i used to be good

Josh is out camping this weekend with his high school buddies and I am home alone for the weekend - by choice. It's been really nice. We've been running around like crazy for the last 2.5 months camping, rafting, and visiting with family, etc. and it's really, really nice just to sit around. Even cleaning things out of the closet is relaxing...how pathetic is that? Anyway, I decided to take out my guitar this afternoon and played for an hour and a half. I sang all of my old songs, which aren't quite as fun as they used to be, mostly because all of my old songs are angry and mean and sad. But I sang them anyway. And after awhile I realized that I have a DVD of a performance that I did at Java Jim's Music Theater in Indiana back in January of 2005. So I popped it in and it kind of made me sad. I mean, I watched it and I realized that I used to be pretty good. I used to sing and play like crazy - like it was my whole life. And it was. And now, my guitar comes out every now and then and when I play it's nowhere near as good as it once was. But it's weird because it doesn't necessarily make me want to go out and play those songs again. It just makes me want to show it to everyone to prove to them that I once did that and I was really good.

So....anyone want to watch it?

Another addiction

I can't stop watching these videos from a The Weepies Video Challenge. Some of them are really cute. Claire, I think you'd enjoy watching these....

http://www.imeem.com/weepiesvideochallenge

Cute

I was supposed to read all day and finish this stupid book for my Management class. Brooke even went to her great-grandma's so I could get some stuff done (Josh went rafting again). I read quite a bit but eventually pulled out my guitar and jammed out a little bit. I picked up Brooke and brought her home to chill. Josh came home for a brief second and then we took him to an awards thing for work. Eventually, it came time for Brooke to go to bed. I still had my guitar out and I asked her if she wanted me to sing her a song. Of course, she said "yes" and plopped down cross-legged onto the floor to listen. She told me I could make a lot of money if I wanted to. Then, she asked if I wanted her to massage my back. Of course, I said "YES!" and she sat behind me on the couch while I played guitar and she rubbed my back. I started making up a stupid song about how I like it when Brooke massages my back. I stopped and said, "your turn!" and we took turns singing made up lines about each other. It went something like this:

M: "Man, I love it when Brooke rubs my back. It feels pretty awesome like that."
B: "Yeah, Miranda is the coolest."
M: "Brooke is a pretty cool kid"
B: "Miranda likes to sing."
M: "Brooke has some shoes that are a little bit too small."
B: "No they aren't."
M: "I think it's time for Brooke to go to bed!"

It was pretty much the funniest/cutest moment we've had in awhile. That and the time last week when we were eating dinner and she said, "Miranda, you know, over the past couple of days, you've been really acting like a mom." I kindly said, "Well, I'm not your real mom but I take care of you like a real mom should." She quietly responded with "ohh."

Anyway, our impromptu songwriting session was sooooo cute.

playing guitar...

I just played guitar for the first time in months. No really, MONTHS. I don't think I've played since October...and it felt good, friends, GOOD. I think I played for 2 hours in the house by myself, then put Virginia away for a few minutes. I made bloody marys for myself and Josh, then serenaded him in the garage while he played with his RC cars and attempted to put them back together. I know it seems weird, but we both seem to have remembered that we like to do different things and we are both getting back to doing the things we really love to do - separately - and I like that. Silence is golden sometimes. We never really seem to talk about our hobbies, but we have been great about respecting those interests. I like that...a lot.

On another note, I have to go to the POST Academy for Probation Officers starting tomorrow at 2pm. I'll spend two weeks away from home (except weekends) at the Academy learning how to do my job in a better fashion (at least, that's my hope), but am sad that I have to be away from my "family" for such a long time.

And lastly, and I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, I have perfected my bloody mary recipe. They are soooooo delicious! Man, thanks to Zeitgeist in San Francisco, I have learned that adding horseradish into my mixture has really improved the recipe. Yum!!!

a few things I am very excited about!

1. Friday night's white-trash-bar-extravaganza was pretty entertaining. Josh's cousin's band played at Mr. Lucky's here in Boise. FYI, Lucky's is known for their NASCAR Sundays (all you can drink for $20.00). I'm pretty sure they are also known for the extreme amount of Special Olympics Dance Team members....in the most unofficial sense, of course. Anyway, the band was pretty good for firing the lead singer a week prior, which surprised the hell out of me (the fact that the band was pretty good surprised me, not the firing of the lead singer - that should not surprise anyone, really).

2. Saturday night I went to a concert at the Big Easy to see Joshua Radin and Ingrid Michaelson! They were incredible! I wasn't too familiar with their stuff before heading out (except for Ingrid's song, "The Way I Am" which is on an Old Navy commercial) but I am fully convinced that they are worth listening to over and over and over again in my office. Yay! On top of seeing the phenomenal concert, I ran into two of the guys who were in my youth group when I led the group at my church in college. They are old. That makes me feel old. BUT, it was super fun to see them and I think they even convinced me to pick up my guitar sometime soon.

3. I spent the majority of my time sleeping and laying on the couch this weekend and it felt awesome.

4. None of our immediate friends or family members drew a Middlefork of the Salmon rafting permit this summer, which made us pretty bummed out. Thankfully, a friend of a friend invited us on his trip! Hooray! I'm pretty sure I'll be dreaming of this for the next few months....

5. I think I have become addicted to Crystal Light Energy. And Spicy V8 (not just for my perfected bloody mary recipe - I like it plain, too). And Laughing Cow cheese with celery. And sushi. (I never thought I would say that). And steamed broccoli (WTF?).

6. I made my first official meatloaf last night and it was really effing good. Oh my god, when did I turn into a housewife?

7. San Francisco was fan-freaking-tastic. Next trip: Vegas on April 26!

Hearing "Stars"

The band "Stars" has sucked me into some type of trance and I can't pull myself out. A co-worker gave me a copy of "Set yourself on fire" last week to listen to in my office and I've now purchased 3 of their 4 albums. And I've been making Josh listen to it too because I love them so much. You should check them out too. A-MAZ-ING.

Stars

On a completely different note, I took Brooke and the 6-year-old neighbor to see the Hannah Montana 3-D movie last night. It's pretty fun to see little girls get excited about stuff like that. I was intrigued by the number of dads there with their daughters. Really, I think the majority of the theater was stuff with men and little 8-year-old girls. I guess I can't decide if that's cute or gross! Ohhhh, ok, probably cute.

The movie.

Yeah yeah yeah, 3 posts in one day--don't get used to it. I had to write something however, about how good I feel about taking some time to myself to go to a movie. I may have said it before, but I LOVE going to movies alone and today was no exception to the rule. I probably would have shared this experience with someone, but seeing as though I play the part of the *perfect* girlfriend (ha! that's funny...), I refused to let Josh go see it (even funnier...) and he's probably the only person who might have the time to go to movies with me this week. That being said, I went to see "Because I Said So" because I'm a big sap and a sucker for chick flicks and because my mom used to say those words (actually, she probably still does) on a regular basis for why, exactly, I should do things when she tells me to. Tada, premise for the title of the movie. It was cute enough--not enough to make me cry, so that was good too. The best part about the whole movie? The fact that The Weepies had a song in it, about 3/4 of the way through...and we all know how much I LOVE The Weepies!