Good Day!

And I mean, good day! The sun is shining, had a cup of coffee in my Feminine Hijinx mug, (see above!) Vivian woke up fever-free, and we received a great comment from a complete stranger on our Feminine Hijinx site! (scroll down on the site to read it!) It's one thing to hear praise from friends and family, but to get kudos from someone out of your inner circle is truly great. What's funny is I realized this morning that most of our comments are from guys! I love it!! Cheers for progressive, forward-thinking men! We did get one comment with a more Neanderthal approach, but considering the real reasons behind it, I'm not too worried. (mysterious, eh? some things are better left unsaid...!) And the fact of the matter is, there will always be people out there who just don't get what we are doing, who think women should keep 'their place' and be lady-like at all times. Ha! Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for lady-like, but Feminine Hijinx is not it!

That said, if you are liking what you're hearing, vote for us on Podcast Alley! (like our complete stranger did! Yay!) You can also rate us on Podcast Pickle.com and Yahoo Podcasts. Everything helps! We will soon be inviting our first guest into our lair...mwah ah ah ah ahhhh!

Feverish Fantasies

Oy, home with a sick kid again. Poor Vivian is on day #3 of this fever. Sounds like exactly what Nathan and Stephanie have had. If so, this should be the last day of the fever...but who knows with this kind of stuff?? I'm praying I can avoid it. Who can solve Scooby Doo mysteries with her 4 year old when she's feverish?? Needless to say Vivian and I missed the Sunday afternoon play, and poor Steph wasn't well enough to do another podcast. Hopefully we'll make it up later on in the week! I'm missing my peeps!

I guess I'll have to amuse myself reading about the next up-and-coming Johnny Depp movie, The Libertine. Another movie with Johnny in a frock coat, this time donning a 17th century wig? Oh man. Don't get me started. I know those were really horrible times, (especially for a germaphobe like me!) but I still have always had romantic visions of them. Johnny Depp in a frock coat and cascading wig is almost enough to make me want to live amongst bad teeth and scurvy. First we have Pirate fantasies, and now this. Does it get any better? Okay, yes, it could be better....if YOU KNOW WHO was also in the movie....! (alas, no photos of Orlando in a 17th century wig, but I'll definitely take the Roman Gladiator wear!)

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, Night!

I realize I'm dating myself again, but anyone from my time period will now be singing the Bay City Rollers for the next few hours. Sorry about that. (heh heh, not really...)

It's a quiet Saturday night, and that's actually okay with me. It's been a crazy past few days! My brother John and 2 of his boys came down from Duluth for a surprise visit. The kids had a ball--it's always so fun to see the cousins all hanging out together. And it's always good to get in some conversation with my brother. As a self-described Nontheist Jew, he's very interesting to talk to. :-)

Then Vivian woke up this morning with a fever. Since she had complained of a sore throat on and off in days past and a note about strep came home from the petri dish that's called school, I brought her in for a throat culture at the nearest Minute Clinic. It's the first time I've been to one of those, and I have to say, it was darn handy. We still had to wait for a little while, but the waiting was much more pleasant in Target laughing at the man and adolescent son looking at Axe body spray than sitting in a germ-infested Urgent Care for hours on end. Highly recommended!!

Luckily the swab came back negative--of course one never knows until the overnight test comes back. I just have a Mommy Intuition that it's just a nasty cold, tho. We're hoping she feels better tomorrow so we can go to a play at the high school in the afternoon with Kim and Emily. A girl's got a social life! We can't be held back by a virus! Doesn't it realize??

And speaking of Kim, she totally rocked out with me at the Coreboard class this morning. I was disappointed with myself later though, when I realized that I completely forgot to give her the Twat Props when I saw her walk into the gym. Last time we Hijinx ladies were together we decided we needed our own gang sign to greet each other with. You make a peace sign (get it, a "V"??) and tap at the ol' nether regions with it. It's a way of giving a fellow Sister Woman her repects. I hope she's not feeling all down and bad about herself, since I forgot the T Props. I'll have to make it up to her next time.

Hopefully that next time will be tomorrow night, with another installment of Feminine Hijinx! Stephanie was going to be out of town, delaying the next podcast until next week, but she ended up staying--so it just may work out. Of course the reason she's here is because she is sick with a bad cold and doesn't have much of a voice, so, we'll have to see just how that voice is holding out tomorrow. I hope it works, because we ladies have things to say!!!

So maybe I'm old, but hurray for quiet Saturday nights. S-S-S-Saturday Night!!!!!

On itunes!!!!!

Woo hoo! Feminine Hijinx is now on itunes! It's so weird to see our logo and everything on there. It's especially weird--and good--to hear my singing voice, singing the theme song! Never thought I'd have a song on itunes! :-) (of course, maybe one day I'll get lucky and Warbride will! Stranger things have happened, I guess!) I haven't found us on the actual list yet, but if you go to itunes, go to podcasts, and type in our name, it should pop up. Eventually we will be listed under the Talk Radio category. For some reason, too, only the first show is available right now. Not quite sure how it all works yet, but hopefully Number Two (hardy har!) will listed soon as well. Coreman has us on a few different podcast sites. When you get a chance, please go to our web site, go to the other podcast sites and vote for us! The more votes we get, the more prominent our podcast becomes. It would be a dream come true to be featured on itunes. (you can certainly vote for us on itunes, too--in fact, please do!)

And speaking of Warbride, Lori's back! Or at least, back in Sweden. :-) It's good to see her little smiley on yahoo again. She had a great time on her tour and is now resting up. I'm sure we'll be back to work soon!

Busy, busy!

A Lousy Sweatshirt

Hilarious. Kim just calls me and says something to the effect of, "You know when someone brings you back a t-shirt from their vacation spot and they say, 'So and So Went to Such and Such, and All I Got Was a Lousy T-Shirt'? Well, I just joined the gym and all you got was a lousy sweatshirt!" Yes, a month free of paying my dues would have been much nicer, but, I'll take the sweatshirt and my real payment will be having my peep Kim sweating it up with me at the club! (guess I didn't scare her off too badly!) Woo! Saturday morning Coreboard, look out! It's Feminine Hijinx, all the way! Now we just need to get Stephanie to join somehow. Man, can you imagine that club with all three of us in there?! Stephanie might Feequa and get us all kicked out. Ha! Oh, you don't know what a Feequa is? Well! You'd better listen to our latest Feminine Hijinx podcast and find out! Tee hee...

Feminine Hijinx is LIVE!

Stephanie, Kim and I discussing the wine we will be drinking during our second podcast!

Well, it's now official--the Feminine Hijinx 'soft launch' has now become a hard one! (woo woo!) Despite Kim having the horrific stomach flu just the other day, (eeeek!) we got together last night to do our second podcast. We wanted to get two under our belts before we made the site available to the public. I think this installment may even be cruder than the first. It almost surprises even ME what we can come up with. Hilarious! How did I ever find two friends that have the twisted mind and humor that I do?!

Celebrating Kim's probable joining of my church (after her third visit Sunday morning!) with a little wine in Sullivan's 'Jesus Loves You' cup--feel the love!

It's really cool how our podcast thing works...Coreman gets it all set up for us down in the basement. (thank you, Coreman!) We each sit in our own spots, which we've already established, on the couch and Lazy-Boy, with our mics in stands in front of us. We've got a glass of wine in hand, Coreman turns on the computer to record, and off we go. (after he runs away up the stairs! Ha!) We usually have some sort of outline about what we'll go over, but most of the time one thing leads to another and we just go with it! It's definitely not scripted at all. It's just us sitting around gabbing, like we do when we go out! And that's the whole idea, for people (who dare) to get a window into what women talk about. (well, sick and twisted women like us, anyway!) We are trying to establish a 'specialty' for each of us, to talk about on the show...Kim being an X-nurse talking about health and family stuff, Stephanie being the Priestess of Pate talking about the wine we are drinking that evening and any other food-type thing, and me talking about music or entertainment stuff, mostly centered around what's offered as a free download on itunes and whether or not, in my humble opinion, I deem it worthy of downloading. Of course we have yet to really touch on these things, we are too busy getting sidetracked and before you know it, Ding! Time's up! I mean, we try to keep the show around half an hour, but we could talk for hours. So even though we try to have some semblance of order to our shows, you just never know where we're going to go. It ought to be interesting.

So, there it is, people! Go to www.femininehijinx.net to listen to and/or download our podcast! Cory will also be getting it up on various podcast sites, including itunes, for your (free!) subscribing pleasure. The web site is fun, too, with more information on us, guests we are eventually going to have, even Feminine Hijinx merchandise you can order and proudly wear or display! That is, if you will even want to be associated with us...tee hee. And if you haven't figured it out already, our podcast is not for the faint of heart and definitely not for children! Give a listen, let us know what you think! You can email us through the contact information on the Femimine Hijinx site!

Shiver Me Marshmallows!

Ahoy there, mateys! Yesterday I was in my favorite grocery store ever, Byerlys, (I was looking for Stephanie, but alas, must have missed her! :-)) and I came across the funniest thing...Pirates of the Caribbean breakfast cereal. What really made me laugh was the description of the "pirate shaped marshmallows". Huh?? Now that would be an interesting sight. Johnny Depp's adorable mug is peering out at you hungrily on the cover of the box...ahhhh. That is enough to make you want to buy those things, honestly. You know how when you eat cereal you plop that box right in front of you and stare at it? Uh huh. I could make a really bad joke about eating Johnny Depp-shaped marshmallows, but I'll keep this PG-rated. Of course if the marshmallows were Will Turner-shaped (that's my man Orlando) I would have had to buy them. As it is, I resisited. No matter how you try to disquise it, they just look like Cocoa Puffs to me, with those disgusting Lucky Charm-type 'marshmallows' sprinkled in....and as much as I loved all that stuff as a kid, now I really don't enjoy sugared chalk as my first meal of the day. But long live Pirates of the Caribbean cereal! Arg!!!

It's Just Me

My brain works in mysterious ways. How it gets from point A to point B is often a puzzlement. But here it is....this morning Sullivan was showing me the way he was doing something and said, "Look at me!" to which immediately sang "I'm Sandra Dee" in my head. That's how I starting thinking about the movie "Grease". Remember that, with Olivia Newton John and John Travolta? (I realize if you do remember, you are dating yourself like I am!) Man, I LOVED that movie. I had a big poster of the two Johns dancing on my wall, (that's my exact poster on the right! Memories!) and of course, the soundtrack album. I remember getting this really cool Disco Light for Christmas, you could plug it in and it threw spinning colored lights all over the wall and ceiling. They still make these kinds of things today, but they just don't look the same and they certainly don't call them Disco Lights!! Well, I would crank that thing up and turn on either my "Saturday Night Fever" album (also John Travolta!), or my "Grease" one and do the Hustle in the privacy of my own room. Of course with "Grease" I would have to sing and act it out as well. My childhood friend Laura Grubb says I actually acted out the entire movie for her when we were young. Her parents were very strict and would not let her go to any movie above a G rating, (of course back then, it probably had a G rating!) and since she was so disappointed I guess I played the whole thing out. She said she specifically remembers me twisting my toe into the carpet at the end, which must have been me as Sandra Dee putting out my cigarette. Nice! (because my brain works in mysterious ways, I myself can not remember doing this at all... isn't that sad?!)

Let's think about this. At the time I thought Laura's parents were truly Neanderthal about not letting her see this movie, but think about the message that is being taught!!! Girl meets boy at the beach over summer vacation, she's supposed to move back to Australia (poor girl!) but her family decides to stay in lovely Los Angeles instead. Lo and behold, she sees her summer love at her new high school, but alas, he is not acting like the boy she knew. He is a 'greaser', hanging out with a group of wannabe tough guys. He pretends he doesn't know her because she's such a square, and she's sad. Throughout the rest of the movie he plays with her mind--making her think he never liked her in the first place, and then when he does decide she's okay to hang out with, dumps her because she won't let him make the moves on her. Near the end she sings a song that actually has the words, "the poor man" in it, realizing that her holding out on him is probably giving him a terrible case of the Blue Balls. So, doing her womanly duty, she decides to become a slut. She dresses up in tight black spandex, dons more make-up than the Sweet Transvestite from Transexual Transylvania, smokes a cigarette and shows up at some carnival strutting her stuff and letting him know that he's definitely gettin' some later on. Then they literally ride off into the sunset in their flying car. (huh?! I guess this director was influenced by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) Maybe Laura's parents knew more than I gave them credit for!

As it is, I had forgotten all of this stuff since it had been so long since I watched it--and quite frankly that message never sank in for me as a kid. I just loved the music, thought it was funny, and of course extremely romantic! I decided one night that I'd put it in (ooh baby!) and then Vivian and I could watch it together. She was just starting to watch more 'grown-up' movies, and I figured the main message would probably go right over her head, like it did with me. Let's just say when the boys showed up at one of the Pink Lady's house to crash their slumber party and then drove off with Rizzo joking about a 'gang bang', I deemed that Vivian needed a few more years before she needed to learn about that kind of stuff. Good grief! I'm no prude, but hey. Kids are smarter these days and pick up on that stuff way more than we did--they have no choice, in this society. I guess I'll just have to continue to sing those Grease songs by and to myself for a while yet.

And on a completely different tangent, (there goes my brain again!) speaking of black spandex.....was anyone watching the Olympics last night? (ok, my daughter wanted to, so there I was...!) Did you see how funny it was when those crazy men doing the Skeleton Luge went flying down the course and their butts were jiggling like crazy? How when the camera people slowed the shot down, their butts jiggled in slow-mo? No? You didn't notice that? Oh. I guess it's just me.

The Fiddler Flu

Topol says, "Eeeeeuuuuu!"

As I think about my daughter dealing with the most vile sickness ever, (although she is feeling a bit better today, whew!) I am reminded of The Fiddler Flu. Years back, when Vivian was only a baby, I was in the Key and Kingdom Theater's production of "Fiddler on the Roof". The Key and Kingdom Theater is really just a fancy name for a woman and her husband who go to my church, who normally put on the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" every year, but actually veered off in the complete opposite direction this particular time to do 'Fiddler'. I played the part of Tzeitel, the first chick to go against Tradition and have the audacity to want to marry someone she actually gives a wit about. (there's me and my love, Motel! And that's pronounced like a Model T people, not like Motel 6!) It was a blast to be in that--great people, great music, an all around great experience--except of course, the arrival of the Fiddler Flu. Also known to us as the Plague of Odessa, that winter's version of the stomach flu decided to rear it's ugly head and descend upon almost the entire cast. One by one they went down, or I should say, it came up. One woman barely made it off the stage. The man who played Tevye ran backstage to barf in the conveniently placed kitchen sink before getting back out to sing "LeChaim". (now THAT'S professionalism!) Every day people were missing from rehearsal or a show. Me being completely terrified of becoming the next victim, washed my hands obsessively and never ate the pizza that was brought to rehearsal, made it out relatively unscathed...although I had to quit the last performance early because I felt so horrible and was about to pass out on stage. It was not a pretty thing. The kind of thing you laugh about now, but at the time, not so funny.

Me, Nancy and Jenny--or, Tzeitel, Chava and Hodel (some of my Jezies!) Sure, we look happy here, but we're praying we don't barf!

On a happier and more pleasant note (hope you weren't eating whilst reading this post!), I want to thank those of you who clicked on my shameless Google ads (see above) yesterday. I'll have you know I made 13 cents. Hey! That's the first time ever I've been paid for my writing! Woo hoo! Keep clicking, people! Mama needs a new purse! :-)

Highs and Blows

What a lovely Valentine's day dinner at we had at Wildfire last night! The food was amazing, the wine was fabulous, and the company was superb. Cory had this grand idea for the men to write love poems for their wives, and recite them at the table. Poor Brian left his at home in his work-stress, and John got his done but wasn't too happy about it. I realize some people are not poets and they know it. Nor do they want to be. But he did a fine job, it was very sweet. Cory's was amazing, totally made me cry. I was worried--the pressure for the waterworks was on, since he told me that was his goal! But there were tears, ladies and germs, real tears. First tears of lovey-dovey, and of course with this group, eventually lots of tears of hysterical laughter. I'm sure everyone in the restaurant was glad when we finally left. We should have been put in the Rascal Room. Had I known there was such a thing, I surely would have requested it! Hilarious.

So the high I felt last night was totally deflated by my poor daughter having the stomach flu today. If you've read my previous post on the matter, or know me at all, you know I do not do vomit well. In any way, shape or form. So I've had to have my Big Girl pants on today, for sure. Vivian's been a real trooper though. At one point she even warned me that I'd better leave, as another bout was coming on. Aww! She's sleeping now, and I'm glad. I sure hope she feels better upon waking. But I'm afraid even if she does, relaxing is not in the cards for me...she and Sullivan were sharing a kazoo about half an hour before the first upchuck occurred. Of all things, was today the day they had the play the kazoo?? (actually kind of funny, when you think about it) So, chances are I'll be dealing with this again soon, from his end. (or, ends, more than likely) Can you believe that Sullivan has NEVER thrown up from sickness in his life?? Being the control freak that he is, he is totally going to be out of orbit when it happens. And I'll be wishing I could catch a ride on that rocket right along with him, I'm sure.

But, day at a time folks, day at a time. Meanwhile I will do all I can to ban the nasty bug by spraying everything in the house with Lysol. Lysol is my friend right now, my best friend. If I could safely spray my body with it, I would. Calgon, take me away!

VD (Valentine's Day, that is...)

A Happy Valentine's Day! And now that that sweet stuff is out of the way, I will be shameless and ask all of you readers out there to click on my new Google ad links, as seen above. You don't have to do anything once you get to where it takes you, but just a little click here and there may just make me some dough-re-mi. Some people may feel like the ads compromise the look and feel of their site, but I have no shame. Hey, if I can make some ching at something, why not?? Of course I'm sure it won't add up to much of anything, but hey, every little bit helps, right?? Who says I don't contribute to the household income! Ha!

I hope you have some lovely Love Day plans. Actually, Valentine's Day is really no big deal to me anymore. I think most marrieds probably feel that way--at least the ones who have been married more than 5 years. Who needs a special day to feel pressured to show you care? Every day is Valentine's Day here at the Shubert house. (everyone together now--Awwwwww.) Lucky for me, there is a lot of love going on in this house. I am so grateful!! Tonight we actually are going out, thanks to mother-in-law Connie who kindly offered to watch the kids so we could do just that. Normally we'd just hunker down with a bowl of popcorn and watch Lord of the Rings again. But tonight we'll be joining Stephanie, John, Kim and Brian for a night out at Wildfire Grill! Can't wait. I've heard it's excellent, but quite frankly, they could be serving dog food and I'd have an amazing time with such great company, anyway! Hopefully we won't end up getting kicked out for being too loud! (the women, that is...I'm not too worried about the men shrieking and laughing...!)

Always, always on a Sunday...

Whew, Sundays have been anything but days of rest around here lately. After church with the Billadeaus again--that Kim is becoming a regular Holy Roller! Ha!--I came back here, did a little cleaning, and then brought Vivian over to Emily's house to play. (after she did her Sunday cleaning chores...wow, I guess Sunday REALLY isn't the day of rest in our house!!) In the afternoon Cory, Sullivan and I headed over to my friend Anne's house for our own play date--with the entire gang! Anne is of the Mom's group I met through Darcie. She, Darcie and Sara and I have been getting together for a while now...gosh, can't even think how long it's been right off the bat. A few years, for sure. It started out as bi-weekly play dates for the kids (well, and always for the moms, of course!) and then, as Anne and Darcie started multiplying and the number of children became crazy, it became more of a peaceful coffee night out just for moms! Yesterday Anne and her husband Todd decided to be brave and invite all of us over together so we could see each other's kids, and meet each other's husbands that we hear so much about! It was very nice, and amazingly peaceful, considering we had 7 kids together, all 4 and under. When it was time to eat, they all sat around the table together like little angels. Amazing! The grownups had a pretty good time together, too. Such a nice group of people, and Anne has such a lovely home. So, thank you Anne and Todd!!! That successful gathering made me realize that we all need to get together again, for sure.



Then it was back here for a little hijinks...Feminine Hijinx, that is! Stephanie, Kim and I's first inaugural podcast! First we went out into Coreman's studio so he could get some photos of us for the upcoming F.H. website. Right away, there were some hijinks going on. Between us grabbing each other's butts and/or boobs, throwing our hair around and throwing some serious and silly attitude, I think we got some pretty great shots! That was just way too much fun. And we hadn't even gotten around to the wine yet. That was downstairs, waiting for us to enhance our podcasting. :-) The first one went quite well, despite the fact that we rambled a bit (who...us?!), maybe not touching on some important preliminary things so people could really get to know who we are and what the heck we are doing, and the fact that my shrieking laugh was causing the sound to spike. There is no compressing The Suz, let me tell you that. No expensive equipment is gonna keep my loud mouth in check. Ah well, all part of the Feminine Hijinx, for sure! I'm so proud of my peeps, not having much experience in front of a mic and getting themselves out there, those girls were amazing and were so at ease. I'm so excited!!! We'll be meeting again for another installment next Sunday, and I can't wait!

So! A couple more podcasts under our belt, and we'll be ready to post them for your listening pleasure. When that time comes I will be sure to give you all of the info so you can do just that...if you dare....! As a teaser, I'll include a photo here of one of the many subjects we touched on...tee hee. You'll just have to tune in to find out just what that's all about...if you dare...! :-) See how I am??

The Morning After

Okay, I have to admit it...watching the Olympic opening ceremony at Pam and Gary's was pretty fun after all. Of course, it's no surprise that hanging out with P and G is a good time, it always is no matter what you're doing. But I did find myself enjoying the show. Of course enjoying it does not take away the fact that I still think the fanfare is pretty ridiculous. Giant trees dancing around with legs sticking out of the bottom and women parading around donning entire mountain ranges, complete with trees and skiers, is undeniably fodder for ridicule. (it is folly!) How can anyone be serious about that?? But I will admit that there is something cool about all of these people from around the world coming together for a couple of weeks. Especially when you see someone you know and have had pizza with on TV! Tricia Dunn-Loma, who plays on the women's USA hockey team was in plain view, and that was pretty cool. (below is the head shot that Cory, my amazing photographer husband, took for her!) Of course, it's easy to get wrapped up in those warm fuzzy feelings when you are forgetting that it's all just a charade. As cool as it was to see these performance artists form a dove of peace with their bodies, it just gave me a melancholy feeling. It's a nice idea but I have a feeling that world peace thing ain't ever gonna happen. Don't mean to see things half empty here, people, but really. No amount of interpretive dance or poetry readings from Yoko Ono is going to change anything.

Ah well, guess I'll just continue to plod on here and make my own peace. Today is a peaceful Saturday. I went to the gym for my new Coreboard class and met up with Greg and Rosemarie, who are in my gourmet group. They are so cute, taking their little yoga class together!!! Yoga is in the same room as Coreboard, so I have been seeing them as they come out and I go in. Rosemarie decided to stay and take my class with me, so that was fun! It's always much more fun to make a fool of yourself with someone else. Rosemarie is a work-out pro, tho. She takes a ton of classes, even the ones I am afraid of. Impressive!! The rest of the day will be continuing the trim painting, editing my Sugar and Spice story, and maybe even heading to the mall to use Cory's Gap card he got for X-mas. Nothing like a little all-American family fun, spending time at the mall. I may not have world peace, but I can go shopping!!!

Killer PC Chocolate

TGIF! After dinner, listening to a little KISS, making a chocolate cake with the Killer Chocolate Sauce that Stephanie made me not long ago. She is a darn good friend, bringing me some serious chocolate when I most needed it. I'm tellin' ya, this stuff is AWESOME and I'm so glad I have an excuse to make it! Our friend Gary invited us over to he and Pam's house tonight for a little viewing of the opening Olympics ceremony. To be quite honest, I couldn't give one hoot about the Olympics. I know, I know, how anti-American. (funny, I've felt more and more anti-American ever since Bush came into the picture...! After all, my bush would make a better president!!) But I just don't get all the fanfare with the Olympics. Or the Super Bowl. Or the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Just name a big sport event, and I don't get it! And I don't think it's because I am not an athlete and could care less about sports in general, because we all know I love music and movies and I think the Grammys and the Oscars are ridiculous, too.

I mean, in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter who is the best at kicking and throwing a football? Or who some panel of judges, who most of us know nothing about, deem to sing the best or play a character most convincingly? I watch some of this stuff and just have to laugh. I was flipping through the channels around the time of the Super Bowl and happened to catch someone bringing out the big Vince Lombardi trophy that is presented to the winner at the end of the game. I found it hilarious, the fanfare involved. I mean, the damn trophy had it's own sound track--some booming epic theme that would be the background from some superhero movie or something. It's a piece of metal, people! That is given to some guys that run around in tight pants and throw a ball around. I watched the Grammys the other night, the first time ever I believe. I didn't even find it all that entertaining. At one point U2 was winning yet another award and I found it annoying that Bono
was up there trying to make Kanye West feel better about not getting it himself, reminding him that they weren't rewarded for other albums they've put out in the past. Awww, poor U2. Don't get me wrong--if Warbride were ever invited to be on the Grammys (ha!) and won an award, I'd be amazed and grateful. (what a scary thought...if a miracle occurred and that were to happen, I'd need a gown that hid my Depends by then! Then again....I couldn't be any older than Sir Paul McCartney!!) But think about it...if our country put as much energy into things that really mattered or made a difference in real people's lives, wow! The things we could do!

Okay, back to the cake. Didn't mean to get too PC there. I HATE PC, but I guess I do have my PC moments. Sheesh. I think I need my own sound track, actually. What would it be?

Sugar and Spice--again

Ooooh, a snowy February day. Perfect for recording a children's book, wouldn't you say? (I know, you were just about to do that and I stole your idea...sorry about that.) As if I don't have enough to worry about I had to go ahead and write a children's story and think about getting THAT out in the world. Suz Inundates the World! It's a scary thought. I know I've mentioned this Sugar and Spice thing in a previous post, so I'm not going to bore my readers who have been so kind to have stuck with me from the beginning with the same old jazz...God forbid I bore all 2 of them!...but basically it's a story idea that popped into my head about a year or so ago, a story about a couple of cats named, well, Sugar and Spice. With trying to get the Warbride snippets done before Lori left on her tour, poor Sugar and Spice got put on the ol' back burner. So today was the day that I finally started recording. The photo above is just a rough sketch/painting of an idea I have for the cover. Haven't nailed that all down yet, though. One thing at a time, people! What do you think I am, a mom, wife, heavy metal singer, jeweler, podcast recorder AND book writer? Oh yeah. What the hell am I thinking?!



So I'll keep you all posted as to when this baby may be available. Meanwhile, I've gotta go play Scooby-Doo with Sullivan. Maybe this time we can just play LIFE, (remember that game? Love it!) and I can pretend I'm marrying Orlando Bloom again.

Boys!

A bad quality photo of me kickin' it up in a GTC concert (I'm on the left, if you can see it!)

So, Stephanie's post that included photos of friends and family that she found on the internet has inspired me. It got me thinking about some people, wondering what they're up to. The first people that popped into my head were this group of guys that I totally looked up to my sophomore year of high school. I decided to post their current photos and tell you a little about them. (not that you really care, probably, but hey. It's all about me.)

When I first got to West High in Iowa City, Iowa, it was still a three year school. In that sophomore year I was lucky enough to get into the swing choir, the infamous Good Time Company. (or GTC, for short!) I say infamous because it was actually known for being a really good swing choir, winning awards at many competitions. These people were serious swingers! It was everything to me to get into that, let me tell you. And at that point, it was a pretty small group of kids and not many lower classmen (or, classwomen!) were chosen. As a person who had been bitten by the performing bug, this was totally my thing. We rehearsed every day after school, had many performances. We traveled all over by bus, often overnight, to perform in contests. Those were some wild times! But what's amazing, is that the people in this group were all really level-headed kids. Oh, we got in trouble for being obnoxious and loud, and cutting up or talking when we were supposed to be listening and rehearsing. But when I think back, none of these kids smoked or drank--at least not that I knew of. None of the 'cool' people were in that sort of crowd. It's pretty amazing, when you think about it. And pretty Leave It to Beaver, for sure.

Matt and I, my graduation day! (it's too bad I look so depressed...!)

So this brings me back to this group of guys that I mentioned earlier. As a sophomore, of course you look up to the upper classmen. (I could say upper classwomen again, but for me it was all about the boys! Ha!) I was introduced to this group by having a mad, mad crush on a boy named Matt, who at that point was a senior. The first time I saw him was actually when I was in Junior High, when GTC came to perform there. One look at him doin' his Brady Bunch moves and my life was never the same. That crush probably lasted 7 years. Oh, I dated other guys and went through periods where I didn't give him much thought, but at any given time if he had asked me out I would have dropped anyone else like a hot potato. When I look back now, I can't believe what I put up with from him. I do think he was a nice guy and sincerely meant well, but man, did he play with my heart! I know rambling on and on is not above me in this blog, but I will spare you the gory details about this craziness. I'll just say that over the years Matt and I were good friends, hanging out together a lot, even the summer before I left for college. Some things started to happen, but never got farther than friendship. At the time I went from being totally confused to being totally pissed off, and I believe the last time I was supposed to meet up with him was at the Cedar Rapids airport to say hello, where he never showed up. Do we girls all have one of these in our lives?? Sheesh, I hope so, so someone else can share my adolescent pain! Ha!

Thad

So!! Matt hung out with a great group of guys. One memory I will share with you was a mortifying one...when I was a freshman in Junior High roller skating at Skateland and then going next door to Happy Joe's pizza was the thing to do. One night Matt was there with some friends. He actually came over to me and asked me if I wanted to attend a "Hello Sophomore, Goodbye Senior" party at his friend Tim's house. After choking on my pizza, I was somehow able to accept the invitation. I talked my friend into coming with me--of course I could not handle this journey into the unknown alone!!! Wouldn't you know, at the last minute my friend was sick and couldn't come to the party--I was on my own after all. Determined to go anyway, my mom dropped me off. That in itself was embarrassing, as of course most people that would be at this thing had driver's licenses. So I get out of the car, my mom waiting in the driveway as I went to the door. I ring the doorbell, wait a minute, and am greeted by Tim. Tim was one of those 'popular' guys, and deserved that title. He was such a sweet guy. He seemed a little surprised to see me, and then I realized why...down the stairs behind him came Matt, donned in nothing but a TOWEL!!!! Matt had told me to come too early!!!! (as I re-live this memory, I realize that seems to be a recurring theme! Aaaak!) It all ended up being fine, with Matt even driving me home, but definitely one my most embarrasing Teen Moments.

So Matt, Tim, Thad, Mickey and Eddie, who was a year younger, are the guys that I remember always hanging out together. They were the goofs who would put on cheerleading outfits and come out with a routine at a pep rally, or put together some fun musical 'special act' at a chorus concert. Everybody knew them, everybody liked them, and they were all just really good guys. Often some of them would just show up at my house and we'd all hang downstairs and watch TV. We had a lot of laughs, for sure, and it's fun for me now to think of my times with them. One good memory I have of Eddie is being on stage in the production of "Hello Dolly" with he and Matt. While talking in character at a dinner table as the spotlight was actually on some other actors, Eddie asked me to the prom.
Eddie

Most of these guys I found these current photos of, but guess who I couldn't? Yup, the ever-elusive Matt. I've heard he is a lawyer in Des Moines, Iowa. Of course of all the photos that's the one I wanted to see the most, but alas, some things never change--he's still messin' with me after all these years. :-) It's funny to me, too, how most of them either became a doctor or a lawyer. One of them is even a successful actor and director. Not surprising, though, really. I actually got an email from Mickey a while back, it was really fun to hear from him. Will I try to get in touch with all of these guys, now that I know where they are? Maybe I will, maybe I won't. It's just nice to know they are just as successful as they were back in high school. Mickey, on the right

The Jezebel Choir!

Ahhh, today was the last time Elvis Noah had to make that damn epic journey--at least our version of it, anyway. So glad, so over it!!! The Billadeaus actually joined us for church today. They don't currently belong to one, but I guess Vivian's bud Emily was inspired to try ours after being present for the Ham and Challah Sabbath meal. Ha! I love it. True Jewthran Evangelism. It was fun having them there today.



Soon after getting home, some Jezebels that were able to come gathered in Jack Pine Savage Studios to do a little background singing for Warbride. For those of you who don't know about the Jezies, they are a great group of women who I've met through church. They are wonderful, supportive women who are always there, regardless of how often I actually get to see them. I am so very thankful for my Jezebels! Besides dinners out here and there, we do manage to get away for a Jezebel Weekend once a year up at Jezie Linda's cabin, she's so sweet to let us stay there! That name came from Jezie Ann's mom, who upon hearing how wild and crazy we always get when we're together, thought the name fit. I guess it's because we're quite the opposite of what you would expect of church-goin' gals, but then again, I AM in this group, so what would anyone expect?! We love the name, and it's stuck! So Jezebels we are, and proud of it!


So the ladies came over to sing, and it was great. Unfortunately, because of various previous engagements they weren't all able to make it. (Kari and Karen, we missed you!) At first we tried recording in pairs, since the sound booth is small and we can only hook up 2 sets of headphones into the system. Then it seemed easier for each Jezie to sing on her own. Then for a hoot we decided to cram all 4 of them into the booth, and that actually sounded the best. With all of them singing together, and Jenny's high harmonies soaring up above, it definitely was Goosebump Material! (which as far as Lori and I are concerned, is the ultimate sought-after compliment!) I'm really hoping it makes it into the final mix--one never knows with these things. Obviously we won't know until Lori's back from tour and we both get back at it.

After our recording session (don't we sound professional?!) three of us went out for coffee at Panera and in our usual style proceeded to be loud and obnoxious. Jezies, I love us!
Nancy, Jenny, Ann and Linda!