Day 59

It's Day 59. In case you missed Day 52 or Day 58, you should read those first. Or you can just pretend you know what's happening and dive into this post. As I've stated in my prior two posts this is girl stuff, so if you're not a girl, or if you're a girl who doesn't like to read about girl stuff, you should stop reading now. 

After yesterday's post I waited about an hour before my doctor's nurse called me back. I told her what was happening and she said the doctor actually wasn't in but she'd talk to her today and get back to me. And then she reiterated that I should be in bed resting. So after I ate dinner and watched the first period of the Sharks game I actually got in bed. And yes, that's a stuffed animal in bed with me. A girl's gotta have some comfort!

Things were still semi-heavy last night and woke me up very early this morning, but they seem to have settled down a bit now. Maybe there's something to this resting thing after all. I decided to give it a shot and stayed in my bed until approximately 11:15 today when my stomach was growling so loudly that I forced myself to get up and make some food.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you'll know that in the midst of cooking I set off my downstairs AND upstairs smoke alarms, further proving my point that eating out should always be my first choice.

After eating my pork chop and French fries I settled in for some delightful afternoon TV and finally got a call back from my doctor's office.

As you may recall I had an appointment scheduled for next Friday, January 6, to review the results of my blood work and ultrasound. As you may also recall I was not pleased about it. Well, now I have an appointment on Tuesday - still not clear why they couldn't fit me in today, but whatever - and I have an appointment next Thursday to have a D & C procedure done, which is supposed to fix this problem. If you're not sure what that is, click on the link and WebMD will tell you all about it.

Anyway...I now feel like I'm going to get some relief from this, but I'm really not clear why it took so freaking long!!

Thanks again for all of your good thoughts and wishes. I'll keep you posted!

Day 58

In case you missed the first post about the health situation I'm dealing with, check out Day 52. I'm now on Day 58 and as I just posted on Twitter and Facebook, I could not be more done if I tried.

And again boys...you may not wish to read any further...

Since my last blog about this oh-so-joyous situation I heard back from the doctor and was given an appointment on January 6 to discuss the results of the ultrasound. Really? More than two weeks after the exam? I assumed this delay was due to the holidays and resigned myself to the fact that it was my only option. They told me nothing about the blood work and didn't ask how things were going and I was in my office so didn't really feel like sharing. But the fact was, and is, that nothing has changed. NOTHING.


That rest they told me to take? Yeah. That didn't change anything. My period is still alive and well though seems to be more finicky. I've actually had a couple of days where it was very light and I thought maybe, just maybe, I was getting through things. HA! Negative ghost rider. The day after the light days, it just doubles itself up and gets mean. 


That's pretty much what happened today.


Life was great yesterday. I've been resting quite a bit since I'm on vacation and just doing a few things here and there. I went to the salon yesterday - relaxing - and also to the DMV. Granted, that wasn't relaxing, but I had an appointment so was only there 30 minutes. Then I came home and rested before meeting a friend for dinner. Dinner's relaxing, right? Yes. It is. And I went to bed thinking life was good. That maybe things were finally looking up.


When I woke up this morning I realized how wrong I was. Things were moderate when I crawled out of bed but still much heavier than yesterday. Fine. Whatever. I'm dealing with this thing now so I just left to meet my friend for a movie and lunch. It was in the middle of the movie that I felt things getting ugly but I feared standing up and creating a scene so I waited until the movie was over and scurried to the bathroom where I felt like a teenager who was ill-prepared for her time of the month. Not to be gross but, well, it was gross. And it was a flood. And I almost cried in the bathroom of the movie theatre. I didn't though. Instead, I wrapped my sweatshirt around my waist, backwards, and told my friend I couldn't do lunch because I had to go home. He was already in the know about everything and was very understanding but I was MAD.

I grumbled the whole way home and debated driving myself to Urgent Care in hopes that maybe someone there would take some action but I decided to come home and clean up and see how the rest of the day went. After doing so and realizing that things were back to a more moderate state I hemmed and hawed and decided to cancel everything I had planned for tonight and tomorrow just to be on the safe side. That's when I got really mad. This is now interfering with my life in greater ways and I AM DONE.

I just called the doctor's office and, surprise! She's actually working this week. Why couldn't they get me an appointment this week to go over the results? Seriously displeased. I talked to the receptionist who freaked out when I told her what day of my period I was on then put me on hold while she tried to get the doctor's nurse to come to the phone. Unfortunately she was with a patient and couldn't talk to me so now I'm sitting here waiting for a call back and wondering if this ridiculousness will ever end.

Like I said, I really do feel fine...there's no pain of any sort, just embarrassment today and complete and total irritation. Thanks to all of you for your good thoughts and prayers. I'll keep you posted...

Day 52

Let me just start by saying that I am feeling fine...no pain...and no thought that something dreadful is wrong...still, there is a lingering health issue that I've been dealing with and decided to share what's going on because frankly it's all just pissing me off.

Boys...you may want to stop reading here as my health issue involves girl stuff...you may not care to have the details...I'm not afraid to share them with you but completely understand if you'd prefer to just know that in the end, as it stands now, I'm fine.

A couple of notes before I unfold this story...

1. I am 43 years old and am a virgin...proud of it as a matter of fact...believe me, I know it's rare.
2. I am a huge baby.

I suppose this all started about 18-20 months ago when I noticed my monthly cycle was becoming a little irregular, nothing major but annoying and cause for question. Question, not concern. Several friends mentioned that going on the pill would help regulate things...that it wasn't just for birth control. It made sense to me so I asked my regular doctor about it - my general practitioner that is. She said it was normal that things were starting to change given my age and that I shouldn't worry about it. However, she said I should go ahead and get an annual exam (which I've had exactly three times in my life - annual? more like every 10 years). I made a separate appointment for that; then, because things weren't regular, I had to reschedule it because my monthly friend arrived at an inappropriate time. 

Side note: As previously stated I'm a huge baby. And because of that, and because of item number one above, having that exam is about the most stressful thing I can imagine. The only other times I'd had the exam done prior to this adventure they had to use a child's speculum. And I was very much an adult when the other exams occurred. 

Anyway...I got the appointment rescheduled and made sure to tell the nurse that they would need a child's speculum because it's not something most GPs just have lying around. Mine did but I was so freaking tense by the time I arrived for the exam that there was no way she could actually do it. I kid you not when I say I was in tears at the mere thought of it. At that point she sent me to the gynecologist. Yeah. Because THAT seems less stressful. Whatever.

I made the appointment with the gyno a couple of months later - why rush? It was like a repeat experience from my GP's office only more so because I'd never seen this doctor and had already endured her lecture about not having the exam more often. Until this point I'd never had a single issue with anything and wasn't really having issues then. I knew I was getting close to the perimenopause stuff and wanted to make sure things were on track. I asked her about the pill and she wouldn't prescribe it without having the exam. Awesome. I believe it was at this point that I wished I'd lied to my GP and told her I was getting married and didn't want to get pregnant. I bet I would have gotten the pill then. But I digress...

The gyno said she could do the exam under mild anesthesia so I wouldn't be so tense and while the thought of that didn't exactly thrill me I knew it was the only way anyone was going to actually get the exam done so I got it scheduled. Yeah. That's not stressful at all. 

When the day arrived a good friend who has had similar issues with the exam and totally understood my plight drove me to the surgery center and it seemed like it would be a fairly painless experience. And I guess it was because I don't remember anything before waking up from the anesthesia. My friend picked me up and then the fun began.

The doctor told me that during the exam something tore and so I'd probably experience some pain when I went to the bathroom or even just sitting down. And they wonder why I couldn't have the exam the normal way? Good grief. They told me the pain would last a day or two. Yeah. That happened. The pain went for almost a week and I swore I would never do it again. That was September 2010. And even after the exam, they told me everything was fine but still wouldn't prescribe the pill. I was not pleased. Again, wishing I had lied. They basically just told me to deal with the irregularity and if it got worse to let them know. It still wasn't clear that they'd do anything about it but apparently just wanted to know. Whatever.

Flash forward into 2011...things were still irregular and about 6-8 months after the exam from hell I asked my GP about the pill again. She once again refused to prescribe it to me and told me about all the horrid side effects that were much worse than an irregular period. Not pleased!

During the year I had more than my fair share of infections that caused me to struggle with breathing and lose my voice more than once. They weren't sinus and they weren't colds...not completely sure what they were but I had more antibiotics in the last year than I care to think about. Sometime in the spring they put me on Prednisone for about 10 days and things improved drastically. But the Prednisone was evil and had its own special set of side effects. I hoped to avoid it going forward but when the infection returned with a vengeance in the summer they put me on it for almost two full months. And guess what happened? My period went away. Completely.

When I mentioned this to my GP, who had prescribed the Prednisone, she said that was normal when taking that medicine and believe me, I rejoiced and hoped it would stay away forever. However, after I stopped taking it, toward the end of September, my period decided to return, only this time, it was beyond crazy.

For the entire month of October it was extremely light, like it was just taunting me. I wasn't bothered by it because it was still better than a normal cycle. I kept wondering if the real deal would show up and was unpleasantly visited on November first and am now on day 52 of the fun. And it's been mostly heavy though some days have been, thankfully, more moderate. 

November held its own share of stress as I dealt with the death of a friend's husband, another bout of the infection that just won't die and a trip to Colorado to visit my grandparents. By the end of the month I decided it was time to talk to the doctor about things. Naturally, she was out of the country so I didn't get an appointment until last week, almost six weeks into the never-ending cycle from hell. My sole mission was to get the pill to get this thing regulated. Do I even need to tell you that she told me no? Of course I don't. Instead she sent me to the gyno. 

The next day I visited her, the one who did the exam, and wow, I have never been so irritated with a doctor in my life! First I got a lecture about how I should have come in when I didn't get my period in August. She didn't seem to care that I told my GP and was told it wasn't a big deal. Then she informed that when she did my annual exam last year that she found fibroid tumors and that those could be causing the bleeding. Hello!! How was that the first I'd heard of it? Why didn't she tell me that when she told me everything was fine more than a year earlier? I was not pleased. She indicated that hormones (the pill) would not be good and that she needed to figure out what was going on. 

"First," she said. "We need to get things to stop. So you need to be on bed rest through the weekend."

"Bed rest?" I asked thinking I'd misheard her.

"You must rest."

"But I have things to do. I have a concert and a game and can I work from home?"

"Well, it's up to you, but until you rest it's not going to stop."

All I could think was, "Kill me. Just kill me right here in your office."

I left in a complete state of disappointment and irritation and went to give some blood. She wanted to make sure I wasn't becoming anemic with all the blood loss. I told her I'd been eating a lot of beef and wasn't feeling lethargic but agreed that I had wondered about that myself. The lab told me they'd have the results to the doctor the next day. That was a week ago. And I've still heard nothing about the lab work. And frankly, I just don't have time to call.

I worked from home for 3 days and rested for the better part of 5 days and believe me when I say, I still have my period. I will admit that I didn't just lay in bed for 5 days - that might have sent me even further over the edge than I'm about to dive. But I definitely rested more than usual. I did go to the concert I had scheduled because the ticket cost me over a hundred dollars and I just sat in a seat the whole time. I didn't jump up or dance around so really, it wasn't like I was overexerting myself. I skipped one of my two hockey games, so I thought that was good. The only other things I did at the end of the 5 days were eat meals with friends, go to a movie and go to the spa. These are not stressful things. 

Yesterday the fun continued when I had an ultrasound to see if the tumors were causing the problem or if it was something else. She prescribed an outer ultrasound only since she knew I couldn't handle the one that might as well be the annual exam. None of it sounded very exciting to me but after drinking 32 ounces of water and holding it for what seemed like EVER, the technician called me in and started the exam. It didn't hurt but was definitely uncomfortable. 

At the end she was like, "I'm not seeing much but I need to do the [internal exam]." 

"I don't think so," I said. "My doctor just prescribed this one because I'm a baby."

"Really?"

I told her I had to have the exam under anesthesia and she was very surprised. "You can try," I finally said, "but be prepared for me to be a basket case."

"Are you a virgin?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Oh. Then I'm not doing it."

Score!

When all was said and done she told me they'd probably have to prescribe a CT scan in order to see more detail because she couldn't see any tumors or anything else. Awesome.

So here I am...day 52 with no end in sight and no real understanding about what's going on. And like I said at the beginning of this, I really do feel fine. There is no pain. There is just annoyance. I've had a couple of headaches but that's it. Mostly it's just bothersome and I want it to end. And I can't help but think that if I'd just lied to my doctor a year ago and said I wanted to go on the pill so I didn't get pregnant that there would have been no further discussion. There's just something very wrong about that...

And on the 7th day, I returned...

Last Friday, November 11, I sent myself on a social media hiatus. I’d been thinking about doing it for a while but just hadn’t found the motivation or willpower to make it happen. When a friend announced he was going to take some time away from social media I decided to follow suit.

I’m not sure why I decided that Friday would be the day I shut myself off from the social media world but it seemed like a good time since I was headed out of town for four days. I thought getting on a plane and being forced to be out of touch for a few hours would be a good start and I was mostly right about that.

It was the two hours between saying goodbye to Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr and the plane actually taking off that were hard. Those little icons on my phone were very inviting but I resisted. I turned off all the notifications so I wouldn’t be able to see if anyone posted something on my wall or sent me a personal tweet. That definitely helped. It also helped that my wireless connection once I got to my mom’s house was pretty weak.

I spent my weekend in Colorado seeing my mom and her husband, my dad and his wife and my grandparents (91 and 92 years of age!). I had to laugh when my mom asked me if I saw something on Facebook and again when my dad asked if I saw his post on Facebook. Normally I probably would have been the first to comment on either of their posts but I missed them completely.

I took several pictures while I was there and it was weird to not immediately post them for all the world to see. One of my favorite things about social media is the ability to share my pictures and see the pictures of my friends, especially those friends I don’t get to see very often. I feel more connected and like that we can share our lives even though we’re not in the same room, city, state or even country sometimes.

Staying away became harder once I got home on Monday afternoon and had all kinds of free time on my hands. And yet, I resisted. And it felt good. I hadn’t made any plans as to how long I’d stay away. I figured I’d know when the time was right to go back, and as I write this, I know that tomorrow is the day. I will have been away six days by then and for whatever reason, that seems like enough.

But I had another reason to step away from the silliness that social media so often is. After returning Monday from Colorado I flew out Tuesday night to San Diego so I could attend a funeral.

My dear friend Robyn’s husband Brian passed away 10 days ago after a short battle with brain cancer and I guess that’s really what started to put everything into perspective for me. When you get that sort of news, that someone not even 45 years old is gone, you realize that nothing else really matters; nothing that is except friends and family and while I connect with all my friends and most of my family via Twitter and/or Facebook on a regular basis, it just seemed like the time to step back and really focus on life for a minute.

Death is something we know is coming for each of us, but we assume it will come when we’re 80 years old or older. We assume those that will go first are grandparents, older relatives and even our parents. We don’t think we’re going to lose someone in the prime of his or her life but it happens every single day and basically, it sucks.

I lost my aunt when she was in her early 50s, and that was completely unexpected and horrible and yes, it sucked. It still sucks because she should still be here with us. Brian was my age and had a wife and a nearly-4-year-old son and wow does it ever suck. I’ve been crying off and on for the last week and a half and can’t help but wonder how much longer I have to walk on this earth. I can't even imagine what Robyn is going through.

I’ve also been thinking about what’s really important and how I should be spending my time. And yes I’m going back to my social media outlets because I think connecting with people is incredibly important and I realized today that what I missed most about Twitter and Facebook was the interaction I have with people all over the country, some that I know personally and some that I’ve never met; some that I’m related to and some that I count as my closest friends.

So while I haven’t completely figured out everything in my life, I think I least get this part, and I hope I never take anyone in my life for granted. Life is too precious and our time together is too short. Never was that more evident to me than right now.

Labor Day Adventures or...Welcome to Crazy Town!

Ah Labor Day...a day off from work and 24 hours to do nothing. Or to do 412 things. One of those. Let me share, won't you?

I woke up somewhere around 3 am STARVING - my own fault since I hadn't eaten dinner the night before; there was no getting out of it. I had to have food. So, I schlepped down the stairs and started looking through my fridge and pantry to find exactly what I expected to find, a big fat nothing. Why I didn't open the freezer and dig into the cookie dough ice cream I will never know, but, I decided to make noodles. So yeah, at approximately 3:30 am I ate some bow tie pasta with salt and butter. And I had a Coke. Because that seemed like the smart thing to do at that hour. While I ate I watched my DVR recording of Drop Dead Diva, which kept me up until almost 4:30. It seemed ridiculous to stay up at that hour on a holiday so I came back upstairs and crawled in bed where I was still wide awake. I fell back asleep somewhere around 6 for a couple of hours - early morning nap? - and finally was awake for good around 8 am.

I spent the next 4ish hours sitting in bed doing absolutely nothing of importance online. I tweeted, I facebooked, I tumblr'd; I probably even emailed (yeah, I'm old school like that sometimes). It was all very exciting and a definite time waster, though I'm still not clear how I wasted 4 hours, but suddenly, it was almost 12:30 and I was meeting a friend around 1:15 so I got up and got myself ready to go. Half the day had been spent in a mostly slothful state and I was pleased.

I was happy to see the sunshine when I finally stepped out of my house and made my way to the light rail station, and I was definitely happy to see my friend when she pulled into the parking lot moments after I did. I had apparently read the light rail schedule incorrectly and we had to wait a little longer than planned, but we didn't care; we had a lot of terribly important things to discuss.

While we were waiting a lady asked us where a park was and we actually knew, so we gave her directions, which she proceeded to give to a young kid on a bike, but it was clear she wasn't sure, so we reiterated them to him. He thanked us and rode off and then the lady asked me about restaurants in the area and a few other things then drifted off to meet her own friend. We felt very helpful and useful and were ready to embark on our journey.

I was surprised how busy the light rail was for a holiday, but the ride to downtown San Jose was pretty uneventful. We journeyed to The Kebab Shack for a late lunch and found a perfect table outside while we waited for our food. That's when the children invaded. Two of them to be exact. They came from another table, and their parents just let them cross the sidewalk and wander into our territory. It was not cool. We thought both parents were ignoring them but then realized the dad was tending to yet a third child while the mom lollygagged somewhere. This went on for about ten minutes but then she finally corralled them back into her land and we were back at peace. That's when the wind shifted and we got a big whiff of the garbage bin sitting in the street. We very nearly hurled, but then it shifted again and it went away. It came back once more but it wasn't as bad so we endured. Then the car alarm came. And I'm not even sure where the car was, but I was ready to punch it in the face! It rang until it could ring no more, and then we let out our breath and enjoyed the 12 seconds of silence until it started ringing again. This happened four more times. Seriously. And then there was a hideously loud beeping from across the street that started up. It was like a battle of the annoying noises and we were about to lose our minds but somehow we managed to contain our rage and finish eating without incident.

Getting our movie tickets was easy and the guy inside the booth was actually entertaining so we entertained him right back. We're funny, my friend and I. At least we think so. We made a stop in the bathroom before procuring our popcorn and while it wasn't really a big deal, in the grand scheme of things, the paper towel dispenser actually played an entertaining role. My friend washed her hands first and realized that the main dispenser, in the most convenient part of the bathroom, wasn't working. She reached over to the inconvenient one in the corner and pulled her towels out. I followed suit having seen her, but then another girl tried the other one, to no avail naturally, and looked confused as she reached for the other one. We were like, "Really? You didn't see us both use that one? Really?" We left her there to fend for herself and made our way to the treat counter where we, surprisingly, procured treats without any drama.

We weren't expecting to see many people in the theatre, but there were actually quite a few, so we found some seats and got settled with our food and waited for things to start. Naturally a ridiculously loud popcorn chomper sat behind us, but he calmed down when the movie started. We were definitely entertained by 30 Minutes or Less. It was a little raunchy and a lot of crazy and we laughed a lot. From the pen gun, to the Satanic Hispanic to Sandra; it was absolutely fun.

We had to wait almost 25 minutes for the light rail to fetch us, but it wasn't too bad. Downtown San Jose is entertaining on a holiday Monday evening, and we didn't want for people to watch. From baggy jeans to big plugs in ears to the guy I'm pretty sure is stalking me on the light rail every day, it was an adventure. Okay, I don't really think the guy is stalking me but I have seriously seen him every day on the light rail since school started. He gets on at the same stop I do and is almost always on the same train to and from downtown. It's a little crazy.

Once we got on the light rail the fun continued. We sat in the back so we could see pretty much everything happening in the whole car and almost died laughing when a guy spied another guy and thought he knew him. He pretended to run into him then laughed, but the guy he bumped was not laughing. The bumper was like, "Hey, it's me." And then he realized it wasn't actually the person he thought it was. And he was embarrassed and came and sat in the furthest back seat. We died. I seriously thought there was going to be a brawl because I could only see part of the action - my friend filled me in on the rest after the fact. I was trying to figure out how we could get off the train so as not to get involved in any fisticuff action. Yep. I just wrote fisticuff.

From there we ventured back to my house and had a calm couple of hours watching a chick flick. We needed some mellow after our adventures. But then I got hungry and was determined to eat dinner so as not to have a repeat of the earlier happenings where I was starving in the middle of the night. So, we went to Outback. You KNOW how I hate Outback.

We got seated in one of those giant booths you could actually sleep in, and I was tempted to lay down for a minute, not because I was tired, but just because it was there. I refrained though and sat up like a grown person and read the menu as though I had no idea what was on it. Our waiter, let's call him Ephraim, since that was his name, was very peppy and energetic and it was bordering on annoying, but we just went with it since we were being rather silly and had a lot of our own energy to burn. He took our drink orders and promised us bread. Oh the bread. Keep that in mind. It will be important later. We got our drinks and our bread and placed the rest of our order and moved on.

Every time Ephraim came to our table he had even more energy than the last time and it was a little bit creepy at times how excited he was to talk to us. At one point he even told me how he ate his shrimp like me, saving the last bite until the end and how after I'd ordered it he decided that's what he was going to eat when he closed up. Sure. Okay. TMI? Maybe a little. He also told us that he'd watched a lot of people eating and pretended to hide behind the booth behind us and pop up like he was spying. What? I believe he thought he was funny, but it became creepier by the second and we were trying not to laugh. He was nice, and our orders were right, but it was too much. TOO MUCH I SAY!

Because I am a frequent Outbacker I do know a few of the peeps that work there, and when I saw my friend Andrew on the other side of the restaurant I tried to get his attention but I failed miserably. When he finally wandered to our side Ephraim (EPHRAIM!) was at our table telling us one of his tales and I couldn't actually see around him to get Andrew's attention. When Ephraim finally left, Andrew was gone too and I was bothered. But Andrew came back and I called him over and as he leaned into the booth to hug me I managed to knock over what was left of my ginormous iced tea. Still not quite sure how that happened, but Andrew was kind enough to clean it up while only slightly mocking me. He took the bread that got destroyed by the tea and said he'd bring us more with a new glass of tea for me, which he did in just a couple of minutes. He also told me I was cut off if I spilled that one then sat down and chatted with us for a bit. Clearly this bothered Ephraim because he came right back over and tried to jump into our conversation. Jealous much?

Andrew got back to work and Ephraim went back to his normal self, I guess, and I drank more of my tea and ate a little bread then settled into a complete coma. We got the bill, put our cards in the holder and waited for Ephraim to swing back by, which of course he did very soon after. He got things taken care of but we sat and chatted a while longer, laughing at our day and how crazy things turn when we're together. We decided we were ready to go, but I wanted to take the remaining bread with me since I'd only eaten one piece, but Ephraim was nowhere to be found and so, we waited. When he finally stopped by and I asked him for a bag he was like, "No, I'm just going to throw this bread away." And I was thinking, "What? But I actually want it." Then he added, "I'll get you a fresh loaf; this one's all dry." Well okay. That was nice. So we let him take the supposedly dry bread and waited again. And waited. And then we waited some more. And finally, after almost 15 minutes and no bread, we left. I should have just put the partially eaten loaf in my purse and gone with it.

Andrew told us goodbye as we left and we just shook our heads as we got to the car. I don't live in Campbell. I live in CrazyTown! And I didn't even have time to tell you about the table behind us and their crazy dining situation...maybe I'll share that later...but for now, I think I've shared quite enough.

Hope you had a great day off...we sure did!!

Summer, concerts and my personal plea to Matt Nathanson...

It's been over a month since my last concert and honestly, I'm starting to feel a little shaky. I've had at least one concert per month since 2011 started, and it's been amazing. I am a lucky girl to get to see so much of the music I love played live.

I was worried July would pass me by and I'd have no concert to attend but thankfully Ernie Halter and Curtis Peoples came through for me and I'll close out July with their sweet sounds. And then the real fun begins...this is why I have a job. 

August

I'm starting August with the Beach Boys, then moving on to Michael Buble. I've never seen either of them live and am really looking forward to both. A little over a week after those I get to see the Goo Goo Dolls for the fourth time, and they're joined by Parachute (third time seeing them) and Michelle Branch (another first). That should be a fun show and a good way to end the August set of concerts.

September

September is crazy. I'm starting things off with Hanson. Yes, the Mmm Bop kids. I seriously can't wait, as I've always wanted to see them live. Three days later it's Hall and Oates, another first; then the next week brings me to the Matt Nathanson/Train/Maroon 5 tour and Alpha Rev - a band I've been dying to see since I first heard their voices. I've seen Matt and Train numerous times and neither have ever disappointed me, but it will also be a first for Maroon 5. All in all, that would be a good month of shows, but wait, there's more! I'm closing out the month with none other than Smokey Robinson. It is YAY!

October

Yep. I already have a concert booked in October, and I'm terribly excited about it. The band is Yellowcard and again, I've wanted to see them for several years so I'm very happy that they're finally playing a show I can get to.

Nothing set for November or December, but I have faith that someone I love will schedule something in my vicinity. Because let's face it, no one would want to leave me hanging for two months without a concert. That would just be wrong. 

I'm talking to you Todd Carey, Nathan Angelo, Third Day, Switchfoot, David Cook, Ryan Star, and yes, even you Matt Nathanson. 

[Here comes my personal plea...]

Because even though I know you will rock as the opener for the Train/Maroon 5 show, your solo concerts are epic and I need one. The entire Bay Area needs one. So just give it to us. We love you the most and we need to see you and your 12-string gracing a local stage for a 2-3 hour performance. We don't ask for much. And also, I need a new photo with you...not that these aren't awesome, but you know, we just need a new one.

Until then...enjoy whatever music you're listening to. And just because I haven't done it in a while, here's a sampling of what's in my Current Faves playlist on iTunes...I'm nothing if not diverse.

ROCK ON.

I shoulda stayed at work...

After working for 10 hours I decided to head home. I had plans, things to buy, things to watch, Sharks players to cheer for...instead, I got this:


The charm I set out to purchase at Tiffany can only be purchased at the New York stores or online. Of course, online takes 5 days, which is why I didn't order it online in the first place. Bothered.


I stopped at Arby's to get a sandwich on the way home and it was seriously the slowest experience ever, thought not completely horrible. The onion rings I got on the side on the other hand smelled so strong that I almost had to roll down my window before I got home.


As I arrived at the major intersection near my house I discovered that the traffic signal was out. I also discovered that no one understands how a 4-way stop is supposed to work. I'm honestly surprised there wasn't a single accident while I was watching the chaos unfold.


When I got home, ready to eat my sandwich and watch the NHL Awards in the hopes of seeing Logan Couture winning the Calder trophy I discovered that all my clocks were flashing, which of course means that there was a power outage at some point. It looked like my DVR was recording though, so I turned on my TV, navigated to the show and pushed play. And it started, but there was no sound. I stopped the recording and turned the TV off, waited a few minutes and turned it back on to discover that there was no sound anywhere, on any channel, thus rendering my recording of the awards show useless.


I turned the TV right back off, took a bite of my sandwich and opened the Twitter app on my phone to see if the awards had gone my way. Alas, they had not. So many kinds of not yay! Although I can't say I was that surprised because the NHL absolutely hates the San Jose Sharks. I don't know what possessed me to think they'd actually give the award to our very deserving rookie. 


BITE ME.


So let's recap, shall we?


Tiffany? FAIL


Arby's? MEH


Traffic Light? FAIL


Power? FAIL


NHL? FAIL!!!!!


I shoulda stayed at work...

Anti-blog no more...

It occurred to me recently that my original title for this blog "carrie's anti-blog" was completely outdated since clearly, I'm anything BUT anti-blog. Therefore, I have changed the name. Because I'm grown and I can. Now I have a blog called it is yay (that's what you're reading now in case you were confused), a tumblr called it is yay and a website that I rarely update called it is yay.

In case you were confused, it is, in fact, yay.

That's all for now. I'm preparing to write a review of Matt Nathanson's new album Modern Love (much like the blog I did a while back about his last album Some Mad Hope) later this week after I memorize all the words and mix it fully into my life. If you haven't heard it you should get yourself to iTunes or Amazon and check it out RIGHT NOW! You won't be disappointed.

Anyway...it's 11pm, so I'm going to bed. That is also yay.

Catch you soon...

U2: Tainted by Oakland, BART and Potheads

If you read my last blog you know that I saw U2 in concert earlier this week. It was my fifth time seeing them and I knew they'd put on a good show. In fact, I'd seen this very tour - 360 - in Las Vegas about a year and a half ago. I knew it was going to be great. What I didn't know is how great everything else was NOT going to be. Where to begin...well, I guess at the beginning...

I bought the tickets for this concert (held June 7, 2011) in November of 2009. That's right. 2009. I bought them about a month after seeing the show in Vegas (since the first round of the tour came nowhere in California, much less somewhere near me...but I digress...sort of...). Anyway...the concert was originally scheduled for June 2010 but then Bono hurt his back and the whole tour was postponed. I should have known right then and there that it was tainted, that the whole night would somehow turn into a fiasco.

Because I'm a member of the fan club I actually bought extra tickets and had a total of 5...my thoughts being that I could easily sell the extras, maybe make a little cash, whatever. A friend had planned to go with me when it was still in 2010, but I didn't try selling the extra tickets right away thinking that the demand would go up as the concert date approached. And then, of course, there was no concert date, so I had all these tickets. Again, I should have known...

Sometime last fall I decided to donate one pair of tickets to an auction because the idea of selling them was just more than I cared to deal with and it seemed like a good thing to do. So I did. And I figured I'd sell the single ticket as it got much closer to the event date. But then the friend who was going to go with me had to back out (and I don't blame her...she'd agreed to go over a year earlier...life happens...). Anyway, I was back to three tickets. I asked some other friends if they wanted to go but came up empty and decided to just go by myself and sell the other pair...which I did, just about two weeks prior to the show.

I have to admit, I was not as excited about the show as I have been about past U2 shows...partially because of everything listed above and partially because I was just tired and kinda bummed that no one was going with me...not that I don't go to concerts by myself all the time, but for some reason it seemed strange. Anyway...when I woke up Tuesday morning I actually was excited and listened to U2 tunes all day.

I changed clothes at work and loved putting on my 'boys play rock and roll' t-shirt from the Vertigo tour a number of years ago. Yes. I'm a real fan. I own all the albums, some on vinyl; I own the t-shirts; I own the concert poster and have it professionally framed. At that point, I was ready.

I will admit that I wasn't terribly excited about getting to Oakland to see the show, but I told myself I'd take BART and it would be simple. I even checked the BART schedule to make sure the trains ran late enough - not being a seasoned BART rider. It all looked good. Of course, since I live in San Jose I had to first drive to Fremont to get to BART because apparently all those years ago when it was originally built no one had the foresight to bring the lines all the way down here. To be fair, this was pre-Silicon Valley explosion, but still. It's lame. Anyway...

I drove to Fremont and ate an early dinner before heading to BART. I knew I had zero interest in the food at the Oakland Coliseum - especially since they don't have Coke. I also knew I didn't care about the opening acts for the show and that I didn't have to rush to get there. I figured I'd get on a train around 6:30 and take my time to walk from BART to the stadium without being crushed by a sea of humanity.

I pulled into the Fremont BART station around 6 thinking I'd have plenty of time to park, get my ticket and wait for the train. HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! The lot was PACKED! I parked in the farthest spot in the farthest lot and even debated screwing the whole thing and driving but couldn't bear the thought of sitting in 880 traffic or paying $30-40 for parking.

I got into the station and stood in a line of about 20 people buying tickets, which is apparently really hard for a lot of people. Wow. Got my ticket, went through the gates and got to the platform just in time to squeeze into the train about to leave. And I mean squeeze. Because not only was there the U2 concert, but there was also a Giants game meaning the trains were just stupidly filled with people. And it seemed to me that BART probably knew these events were both going on, in addition to the normal daily commute, and should have increased the length of trains or added trains or both. But it didn't seem like they really cared enough to do anything. Whatever. I stood between people for the 25 or so minute ride and was never so happy to see the Coliseum station in my life.

I got off the train and, along with thousands of other U2 fans, made my way into the station slowly...inching along hoping I wouldn't get trampled, happy I had no interest in seeing the opening act. As I came through the gate I started seeing signs that didn't make sense, signs telling me the Coliseum station was closing at midnight and that the last train was at 12:20. What? That's not what the online BART schedule told me, but sure enough, that was the story. "It's okay," I said to myself. "U2 will probably start at 9, play until about 11:30, and there will be plenty of time to get back." HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

More on this later.

I made my way, along with the rest of the Bay Area, to the stadium and after taking every single item out of my tiny purse for the security guy, I got inside and found my seat, and it was actually good. 

The opening act (the first of two) was still playing and I had absolutely zero interest. Neither did anyone else from what I could see. They played too long and then we waited for almost 30 minutes before the actual opening act, Lenny Kravitz, came on. I'm not a Lenny Kravitz fan. At all. And he played way too long. He's a headliner, not an opener, so of course he has a lot of songs. He finished around 8:30 I think and I still had hope that U2 would be starting at 9. In fact, I think they were supposed to based on other things I read, but they didn't start until 9:30 and by that time, I knew I was going to be hosed with the whole BART station closing earlier thing. Still, as soon as The Edge hit that first chord, I was lost in the music.

Because the fact is, U2 puts on a show like no one else. They are fantastic musicians and they know how to entertain. And until 11:25, when I decided I'd better make my way to the station so I didn't miss the midnight closing, they rocked.

Here's what didn't rock: the numerous pot smokers all around me. It's not like I was surprised people were smoking pot. People always do it at an outdoor concert, but this was the absolute worst I'd ever seen. It's as if all of the Bay Area was just saying, "Screw you," to the law about legalizing it that was NOT passed. Criminals, all of them. And look, if you want to smoke that crap and mess up your head, knock yourself out, just don't involve me. But you don't care about me do you? It's all about you.

You.Are.Awesome.

I can honestly say that I had a scarf wrapped around my nose and mouth for most of the show to avoid the smoke and at one point thought about leaving altogether. That's how bad it was. It was the first time I ever wished it would rain at an outdoor show.

And really Coliseum security? You can't do anything about this? Really???

When the band was about to start their second encore, I knew I should just go because I was already getting stressed about missing the last BART train back to Fremont. For about five minutes I debated just paying a wad of cash to a cab driver to drive me back but realized that was beyond ridiculous. I even thought about who I might know in the vicinity that I could convince to come pick me up but knew that there was no one. So, I started walking out of the stadium as Bono swung on his glowing red microphone and started singing Kiss Me, Kill Me. If I'd never seen the band before, I would have been even more angry that I had to leave early. And as I wandered back to the station, along with thousands of others, it was clear that no one was happy about the situation. As I started up the ramp toward the bridge they started playing With or Without You. It's just wrong that I was outside when this was playing. I couldn't even recognize the next song as I was about halfway across the bridge when it started. Ridiculous. By the time I got inside the station and put my ticket in the gate, it was 11:55. Seriously. Thirty minutes.

I got to the platform and one train was just leaving. We waited several minutes for the next train and saw on the board that there were two coming so I decided to wait for the second one...maybe BART did add an extra train. When I looked across to the stadium where the concert had clearly ended I felt bad for all those people that were going to miss the midnight station closure. I wondered what in the world they were going to do. And then I wondered why people ever bother with public transportation when it turns into the nightmare that it was that night.

By the time I got home it was about 1:15, and I was exhausted - otherwise this blog would have been written then, in the heat of my anger. I was still too tired to think about it yesterday, but I told anyone that asked that I was not happy about what had happened. I read this morning that the traffic and parking situation was even worse...tons of people didn't even get in? Some sat in traffic for hours and then there was no parking? What the heck is up Oakland? It's not like you don't have big events all the time. What was wrong with this one? Where was the planning? I also read that BART extended it's service until 3:30 in the morning. Well that's nice. So I could have stayed for the whole show? Really? BITE ME.

This whole experience was a nightmare and I have zero interest in ever going to Oakland again. For anything. I don't even want to go see my Yankees the next time they come to town. A concert, especially one from one of your favorite bands, should make you excited and energized. Unfortunately, this left me quite the opposite. The music? Yes. That was great. But everything else has made that part fade quickly and now I have a bad U2 concert memory. And that is the worst part of all.

I'm going to a concert...

My friends hear this response from me a lot when they ask me what I'm doing on a certain weekend or even weekday night. I'm what you might call a concert junkie, and I'm incredibly blessed to be able to see so many of my favorite artists live. Someone mentioned to me last weekend, while we were waiting for a concert to start ironically (I think it was a concert...maybe it was a Sharks game...I don't know...I've lost track!), why I hadn't been blogging about concerts I'd been to this year or what concerts I was planning to see. I had no real reason for it other than I've been busy...I guess...but since I'm sitting here awake at 3:35 in the morning I figured it was as good a time as any to fill you in on what's been happening and what's on the radar. So here we go...

January
I started my concert season early and unexpectedly this year when I took a quick weekend trip to Chicago. It wasn't planned ahead of time but turned out to be a great weekend, especially since I got to see Todd Carey in concert for the third time in about six months. I was thrilled to share the experience at Schuba's with my friends Tasha and Beth. As usual, TC did not disappoint.

I was supposed to have a second concert in January but it got rescheduled to April...more on that later.

February
Almost a full month later came concert number two with my friend Shawn at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The main act was Plain White T's but I was also entertained by the two openers, MIGGS and Parachute. I'd seen both of them before and they were great, and I absolutely loved Plain White T's! I would definitely see all of these bands again.

March
I had no concert plans in March but did have tickets to see Rock of Ages and that was sort of like a concert since it's a musical of all rock music from the 80s, and believe me, it completely rocked! My friend Jill and I saw it in San Francisco and I recommend it to anyone who loves music and loves the 80s.

If my concert in January came out of the blue then the one I actually went to in March came out of the wild blue. I literally decided at noon to go to a concert that night in San Francisco. I flew solo...okay, took the train solo...to a little place called The Hotel Utah to see Chris Gelbuda live and he was great! I also got introduced to a new artist, Chi McClean, that I am really liking. I wasn't able to stay for the main act due to the train schedule but my main mission was Chris so it was a good night.

April
As mentioned above a concert from January was rescheduled to April so my friends Jill and Veronnica and I started the month with 30 Seconds to Mars at the San Jose State Event Center. I'd wanted to see them for a long time and they put on a great show. We were definitely entertained by the music but possibly even more so by the guy dressed in a cat costume prancing around throughout the show. TSTM has some, um, interesting fans.

I closed out the month with my friend Travis by seeing The Boxer Rebellion at Slim's in San Francisco. We actually had tickets to see them last fall but decided not to go when we learned they wouldn't be taking the stage until sometime around 11 on a school night. I was very happy to finally get to see them and they put on a great show - this time on a Friday night.

May
I'm pretty sure seeing Hugh Jackman perform a one-man show counts as a concert since he sang for nearly two straight hours in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Jill, Veronnica and Janice and I enjoyed his loveliness immensely and I would go see his show again in a second!

As for the concert I saw this last weekend, well, it was another artist I'd been wanting to see for years. Prince. Yes. His royal purpleness threw it down in the HP Pavilion and my friend Stephanie and I absolutely loved it. I'm thrilled I finally got to see him in concert.









So, what's next?

May
Well, depending on the hockey I may or may not be going to see The Script at The Warfield in San Francisco on Thursday. If the Sharks win tonight then I'll be skipping The Script and going to Game 6. If they lose, then I'll be drowning my sorrows to The Script's Irish lullabies.

June
The month will start with another rescheduled concert from a year ago, U2 in Oakland. I'm heading to this one by myself too and am really excited to see them again. Later in the month I'll be checking out Augustana at The Fillmore in San Francisco. I'm looking forward to seeing them again too.

July
So far, there are no concerts on the July agenda. I'm sure something will come up though because it would be wrong if I had a month without live music!

August
My friend Shawn and I will be doing some old school rocking to The Beach Boys at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga at the beginning of the month. I've never seen them live and I think it will be a fun show. Later in the month I'm heading back to The Winery to see The Goo Goo Dolls along with opening acts Michelle Branch and Parachute. Really excited to see that last band again and I can never get enough of The Goo.

September
Shawn and Travis and I will be heading back to The Winery in September to see Hall & Oates and I have to say I'm totally jazzed about this one. I was a huge fan of theirs in the 80s but have never seen them live and am certain the show will be a lot of fun. A couple of weeks after that Shawn and I are heading to The Concord Pavilion to see Matt Nathanson, Train and Maroon 5. That looks to be a great show. I just wish Matt was doing a solo tour so we could see more of him. A week after that Shawn and I are seeing Smokey Robinson at The Winery and I know that will be great.

After that it's anyone's guess...no other plans, but with David Cook and Matt Nathanson's new albums dropping in June, and Todd Carey promising to come back to California to play, I am certain some other dates will fall into place on my calendar.

So there you have it...if you ever wonder what I'm doing with my nights, chances are I'm at a concert.

30 Days of Music Challenge - The Recap

So, for the last month I've been participating in the 30 Days of Music Challenge on Facebook, and it's been really fun...and sometimes frustrating. Figuring out a song (or narrowing it down to just one song) for each day has been, in fact, a challenge. But now I've reached Day 30 and decided to recap and give explanations for why I chose the songs I chose. Others who were playing gave their explanations at the time they posted their song, but I decided to just let the songs stand alone until now. Not that my explanations are that exciting or revealing, but since a few people asked about a few of the selections, I thought, "Hey, that could be a good blog post." Let's see if you agree...

30 Days of Music Challenge

Day 01 - Your favorite song: Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

It's nearly impossible to pick a favorite song. There are just so many genres and so many artists and picking a favorite seems crazy. Now, if this had said, "pick your favorite song of the last month or this week or even today" that would have been much easier. Please note that Day 30 has the same response because if we're talking about all-time favorites then really, it probably doesn't change in a year. Anyway...why did I choose this one? Have you HEARD this song? It's without question my favorite Billy song, and it is absolutely one of my all-time favorite songs. I just need to hear the first few notes and I'm transported. I tend to put this one on replay when I get in my Billy Joel moods.

Day 02 - Your least favorite song: Lady Antebellum - Need You Now

First and foremost, I hate country music. Yes. I said hate. It's the twang, and the whine, and the steel guitar. I just don't like it. I have no issue with the fact that millions love it, just as long as they don't try to suck me in. This song...ugh. So sick of it, and have you really listened to the lyrics? Yuck. I don't like the original and I didn't like the Glee rendition. VETO.

Day 03 - A song that makes you happy: Matt Nathanson - Little Victories

My all-time favorite Matt Nathanson song. I loved it the first moment I heard it but was completely gaga for it after he sang it live at The Fillmore in San Francisco. It's the music, it's the words, and it's his voice singing them...all of that combined make me smile. And it's just such a simple sentiment...that we get through the days because of little victories. See? You smiled didn't you? I knew it.

Day 04 - A song that makes you sad: Mark Schultz - Do You Even Know Me Anymore

The lyrics to this song are quite simply heart wrenching. The first time I heard it I cried. A lot. There are a lot of songs that can make me cry...I'm a girl, what do you want? But this one just tells such a sad, and very common, tale, and to this day, I can hardly get through it without some tears being shed.

Day 05 - A song that reminds you of someone: Elton John - Someone Saved My Life Tonight

This always reminds me of my friend Shawn. It's his favorite Elton song, and I always liked it, but now whenever I hear it I think of him.

Day 06 - A song that reminds of you of somewhere: Todd Carey - Photograph

This will forever remind of Washington DC. It's without question my favorite Todd song, and because he's so great, he played it for me after his show was over. Just him on the guitar in the green room of The Red Palace. It was incredibly generous of him, and I'll never forget it.

Day 07 - A song that reminds you of a certain event: Daughtry - Home

This song came on my iPod as I pulled out of the driveway of my old apartment, heading to the condo I live in now. There was something so perfect about it...that I was going home, to my new home, and I will never forget that moment.

 

Day 08 - A song that you know all the words to: Green Day - American Idiot

Someone else playing this game posted Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire, and that was a great choice. Wish I'd thought of it. I know all those words too. I know the words to hundreds of songs, so I just had to pick one. I went with this one because it's such a great song and the lyrics are fantastic. There are a few words that I don't let myself say, but I still know them.

Day 09 - A song that you can dance to: Flo Rida - In the Ayer f/will.i.am

To be fair, there are probably a lot of songs I could do dance to. I choose not to dance to any of them. I probably wouldn't dance to this one either, but it's fun and maybe in my living room, when all the doors and windows are closed, maybe, just maybe, I dance around to it. Maybe.

Day 10 - A song that makes you fall asleep: John Mayer - St. Patrick's Day

This was a weird one because I didn't want anyone to think I thought a song was dull and therefore put me to sleep. I tried to think about a song that relaxed me and let my mind slow down enough to actually get to sleep. A lot of John Mayer does that for me, but I'm particularly drawn to this song, and I do have it in a playlist called Music to Sleep by.

Day 11 - A song from your favorite band: Third Day - Revelation

Much like picking a favorite song, it's hard to pick a favorite band and hard to pick a favorite song from said band. I've seen Third Day and Switchfoot more than any other band in concert so at some level, I think that does make them my favorites. Anyway, I went with this song because when I heard it the first time I was contemplating a job move and it just spoke right to me. It still does that today, and I absolutely love it.

Day 12 - A song from a band you hate: Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way

I know this is unpopular but I just don't like Fleetwood Mac. It's really Stevie Nicks I don't like. There are actually a few songs I can stand, but she just bugs me so much that I can't get there. I could have picked any of their songs, but this one was the first that popped up when I searched.

Day 13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure: Cali Swag District - Teach Me How to Dougie

If you haven't heard this, just go listen. It's just fun. And yeah, I like it. I have no interest in actually doing the Dougie mind you, but there are moments where I pretend to be an urban youth and this just fits right into it. And I don't really feel guilty about it at all!

Day 14 - A song that no one would expect you to love: Cobra Starship - Snakes on a Plane

Okay, this song is just funny, and the video is hilarious. I never saw the movie, but I'm told I should. I mean come on, it's about snakes. On a plane. And it has Samuel L. Jackson. What could be bad?

Day 15 - A song that describes you: Switchfoot - Your Love is a Song

This is from the band's last album, and the first time I heard it I just fell in love with it. It's all about letting God's love for us just run through us like a melody, like a symphony and it makes me want to hear what He has to say to me. And what I love about Switchfoot is, they write such poignant lyrics that I know they are anointed and I do hear God's voice through them.

Day 16 - A song that you used to love but now hate: Train - If It's Love

I got SO SICK of this song during Train's last tour. Forget how overplayed it was on the radio. Which it was. I got sick of them posting a song from it every night, making a big deal about the part where it says "hold your cell phones up in the air". Really? You write those words then make it part of your show? Lame. And no, when I saw them in concert I did NOT hold my cell phone up in the air, but I suppose I'm in the picture.

Day 17 - A song that you hear often on the radio: Bruno Mars - Grenade

I'm not a fan of this song and on the day this hit I was hearing it all the time. And it was driving me crazy. I wish he'd record the version he sang on the Grammy's. So much better!

Day 18 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio: Linkin Park - Iridescent

This is a great song, but why it's even more great for me, and why I think it should be on the radio, has everything to do with Brodie Brazil and the San Francisco Giants. He used it in an intro video for the World Champions Parade, and it was freaking awesome. In case you doubt me, you can check it out here. Just hearing the beginning gives me chills and takes me right back to that moment. GO GIANTS!!

Day 19 - A song from your favorite album: U2 - Mysterious Ways

It was hard to choose on this too...this whole game of playing favorites is not, well, it's not my favorite. Anyway...Achtung Baby has always been my favorite U2 album and therefore one of my all-time favorites. This song just has such a great sound, and it was so different from prior U2 music that it really made you wonder if you were listening to the same band. I think I need to have an Achtung Baby album day pretty soon.

Day 20 - A song that you listen to when you’re angry: Eminem - Lose Yourself

This song is great and if it doesn't get your adrenaline pumping, nothing will. When I'm having a bad day, I listen to a lot of hip hop because the beat and the words help me get out whatever I need to. I love this song because of the story it tells and the scene it was in in the movie. It was the moment when Eminem knew how good he was. And so did everyone else.

Day 21 - A song that you listen to when you’re happy: Plain White T's - Irrational Anthem

I don't know what it is about this song. Maybe it's the title. I just like it. And it makes me smile. On another day this choice could have easily been different, but I think this works very well.

Day 22 - A song that you listen to when you’re sad: Billy Joel - Souvenir

Another great Billy song. This one always reminds me of college, and yeah, I guess there's some sadness associated with that, but mainly I just think the song itself is sad. It's about remembering your life and how it fades over time, and as much as we want to remember, as much as we keep like postcards and play programs, it still fades. See? Sad.

Day 23 - A song that you want to play at your wedding: Joshua Kadison - Beautiful In My Eyes

There's nothing in my life that tells me I'm actually going to have a wedding, but if I did, I'd definitely want this song to be involved somehow. The lyrics are so beautiful and his voice his perfection. 

Day 24 - A song that you want to play at your funeral: Lauryn Hill & Friends - Joyful Joyful

I don't want my funeral to be sad. I want it to be a celebration of my life, and I want people to remember that I'm in a much better place. My mom has always said she wants this song, well, the instrumental version, played at an upbeat tempo, and I think it's perfect. I love this version. Lauryn Hill's voice is so pure and it's just so uplifting that you can't help but smile and maybe even dance. 

Day 25 - A song that makes you laugh: Digital Underground - The Humpty Dance

It's called The Humpty Dance. What more do you need to know?

Day 26 - A song that you can play on an instrument: JJ Heller - Mary's Song

I sang and played this at Christmas in church a few years back, and I loved learning it and being able to share my friend JJ's words with others. I can play a lot of things on the piano, so choosing was a little hard. I think I came to this one because it is so beautiful, and I am always looking to share JJ's music with other people.

Day 27 - A song that you wish you could play: Billy Joel - Prelude/Angry Young Man

Yes. Another Billy song. The piano on this song is ridiculous. I absolutely love it and am sure I probably could play it if I had time to practice, but I don't, so I just wish I could.

Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty: Brandon Heath - The One

It's not really that this song makes me feel guilty, but it definitely challenges me to do more than I'm doing. It really can take just one of us to make a difference to someone else, and I know that many times I don't do something because I think that my contribution is so small that it won't matter and that's just simply not true. Also, Brandon Heath is amazing and the song completely rocks.

Day 29 - A song from your childhood: John Denver - Rocky Mountain High

We listened to a lot of John Denver growing up and I love so much of it. It's pure 70s and reminds me of so many things about growing up. It still makes me sad to think about him dying so young, after he'd gotten his life back together, but I'm glad he left us so much great music. This is one of my favorites.

Day 30 - Your favorite song at this time last year: Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

See Day 1, and if you haven't already, go listen to this song!

So there it is. Feel like taking the challenge yourself? It was actually quite fun, and I'm thankful to Layne for sucking me in.

Until next time...