I'm Back and Better Than Ever

That's right folks, the cold is gone! The congestion is completely out of my system. No fever, no nastiness, just a whole lot of stress and preparation! Why so much stress you might be asking? Well this Saturday I have to facilitate a seminar on How To Conduct Productive Meetings...no problem right? Well, it is a 30 page presentation that is "pre-written" for me and estimated at a 1 hour presentation. On top of that they give you a prepared Power Point presentation, which for a 30 page presentation, you are lucky if you have 5 slides...so I am in the process of making my own power point! Thats just a little bit as to why I am stressed. I am also in the process of trying to find a full time job, trying to clean and organize everything, and just get back to the ease of life, pre-cold.

Anyways, there is a new poll up, so please vote! There will be no mix-up this week, but here's what you can look for throughout the week:
1 - The 5 Meme
2- Book Review - The Last Lecture
3- Maybe some more "inspirational" posts

This is Cold That Would Not End...

Does anyone remember the song from Sherri Lewis' Lamb Chops Play Along, that went "This is the song that doesn't end/yes it goes on and on my friend/Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was/And they'll continue singing it forever just because/<>"

Well that is what this cold that I have been fighting has felt like! It kinda started a couple weeks ago when I got a scratchy throat. Didn't think much of it, drank a bunch of hot green tea, took airborn, etc. The sore throat went away. Then on Thursday of last week it hit me like an Acme Anvil in a Wylie Coyote cartoon. I woke up with a fever of 100.6. Not to bad. But, by the end of the day it had felt as though my throat had completely closed up and my fever had gone up to 102.6. So Friday I called the doctor at 11 and said I need to get there as soon as he was leaving at 12. So I got to the office and got looked at. I knew something was odd when everyone in the waiting room was fanning themselves, yet I was sitting there with a sweatshirt and freezing! He gave me antibiotics and sent me home for rest and fluids. So I rested.

Then on Saturday, things got no better! Throat still closed, body still emitting enough heat to fry a small egg. In fact at one point on Saturday the fever spiked up 103.3 degrees! I franticlly searched for remedies online, only to find one odd one having to do with egg white drenched material on the bottom of you feet. The one positive thing though, and the bright point of the whole sickness was on Saturday morning, Lil Phez called to see if I wanted to go to the park. I politely said I couldn't. So yesterday, things stayed pretty bad, fever again spiking to 103, but by the evening it was 102.4...WOO HOO!!! It went down!

Then this morning I woke up and I was cool to the touch, so I took my temperature, and it was 99.7! Yay! Well this cold is finally on its way out, even though I still have 14 more horse size antibiotic pills left to take! But I feel so much better.

The Monday Morning Mix-Up: The ABBA Edition

Well, this weeks winner was ABBA! It should be a fun and high energy way to start the week off, right? Plus, if you are a real ABBA fan, then you should go this summer and see Mamma Mia in theaters! Anyways, here it is:

• When I Kissed the Teacher
• Dancing Queen
• Happy Hawaii
• Fernando
• Knowing Me, Knowing You
• Take A Chance On Me
• Voulez Vous
• Money, Money, Money
• Chiquita
• The Name Of The Game

So, the new poll will be up by the end of the day or first thing tomorrow. Please, please, please make recommendations for future polls.

Have A Little Faith

Faith...it really is a funny thing. What exactly is faith? Is it purely religious, or does it know no boundaries?

Faith, can be defined as many things, but the form of faith I am talking about is the ability to believe and rely on things that are not tangible, not proven, not necessarily able to even be proven.

This whole year, I have been reading books and listening to seminars that have helped me to reflect on myself and the way I live and the world around me. It has been a journey that has been rejuvenating and welcomed. I have began to discover things about myself that I hope to change for the better. One of those things is to begin to have more faith. Not necessarily faith in myself or faith in others, but rather, faith in the sense of the definition above.

I have always prided myself as being fairly optimistic about almost anything. But I want to take it a step further. There is more than just looking "on the sunny side of the street." There is more than seeing the glass as half full. I want to begin to believe in what is not seen, not just in terms of spirituality and religion, but in the world. I want to look and believe in the good that is there in everyone. I want to be able to believe the way a child does, that anything you tell them is possible and that all dreams are obtainable.

Somewhere between being born and becoming an "adult" we seem to lose that faith in dreams and in the impossible. I am taking a leap here, but I bet, if more of us were to "find" that faith that we lost, or we can encourage the youth of this world to keep that faith, then this world would be a better place and so many things could be different. If we believed in the dreams and the impossible would there be such a thing as cancer or AIDS, or would we have found a cure already? Would we of had a Woman or African-American president prior to now possibly? What could be?

Please, feel free to comment on your ideas of faith, and anything that I have said above....all is welcome!

The Monday Morning Mix-Up: The Cover Edition

Well since it was a tie, I decided that this weeks mix-up would be devoted to cover songs. And in the light that Carly Simon did tie, one of the cover songs will be a song originally sung by Carly! It will be the only song not to be "shuffled" into the mix...so lets get on with the show:

• Anticipation (sung by Mandy Moore, originally Carly Simon) This CD of Mandy Moore's is a great collection. All cover songs from the 70s and 80 and this Carly song is one of the many standouts!
  
• Begin The Beguine (sung by Sheryl Crow, originally Cole Porter)
• I Only Have Eyes For You (sung by Jamie Cullum, originally Peggy Lee)
• Over The Rainbow (sung by Catherine Britt, originally Judy Garland) I have come to the conclusion that there could possibly be no bad version of this song. It's all about dreaming and being able to dream!
  
• Mockingbird (sung by Toby Keith & Crystal Keith, originally James Taylor & Carly Simon) So we got two Carly Simon references in! This one was shuffled in!
  
• Heartbreak Hotel (sung by Willie Nelson & Leon Russell, originally Elvis Presley)
• The Way You Look Tonight (sung by Rod Stewart, originally Fred Astaire)
• Wanted Dead or Alive (sung by Chris Cagle, originally Bon Jovi) A great country rock version of the song. I remember when the album that it is on came out, they were interviewing Chris and he had sent the version to Jon Bon Jovi, who replied that it was possibly the best version of that song he had heard, and he included his own version!
  
• Stairway to Heaven (sung by Dolly Parton, originally Led Zeppelin) I absolutely love this version of this song! The original is fantastic, but this understated and simple take is just beautiful.
  
• Missing You (sung by Alison Krauss, originally John Waite)
  

Well that was a little more difficult than I had anticipated, since my iTunes doesn't have a "covers" category, but it was fun! Until next week!

A Change Can Do You Good

Over this past weekend, I read The Last Lecture, a book by Professor Randy Pausch, based on the lecture he gave at Carnegie Mellon. Over the next few weeks, I plan to change things around on my blog. I want to begin to post more blogs that are open for interpretation, allow for more reader interaction, and so forth.

So in the next couple of days, you can expect the usual Monday Morning Mix-Up, as well as a book review of The Last Lecture. But in addition there will be other things that I look forward to hearing from you about!

The Things That Come Out Of A Toddlers Mouth

I don't know how many of you out there know this, but TroyBoy over at Pheasantly Fascinating is a real close friend of mine! In fact I hang out with him, The Lady Pheasant (Mama Phez) and the two little Pheasants at least once a week. For the sake of naming and labeling, lets call the two little Pheasants, Lil Phez and Baby Phez!

Well, about a month ago I was over at the Pheasant residence when Lil Phez declared he was hungry. The conversation between Lil Phez and TroyBoy went something like this:

Lil Phez: Daddy, I would like a snack please.
TroyBoy: Okay, what would you like?
Lil Phez: I would like something cold daddy.
TroyBoy: Okay.
Lil Phez: Ice cream is cold daddy.

Well, he did not get the ice cream that night (this was before dinner). Instead I believe he got apple sauce. At least that was cold!

A Meme, A Dinner, & A Movie

So this meme was started with a fellow blogger friend TroyBoy, and I figured I would take a try at it! Here is the premise...(1) Think of you favorite movie, but don't post it! Then (2) create a meal (as many or as few courses as you wish) around that movie. And finally (3) write down your meal of choice and let us out there in the blogging world figure out your favorite movie! (Recipe for meal not necessary).

So here is my meal:

• Black & White Duo: Caviar on White Italian Crustini
• Yellow Corn Salad with a Technicolortini: Cold yellow corn salad with ruby red and emerald green peppers. Served with a layered martini featuring a rainbow of liquors.
  
• Cow of a Different Color: Beef three ways
  
• No Place Like Homemade Apple Pie - Served on a blue gingham tablecloth

So there is my meal...now what movie does it relate to?

Just a Thought

Last night I watched a special on ABC entitled, The Last Lecture. This was inspired by a lecture that was given by a professor at Carnagie Mellon University, Randy Pausch. The idea behind a last lecture, is that the professor is asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, the audience cannot help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

Well, Professor Pausch, didn't have to think hard about this topic. He had previously been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer, and a month before the lecture he was told that rather than responding to treatment, the cancer had metasticized and spread to the liver and kidneys. He was told he had between 3 and 6 months of good health left. This was in August 2007. Luckily, he is still in good health today.

In his own words, even with everything that is going on in his life, "I don't know, how to not have fun. I'm dying and I am having fun."

Think about that...

If you want to download the last lecture you can download it through iTunes (for no charge). Also, they allow the use of the lecture without authorization for any non-commercial use.

Concerts!

So, there have been posts previously about favorite movie quotes and meeting celebrities, which made me think, what concerts has everyone out there gone to? I'll start by listing the concerts I've been to, if you want to play along, just leave me a note and let me know!

• Styx/REO Speedwagon/Def Leppard - Okay, so this is my most recent concert experience (last Saturday night) and I realized one thing...It seems that I am a bigger REO fan than I thought...I new the words to every song, except their most recent, a song from last year! Good concert! I also had the experience previously about 10 years ago when I saw just Styx and REO Speedwagon!
  
• Billy Joel - A legend, who puts on such a simple yet fantastic show! It was just two hours of hit after hit after hit!
  
• Ozzfest (featuring Black Sabbath & Marilyn Manson)
• Green Day (with My Chemical Romance)
• Tim McGraw & Faith Hill (Soul2Soul Tour & Soul2Soul II Tour) - So special I had to see it twice! These are two of my favorite country superstars, and it just happens that they are married and toured together, three times! They put on a great show!
  
• Shania Twain (Up! Tour, Come On Over Tour, & Television Special Taping with Backstreet Boys and Elton John) - So I went through a Shania obsession period for a while...but it was fun! I still love her music (if she ever puts anything new out?) and my last concert experience was great...I was on the floor and got to go up towards the stage and she signed my program and 2 CD covers, and gave me a high five! Very memorable!
  
• Backstreet Boys
  
• Jo Dee Messina (Burn Tour (2x), Delicious Surprise Tour (2x)) - My favorite country artist of all time! She mixes rock with country and is so energetic! Always a great show and whenever she is in a town I am in...I will be there!
  
• Y-100 WingDing (featuring Destiny's Child & Jessica Simpson)
• Madonna (The Re-Invention Tour) - This was kind of a fluke concert...I went to get tickets which sold out immediately, and figured I wouldn't go. A couple days before the concert I looked on a broker site who had 2 upper level tickets for only $25 each! I grabbed them and had a blast. Oh, and the seats, were really good too!
  
• Kelly Clarkson (Breakaway Tour & Independence/Truth Tour with Clay Aiken) - Kelly puts on a great show and it was a lot of fun! I took my mom to the one with Clay because she likes him so we both had a good time!
  
• Duran Duran (The Astronaut Tour) - So much fun! This was for their previous album and it was fun...I was on the floor, about 10 rows from the stage, and with 2 close friends. All fun!
• American Idol Tour (Seasons 2, 4, & 5)
  
• Spice Girls (The Spiceworld Tour) - Okay, enough said...I was 10, first tour ever...went with friends...
  

Upcoming Tours I Plan on Going to:

• Reba McEntire

So what are the concerts you have gone to? Are planning to go to? What is your ultimate dream concert? If you want to reminisce with me about the music we've seen, just let me know in the comments!

The Monday Morning Mix-Up: The Week of Rest Edition

So, as many of you might have noticed, there was no poll this week for the Monday Morning Mix-Up! Well I will be skipping the Mix-Up this week, and instead, come back later today for an all new post about Concerts (a post that all of you out there in the blogosphere can take part in.) Once that post is up, the new poll will be up with it!

Catch ya later!

The Soundtrack of Your Life

I was over at The Mind Wobbles, who was over at The Geek Inside and read a comment from Seven that mentioned a meme. Of course Sari was the one being tagged, not me - Seven's never heard of me, but I don't care - you know me and memes!

So, here are the instructions per Seven:

1. Open your music library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod, whatever)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question below, type the song that’s playing
5. New question — press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool

• Opening Credits: The Longest Time by Billy Joel
  
• Waking Up: Let's Hear It For The Boy by Deniece Williams
  
• First Day At School: Human Touch by Bruce Springsteen
  
• Falling In Love: Smile by Lonestar
  
• Breaking Up: Lost Unto This World by Emmylou Harris
  
• Prom: Wasted by Brandi Carlile
  
• Life's Okay: Nobody's Hero by Bon Jovi
  
• Mental Breakdown: The Hard Way by Faith Hill
  
• Driving: Some Things Never Change by Tim McGraw
  
• Flashback: Run To You by Bryan Adams
  
• Getting Back Together: Without You by Harry Nilsson
  
• Wedding: Some Things Never Get Old by Vince Gill
  
• Birth of Child: I'm Alive from the soundtrack to Xanadu
  
• Final Battle: How Long Is Forever by Willie Nelson
  
• Death Scene: A Perfectly Good Heart by Taylor Swift
  
• End Credits: Try Again by Keane

And that my blogging friends is my life set to music! Enjoy!