ZimWex Family Blog

I Used to Dance Around The Living Room...*

Just another day in the family room...

There is something about watching the unbridled joy, the utter lack of self-consciousness**, and the complete artistic devotion to her dance that I hope never fully goes away...***

Love this girl.

AZ

*Can't resist a showtune title

**and sometimes lack of dance skillz

***Although, if it NEVER goes away, she may end up dancing a bit like Elaine on Seinfeld...

Right Now

I am...

Helping Ella make her costume for today's Egyptian tomb presentation at school.  There are robes, belts, chokers, and lots of eyeliner...

Nagging Jerry to finish working on his tabloid newspaper about The Red Scare and the Crucible.

Amazed at what he can do on the computer, graphics wise.  My children's knowledge of how to make things look professional on the computer FAR surpasses my own....

Cuddling  up on the couch with Ella to watch American Idol, which we have long since embraced.

Rooting for Jessica Sanchez.*

Wondering how she made such a spectacularly bad song choice this week.

Wishing I had a wardrobe (and body) like J Lo's.

Planning our trip to Mexico Sunday. Back to the Mayan Riviera!

Worrying that somehow Ella's passport will not be rush renewed tomorrow.

Chastising myself for finding myself in this position yet again. How many times do I have to miss the expiration of my kid's passports before I learn the lesson?

Marvelling that this is the TENTH time I have applied for a passport for one of my children.

Unwrapping  a honey lemon Ricola cough drop for the cold I appear to be getting.

Staring at the three parking tickets I got this week and thinking about paying them.

Delivering Girl Scout Cookies. Forever.

Smiling as I finished Reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to Ruby tonight. 

Certain that my Harry Potter accents are better than ever.

Reconsidering my afternoon cappucino. Could I do without it?

Awaiting Tanya's return home from London after a week.

Accepting that I am unlikely to get a pedicure prior to my trip.

What are you all up to right now?

AZ

*And Erika Van Pelt..that girl has a cool voice!

 

 

 

Right now I am...

Wondering who Jane Fonda's plastic surgeon is. Wow. 

Thinking that the mermaid dress as an awards trend has really got to end.

Planning to watch more television.  All those shows look good....

Enjoying beginning Downton Abbey

Recognizing that I was not particularly fast on that trend!

Nursing three semi-sick children, sometimes with patience, and others with irritation...

Regretting that irritation.

Enjoying very much the cappucinos, lattes, and of course the cupcakes from Molly's Cupcakes. 

Mixing pomegranate seeds into yogurt in the mornings.

Wishing Tanya didn't have to be away this week.

Trying to get more sleep.

Listening to Violet practice "On the Good Ship Lollipop" over and over again.

Choosing the Adele station on Pandora almost every day.

Shivering as I walk Snoopy around the block...and not much further, unless I really have to!

Laughing both times this week (!) that we watched the Wanda Sykes special on HBO, bringing our lifetime total of watching to at least 45 times...

Realizing that Violet's Sixth (!!) birthday is approaching.  

Needing a plan for that birthday.

Hoping to attend a yoga class this week. 

Collecting money.  Jerry and Ella have raised almost $1000 each for a fundraiser for school, and Ruby has sold more than 250 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. 

Enjoying that we have had three very quiet weekends in a row.

Forgetting to give her kids allowance.  Each and every week. What makes this particular task so difficult to remember?

Negotiating about computer time. Always...

Writing.

AZ

 

What I'm thankful for today.

1.  The ocean.

2.  The free on-demand children's networks.

3. The fact that I am not at an amusement park today.

4. My beautiful, funny, talented, generous wife.*

5.  The soundtrack of [title of show]  which I listened to no less than four times on the plane ride from JFK-LAX.

6. The breathing time I have acquired this year while Violet is at school in the mornings.

7.  No visits to the emergency room all year.**

8.  The Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno that my mother-in-law treated us to last night at NOBU.

9.  Wireless internet.

10.  The fact that none of my children's fingers have been amputated by any of the Maclarens  we have owned over the past ten years.

11.  The widespread introduction of Greek yogurt into American Grocery Stores/Starbuckses.

12.  Living just two blocks from Li-Lac Chocolates and being able to get those dark chocolate covered apricots at least once a day every once in a while.

13.  Time to read books like the beautiful Olive Kitteridge .

14. These folks.

So, what are you all thankful for?

AZ    

*Mushy, mushy, mushy,

**This is where T would say I am jinxing things. But the year is over, and I am thankful that we escaped this particular pitfall for at least 12 months.

Some things that made me smile today.*

1.  Upon entering the kids' school mid-day for something I had to do in the Kindergarten classroom, my middle-school child spotted from me across the lobby.

Without seeming to give it much thought, he walked away from his friends, threw his arms around me, and hugged me. I am sure that some kid in that lobby then made fun of him or rolled his eyes about it, because lets face it, hugging your Mom once you are a tween is just not cool.But Jerry does not seem to care.  Which kinda sorta made me smile a lot.

2.  Violet's interpretive dance to Free to Be You and Me.*

3.  Tanya cracking joke after joke at the Cheley Camp cocktail party this evening.

4. The taste of the warm chocolate chip cookies that Violet and I made.

5. The very pink sunset over the Hudson.**

AZ

*A good blogger would have some media to support this.

** This too.

Thinking of Mary Travers today.

So i watched her sing.

AZ

Funny and random

I saw this today and watched it so many times.

So for no reason other than it made me laugh A LOT, I am posting it here for you.

Happy Friday, everyone!

LITERAL VIDEO: TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART

AZ

As long as we're talking music.

I  have been resisting all the lists on Facebook.  25 Things About Me. One Word Answer. Seems like too much work.  But I saw a new one tonight, so I filled it out.  Then, having allotted all of my blogging time to that enterprise, I decided I would recycle that list right here onto the blog.  Because not all of you read both, right?  I will throw in a little color that did not make it onto my more generic facebook post.  Okay, I am now cutting and pasting:

Let's see ... the rules:

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you that they changed your life or the way you looked at life. Did they broaden your cultural perspective, form your musical taste, or take you to a far distant land?

Here are 15 albums that made a mark in my life (in no particular order):

1. Carole King-Tapestry  (This would be my all time favorite album of all time, and the only one that can always cheer me up and I like to hear in any mood at all.  Even Carole King's abysmal performance in "Blood Brothers"* approx. 20 years later can not dim my enthusiasm for what she did on this album. )
2. The Indigo Girls-Closer to Fine  (And all other Indigo Girls albums).
3. Tracy Chapman- Tracy Chapman  (Would not have made it through late-night high school homework without this album and "Cup-A-Soup".)
4. Tuck N Patti-Tears of Joy   (If you don't know this album, you should go buy it right away and listen to "Take My Breath Away" and "Time after Time".)
5. Falsettos   (Apologies to all of my college roommates for the amount of times that this was played. I know you didn't care about Jason's Bar Mitzvah or anything about Whizzer.)
6. Spring Awakening (My current favorite, and the only hitch is I can't listen to it in the car because there are too many R-rated lyrics.)
7. James Taylor- Greatest Hits  (Another high school staple. Because I was just. that. cool.)
8. Free to Be You and Me (Nuff said.)
9. A Chorus Line (I had the meta-experience of "dancing around the living room" while singing "I used to dance around the living room". I only own this on vinyl.)
10. MIchael Jackson- Thriller (My very first album bought with my own money).
11. B-52s- (College Road Trip Staple.)
12. Evita- (Aaah. Patti.)
13. Cat Stevens- Greatest Hits (Still can't hear these songs at Family Camp without crying.)
14. Madonna- The Immaculate Collection (At college, we would have these study-break immaculate collection parties that were 50 minutes long.  Perfect dancing CD.)
15. U2-The Joshua Tree (And most other U2 CDs.)**

Wow...it was hard to do just 15!! Stephen Sondheim didn't even make it on there.  He totally should for me, especially for "Into The Woods", which I listened to with "Falsettos"-like regularity.  Also kd Lang's "Constant Craving".  But now I am sort of breaking the rules.

Here's a thought:  Do you think our kids could make a list like this in 25 years? Will they even know what an album is? Or only have 15 most important songs?  Just wondering.

AZ

*Shoes on The Table! My all-time worst musical theater experience evah...

**See how much more detail I provided than on the FB page?  I bet you're glad you tuned in now...

More about Starbucks.

Though I like to admit it even less than I like admitting that I can accurately identify tall, grande, and venti, I like some of the other Starbucks paraphernalia as well.  The egg and spinach breakfast thingy, the gum and mints, and ..the CDS.  Over the years I have probably bought at least 10 of the Starbucks CDs.

This morning, while having a rare moment of calm with Violet, and sitting and eating breakfast together, I whipped out the Gather Round CD.  This is probably one of the best children's CDS I have ever heard, because although the music is for kids, it is very fun for adults, too.

Check out the list of tracks:

1. The Rainbow Connection, SARAH MCLACHLAN 
2. Freight Train, DAVID GRISMAN 
3. Puff (The Magic Dragon), PETER, PAUL AND MARY 
4. Froggie Went A-Courtin', BOB DYLAN 
5. Chicken Soup With Rice, CAROLE KING 
6. Love Train, KEB' MO' 
7. Free To Be... You And Me, THE NEW SEEKERS 
8. I'm My Own Grandpa, WILLIE NELSON 
9. The Banana Boat Song, TAJ MAHAL
10. Jennifer's Rabbit, TOM PAXTON 
11. The Lion Sleeps Tonight, THE TOKENS 
12. Nine Planets, JUSTIN ROBERTS 
13. Pay Me My Money Down, DAN ZANES 
14. I Know An Old Lady (Swallowed A Fly), PETE SEEGER 
15. Car Car (Riding In My Car), DONOVAN 
16. This Train, ELLA JENKINS 

Anyway, if you have kids, or are feeling nostalgic for childhood music, definitely buy this CD.

It made me smile all morning, and Violet loved song after song, especially "I Am My Own Grandpa!"

We danced around the living room and had one of those rare perfect moments....

There.  I feel much better now that I am out of the Starbucks CD closet.

AZ

ps in unrelated news I am very excited about Alexis Grace and Danny Gokey making the top 12.

And the gold medal goes to....

She can't do a forward roll, and she still can't jump on two feet.

But she has a heck of a good time.

AZ