A-Z 2013 the letter L

Do you love to laugh? I remember watching this Mary Poppins movie when I was a kid. They were all singing and floating on the ceiling laughing and I was laughing along with them. Seriously I thought it was hysterical; actually I still do.

My "L" word for today. Laugh- laughter.

I don't know about you but I have a group of childhood friends from the beach and whenever we get together there will be laughter. Intense, tearful I'm getting hiccups, stomach ache type of laughter. Have you ever laughed so hard your drink went up your nose or you cried real tears? Oh brother you should see our get togethers.

I can't imagine you haven't experience this yourself.
Have you had a good laugh lately?

How did you feel afterwards?
Happy?  Relief?  Calm?

Want to know some of the other benefits of laughter?

THE MEDICAL BENEFITS TO LAUGHTER

1. When we laugh we get a mini workout we tense our muscles and increase oxygen to our bodies. We even burn a few calories too!
2. Laughter helps keep our immune systems healthy raising our ability to fight infections and boosts our immune cells. 
3. People with chronic illness that results in pain have been quoted as saying laughter helps relieve pain for periods of time.

There was even a small study that showed lower blood sugar in participants who watched comedies as opposed to drams. (who knew!)

THE EMOTIONAL BENEFITS TO LAUGHTER

1. Laughter releases stress  hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline),dopamine as well as endorphins.
2. Laughter provides physical release.
3. Laughter provides a positive distraction from negative feelings. Need to cry? Maybe a good laugh will do the trick to release those pent up emotions instead.

Feel connected? Would you rather be with a person who is smiling and laughing or frowning and crying. Lets face it being positive gives us a connection to others and that's a good thing for us.

TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE DOWN

If you're feeling blue here are a few tips to turn that frown upside down.

1. Get some sunshine and fresh air.
2. Watch a comedy with someone you love. 
3. Laugh with some friends.
4. Laugh at yourself, believe me there's a reason!
5. Fake it till you make it! I know this sounds hard to believe but plaster a fake smile on your face it might actually help you feel the real thing.

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A-Z 2013 the letter J

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I have a confession to make. I love to watch TV. If I don't have music on then the TV is usually on in the background playing one show or another. 

While I'm confessing I should also say that when TV used to be free (now I'm getting nostalgic) I didn't mind commercials, I rather liked them. Those commercials used to actually be entertaining, family oriented in some instances and actually fun; and above all there was some great music
 if not a bit of a message thrown in for good measure.

You know what I'm talking about right? 

My "J" word is jingles. 
Here are some of the best ever advertising Jingles. 
Sing along with the YouTube videos and enjoy a bit of the past.


I'd like to buy the world a coke (Coca Cola)

Oh I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Wiener (Oscar Wiener)1962

Two all beef patties (McDonalds big Mac 1974)

I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us Kid (Toys R Us) 1982

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is... (Alka Seltzer)

A few of these jingles remind me of my younger days. Each and every one of them make me smile. There are so many more really fun and enjoyable ones that I found when I was researching this post. Unfortunately I had to limit how many I added to this post. 

There was one that just made me laugh out loud. Even though I already have an Alka Seltzer video I couldn't help but put this extra one in for giggles. 

Spicy Meatball (alka Seltzer)

Have a favorite childhood commercial jingle? 

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throwing a log on the tv while the music plays

I had my little yearly dinner party for my girlfriends last Friday night. It seems to be getting bigger and bigger each year, we're up to about a dozen girls this year, but hey the more the merrier! And I think I'm blessed to have such a great group of friends.  We ate, drank wine, ate some more and I even threw a log on the TV!! Seriously my husband got one of those fireplace DVD's for the TV since we have don't have a fireplace (we have a wood-stove). Anyway it really a gathering we all look forward to each and every year.

Non of us are immune to the pressures of the holidays so being able to just kick back with friends listen to some music take in the lights glistening on the tree, candles burning and drink in some genuine friendship is something really special. While doing this one of the girls (Claire) mentioned to me that she enjoyed the music selection I had playing on the stereo. I just have this and that on CD probably picked out of the sale bin at Walmart but I had to agree with her music really did and does play a big part in entertaining and what is Christmas without Christmas music?

My very favorite Christmas song is Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. It's rather a coincidence that one of my favorite Christmas movies is The Family Stone and there's actually a clip of Judy Garland singing the original version of this song years ago in that very movie.

I love love love this version by James Taylor. I grew up listening to him, his voice is so warm it feels like sunshine. And his version of this song; every time I hear him sing it I get all choked up; it's a happy-sad type of choked up. In any case I know there are tons of other great Christmas songs and I'm interested in hearing what you think are the good ones.

What's your favorite Christmas song? 

And do you prefer a particular artist singing it?

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brewing up some fun

As I mentioned in my last post we went away last weekend to attend a concert in the mountains with our cousins at a Pisgah Beer Brewery.

OMG! Did we have fun!! And did I mention there was beer?

More than a bit worried that we drove five hours in the rain and would end up being rained out but we ended up being very lucky. When we arrived at Black Mountain NC and it was clear and dry and surprisingly warm for the end so September.  My cousin Colleen her friend Jim, our cousin Hans and his wife Amy met Bill Matthew and I at a local cafe for a quick bite to eat before checking in to our hotel.  Shortly after that we all headed out to the brewery..

Where is that brewery???
I have an idea! Pull out your smart phones, lets see who can find it first!!

my cousins, jim and matthew 

And the winner is Matthew in the red hoodie!!

As I mentioned the concert was at a brewery so there was beer, lots of beer. The event was called Shamboozle. There were vendors with food and local crafts, artist  besides the music. People of all ages showed up to enjoy the three bands who were playing on the outdoor stage. There was an indoor stage as well but that was for the after show and we didn't go to that.

local artist was showing some of his very colorful art by some concert goers

The first band which was playing when we arrived was called The Kidney Stones and although I've never heard of them I enjoyed them very much. What a great sound, I would categorize it has happy music. We didn't get there at the beginning of the set but we heard four or five songs one just as good as the other. Very enjoyable sound.

The second band was called Carbon Leaf which is actually a Richmond band which was a group my son was very familiar with.There sound is very influenced by Irish music, anyone just listening to them could tell.  Matthew had several of their albums on his I-pod. Carbon Leaf is an alternative country Celtic folk infused if you understand what that means.

You parents of little ones might be familiar with this band since they did a bunch of songs for Curious George ll (life less ordinary, the friendship song, heart of the day,let your troubles roll by,walk in the sun &California sun.)  I have to tell you because of my Irish roots Celtic music just makes my toes tap and my blood race a bit faster. And the bagpipes! They have to be my favorite instrument in the entire world. Their sound can be so achingly sad when played at a funeral but when played like tonight with such joy and in an outside space is a beautiful thing.

Carbon Leaf

The headliner band was called Gaelic Storm. My cousins had seen them many times and they were very familiar with their music. The band was a mix of Irish, English and Canadian men and one woman who played the fiddle. The music had a more traditional Irish sound but the music was much more modern and all theirs. They were very funny and interacted with the audience a lot. Clearly many of the audience were fans and followers. They had some pretty funny songs which if you know anything about Irish songs they can be like a soap opera set to music. One particular song that had me just about peeing in my pants (sorry for that visual) The song was about when the head singer  punched Russell Crow (the actor) in the head while working in a bar because Mr Crow refused to put out his cigarette. So he wrote a song about it; hilarious!

In the video he fist explains what happened between him and Russell Crow, then they sing the song! It's long but it's very funny.
Enjoy!

coming home sick and a movie

My son Matthew came home on his swing days off of work, he was sick. Some type of virus was going around work and unfortunately he was on of the people to get it. So, I put a chicken in the pot so he can have some soup to eat and hopefully give him some relief.

I suspect his roommate was secretly glad he came home and wasn't vomiting and other things we will not mention in their bathrooms and spread germs all over their townhouse.  My son did say he caught a glimpse of Trey while saying goodbye with bleach and Lysol in hand!  One can never be to clean!

 I'll take my kids home anyway I can get them whenever they want; grandchildren too. For me the holidays are quite difficult, it's hard not to reflect on my losses and not to miss my children. I suspect he knows that and that's why he's here. That and the soup!

It's been two days since he's been here and his stomach is back to normal pretty much. He's finished all his chicken soup and is feeling somewhat better. He ate a normal dinner and we're both enjoying some time together. And even under the weather there's always something to do in our house.

We are huge movie hounds in our family. Since we live in a rural area we tend to buy our movies after they've been released. I am not a big theater goer. That would be due to my restless leg syndrome. I find it really difficult to sit still for long periods of time during the movie; I'm that person, you know, the one whose moving and getting up throughout the movie. The one you want to strangle!

After Gretchen and Eric died  in 2006 Matthew and I got into this habit of watching movies together it was a great relief from the stress and grief. It's something that we still do from time to time when he comes home to visit and I must say we have our favorites. We tend to like the same types of movies but not every single movie; I am never going to warm up to the Fight Club, not in a million years. But there is this quirky little Christmas family (adult) movie we are drawn to every year.

Have you ever seen The Family Stone? This family's holiday has equal parts joy and dread add a lot of comedy, and even some sad bits; such is life, right?  But what draws me to this movie in particular and what I love about the characters and this family is no matter what there is  loyalty and love, lots of love. 

If you get some time you should try to see it. We just spent last evening watching it....again! My daughter is gonna be mad at us that she wasn't here with us but she's home at her house with the kids, and they wouldn't appreciate the germs, we'll just do it again on Christmas with her!

Do you have a favorite movie that you'd like to share, we'd love to give it a look see. Who know's maybe it will become part of our yearly ritual like this movie.

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I LAUGHED TILL I CRIED WHEN I SAW THIS

If you have not seen this video- you need to watch it.  It was in the first e-mail I opened this morning and I laughed until I cried. Whoever these seniors are, they are young at heart and are a reminder that getting older doesn't mean you have to act it!