“It’s a cake day” definitely does NOT have the same meaning for me as it does for most people. “Cake day” for me means I am doing a special-events-celebratory-by-request-decorated cake. Each one of these has the potential for great disaster. Never more than this one I will be attempting today and tomorrow. I have researched similiar cakes to this (diaper-cake) design, requested by my beautiful Jovan. I have found 57 photos. 3 are cute. ONLY THREE! The rest are hilarious disasters. {shaking my head} We shall see…But for Jovanie (who once talked me into a Barbie cake!!??…see below)? Anything!
I am playing my Three Dog Night’s Greatest Hits on the turntable – yes! NOT an MP3, an actual old-fashioned LP record – VINYL, people! Good times! The slight scratchiness adds to the experience.
Did Paul Williams (who had sort of a froggy-puppet look) write good lyrics or what?
Just an old-fashioned love song playin’ on the radio
And wrapped around the music is the sound
Of someone promising they’ll never go
You swear you’ve heard it before
As it slowly rambles on and on
No need in bringin’ `em back,
`Cause they’re never really gone
Just an old-fashioned love song
One I’m sure they wrote for you and me
Just an old-fashioned love song
Comin’ down in 3-part harmony
To weave our dreams upon and listen to each evening
When the lights are low
To underscore our love affair
With tenderness and feeling that we’ve come to know
You swear you’ve heard it before
As it slowly rambles on and on and
No need in bringin’ `em back,
`Cause they’re never really gone
It is a brilliantly sunny day and just as I was about to toss some onions from the produce drawer (the last of 2009’s onion bounty from my own garden) because they are starting to sprout, I realized it is not too early to go push them into the garden soil where they will grow for this year! Happy! Happy! Happy! Almost made me forget I can’t breathe and my throat hurts and (after 2 weeks of this) I have to go to the doctor’s office later.
It is quite the spread! Dave did an interview last week with Blade feature-writer, Christine Hollister, and said they visited extensively about our kids and family, but still, the article is quite a surprise. Especially the fact that the reporter actually read several of my blog posts and QUOTED me – yes from this very blog you are reading! Ha! I am smiling a little! Very fun day!
sneak peek on the front page and an up-close mentioning this blog, o yea!
More performances of Annie this weekend: Friday night, Saturday matinee and Saturday night. $7 at the door. You can find out all the details at www.prairieplayhouse.com
page 4 and the finish on page 16
The article is just so nice and depicts Dave and all of us, really, in such a flattering light. They even mentioned the “Heavenfest concerts.” {smile} We are so honored.
Even the dog gets a write-up and a WHOLE PAGE – wow!
The Martin Luther quote? Yikes. This could not be worse news.
Hair cut this week. Actually left the shop pretty OK with it. Unusual… Ready to color, early before meetings. Reeeeeally didn’t feel like going to Sally’s to buy the dye. Look under the sink and find a red I hadn’t used in some time. What a happy surprise. I don’t even remember having this! L’Oreal’s Mega-Reds, Intense Copper Red. It is almost, but not quite full.
Bingo! There’s enough. I’ll use it. No muss, no fuss.
While mixing with the developer, it seems odd. But I proceed. I plaster, cover, go about my business.
Time to rinse. The water runs off looking reddish enough, but not all that intense. I pay no attention. I wrap my head in a towel and gather things I’ll need for the office.
Time to blow dry. Hmmm…does look intense, after all…dark. I am humming, not bothering to look into a mirror as I dry, until the end. Suddenly, my very own Brady-bunch-type-hair-dye-crazy-disaster-sit-com-moment.
What the…?? It is reddish brown in spots, grayish brown in others, dark brown in some and almost black in parts. It is NOT. what. I. was. expecting. Not at all.
Should have looked like this, all over:
Instead:
It really is worse than you can tell here. Hard-to-believe, but true.
As I shrieked, “What on earth?!?” Guini assurred me: “It’s OK, Nonna. It’s gonna be alright.” And it will…unless I am seen in broad daylight. In a dark room, sure. Fine.
Dave says he likes it, shrugs it off and tells me this is what happens with so many daughters running a hair chemistry lab around here all the time (and they all claim total innocence and say it was probably expired and my own fault).
{sigh} I will have to find a way to fix it so all of my “richest ornament” does not fall out. Or I can become very nocturnal.
The scraggly family mutt who was abandoned at the landfill years ago to run wild and fear her own shadow, the trembling pile of fur we drug home, intent on saving whether she wanted us or not, and named “Sandy” after the dog from the Broadway play and the 1982 movie, “Annie,” has come full circle.
Yes. Sandy-the-Dog played Sandy-the-Dog in Prairie Playhouse’s production of “Annie,” at tonight’s OPENING NIGHT!!! What frolic or mayhem could have occurred did not. Though I feared the worst, Sandy’s performance was flawless. She did it! She stayed close to “Annie,” she obeyed the commands to “sit” and “stay” until beckoned by Annie. Sandy was amazing.
Dave was, too! It is a GREAT show!
I wonder if my two stage stars will be hard to live with now?
Brighton’s own Broadway {off, off, off, off, off, off Broadway, anyway…}
It starts tonight! 10 performances over the next month where Dave will play Daddy Warbucks and Sandy-the-family-dog will play her actual Annie-inspired namesake, Sandy-the-dog, onstage. Dave auditioned in October for this role and it has finally arrived. It is going to be so cool! I can’t wait! Besdies my husband and my dog, my antique desk and chair will be onstage, my Christmas tree, a certain piece of illegal weaponry and various other props will make an appearance, compliments of our house. Yet, I still have to pay to get in. {shaking my head} I mean, who do you have to sleep with to get a free ticket around here???
Rhoades Family Trivia~
Q: How many times did the Rhoades kids watch the “Annie” movie during their growing up years?
A: 8362 times. Minimum. Every cassette or videotaped recording of our kids at anytime between 1984 and 2007 include, at some point, some rendition of some song or another from the musical “Annie.” True story.
Note to the Rhoades-kids originals:
Watch the first scene with little orphan Annie. Hear her words and feel her heart and you will understand a little something more about your own dad’s story as a kid who was adopted.
Valentine’s Day is Sunday! As you prepare to EXPRESS your love, I submit these tidbits for inspiration:
Tweet Me!
Conversation hearts, they are a-changing. For all my growing up years they just said things like, “Be mine,” “Kiss me,” and “Sweet talk.” But as of this year, 1 in 80 hearts will say, “Tweet me.”
You’ll still find the traditional, “Be true,” but also the ones added in the late 90s like “Call me,” or “Email me.” Last spring they even produced special Twilght-themed hearts, which my little grandbebes seem to adore, that said things like “I {heart} EC,” “Lion and Lamb,” and “Dazzle.” “Bite me,” is also an interesting addition, now interpreted romantically (Thank-you, Edward) rather than as a vulgar insult. Times have changed.
Your Kiss is on my List!
I posted a whole list of KISSING-QUOTES previously. You may read them here. But please BE SURE to read the comments from others because they added some wonderful KISSING sentiment, too! That Tredessa knows her kissable literature and movies! AND SHARE YOURS!
“How did it happen that their lips came together?
How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts,
that the rose unfolds,
that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill?
A kiss, and all was said.”
~Victor Hugo
Music and passion were always the fashion…
Remember “mixed tapes?” People would create their own, personalized playlist of love songs for their true amour on something called a “cassette.” Back in the day…{sigh} Now you can can just do it online, no-muss, no-fuss: FREE playlists. www.playlist.comThey are playing our song…
Tristan made a video for Stephanie’s birthday a couple of years ago, a re-enactment of a scene from “The Office,” where Jim is “conducting an experiement” in controlling Dwight. Gavin was “Jim” and Guini was “Dwight.” The only problem was that Dwight is an annoying jerk and Guini kept being so sweetly polite (like her Nonna).
Sometime after 11 pm last night, the views on this video went over 20,000! Isn’t that cool? My little grandbebes have brought joy to many Office viewers! If you watch it, go RATE it (no less than 5 stars, s’il te plait!).
You may as well enjoy the video my kids made me for Mother’s Day that year, too. It is my favorite Partridge family song ever.
THE RULES: In no particular order, limiting this list to 20 {because I can be quite a crybaby} and allowing only one per artist, (although I must admit certain artists and bands could have their own lists full of songs) here are some songs that can makeme cry. They are not necessarily the top 20, just the first 20 that came to mind when I decided to make this list. WHY? Because, like Elton sings, “Sad songs say sooooo much.”
“Still” by Lionel Richie
“But then most of all, I do love you, {spoken softly} s t i l l…”
“At this Moment” by Billy Vera and the Beaters
I cannot explain why this song did me in, but when it came out in the 80s, I cried my eyes out every single time I heard it. I was amazed at the idea of loving some one so much you’d be willing to give up “20 years” of your life to have them stay, have them not leave you. I know that is impossible to achieve, but he sang it so well, I really believed he was willing. Still kills me.
“The Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me” by Gladys Knight and the Pips
I sang this to Dave walking down a street in Dallas, Texas in 1982, just after our first anniversary. After almost 29 years of marriage, he has no choice but to be “there, between each line of pain or glory,” whether he wants to or not.
“Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro
She dies. There is a tree that grows (you know how I love gardening). He misses her. I hope to be sorely and grieviously missed when I die. After I am at least 87.
“Superstar” by the Carpenters
It’s about song bringing love…”Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh baby..” {those lyrics!}
“He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones
I don’t want to spoil this for you if you haven’t heard it…boo hoooooo….
The raw pain in her amazing voice, “I will lay down my heart, and I’ll feel the power, but you won’t…” Whyyyyyyyyyy? Why can’t he feel the power of it? Is he absolutely just an unfeeling, cold-hearted jerk?
“Whiskey Lullaby” by Brad Paisley and Alison Kraus
“She put him out like the burning end of a midnight cigarette, she broke his heart…” Brad has the words. He writes the songs….
“Vincent” by Don McLean
I guess I love this because I suffer for my sanity, too (just kidding…sort of).
“How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” by The BeeGees
“I can think of younger days…” You just run out of resiliency when you get to the middle…and past it.
“If” by Bread
“And when my love for life is running dry, you come and pour yourself on me…” That? Is being loved. That is loving. (BTW~I super hate the slides on this video…this is posted purely for the song)
“Weekend in New England” by Barry Manilow
Eyes meeting, touching, strong yearning. Don’t be critical of Barry, now. The man can tear your heart out with his songs. I had trouble between this one and “Even Now” or “Somewhere Down the Road.”
“I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton from the early 70s
I was 14. She was leaving Porter Wagoner (I have to admit I loved that Saturday afternoon show sponsored by some powedered laundry detergent). I didn’t know what they were going through, but that woman’s pure voice expressed words so powerful that I knew, even then, I was hearing a song I’d never forget and would love my whole life through. And oh, I get it so much more, now. It is one of the greatest songs of all time. One of THE greatest. Ever.
“I Wanna Run to You” by Whitney Houston
From “The Bodyguard.” The lyrics reveal our feminine vulnerability. We’ve learned to take care of things ourselves, be tough. The truth is we need to be covered, protected. We need heroes.
“My Eyes Adored You” by Frankie Valli
I was 14 when this came out, too. Being 14 was a big deal, apparently, in my romantic notions. I just daydreamed about somebody adoring me, I guess. Such a pretty melody, sweet words, innocent and lovely. Remember when?…
“You’re a Part of Me” by Kim Carnes and Gene Cotton
Longing. Don’t leave me, and if you do: come back. “You’re a part of me I can’t live without…”
“Rest Your Love on Me” by Olivia Newton John and Andy Gibb
Deep down, I am a caring person. I am an INFJ – a “protector.” That is what I like to do.
“Sunshine on My Shoulders” by John Denver
The soundtrack to the ABC Movie-of-the-Week, “Sunshine,” the fall of 1973 (I had just turned…can you believe it? 14!). I think it was based on a true story of a young woman married to a struggling musician who has cancer and as she is dying, she talks into a tape recorder to be able to leave her thoughts and story behind for their baby girl. John Denver sang the title track. Beautifully. His voice was very important to me during this era – all of his words and melodies touched something deep inside me.
“I’d Do It All Again” by Corrine Bailey Rae
Love does hurt sometimes. But this girl is not going to let it stop her faith in love. Me, neither!
But he was for the Colts. So, come on ~ I HAD to do this to him.
And apparently Wrex had been saying how he thought he looked a lot like Peyton Manning all evening when I, totally unaware of this little tidbit, made the remark that Drew Brees was so much cuter than Peyton Manning. I DIDN’T KNOW!! Naturally, we ALL think Wrex is amazingly handsome and wonderful. I am sorry, Wrexster. Really really sorry. Pleeeeeeease forgive me??? (Not so sorry I didn’t make him pose for this picture, though…hehehehe…)
Who Dat? And all that~
I must admit I called my brother Joe when it looked like the Colts could do no wrong and had been leading for too long and I rambled on about him dragging me into this stressful, crazy, game and making me cheer for a team who was going to lose. Minutes later, things turned around and he called me telling me to stop the whining.
The kids played games and kept the noise at fever pitch. Gemma danced for halftime, which was way better than The Who. Seriously.
Stormie, it turns out, is deeply competitive and was really mean to people NOT rooting for the Saints. This was her {haughty} victory face.
The Dodge commercial was hilarious. All the females oohed and aawed over the Google commercial. It was interesting to note how many men in only their underwear we saw. Is this really what men like to watch during football? Doritos had some pretty fun ones (part of a contest they sponsored) and the Right-to-life/Focus-on-the-Family one was really well done, I thought: not preachy or offensive, but pretty cool, actually.
But hey, did you hear? THE SAINTS WON the Super Bowl!
