, if the world don’t treat you right? The answer is hoooooooome…"

Many days since then, I've needed that reminder. What a blessing that I can always go home and have such a dear friend waiting to see me. I love you mom!

My life as a musical

I may have said this before, but my perfect world involves a life lived as a musical. Yes, whether I’m at the office, at home, or in a public place, I would randomly break out in an inspiring musical number that reflects my mood. Others around me would join in, we’d throw in some choreography and, in the end, it would make me feel happy.

But the real, not-so-perfect world often involves feeling like you’re one of the few with common sense, where you work your rear off to please people and they still seem disappointed, and where things simply don’t go your way. (And the soundtrack is silent.) Alas, welcome to my week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pretty happy person. But sometimes I have those days…and sometimes those days string together and I just want to throw in the towel. That’s when I need a little reminder of my perfect world. Hence, I found this to cheer me up…

Ah, I feel a little better now (and might want to go back into the restaurant business). Now I should just stand up and start singing “Tomorrow” from Annie and things would really start to turn around!

What are you reading?

A good book at the end of a bad day has a way of turning things around. I love stepping into someone else's world (real or fictional) for a laugh, a cry or some good drama (but not the scary, gory kind of drama). I'm lacking anything new on my bookshelf right now and I could have used a decent page turner this past week. And now that the lounge chairs have come out of storage at the pool in my condo development, I'm definitely going to need some quality reading material (other than People magazine, of course) for some poolside weekends.

Since Jen got great music suggestions a few weeks ago, I thought I'd follow suit by seeking some reading recommendations. What are you reading that I need to put on my summer reading list? What are the classics you could read again and again? What made you laugh? What made you think? What made you say "I wish I had written that!?"

I don't necessarily need a deep read. I don't care if it was featured on Oprah's Book Club or won a literary award. It's almost summer, and since I have no vacations planned, a fun and light-hearted read might be my best getaway of the season. So please, arm me with a reading roadmap to help me navigate the next few months.

Emotional attachments

There are not many things I hang onto for sentimental purposes. I feel tremendous satisfaction when I can fill a garbage bag with “stuff” to donate or throw out. I try not to be too attached to material stuff. However, I have always had weird emotional attachments to the cars I drive. I’ve even named my cars. It’s not that my past vehicles were so good to me that they deserved my affection (it has typically been the opposite), but I get comfortable in what I drive, and I’ve made my vehicle purchases carefully. That is, until last weekend…

After being repeatedly asked by my car dealer to trade in my car (there is high demand for my current vehicle on the used lot), the hubs and I decided to check things out. Well, LONG story short…we bought a new car. But as soon as I began signing the papers, I started to feel uneasy. “Why are we spending money on a new car we don’t need? I love my car, why am I giving it up? Do I even like this new car?”

It went downhill from there.

We headed out to my trade in to remove my personal belongings. That’s when I started crying (yes, crying) and told Phil I wasn’t sure this was the right decision. I figured I was just being my overly emotional self and tried to move on. But the uneasiness only got worse. Finally, the sales guy handed me the keys to my new car. I got behind the wheel and headed home…in tears. I cried the entire drive home. At this point, I was sure we had made a mistake. I didn’t want to drive this car for the next 10 years. I didn’t like the color. It just wasn’t me. All I wanted was my cute little Toyota Corolla back.

And so my amazing husband came to the rescue. We got home and he announced that he was going to take it back for me right away (thank goodness for the three-day, no questions asked return policy). Still in tears and thoroughly embarrassed, I said, “No one actually does that! No one returns a brand new car! But…you would really do that for me?” Yup, he drove it right back to the dealer, told them we made a mistake and that he needed to get my old car back. I have never been more happy to see my cute little car pull into the garage!

One day I’ll be ready to part with my car, but it wasn’t time to breakup yet. So we wasted five hours on a Saturday…at least I got my car cleaned out!

Don't bug me

I adore springtime. I've been bursting with productivity lately because the warm sunshine and longer days are so motivating. But there are two things about spring that I hate: allergies and the return of bugs. Thank goodness for Claritin D. But, I’m still unsatisfied with the bugs.

Every day this week I have killed a spider or some other unclassifiable insect or flying thingy in my home. The other night, I had a dream (or was it…?) that something was buzzing in my ear and I woke myself up when my hand started flailing around my head.

I know these are all tiny, relatively harmless bugs. I know spiders are "good" because they eat other bugs. And yes, I can put on a brave face when others are around and pretend like that spider who can outrun a cheetah is no big deal. I was even on a first name basis with the pest control guy at my former office where we had a bit of a cockroach problem. But honestly, killing bugs in my house takes about as much courage for me as running into a burning building. And have you ever noticed that when you finally do kill a bug, you only think it's dead? Nine times out of ten, that sucker (no matter how crushed it is) somehow revives itself as soon as it's picked up with a tissue.

Disney makes movies in which the bugs talk, dance and save the world. They want me to think bugs are fun and friendly. No. They are not. They are icky. They belong outside and not in my house.

I don't need you to tell me all the gross facts like how the average person eats eight spiders in their lifetime or whatever. I've heard it. But if anyone has any brilliant advice to keep the bugs away—or to overcome my fear in some way that does not involve a Fear Factor-like stunt of letting hundreds of insects crawl on me—let me know. I'm over having all these extra roommates.

Finales…finally

It’s almost May, which means that almost every show on TV tries to up the entertainment value as they fight for the sweeps ratings and wrap up their seasons. As someone who admittedly watches too much TV, I’m approaching this year’s season finales with mixed anticipation.

I can’t wait for the reality show finales. It’s not because I’m excited to watch, but because I can’t wait for most of them to be over. Chief among them is American Idol…has there ever been a less entertaining season of that show? From what I’ve seen, Dancing with the Stars has also turned out to be pretty blah (not that I was ever a huge fan). Survivor and The Biggest Loser have been just OK. The Amazing Race will be good only if good-guy cowboys Jet and Cord come out on top.

As for my favorite comedies… We’ll see if The Office can top the hilarious episode where Pam had her baby. And unfortunately, the Glee finale is already nearing, even though the new season just started. At least we’ll have a few more weeks of their musical genius.

As for the dramas, I’ve lost most of my interest in Grey’s Anatomy. And, while 24 has been a bit of a letdown this season, I’ll be tuning in to the final six hours of Jack Bauer in the show’s final season.

If you want to set your DVR or mark your calendar for your favorite season finale, see a complete list here.

Next, it’s on to the summer shows…So You Think You Can Dance will likely be tops for me. And, for the sake of the hubs, I’m sure I’ll be subjecting myself to Wipeout. (I only like that one because I get a kick out of Phil’s hysterical laughter at stuff that is only moderately funny to me.)

So, what will you be watching?

Booty, God, Booty

Has a blog headline ever sounded so intriguing? Wish I could take credit for it, but instead I must give props to the author of Stuff Christians Like. Jen told you about this satirical guide to all things Christian a few months ago. Now the book is out and I give it five stars. Trust me, I'm not Jonathan Acuff's publicist, so I'm not even getting paid to say this.

You can actually download the audio version of the book for free this month with the promo code APR2010. I've been listening to it all week during my commute and I just can't wait to get in my car to hear more about the magical things that happen on stage when you close your eyes to pray, casseroles of hope, yoga, dating God, and of course booty, God, booty.

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Maybe it's because, for better or worse, I can relate to a lot of it. And amidst the humor, there are nuggets of truth and heartfelt reminders of God's love for me. Not to mention some classic nods to Fergie, creepy mimes and My Little Pony. Download the book and enjoy it on your next road trip.