Happily Turning Blue... Hello again

What a slacker, I had tons of time to blog when I was a stay at home. These days I do well to check my e-mail!  Life is GOOOOD these days. A job I love, a new apartment and the boys have grown so fast! I am more in love each day with the most amazing man ever....and Blue October just released their latest album! What more could I ask for?!

There have been ups and downs in the last year, including an inpatient stay at my local friendly psych ward...but it was much needed and well worth it. Getting back on track with a therapist has helped me stay grounded again. Thanks Miss Jane! My Daddy finally got his angel wings and flew home June 14th. I feel a bit lost with both parents now gone. But they are both where we all belong <3

All that seems to consume my mind today is the new Blue October CD Sway. My autographed copy is on it's way, but I have a digital copy on my office computer. Guess what...the office is empty today except for ME! Guess what I have blaring \! I am just now getting the feel of  the songs I didn't already know (early release singles). A new album for me is kind of like swimming in the ocean, there's eagerness, cold toes, getting used to it, then diving under the waves into the magic... The anticipation is amazing, but as a writer myself, I have to get a feel for the lyrics before I absorb the music. Sometimes my least favorite ends up being an absolute favorite. I can remember the first time I heard X Amount of Words, honestly I didn't care for it, now I sing it all the time, scream along at concerts and it is my go to song when things get slippery.

Missy and I had the honor of hearing Not Broken Any More on the Open Book tour (Nashville, TN - yes we actually drove that far!) as Justin explained it's heartfelt meaning and played us an acoustic version. --I will write about that show soon, I could write 100,00 words about it -- Anyway, this song reminds me so much of the love I have found. Every single word is the story of Us. This is my current fave...ok yes I have sooo many faves it's crazy. Check it out for yourself!
Not Broken Anymore - Justin Furstenfeld

Did I mention we had meet and greet tickets?? More on that later.

The other topic weighing heavy on my mind today is just as overwhelming but much less wonderful. Syria...we are the verge of WW3 as I see it. My children have yet to live in "Peace Times", I fear they never will. I could fill another post about this, but I am trying to put it out of my mind. It makes my heart literally ache for all the innocent people, families, children will be wiped from the face of this beautiful Earth for the sake of a few evil people.

More to come later...I'm gonna liven this blog up!

 

Occupy It!

Help I've been kidnapped....by the ancient ways of pre-www life. Since our move to town I haven't been able to acquire Internet service. Working on that, but food and rent come first. We are all adjusting well to life in town, although EVERY time I hear a car door shut (which is often, considering this a duplex subdivision) I think someone is coming to my door and have the urge to turn off the lights and pretend I am not home...then it occurs to me it's just my neighbors going about their business. Living in the middle of nowhere spoiled me on the luxury of no traffic. But it is soooo nice to be able to run to the store or a drive thru or a the video store and be home within minutes! YES! For a homebody like me that is heaven.

So my topic of the day....OWS and what it means for society.

Life is good at the moment except for a drastic loss in hours at the job I love. The economy is shit and much like me, nobody can afford luxuries right now. So the luxury of eating at a nice restaurant is not high on every one's list.  It has occurred to me that my children are being raised in what is essentially the second Great Depression. We might not feel so deprived because we all bought our laptops, iPhones, iPad, iPod and iEverything Else without acknowledging that the tragic snowball is growing bigger and rolling faster...but as I watch my kids play the Wii and all the games on my Android I am also rationing out milk, cooking as cheaply as possible while still trying to make healthy meals and traveling out of town as little as possible to conserve gas. When you are scrounging the house for money to buy gas...it's time to rethink the budget. But even recalculating doesn't seem to help...we are bled dry.

So am I the 99%? You bet! And would I be a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement if I could? Absolutely! But unfortunately I have no choice but to punch the clock and keep the wheels turning in this crazy life of mine. But I support these men and women....when they are told to "go back to work" or "get a job" their response is "We are too busy fighting for YOU so You can keep Your job!" And I completely support that idea! Thank you to the OWS movement for trying to push change. I don't want my children to grow up suffocated by the power of the wealthy. "We The People" means ALL THE PEOPLE!

Having worked in the banking industry for years I can attest to the four main categories a productive "99% American citizen" seems to fall in. Low income, working full time, paying taxes and STILL relying welfare for food and health care...and STILL not cutting it. (Me) Middle income people who are skating by without government assistance, but living paycheck to paycheck and literally one paycheck away from disaster (my status while married), Middle income Americans living comfortably with the ever present threat that they may fall victim to the economy and be forced to live on their savings...and that can only hold out for so long. From the outside looking in it's easy to assume those who fall in the last bracket of my categories really don't have it too bad, but financial safety is an illusion to almost every citizen in the US.....the true extreme is the 1%. And that 1%, because of it's wealth, has more power than any of us can fathom. Our rights as American citizens are influenced, infringed and sometimes completely removed by this small group of people whose power and money directly affect humans on a global level.

Until we decide to start giving a shit...nothing will change. So give a shit damn it! Even if all you can do is pray or send good vibes to those who are protesting for you. Even if you disagree with OWS...they are fighting for you anyway. Fighting for all of us. Change must occur if we want our children to live in a country where they can feed their own children with a true and fair government watching out for their interests.

*climbing off my soap box....ducking the rotten tomatoes*