The Awesomeness of Socks

I have always had a fondness for socks. It may stem from the fact that my feet seem to always be cold.  It has been something that I have always been drawn to.

 I love any fun pair of socks. When I was a teen and toes socks were all the rage, I swear had or a dozen.  People would ask if they were uncomfortable, but I liked them.  Yes, it was a little awkward at first to have that fabric bunched between your toes but the look of them completely surrounded in their own pockets of color, you couldn't help but smile.

Now, my weakness isn't for toe socks but for just weird sock patterns in general.  As an adult, you often are required to wear some time of uniform or follow a dress code. Wearing fun and weird socks is a way to continue to embrace your inner kid but to secretly break dress code rules. I have to admit that I love finding weird ones, much to my husband Lee's mild annoyance.

Just a few of my fun socks

Rolling In the Dough (Sort Of)

With a C note in my hand to spend on myself, it would depend on how I was feeling on where I would spend it.  If I wasn't feeling well physically my truck would take me to a great massage parlor for a wonderful foot and back massage (bad joints and working 2 jobs takes its toll on the body).  However, if it was more of a mental treat that I needed, to Barnes & Noble I would head.  To load up on fantastic books to get lost in is a piece of heaven to me.  And with getting lots of books, I'll get to reread them any time.

(Prompt 280 out of 300: You have been given $100 on the condition that you must spend it all on yourself.  What will you do with your money?)











(Photo: armydre2008/Flickr)

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Picking my favorite photograph is a hard one.  When I think about it, I have two favorites.  The first would be a picture when I was younger (around 12) and I was holding my baby sister, trying to get her to sleep.  It was after a soccer game and I'm sitting in a rocker, just patting her back & rocking her.  My baby sister and I have a pretty strong bond even now and I think that this was the starting moment.

My second favorite would be from my wedding, where my husband and I are facing each other, just staring into each others' eyes. We still look into each others' eyes the same way over 15 years later.





(Prompt 281 out of 300:  Describe your favorite photograph)

Reading is Reading

To me, reading is reading.  Comic books and graphic novels are a great way to help struggling readers improve their reading skills.  It also helps those still learning English to absorb more and gain a better understanding of American culture.  Plus, a lot of kids today don't read enough and their imaginations grow stagnate.  Reading helps revitalize their imaginations and will lead them to better things.









Prompt 282 of 300:There is a strong trend among kids to read comic books or graphic novels instead of regular books.  What do you think about that?)















(Photo from https://johnrieber.com/2015/11/27/best-2015-holiday-gift-ideas-food-family-travel-it-girls-runaways-five-great-memoirs-as-holiday-gifts/pile-of-books/)

Cross It Off The Bucket List

Everyone has those things that they wish they could do before they die.  On May 18th, 2018, I got to do just that.  I went to my very first concert.  Now before you say “what’s the big deal?” you must remember that I am in my mid 30s and have never been to one before.  

Going back a little bit here, one of the bands Lee and I really wanted to see was Linkin Park.  Sadly, every time there was a concert in our state, it was always in Chicago, which was financially out of our way.  When Chester died, it saddened me to think that we’d never be able to see the original members preform.  So, while looking through my Twitter feed one night, I noticed one of the bands that I follow shared a posting of up coming tour dates.  Just out of curiosity, I clicked on the link, thinking that, once again, the nearest location to us would either be in Chicago or St. Louis.  I was very pleased to be proven wrong.  There was a concert scheduled in Moline, only a couple of hours from us, with tickets still available.  An additional bonus was who else was preforming with them.  I shouted for Lee, told him my idea and a plan was born.  We bought the tickets, took the day off from our jobs, rented a hotel room for the night, and traveled forth on a bucket list adventure.

Fast forward to the day of the concert.  I was so excited, I would burst out into excited giggles all of a sudden, which made Lee chuckle.  He said my excitement was infectious.  And why wouldn’t I be excited?  Not only was I checking something off my bucket list, I was seeing two bands that I really enjoyed (Shinedown and Five Finger Death Punch), one new band that was making waves on the music scene & I liked (Bad Wolves), and another band I hadn’t heard of but was looking forward to hearing live (Starset).

We get to the arena and I am so excited I actually am doing little jumps when I walk.  The security people check my purse (nothing to hide there) and we go to find our seats.  As we are walking towards the stairs to our area, I am hearing loud music. Can’t really make it out but I figure that it is just music being played through the speakers.  How wrong I was.  It was actually Bad Wolves doing their set.  I was pissed!  The tickets said that show stared at 7pm.  Apparently it was the headliners that started at 7, not the openers.  I got to hear the rest of their set, including their cover of “Zombie” (which is a wonder cover of such a good song).   They had very little in the way props on stage, just the members of the band & their instruments.  And I have to admit, even from my seat, the lead singer was still rather cute.

Bad Wolves

Starset had a very interesting performance.  They were the only one of the bands that had costumes, which I had to admit, looked rather hot to wear.  Plus, the helmets that some of the guys were wearing had to be heavy.  The songs were interesting but a little difficult to follow.  Part of the problem was the audio guys had the sound up to such a level that it made hard to hear the music clearly.  The band also seemed more focused on the visual presentation than the music itself.

Starset

Next came the first of the headliners: Shinedown.  They had a great set.  Lee and I sang a long with several of the songs that we knew.  I was excited that they preformed "Human Radio" which was a song off of their new album & sang along with it.  They also played songs from previous albums as well.  It was great getting to hear them preform and they had a great energy on stage, which was very infectious.

Shinedown

Five Finger Death Punch was the last to preform but well worth the wait.  They played a really good set.  One thing that I was surprised about was how much audience interaction there was,  They asked all current & former military members to stand to thank them for their service.  The lead singer even invited kids up onstage to have them sing with him.  It was a lot of fun singing along with them as well.

Five Finger Death Punch

Lee got me a Shinedown t-shirt & 2 key chains for himself.  I also got Five Finger Death Punch's newest album.  This was such a wonderful experience for me and I can not wait to do it again.

This Is Your Life

My best friend Marie posed this question to me: What songs would be on the soundtrack to your life?  This was, and still is, a tough question.  Think about it.  The average soundtrack is about 16 songs and that is not counting the small, instrumental pieces that often push it to about 20 songs.  You have 16 songs that sum up you and the course that your life has taken.  The other thing to think about is whether or not the soundtrack selections would change based on your life.  Certainly the soundtrack that would have covered your life when you were 10 years old may not match what it would be now.  So, after thinking and thinking and thinking about this, here is my soundtrack, with the 16 songs in no particular order, for my life now.   I have also included links to each song for your listening pleasure.

"Flight of the Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
https://youtu.be/aYAJopwEYv8
This particular song seems to play in my head a lot when I am in a rush to get anything done.  It is a song that I have always liked too.

"I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden
https://youtu.be/jjnmICxvoVY
This is Lee's and my song.  We both feel that it fits us perfectly so enough said.

"Burn MF" by Five Finger Death Punch
https://youtu.be/agXG9vzDryI
I had anger issues as a kid and sometimes I still get flair ups, especially when you consider the fact that I work in retail.  There are days when I just want to tell everyone to just go to hell and this song definitely fits those moods.

"Shatter Me" by Lindsey Sterling featuring Lzzy Hale
https://youtu.be/49tpIMDy9BE
Sometimes you get stuck in a part of your life, not because you want to but because you are afraid of what the change you need to happen will do to your life.

"Bully" by Shinedown
https://youtu.be/Y7NVxAMQn_I
I am was an outcast when I was young and I am now.  It happens when you are different from those around you & no matter what you do to fit in, you will always be that square peg trying to fit into a round hole.  But one does need to remember that the bullies can be defeated.

"Leave Out All the Rest" by Linkin Park
https://youtu.be/yZIummTz9mM
You always want to be remembered by those that you leave behind, to leave some positive mark on the world.  I often hope that is what I am doing.

"Yeah" by Usher
https://youtu.be/GxBSyx85Kp8
I realize that this may not seem to fit but whenever this song came on the radio, my pals and I would dance to it.  Makes me think of more carefree times.

"California Love" by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre
https://youtu.be/5wBTdfAkqGU
I am a Cali girl at heart and this is a song that I have always loved.  I realize that the lyrics don't fit me but the soul of the song does.

"The Rooster, The Donkey, The Dog, & The Cat" by The Poxy Boggards
https://youtu.be/tKHCpnz-0js
I got to perform with a Renn Faire group for a few years and it is always something that I look back on fondly.  The fun and the laughter is something that I try to remind myself of whenever it seems a little dark.

"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper
https://youtu.be/PIb6AZdTr-A
This was a song from my childhood and one that I would always dance to.  I still do to this day & I even will sign the chorus as I sing and dance to the song.

"Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley
https://youtu.be/e8jAqvmnsIk
A song about heartbreak by the King himself.  Nuff said.

"Letters From Home" by John Michael Montgomery
https://youtu.be/X75sVw0xH2c
This song always made me tear up when I heard it but when my husband was shipped to Iraq, it took on a whole new meaning for me.  Even now, it makes me think back on how I felt and how lucky I am that he came home to me.

"Let The Boy Cry" by Gala
https://youtu.be/_bxaDvSTGl0
To me, a song about being true to yourself and fighting those who want to change your uniqueness.  I come from a stubborn line of women.  Don't tell me that I can't do something because that will make me try even harder to do it.

"Jekyll and Hyde" by Five Finger Death Punch
https://youtu.be/HCBPmxiVMKk
As a child and even as an adult, I have to hide parts of myself in order do my job.  I hide my spiritual path from many and I hide my health issues.  Many people have to do the same as I in order to survive in life.

"When They Come For Me" by Linkin Park
https://youtu.be/2cC4LQV2tf8
This song just speaks to me and gives me strength when I need it.  In the movie of my life, this would be the song that they would play during the montage of where I pull myself up and accomplish my goal.

"Boadicea" by Enya
https://youtu.be/JKQwgpaLR6o
In the midst of all the stress in life, I find it helps to calm my mind and meditate.  I have always found Enya paarticularly soothing.

Don't Mind Me, I'm Just Looking

An occupational hazard of being a writer is the fact that you are a people watcher.  You aren't watching to just look.  You are watching to get ideas for characters, for situations, and even places.  Us writers can creep people out with the way we just sit there and stare.  Luckily, many of us have gotten good at not making it obvious that we are observing you or the situation that you are currently involved in.

For example, there is a bank whose parking lot I sit in every morning and every afternoon for crosswalk duty.  I will often just park my truck in a specific space where I can watch for students and sit in the cab, out of the elements.  There is one particular lady that I have observed for this entire school year, mainly because of what happened in the late fall.  This particular lady broke her leg.  And it was a pretty bad break too considering the fact that she had to use a little cart to get around once she came back to work.  Here are some things that I can tell you about her simply from watching her.

1. She is a teller.  Tellers always arrive before the bankers in the morning since the bankers only have to be there when he lobby is open.
2. She is cared for by her spouse.  Since she broke her right leg, it would have been very difficult to drive so her spouse dropped her right off in front of the door every day she used the cart.
3. She is financially stable.  The car that her spouse dropped her off in was a higher end sports car.  Not the most expensive but definitely not the cheapest either.
4. She is well liked by her coworkers.  Every time she arrives the same time as a coworker, she always waits for them & will chat with them as they walk to the door.
5. Even though her leg is healed, it still gives her some trouble, especially during colder weather.  The limp that she has becomes more pronounced during the colder temps.

See?  It is interesting what you notice when you sit down and just observe :-)