Momm-y-valuation Time

I've watched enough Wife Swap to know that family happiness lies in the middle ground. You don't need to be too much of a clean freak, but you should still avoid living in a pig sty. You can encourage your children to succeed without turning them into competitive little monsters. A mom's job is not to sacrifice life, limb, and sanity for her children but it's also irresponsible to be their friend instead of their parent. It is so easy to watch all the crazies on the show and think it is so obvious what they should do.

Still, the recent addition of our darling Baby Bug has made me come to the point where I need to evaluate our own family happenings for my own sanity's sake. Our life was going just fine before with a loosely defined schedule based on Monkeypants' internal clock. Worked for me, worked for Hubby, worked for Monkeypants. Unfortunately, when you throw in one 10 week old baby girl who eats constantly and rarely sleeps that kind of life takes a flying leap.

I mean, geez--I gotta sleep some day. And I'd like to see the floor before it rots under those piles of laundry. In my defense, it's clean laundry-I can get them in the wash and out of the drier, but I hardly ever have two hands to devote to anything-I'm blogging one handed as we speak-and I have yet to discover the level of jedi master that allows a person to fold laundry one handed.

If I've learned anything from my Wednesday night parenting TV it's that I must get control of this quickly before a break in habits turns into BAD habits that never change. Sooooo........what to do?

This is where I turn to my own Obi-Wan-Kinobis....my parents. They are the fully zen jedi masters of this parenting thing, so I called them up. My parents were swift with their verdict-appearantly it's time for me to get an all-for-real-totally-serious schedule and everything. Like with times on it.

It kind of scares me. I don't know if I can live by that kind of structure. I know structure is good, but I'm just not one of those people who can live by the clock. My parents insist that it's important though, and that it will help me keep some sanity and get some sleep...and at this point I'm willing to try anything.

So I'm going to break it down for Monkeypants Super Nanny style, with charts and jars and everything.

This is going to be an adventure.

This Hot Mom Hates To Shop

I am officially 71lbs less of a woman than I was one year ago and I couldn't be happier. Losing weight is really a great thing-it makes me healthier, not to mention I love being a hottie for my husband!However, there is one big negative of losing weight-clothes shopping. I HATE clothes shopping. I love grocery shopping, shopping for electronics, or house decorations, presents for my family, even presents for myself, but I hate hate HATE clothes shopping.

I know, I know, what kind of woman am I?

Still, there is nothing I hate more than trying to find new clothes...for many reasons.

I hate lines. I do. I will mill around the front of the store while I shop so I can immediately swoop in on an empty lane. Those self checkouts were MADE for people like me. No lines, no small talk, just scan and go as quickly as possible. When you clothes shop everything is a process. Besides the checkout lines, you also have to shove your way around the racks and wait in lines for fitting rooms. I also hate fitting rooms. Who decided it was okay to be stripped to your skivvies in a public place? And what about that 360* mirror? That's not flattering to anyone, especially to someone who has had the pleasure of two pregnancies and an extra cookie or two.

Oh and lets talk fit. Nothing is more depressing than trying on something in "your size" only to find yourself unable to squeeze into it. This is totally not about what size you are. When I was a size 5 (long long ago) I remember trying on pants clearly marked size 5 only to find myself dancing around half naked with one leg on trying to make them magically fit. Then of course I had to exchange them for a bigger size. If you're lucky you can find the bigger size yourself. If not you have to walk up to the salesperson and announce to the world that you are fatter than you thought you were. Then you go home and cry into a tub of ice cream. Or maybe that's just me.

Another reason I hate shopping is because I have too search way too hard to find clothes I like. I am not a "trendy" person. I like what I like, thank you very much, and I am not flexible in the least. For instance, I must have wide leg pants. Not boot cut, not flair, and certainly not skinny jeans. I don't care that they're old fashioned or that the other jeans are "so now" I refuse to put my butt into jeans that are not the same width from the waist down. And no, I do NOT want to try on the "cool colored" jeans, jeans with beads, or khakis. The problem with being extremely picky is that the things I want are often not "in fashion" which means no stores carry them, which means I'd have to buy something that I won't wear, which is just a waste of money. Which brings me to my primary complaint about shopping.

It is almost always a big fat waste of money. I mean, it's only clothing. It's not a cure for cancer or a hobby that you can have fun with. It's just material, sewn together, and then sold for 800 times the value of the material that made it. The only reason I wear clothes is so that I don't scare people with my nakedness. Well, and to protect me from the weather. But seriously, they serve no other function. So why buy 10 shirts? I really only need two for each type of weather. One to wear and one to put into the wash and wear tomorrow while the one I wore today is washing. Any more than that is a waste of hard earned money.

Those are the reasons I hate clothes shopping. The reason I will wear my clothes (including shoes) until they commit suicide and burst apart at the seems then disintegrate into a thousand tiny pieces.

However, I have run into a very serious problem--when you lose 71 pounds NONE OF YOUR CLOTHES FIT ANYMORE. I am seriously looking at a dangerous clothes shortage which could lead to unappealing levels of exposure. I may soon be forced to actually obtain clothing at a retail location. ARG!

At least my shoes still fit!

All In The Family

Do you ever look over at your husband and think,

"If this man were any more like my dad he would be my dad!"

Seriously.

Yesterday my husband tried to force me to watch a History Channel documentary on copper. Oh yes-the ever fascinating topic of copper, in all of it's many forms, also demonstrating it's many many uses and (of course) highlighting its effect on and usage in history.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Dont get me wrong-I love history. I'm very pro-history. I'm even pro-documentary. I am just anti-watching-documentaries-about-metals-while-Frasier-re-runs-are-on. Not how I like to spend my 1am hours. (Yes, we're up then. That's Baby Bug's hyper time.)

It is EXACTLY the type of thing my dad would force me to do. And when I informed my husband of this, he didn't even act appropriately shamed. He just looked at me and said "I knew I liked your dad" and went back to watching the dumb metal show.

At least I know we're compatible-despite his affection for all things History Channel. I mean, I've loved my dad my whole life so it goes to figure the man I would choose to spend my adult life with would be just like him. Sometimes irritatingly so.

Still no matter how alike they are there is one huge difference.

My husband is a hottie.

The Trapazoidal Cookie Cutter

I have been feeling lately like I am in a strange place in my life. Not an unhappy place-to tell the truth, I have been happier than I think the average person is for a very long time now. I'm certainly not complaining about my family or my life.

I still feel kind of awkward though. While still remaining true to my pledge never to reveal my actual age on my blog, I think that I have mentioned that I am young. Probably younger than almost everyone who reads this blog, and most certainly younger than most people who live the kind of life that I do (wife and unschooling mom). It makes it hard to fit in with anyone.

How do I talk to people my own age? Almost none of them have children-let alone two that they stay home with. They want to talk about crushes and homework and concerts and I want to talk about babies and marriage and parenting. I think the things they talk about are irrelevant, they think the things I talk about are boring. Conversations usually don't last long that way...certainly not long enough to actually develop a friendship.

I don't have very good luck when I try to find friends based on common lifestyles instead of age group either. Usually these people are older than I am and, if they can look past my age (which they rarely can) they are the "keep up with the Jones's" kind of people. I don't want to spend an hour at a mommy and me class comparing my babies like show dogs. I don't like being on the receiving end of dirty looks when I show up in my hole-y jeans, or when I drive away in my 85 Honda, and I don't like being talked down to. I have had women in their 40s, pregnant with their first child, tell me they know more about parenting than I do. I'm sure they know lots of things, and they certainly have more life experience, but I've got them on parenting experience and I don't appreciate the snotty attitude.

I wish that I could rely on the few and far between moms my own age for friendship, but the truth is I don't fit in with them either. I take my responsibilities as a wife and mom very seriously. I am concerned about being a good mom and taking good care of my family; I don't have any room in my life to find the single ones a new daddy for their baby or listen to their drama about their ex/new boyfriend. I don't want to dump my children with a babysitter and go out drinking until I can't stand up anymore. I love my children and while I'll admit that Monkeypants was a surprise he wasn't an "accident" like a car wreck or a snowmobile crash he was a gift-like a surprise party or winning the lottery is a surprise. I am always shocked by how many young moms I meet that treat their children like they ruined their lives.

I'm sure there are other good young moms out there. I'm sure there are non-judgmental older moms out there. And I'm sure that if I tried hard enough I could care about the homework and concerts of my non-child-having-non-parenting peers.

Sometimes I just get frustrated. It's like everyone expects people to be like cookie cutters-the people my age are circles, stay at home moms are squares....but I'm neither and I certainly can't be both.

It's hard to find another cookie cutter without a defined shape.

Staying Busy

I know I've been neglecting my interweb duties lately...but really, I have a good excuse. A bunch of good excuses actually.

Recovering from surgery has been quite the adventure, especially without pain meds. I think the funnest part is nursing the Baby Bug who has developed a knack for kicking me right in the stitches while snuggling into the booby.

Adorable.

I've also been trying to kick off my blog design business. So far I have yet to design anything which brings "profit", but I've had a lot of fun designing Angela's page and awarding Suzy her free blog makeover (which just got up today because of my recent procrastination-y nature). I also made two sample business page layouts for my "premade layout" collection on my business page and did yet another makeover on it.

I've been really looking for a paying design job. Firstly, because I really can't get a go-out-and-work kind of job so doing something at home fits best....but also because we want to save money to move back home to our beloved Portland! Not only is Portland more relaxed in general, full of way more interesting things to do, NOT full of ignorant backwater hicks, and the place where all of our "cool" relatives live, but in Portland it does not snow on April 21st.

Oh yes, today-a week out from MAY. MAY PEOPLE! Today it was literally a blizzard outside. I thought I was going to scream. It has been snowing for 7 months now. I'm going to go turn my car on and leave it that way until it runs out of gas.

Global warming my BUTT.

Why I Rock [The Story Of My Gallbladder Removal]

I still don't know a ton about what happened during surgery except for that I FLIPPED OUT at the first appearance of the consent form. It was so bad they had to call Hubby in from the waiting room to calm me down so I could sign it.

The anesthesiologist didn't even bother explaining what she was going to do. She saw me laying there shaking and bawling and was like "I'm gonna go ahead and give you something to calm you down. Don't worry, I'll explain it all to your husband."

My hero.

I do remember them strapping my wrists down in the OR vaguely, but only for a split second. Don't worry, it's not cause I'm crazy (although appearantly I was screaming "I REVOKE MY CONSENT!!!" as they wheeled me into the OR) it's what they always do to make sure that your anesthesia drip thingy bobber doesn't pop out of your arm which could make you all of a sudden wake up while they're dicing on you.

Hubby said the procedure lasted about 2 hours. I just remember all of a sudden becoming conscious and demanding to see him. They told me that I had to wait until I could open my eyes under my own willpower (*fascists*) so I opened one eye and told the nurse she better go out and get my husband before she made me open my other eye. Then I'd really be mad.

So Hubby came back into the post op with me and the nurse came and explained everything to him. I don't remember a single word she said. Except that she said I wouldn't remember a single thing she said. (Hey, she was right.)

The doctor appearantly also talked to Hubby directly after the surgery and filled him in on the details. My love, not being one for details, doesn't really remember anything specific except that the doc told him my gallbladder was TWICE the size of a normal gallbladder and had in fact folded over on itself because it was so huge. That's the only interesting tidbit he seemed to remember. And while that certainly explains the MASSIVE bruising that has now produced around the incision they pulled the gallbladder out of, I think I'm going to need to get more details from the doc himself when I go in for a post-op appointment on the 30th.

I'll fill you in then.

What do I get out of this? Besides the fact that I can now eat again (woo-hoo!) I am also reaffirmed in my super awesome status. Not because of my behavior before the surgery (that makes me look like a total wimp) but because since the codine they gave me in Post Op at 1pm the only med I have taken is an extra strength tylenol. It's been 12 hours since I had abdominal surgery and I am pain-med free! (Certainly not pain free...although post-op still hurts WAAAY less than a gallbladder attack).

I defy you to find anyone more hardcore than me. Such a person cannot be found.

Would You Let People Velcro Things To Your Head?

Okay, disagree if you want to, but this is TOTALLY my pet peeve.

What is with the way that people dress their babies?!

They may be small, but they're people too!! Would you go outside in a horizontal striped blue and white shirt tucked into blue stretch shorts with a black beret and sneakers? You couldn't pay me to walk around my living room like that! And yet.....


It's even worse with little girls! Would you ever allow someone to stick a bow half the size of your head on top of your hair?! HECK NO! Still, how many baby girls do you see like this?
And the worst part is that people think it's cute!! I mean, I'm sure the baby is cute, but how can you look past the circus clothes??? This is so unfair to children! What about their dignity? They're not cabbage patch dolls, people! They aren't there to be dressed for your amusement. I mean sure-if you find clothes that are cute it's awesome. I LOVE dressing my kids in cute clothes. But still I think parents should consider.....

WOULD I WALK OUTSIDE DRESSED LIKE THAT?

If the answer is no, perhaps you should redress your child.

Mommy M.I.A.

I've been gone a loooong time. Okay, so it's been like 4 days, but that's a long time for me. Especially when I've been spending my days having gallbladder attacks...that only makes the days longer. Turns out I am now "throwing stones" which is the nice way to say that I am pushing huge gallstones through my teeny-tiny bile duct.

It IS as fun as it sounds!

In between gallbladder attacks I have largely spent my time feeling sorry for myself for having gallbladder attacks. That, and going to the doctor. I had to-my eyes were turning all yellow colored (which I'm told is bad) and my pee was brown (TMI, and also bad appearantly). I finally got into the surgeon and he said that if I don't get my gallbladder out that it's going to damage my liver and then he said something about my pancreas. Turns out those aren't like tonsils or gallbladders or your appendix...you only get one and they can't take it out 'cause you need it. So we have to get me fixed.

When I am not having an attack I personally feel that I could keep the gallbladder forever. I don't like the idea of being cut into tiny pieces (or was that getting four tiny cuts?). I'll just continue on my way living on air and water and avoid being sawed in half, thank you very much.

Then, at least once a day, I have this overwhelming urge to eat something. When I can no longer stand the hunger pains I will reach for something as fat free as possible, but I STILL get an attack. Yesterday an attack was triggered by the 3.5 grams of fat in half a bagel with reduced fat cream cheese. I seriously can't eat ANYTHING!

When I am laying around moaning because of my gallstones/hunger pains I always change my mind about surgery. At that point I don't care if they have to hack me open with a rusty axe as long as it would make the pain go away forever after that and I get to freaking eat something. In the end though, I always feel better and the cycle starts all over again.

Despite my waffling, we have officially scheduled surgery (that doctor guy was pretty insistant) for Tuesday April 15th at 9:45am PST (time zone included for dramatic effect). I am so nervous! The surgeon keeps telling me that gallbladder removal is one of the least complicated surgeries they perform, but I don't really know about that. He seems pretty shifty to me.....but maybe that's just because I keep picturing him in the operating room with a freddy krugar mask and a chainsaw.

Due to overwhelming lack of response, I am closing the Big Give contest early. It's okay-I know you're all busy.

Still, CONGRATS to Susie-the contest's only entrant and therefore the big WINNER!



Susie is now entitled to either a free blog makeover or a week of her feed in my sidebar (not as dirty as it sounds....). Step on up and claim your prize Susie and thanks for your post!

Deadline!!!

If you want to win a FREE blog makeover, you have until this Friday to do a Big Give Post! Find out the rules here, and then after you post make sure to comment so I can check it out and put you in the drawing!

Have fun :)

I'm Meme-erful

I have been tagged TWICE for memes this week but I have been horribly neglectful. Sorry Angela and Wifey!!

The first one I was tagged for was the "Five Classes I Wish Were Taught In High School" (by Wifey):

1. How To Start Your Own Business (and make lots of money at it) 101
2. How To Get ANY Stain Out Of ANY Thing 205
3. Thinking For Yourself And Drawing Your Own Conclusions (much needed in today's public schools)
4. The Constitution And You-Understanding The Importance of The Founding Documents In Daily Life
5. Exploring Childrearing (comes with manual)-Because They DID Turn Out Just. Like. You.

Then I got tagged for the "Four Things Survey" by Angela....here goes:

Four Jobs I Have Had:
1. Mommy
2. Wife
3. Answering Service (Independent Contractor)
4. Call Center Rep For "Cellphone Company X"


Four Movies I Would Watch Over And Over:
1. House of Flying Daggers
2. Kung Fu Hustle
3. Shaun of the Dead
4. The Notebook


Four Places I Have Lived:
1. Georgia
2. Washington
3. Portland (I MISS YOU PORTLAND! *sniffle*)
4. Washington Again


Four Cool Places I Have Been:
1. OMSI (in Portland)
2. Saturday Market (also in PTown)
3. The Maritime Meuseum (Astoria, OR)
4. Silverwood Park (Idaho)

Four People Who Email Me Regularly:
1. Hubby's Mom
2. Hubby's Dad
3. Chris
4. Emily

Four Of My Favorite TV Shows:
1. Scrubs
2. Bones
3. House
4. New Amsterdam

Four Of My Favorite Foods (none of which I've been able to eat since before I was pregnant):
1. Biscuits and Gravy
2. Chicken Enchiladas
3. Greek Food
4. Ice Cream

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. Sleeping
2. Portland
3. In A New, Bigger House
4. On A Vacation With Hubby

Four Things I'm Looking Forward To In 2008:
1. Baby Bug sleeping through the night
2. The 6 year anniversary of our first date!
3. My Family Reunion
4. Warm weather (eventually....I hope!)

I don't tag people as a rule because I don't want anyone to feel obligated-but I'd love to see everyones answers! If you do one or both of these memes let me know so I can take a looksie! Happy meme-ing!

Try It, You'll Like It

I have been doing a lot of new things lately. The first of which is getting used to snow in April. YES-SNOW IN APRIL. I think it's beyond rediculous that I look out my window on what should be a nice spring day and see a blizzard. I mean, summer is just around the corner right? [I hope so!] This climate change (due to change of address, nothing political here) is really getting to me. How I miss my beloved Portland-where it is 65 and partly cloudy (or partly sunny) almost every day of the year! Having seasons-especially long, drawn out winters-is certainly going to take some getting used to!

Another new thing I'm doing is fun. And by "fun" I mean "crazy" but in a fun kind of way. That is learning how to be a mom to two children. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be in many ways-Hubby and I basically have to work the kids in shifts-but in a lot of ways it's a lot more fun too. There are a lot of great moments-like when Monkeypants held his sister for the very first time (which was only a couple of days ago because before that he didn't want to). That was SO SWEET! Also, watching Miss Bug explore everything and grow so much every day has been amazing. She is 7 weeks old and she has already found her hands (we're still working on using them), smiled her first real non-gas related smile, she can hold her head up for a good minute, and she has rolled over already!! Today she even made her first cooing sounds when I was talking to her. Monkey is getting so big and is enjoying doing lots of "big boy stuff" with mommy and daddy (which I'll post about later in an unschooling post). My kids are so beautiful and they're growing up so fast-it's a whole new experience, but a wonderful one.

A not-so-wonderful new experience is me getting ready for my very first (and hopefully only and last) surgery. We are definately going to have to get this gallbladder out-I've had several attacks in the last few days alone-and that means there will be some slicing and dicing of my abdomen area. I'm super nervous about it because I've never been hacked to pieces by a doctor before and I've never been under anesthesia before, so it's going to be an adventure. In the end it will be worth it though, to never have another gallbladder attack again! That would certainly qualify as a new experience, since I've been having gallbladder attacks for more than 5 months now.

Another good new experience I've had recently is doing page design. I designed this page, and I just finished a custom design for Angela at Becoming Me and for her family web page as well. I can't believe how well they all turned out!! My husband and I have been talking about it, and we both think that this might be a great way to earn some money on the side (always helpful in our goal of becoming hundred-th0usand-aires), especially because I'd be working on something that's fun for me. So if you're interested in a custom design for your blogger blog (my technical prowess only expands to Blogger at the moment) drop me an email. I made my prices lower than any others I could find out there for this type of service, since I'm new to it and all and want to build up my experience. Or, alternately, you can enter my Big Give Contest for a chance to win a FREE page design!

Life is so full of new and wonderful experiences. Even the experiences that are not so fun (like surgery) can have great results that make them worth it. I guess it's true what they say-life is all about learning and you never stop learning as long as you live.

I don't think I'd want to anyway.

Bust A Move

Thanks to Alison's comment, I decided I would go on a hunt for the history of the Cabbage Patch Dance.

The cabbage patch originated in 1987, all sources agree, but there is some dissent as to whether it was created by DrDre, or by Gucci Crew II. Either way, it was popularized in the 90s by the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice, who used to do it as his famous touchdown dance (or whatever you call it-I'm not a sports fan).

In order to do the cabbage patch you put your arms out directly in front of you. Then you simultaneously rotate your arms in a horizontal circle. Make sure your hands are in fists. Also make sure you do this to the beat. That is VERY important. Otherwise you just look stupid. If you have mastered the arm movements, you may feel free to shake your legs in whatever way you see fit, although some people will say that it is best to simply move like you are walking, lifting each leg up as your arms come around.

The cabbage patch, done thusly, looks like this:


Also, it has come to my attention that there may be some contention about how to do "the sprinkler". One one side we have those who say the sprinkler is done like so:



Obviously, hilariousness ensues. Alternately, you can do it this way (aptly accompanied here by the lawnmower dance):




Either way, you are able to bust out your bad (meaning good)90s dance move for the rhythmically impaired. Like me. Have Fun!!!

It's Like Totally Awesome Dudes

To say that I love the 90s would be a colossal understatement. I am obsessed. I think it is the greatest decade of the last, I don't know, 230 years or so and I cling desperately to it.

I may not have the Rachel cut or wear overalls and jelly sandals (anymore) but I still sometimes wish I could find myself some of those super radical stick on earrings. You know, to stick on next to my eyes. In bright neon pink and green of course-to match my husband's hammer pants. Not that he HAS hammer pants-I haven't seen a pair of those in more than a decade. But once upon a time, when we were kids, if you were rockin the hammer genie pants you were the coolest guy in the school. I still think they're cool...just not
to be worn in public and stuff.

I have personally worn the same type of clothes for the last 10 years or more and I know I will never change. The way I see it, trends are a cycle and my styles will cycle around again. When they're "in" I'm trendy, when they're not I'm vintage. Either way, I'm good--I'll wear my wide leg pants with my tight black t-shirt FOREVER, thank you, and I'll take my holey jeans and strappy shirts with me to the old folks home.

I can't wait until our children are teenagers so I can embarrass the poo out of them. And if they think my clothes are bad they'll really hate my kickin' dance moves. Oh yes, I learned all my dance moves in the 90s. I can cabbage patch, I can do the running man, I can do the lawnmower, the sprinkler, the fisherman, and the grapevine (for my Achy Breaky Heart) until I puke. Or until my children have me committed. But that speaks nothing of my favorite 90s dance....you know the one....oh yes-the Macarena!

Oh, Macarena I love you so! As Spanish is not my native tongue I mostly have no idea what they're saying of course--but the word is, it's dirty. Like reeeeeeeealll dirty. All I know is, whatever the words, it's a booty-shaking song. I will dance it at my children's weddings....just so their new spouse knows exactly what they are getting themselves into.

I totally don't see any shame in this either. I still feel like the 90s was just yesterday. Funny how the older you get the more time just runs together. Hubby and I will often have conversations like:

Hubby: "Some kid at work today said he's never seen Con Air. CON AIR. Come on, that's not an old movie."

Me: "Uh....Honey? That was 11 years ago. That kid was what, 5?"

Hubby: "No it wasn't 11 years. It came out at the same time as Donnie Darko."

Me: "Ummm...noooo. Donnie Darko was 7 years ago."

Hubby: "Really? I thought Donnie Darko was like the same time as Good Morning Vietnam"

Me: "No way, babe. Donnie Darko was 2001, and Good Morning Vietnam was like 86 or 87."

Hubby: "For real?"

Me: "Totally."

Hubby: "When did we get old?"

Me: " Just recently, I think."

But when I think about all the things our kids won't remember I realise that we may be getting older a little faster than we think. Our kids won't remember the Y2K scare. They'll only see my favorite Disney movies-like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, Beauty and the Beast-on 10th and 20th Anniversary Special additions...certainly never at a drive in. They'll grow up with iPods, Blue Ray, and High Def instead of walkmans, VHS, and bunny ear antennas that you have to perform crazy acrobatics to get in just the right place.

My kids will watch streaming video on YouTube on the widescreen laptop instead of playing Oregon Trail and DOS games on green screened computers as big as a small freezer. They'll see technologies that I can't even imagine and will probably be both unable and unwilling to operate.

My kids will be ridiculously embarrassed by my blasting 90s music. And I know that I will still be listening to 90s music when my children are old enough to be embarrassed-though the music of my youth and soul may be twenty years old or more at some point I know it'll always be there for me.

Nirvana, Blind Melon, The Cranberries, Presidents of the United States of America, Weezer, Green Day, System of a Down, Offspring, Garbage, Goo Goo Dolls, Oasis, Cake, Soundgarden, REM, The Fugees, Beck, Alanis Morisette, Lisa Loeb, Fiona Apple, Tracy Bonham, Boys II Men, DrDre, Tupac, Third Eye Blind, No Doubt, The Cardigans, Ace of Base (oh yes), Foo Fighters........

I now understand why my dad used to pull up to my school with Black Sabbath blasting. I would crawl into the car and melt into the seat and hoped that he would get out of there faster than I could die of embarassment. But it wasn't because he wanted to embarass me-it was the music of his young life and he loves it.

Just as much as I love MY music. As much as I LOVE the 90s.

In fact, I love the 90s so much I WOULD marry it.