Thankful

As we approach Christmas, I am reminded of how very richly blessed I am. Two healthy and happy children, a husband who loves me, great friends and family, plus lots more. There are of course "poor me" days. During one of these recent moments, I ran across this song on my i-Pod by Cindy Morgan:

It really helped me see the really great things in the everyday things. I now have it tagged on my i-Pod so that I can quickly play it when I dare have a pity party!

Ingrid Michaelson's Happy Tune

I love the Old Navy commercial where they are advertising sweaters... it's not the actual commercial that is so great, but it's the little jingle they play. Brooklyn helped me find the name of the artist so that I could find the song. Here it is... Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am":

Colbie Caillat

I LUV MUSIC!!! I would just about call it a passion of mine. While I was driving to work this morning, a great new artist came on the radio, with a really "happy" song called Bubbly. This new artist is Colbie Caillet. I don't know much about her other than what I found on her MySpace page. You've got to listen to the little diddy above... especially pleasant when you need a little pick-me-up ;-) Colbie Caillat kind of reminds me of Sandi Thom. If you don't know her song, I Wish I Was a Punkrocker it's one you've got to listen to... it just so happens that I have it here for you too!

The Singing Bee

Well I missed the show, "Power of 10". I forgot to program the DVR, but I did catch a new show that the kids and I have recently enjoyed. It's a great primetime game show called, "The Singing Bee" hosted by Joey Fatone. It's basically a karaoke showdown. The premise of the show is to be able to recall lyrics to songs recorded from as far back as the 1950's (maybe older) to present day. It's not a singing contest, but a challenge to see who "knows the words". The kids are great to watch this with because they just stare and giggle at me and WD when we sing out loud the lyrics we know, although WD stands by the fact that he feels the show is cheesy and that it appears cheaply produced. Me and the kids don't care how it appears... it's fun!

My Train of Thought

To give you an idea of how my mind jumps from thought to thought... almost like rapid-fire... while driving to work Friday, an old James Taylor song came on the radio, "Your Smiling Face". It reminded me of when I was a little girl listening to my dad sing along to songs in the car. He loved James Taylor. Anyway, I jotted down the song title in my Blackberry so I could be sure to download it to my iPod when I got home. Once I got home, I browsed for the song and ran across another song that James Taylor sang with Cat Stevens, "Cat's in the Cradle". I remember growing up with Cat Stevens, too. (These guys were all born around the same year my dad was, 1949, so obviously you wouldn't hear them on the radio too much now.) In thinking about Cat Stevens, it reminded me of the reel-to-reels filled with music that my daddy used to listen to. Which then made me think of one of my earliest "music" memories... I was riding with my mom to her job and being sad that I had to go to the daycare... I had to have been only about 3 or 4 years old... when this song came on the radio:

It's "Eastbound and Down" by Jerry Reed.... OMG, it is the theme to the movie Smokey and the Bandit (circa 1977)! See what happens when my mind begins to wander back in time ;-)

Keith Urban

I am so NOT a country music fan. There was a very brief period of time in high school (1990 or so) that I enjoyed a little of it, but for the most part, I tend to stay away from it. While listening to my favorite morning radio station, 96.1 The River, Jodie from the morning show mentioned a remake of a Phil Collins song by a current country music star, Keith Urban. They played just a little part of the song, but I fell in love with the voice I heard. The song was "I Can't Stop Loving You". After downloading this song into iTunes, it is now one of my favorites... not to mention the album cover is nice to look at too ;-)

Listen to Keith Urban's version of "I Can't Stop Loving You" by clicking on the player below:

Kelly Clarkson's NEW CD rocks

While I was traveling out of town for work, I stopped by Target and picked up Kelly Clarkson's CD so that the grueling 8 hours I'd be stuck in the car would at least be passed with some new tunes. Her new CD, "My December" is great. This is a new style of music for her, though. You will have to love "rocking out" to enjoy it... somewhat like girl headbanging sounds, but it really is good. I wonder what Kelly was going through when she wrote the lyrics to "Never Again"... whatever man "burned" her is sooooooo hated. Listen to it here...

Here is another song, "Haunted"... the beginning is really cool; no your speakers aren't acting up.