Shufflin' Things Up

(and not the Curly Shuffle, woob woob woob).

Here's a little game:

• Put your music player on shuffle.
• Post the first line (unless the first line reveals the song title) from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
• Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and song title correctly. (Just post a comment, and I will let that serve as the record.)
• Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
• If you like the game, post your own

Okay, either mine doesn't have shuffle or else I haven't figured out where shuffle is, BUT.... here goes:

1. Every time I move I lose, when I look I'm in
2. (spoken intro) "Fellas, I'm ready to get up and do MY thang....."
3. If I said what's on my mind, you'd turn and walk away
4. Yeah, it's been a long long time, you're such a sight
5. You turn me on, you lift me up like the sweetest cup I share with you
6. If you can just get your mind together, then come on across to me
7. (2nd line) Light in your head and dead on your feet
8. I'm feeling so tired, can't understand it, just had a fortnight's sleep
9. (opening verse) Midnight creeps so slowly into hearts of men who need more than they get
10. You know she likes to take me dancing on the outskirts of town
11. Now I like taking off, don't like burning out
12. (verse) It burned like a ball on fire, when the rebel took a little child bride
13. We get it almost every night, when that moon is big and bright
14. Everybody go on and dance if you want to, music makes your body move, well all right
15. Talking about stealing the show, no one would know
16. I've seen the bright lights of Memphis and the Commodore Hotel
17. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
18. I hear songs on the radio, they might be fast or they might be slow
19. Though I've tried before to tell her of the feelings I have for her in my heart
20. Pariah dogs and wandering madmen, barking at strangers and speaking in tongues
21. Long time no see, short time for you & me
22. What kind of trouble did I get into (gotcha moving, gotcha moving)
23. Heartbreaker, soul shaker, I've been told about you
24. I had myself a tall one waiting at the bar
25. This silver bird takes me 'cross the sky
26. Feel when I dance with you, we move like the sea
27. You've got me so confused, and there's words I could use
28. (1st v) Nobody's right till somebody's wrong, nobody's weak till somebody's strong
29. Cheat the odds that made you, brave to try to gamble at times
30. I can feel no sense of measure, no illusion as we take

Have fun!

10 Minutes, 8 Seconds

(note: cross-posted to Weighty Matters)

Today was the Race for the Cure ...... and I reached my goal!!!! I shaved 10:08 off last year's time of 1:06:34 by coming in this year at 56:26. I jogged in a few places to hit my goal, but it was worth it! I would have honestly been happy at anything around 57 or so. But seeing the actual number was fantastic. I went from a pace time of 21:24 (last year) to 18:10 this year. Holy Moses!

And this year, speaking of numbers, we had an approximate 25% increase in the number of participants..... amazing enough, but even more so in light of the very shaky economy. It's unbelievable and humbling.

Last year, I was very inspired by all the survivors. Seeing them do the walk -- especially those newly diagnosed or battling the disease -- was enough to bring me to tears. This year, there was a young lady who was walking it on a prosthetic leg. As she came down her side of the course (as several of us were walking up to the turnaround), all you could hear was "Oh my God, how awesome is that girl!" I found her after the race and told her so -- that she inspired me to keep moving, and that she amazed me. She was so gracious about it and almost seemed as if she couldn't believe all the people who told her how proud they were of her (I am betting her time was probably between 45 and 50 minutes). She was a hero to me today, as were all those who took part in the survivor ceremony.

My cousin was one of the competitive runners.... he fell a little short of his hoped-for time, but not by all that much. Instead of 24:00, he ran a 26:08 .... good enough to be in the top 225 (out of close to 900 runners!). TOP QUARTER!!!! I'm so proud of Brandon I could burst!

And I already can't wait for next year!

A picture of my baby!

This is a picture of my very sweet baby!!!

What a PRECIOUS face!!!! (Of course, it's helped by the fact that "Nanny" had treats, and Maddox is a master at the sad beggy look!)

My busy Thursday.... and lucky Saturday!

It was so busy I'm just now getting a chance to write about it!

As you know from earlier posts, I was last year's captain for my company's Race for the Cure team. It was my first year doing it, and I enjoyed the hard work we put in. I have since learned that I knew nothing about hard work.

Thursday was Team Captain Packet Pickup day. As a member of the Race Committee (Sleep-In chair), I was asked to volunteer --- plus I could do some of the Sleep-In work at the same time. I got there at 8:30 and maybe sat for a total of 30 minutes until 6:00 PM. And that COUNTS the 20 minutes I took to drive some t-shirts over to one of the teams (I had miscounted). I helped move tables, shrink-wrapped boxes on pallets to be moved, hefted boxes once they got moved, packed t-shirts, recounted t-shirts, ran hither and yon, helped in putting together my packets for my own team, and do some of the stuffing for Sleep-In.

I also ran into my cousin's son who works at the building where we had pick-up. I'm so proud of him in so many ways, but especially since this year, he's running the race. His grandmother is my aunt who's the breast cancer survivor, so it's especially meaningful! AND I ran into a classmate of mine -- haven't seen her in 21 years (she lives around here but didn't make either of the reunions). She puts together a HUGE team ..... how awesome is that!

When I finally got to sit down at my WW meeting, it was then that my muscles finally said, "No mas!" and BOY was I sore, even the next morning. But it's the best kind of sore there is -- the feeling of satisfaction, knowing you've done something for a good cause!

***

Speaking of good causes..... The Witch told me that Birthright (for whom she volunteers) would be taking part in Macy's "Shop for the Cause" today. I was going to be out that way anyway, so.........

I first had to go to Burlington Coat Factory. I bought a lovely gray wool coat there several years ago, and wore the daylights out of it.... until it got way too big for me to wear. One of my WW buddies passed on two of her old coats last year, and they were fantastic. But alas, they too are now way too big, and I have passed them on. But I am also heading to Chicago in 3 weeks for training, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I will need a good coat up there by that time. I found a VERY good deal there at Burlington! It was a black wool blend (80/20) full coat, with a heavy-duty zipper, metal closures, and attached hood. Best of all, it was marked down around 22% off the original price. SWEET! There were also some peacoats on sale there, and I might (might) get one of those to use as well.

After my sweet deal at Burlington, I headed over to Macy's. I missed Witchiepoo by about 5 minutes, but bought the all-day savings pass with a donation and signed my name up for the door prizes. My mom was with me, ran into someone we knew, and then I joined them. Suddenly.......... "*BING BING* -- our next door prize winner is Nettiemac! Please come to the front to claim your prize!"

Yeah, I'd stood there a whole 5 minutes and won .... I got a pretty blue-green teardrop glass vase, a set of three crystal candleholders (for use with either pillars or tapers), and a Wedgewood Christmas ornament. I need to give away the ornament, because it says "Our First Christmas Together." I don't know any newlyweds I could give it to, but someone at work might. Ya know?

What a lucky day --- a great coat on sale, AND a lucky break on a door prize. WAHOO!

Crazy days....

Ever have those days where you meet yourself coming and going? Welcome to my world, at least for the last couple of weeks. Between my regular job, helping to coordinate the United Way campaign at work, trying to do Race for the Cure stuff, choir practice, etc. etc., well, it makes for one very tired Nettie.

In good news, I had a follow-up with my physical therapist regarding the lymphedema. The double-hosiery idea (one pair full hose with an additional pair of knee-highs over that) seems to be working. It's holding the areas to their regular measurements, which is what is supposed to be happening. I'll probably have this going on until such time that I have the surgery. After that, I'll probably just need knee highs. But even I have to admit I don't mind the full hose so much. Right now, it's keeping everything squooshed and slimmed.

If you read my Weighty Matters blog regularly, you'll see that I finally hit my 200-pounds-gone mark! Just a few more pounds to go ..... mere ounces for a personal milestone, a teensy number of pounds for yet another personal milestone, and roughly 25 to go to hit final goal. I am being as patient with myself as I can be!

All week long, I've had a very slow, soothing playlist going. It sprang from an Internet discussion among friends, and it's sort of developed a little further. My own playlist has been heavy on Van Morrison and Marc Cohn. Good stuff, those two!

Speaking of music -- I scored two tickets for Trans-Siberian Orchestra, coming to the Bi-Lo Center in November. WAHOO! Others who have seen them have told me that they are fantastic -- I can't wait!

Well, that's about it from here for now. I hope to get back into the blogging habit (I have been slack this summer, I know!)

Earworms.....

You know what earworms are, right? Those songs that get stuck on your mental iPod, and the skip buttons don't work. Sometimes, even the pause button doesn't work. Then, another song comes on and knocks that one out..... then repeat procedure. Worse, they're usually the songs you can't stand in real life anyway.

This morning's earworm isn't a bad song at all -- I actually do enjoy it when it hits my airwaves. Yet, I have no idea why it's going through my head: "Needles and Pins" by The Searchers (1964). Or actually, sung more like, "Needles and Pinza."

And so that you can share in my pain/pleasure:

"Needles & Pins" (written by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono*):

I saw her today, I saw her face
It was the face I loved and I knew
I had to run away and get down on my knees and pray
That they'd go away

But still they begin
Needles and pins
Because of all my pride
The tears I gotta hide

Hey, I thought I was smart, I wanted her
Didn't think I'd do, but now I see
She's worse to him than me
Let her go ahead, take his love instead
And one day she will see

Just how to say please
And get down on her knees
Yeah, that's how it begins
She'll feel those needles and pins
a-hurtin her, a-hurtin her

Why can't I stop and tell myself I'm wrong, I'm wrong, so wrong
Why can't I stand up and tell myself I'm strong

Because I saw her today, I saw her face
It was the face I loved and I knew
I had to run away and get down on my knees and pray
That they'd go away

But still they begin
Needles and pins
Because of all my pride
The tears I gotta hide
Ah, needles and pins
Needles and pins
Needles and pins

(*-Yes, that Sonny Bono).

It's Labor Day and.....

in spite of needing to go in REALLY early tomorrow, all is right with the world.

College football kicked off on Thursday, made even sweeter by a Gamecock win. The icing on the cake was a Clemson loss (truly, more of a Clemson butt-whoopin'!). It's been a good day, a good weekend, with time spent with friends, family, and loved ones.

My best friend saved a box of clothing for me -- stuff I can wear at work and at home! In fact, I wore a pair of the shorts tonight on the walk, and they are SO comfy!

I'm pretty content. Content is sometimes seen as a bad thing, but it isn't really. Content is being happy with where and who you are -- always with an eye to improvement, but knowing that right now is good too.

I don't think you can beat that with a stick!