Just remember, the fat kids have feelings too.

It’s Halloween!  Woo hoo!!

Halloween has always been one of my favourite days of the year.  As a kid, I couldn’t wait to get home from school, and then my brother and I would start hounding immediately, “When can we get into our costumes?  When can we go?!”  It was all my parents could do to force-feed us supper and hold us off until it was dark out.  (There were always a few in our town who went out early, before it got dark out, and they’d have us just chomping at the bit to get out there.  My mom’s rule was always to wait until it got dark.  *sigh*)

Yet, with all the fond Halloween memories – of my dad taking us down Stanton Road to all the neighbours, and then on to the homes of our aunts and uncles that lived in town, who all gave out the BEST treats!! – there is one Halloween that I recall as the worst ever…

I think it was the year I was twelve.  Maybe thirteen.  Right on the cusp of being “too old to go trick-or-treating” in my parents’ eyes, as I know we had already had the conversation prior to - “Are you sure you don’t want to just stay home and hand out treats?  You might be getting too old for this…”

In my mind, to this day, I do not feel twelve or thirteen is too old for trick-or-treating.  I get many kids at my door who are WAY older than that.

We had decided, though, that it was OK for me to go out, especially since I could go with my younger brother, saving Dad from having to trail around the neighbourhood with us.  (He’d reached a point where he hated that job.  We were no longer little and cute and it didn’t float his boat to take us anymore.)

ANYways.  So.  It’s Halloween night, and I was already a little disgruntled because I hadn’t been able to find a costume in my mom’s extensive collection that fit me.  I was a chunky kid.  And she always made us wear layers under our costumes on top of that.  Already fat, and then having to wear three sweaters, two coats, long johns, and two pairs of pants?  Not cool. I had resulted to cutting eye and mouth holes in an old bedsheet and going as a ghost.  I know, I know.  Sounds lazy, like something a kid who was too old to be trick-or-treating would do.  But trust me, it was way better than what some of the older kids around here pawn off as “costumes”!

So.  Off we go.  Me in my pathetic ghost costume, and Luke in his Ninja Turtle costume.  (OK, probably not, I can’t remember what he was, but in my memory, he was always a Ninja Turtle.)

We hit a few houses on our street with some of the other neighbourhood kids, and all was going well.  A few of the neighbours even complimented me on my ghost costume.  Some of them were concerned that I couldn’t see.  (And I couldn’t.  My eye holes didn’t line up with my eyeballs.  I was pretty much blind.)  But aside from that, it was all good. 

Then.  Then.  We went to a house nearby, of a neighbour that we didn’t know so well.  I remember he was out on his porch, an older man holding a big bowl of candy, and right in the centre of the bowl was an apple.  As we all clustered around him, he chuckled, complimented kids on their costumes, and generously shoved handfuls of candy into their waiting bags.

Then he looked up and saw me.  His smile disappeared.  His eyes narrowed.  He said, “You.  You’re too old to be trick-or-treating.”

And he threw the damned apple in my bag.

Asshole.

I’m not sure if that old guy realized how damaging that moment was to my spirit.  How his cruelty absolutely ruined my night and made this the one Halloween that always comes clearly to mind when I think of Halloween nights as a kid.

I remember fighting tears, and when we returned home to get Dad to take us in the truck to our aunts & uncles houses, I had a breakdown.  My mom and dad told me to forget about him, that I wasn’t too old to be trick-or-treating, that it’s just because I was bigger than most kids my age.

Awesome.

Yep.  Halloween isn’t always a treat for the fat kids, folks.  Mean old neighbours toss apples in our bags, basically telling us to go on a diet.  How rude.

So that’s my piece of advice to all of you on this Halloween day.  Smile at the kids when they come to your doors, tell them they look awesome, and don’t ever, ever put a damned piece of fruit in their bags, even if you do think they are too big or too old to be trick-or-treating.

Unless, of course, they are 18 years old and drew a mustache on their face or something lame like that.

Then load them up with fruit.  They deserve it. ;)

Happy Halloween!!!!

Random Tuesday. On the hurricane, Halloween, and other stuff.

• With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast late yesterday, there was talk that we might see a bit of it here – nothing major, but they were talking about winds gusting upwards of 60 km/hr, which always means a chance of the power going out.  So we joked all day about getting our candles and flashlights ready “just in case”.  When I got home from work? The damned power was already out.  Seriously.  Not even breezy yet, and no power.  *sigh*
• I honestly don’t think the power outage had anything to do with the Frankenstorm, but man, did it ever make me feel like I was part of the hurricane hype.
• I joined my mom at her place, because there was no way I could’ve stayed at home alone in the dark after watching a zillion scary movies over the weekend.  I would’ve freaked myself right out.  Mom kept talking about how it was kind of fun, and felt like the “olden days”.  Sure.  Super fun.
• My cousin Dale came to see if she needed her generator going (for the sump pump in the basement) – but the water wasn’t rising very quickly so she opted to not run it.  Would’ve been nice if we could’ve watched TV though, MOM!  But no.  She wanted to pretend we were pioneers instead.  *sigh again*
• May I just say… it warmed my heart that Fudgie thought to come and check on my mom last night.  My extended family are good peeps.  This is one of the many reasons why I love them so much.
• The power didn’t come back on until after we went to bed, some time between 10:30 and 11:00 PM.  That was one long, boring night sitting by candlelight, making shadow puppets on the wall.  (I am a pro at making a moose, by the way.  Just in case you were wondering.)
• God bless my Blackberry, and the Facebook and Twitter apps on it.  And thank God my battery was charged.  It kept me mildly entertained when the shadow puppets got old.
• So, I’m sure you’re all wondering how Jill’s Day of Halloweenie Fun went on Saturday, right?  Totally successful!  I got my pumpkin carved, and my friend Lindsay joined me for a scary movie marathon – we watched Chernobyl Diaries, Fear, Scream, The Shining, and Hush.  Some of them weren’t extremely scary, but we needed those to space out the very scary!  For me, The Shining was probably the one that freaked me out the most… so damned creepy.  Chernobyl Diaries had an awesome premise, but I think it could’ve been made scarier.  Had me jumping nonetheless.  Fear had a sexy psychotic Mark Wahlberg, so no complaints from me. And Scream was kind of funny, I didn’t realize how dated it already is.  (“Excuse me, young man, why exactly do you have a cellular phone??” HA!)  Annnnd…I kinda slept through Hush.  Whoops.
• Now I’m finally ready for Halloween!  Feeling very much in the spirit.  I can’t wait to see all my little trick-or-treaters tomorrow night.  I wish it was tonight!
• Before I got to my Halloweenie fun on Saturday, I cleaned my disaster of a closet, I tidied up the spare room (which is actually my junk room filled with craft supplies and Christmas decorations), and I de-moulded the bathroom ceiling.  Fun fun.  Apparently it took a toll on me.  My legs have been aching ever since, as though I did, like, a billion squats.  So now I’m hobbling around like an old lady.  Sweet.
• The winds are still howling around here today, but all I can feel is grateful that we weren’t in Sandy’s path.  Thoughts are with all those who were.  Some of the images and stories are absolutely spine-tingling.  Praying for all who were hit along the East Coast!
• And now, Google’s refusing to let me upload any of the images I’ve found to go along with this rambly ol’ post.  So instead, I will show you my jack-o-lantern that I carved on Saturday.  Enjoy.

Linking up today for Talk To Us Tuesday with Impulsive Addict & Shawn (who sent me an awesome goody bag for winning the draw for most link-ups on TTUT in the past year, thank you so much Shawn!!!)…

…and also with Stacy Uncorked for Random Tuesday!

Confession Time!

What would Friday be without confessions, right?

Linking up with Aubrey at High-Heeled Love while Mamarazzi continues to break.

I confess…that I’ve officially declared tomorrow “Jill’s Day of Halloweenie Fun”.   To be perfectly honest, I haven’t really caught the Halloween spirit yet, despite the scary skull in my living room that freaks me out daily.  So tomorrow, I’m going to get the bags of goodies ready for the trick-or-treaters, I’m going to carve my pumpkin, and I’m going to watch scary movies.  That should do the trick!

I confess…that I also have to find time to get the mould off the bathroom ceiling, clean up the spare bedroom, and repair the disaster that is my bedroom closet.  I may be a little bit busy…Good thing it’s supposed to rain all day Saturday.

I confess… that I did not love “Secret Daughter”, our book club selection for this month.  I expected to love it, but I did not.  It took me a long time to read it, actually.  So now I’m rewarding myself with “Bared to You”.  I’m enjoying this one much more… I’m not very far into it, but I think it may even be better than 50 Shades…

I confess… that the name “Gideon Cross” does nothing for me.  The name “Christian Grey” was much more sexy.  You can’t even shorten “Gideon” to something hot.  Gid?  Giddy?  Doesn’t work.  I guess I’ll just call him “Cross”.

I confess… that in my head, Gideon and Christian both look exactly the same.  Yes, that’s right.  They are both Ian Somerhalder.

I confess… last night during The Vampire Diaries, I felt entirely like a 15-year-old girl.  Mr. Somerhalder was doing a #tweetmeian thing on Twitter, answering fan questions and such, and I wanted him to tweet me so bad.  I know.  How lame is that.  Totally 15 years old.

I confess… that I was heartbroken to hear Maroon 5 are touring North America, but not stopping in Ottawa.   Montreal or TO are the closest gigs, and while I’m sure I could’ve convinced someone to come with me to see them locally, there’s no way I’m going to get anyone to make that kind of a trip for Maroon 5.  Damn you, Mr. Sexy Adam Levine.  DAMN YOU!

I confess… that after putting a “credit card freeze” on myself yesterday, I’ve already broken it.  But for good cause.  I placed a Regal order for gift wrap and cards, to support Maddy and the other Onslow School kids in their fundraiser.  The freeze will now recommence.

I confess… that I haven’t yet decided on what scary movies to watch tomorrow.  I’m deliberating on whether or not I should watch all 4 Scream movies, or mix it up a little.  What are your favourites?  Any recommendations?

I confess… I’m jealous of my nephew Caden today.  He’s on a PD day, and he gets to hang out with Grandma and Aunt Marion today.  I hear they’re doing all kinds of fun things, like carving pumpkins and going out for lunch.  Jealous!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and enjoy a Halloweenie kind of weekend! :)

Thursday Thoughts. The Internet is an asshole.

The Internet is being a total douchebag here these days – just about as assholey as an Internet can be – and it was down all day yesterday.  So you know what that means.  It means I have a lot to say today.  Lucky you guys.

• So my plan for yesterday’s blog was to do one of those “What I’m Wearing Wednesday” posts that I never, ever, ever do, because I’m anything but a fashionista, my friends.  And truthfully, the pictures I have were not actually of clothes I was wearing on Wednesday, but they were clothes that I was looking for opinions on.  So let’s do this now, shall we? 

Skinny jeans from American Eagle – Yay or Nay?

 To be honest, with the boots on, I can barely even tell they are skinny jeans.  I think it’s because I have giant elephant legs or something.

Belted Permafleece jacket from Old Navy – Yay or Nay?

The jacket is getting total mixed reviews from my friends and family.  I think I’m keeping it anyways.  It was only $20.

• Thank you to my mom for being my photographer, even though I did tell her she wasn’t very good at it.   For the record, she voted “Yay” to the skinny jeans (shocked) and “Meh” for the jacket.  I also don’t like those boots as well as I thought I would.  I want a brown pair.  Like all the cool girls wear. 
• And PS, I hate all my fat, but most especially my fat face and multiple chins.  ugh.
• Seriously, though – that first outfit?  Is it presentable enough for Chad Brownlee on November 6th?  I’m just not sure…
• I went shopping last night for Halloween Candy.  To Wal Mart.  Have I mentioned lately how impatient I get at Wal Mart?  Like, I wanted to punch everybody in the nose.  Including the crying babies.  And the lady who needs a service dog who was stuck in every aisle I went down.  AND the service dog too.   It was a frigging zoo.  And the Halloween candy section?  Complete mayhem.  I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
• You all should know that I’m putting a freeze on my credit card again.  I’ve gone way over-board lately with the on-line shopping.  I had to remind myself of this last night when I was completely de-railed by the Magic Mike display of DVDs that Wal Mart so conveniently set up to distract me right in the middle of the aisle.   I was all like, “Get in and get out, only buying things on the list, the sole purpose of this mission is Halloween candy… Oooooh Channing Tatum!  Oooooh Magic Mike!.  I want!  I need!  I MUST HAVE!!!” 

• I was even holding it in my hand, reasoning that $18.94 was a pretty good price for so much deliciousness to be see on my very own television screen, when Sensible Jill (she’s the complete opposite of Sadie, by the way) popped up and said, “NO!! PUT IT DOWN!!  ASK FOR IT FOR CHRISTMAS!!  IT IS NOT ON YOUR LIST!!!”
• I listened.  Miracle, I know.
• Now, for the record, the credit card freeze is only just beginning now, actually.  Because I kind of did use it this morning.  To buy tickets to the premiere of Breaking Dawn Part 2.  Now it’s time to get EXCITED!!

• I wasn’t really feeling the BDPart2 excitement until today, because two members of my usual Twilight crew had indicated they weren’t all that interested in doing the late-night viewing of this installment, and when trying to pin down a time to go see it opening weekend, we were unable to make conclusive plans.  Then I told my girl Britt that I didn’t think we were doing the midnight premiere, and she looked at me like I had just told her I’d killed her puppy and ate it for lunch.  That one look put the premiere plans back in action for me!  As it turns out, a local theatre is showing it at 10 PM on November 15th.  Tickets are purchased!  Can’t WAIT!!!
• Back to the no longer spending money topic… I sunk quite a chunk of change last night on Halloween candy.  Partly because I want to be known as one of the “good houses”, and in order to buy enough candy to be a “good house” to approximately 150 kids, it’s not cheap, dudes.  And partly because I bought enough to hand out treats to more like 180 kids instead of 150.  That’s right.  I bought extra just for me.   Apparently, 1 Jill = 30 little kids.  I’m so good at math.

• Last year, I was on a pretty serious diet at Halloween time, so I only bought candy that I didn’t really like in order to not tempt myself.  This year?  Not so seriously following the diet, unfortunately.  So I only bought stuff I LOVE.  Brilliant.
• Saturday night is officially my Scary Movie Watching Night.  I’m contemplating renting Scream 4 (haven’t seen it yet), and also breaking out some of my favourites:  Halloween H20, Pet Semetary, The Exorcism of Emily Rose…  Who wants to come for a sleepover???

There is so much more brewing around in my head, but I think this is enough for one day.  Happy Thursday, pals!

I got my camera back… prepare for the photo dump!

As you all have probably heard by now, I “lost” my camera the night of Lynn & Steve’s wedding. (Which is code for I got drunk and set it down somewhere and didn’t even think about it until the next morning.)  The following day, Lynn texted me to say she had found it.  (I was so very happy & grateful!) 

Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen Lynn since then, so I have been camera-less for a few weeks.  UNTIL I finally saw the new Mrs. on Saturday at the Car Rally, and she returned it to me.  Just in the nick of time, too, because it was Nevie’s baptism on Sunday and I would have been so sad if I didn’t have picture-taking-capabilities!

But before I move on – here are a few of the pics from Lynn & Steve’s big day!

Gettin’ hitched!

The first dance as husband & wife – I loved how the kids all lined up to watch!

With my friend Amy – for those of you who had asked to see my wedding ensemble!! ;)

The bride & groom having fun on the dance floor with the kiddos

So for those of you who were expecting this yesterday… Here, finally, is the weekend re-cap :)

• Friday evening, I had a group of friends in for a pizza party to celebrate our October birthdays.  For a few hours, my house was literally a hive of activity – friends chatting, littles running around, and babies to hold.  It was such a fun evening!  Of course, at this point I still didn’t have my camera back, so I only took a few shots on my phone.  This one is my favourite.  I call it “These boys have priorities…”

Evan with his son Landyn, Graham with his baby boy Daniel, and Ryan with… his plate of food ;)

• Everyone packed it in fairly early that night, as many of us were participating in the annual Quyon Lionettes Car Rally the following day.  It’s literally one of my favourite days of the year.  We travel all over local backroads searching for clues, and answers to questions they’ve given us – kind of like a giant scavenger hunt, I guess you’d call it.  This year, the organizers did an excellent job.  The theme was “Canada”, and the route was set up as though we were travelling across the country, answering questions about each province as we entered that section.  It was like a great big history/geography lesson – and I was super-impressed with how smart my team was on our Canadian trivia!
• As usual, Stacy, Ricky, Sara, Graham and I had a BLAST!  We’ve been going in the Rally together for years now, and we all work well together as a team.  We always hope to finish in second place (first place has to organize the rally the following year, so we try to avoid that! haha!) – this year, we fell short again, tying for 6th place with a few other teams.  But that’s not bad, considering there were over 50 teams participating!
• It seems every year we have an “incident” that we laugh about for years to come… And this year was no different!  I think I’ll forever remember this as the year Ricky backed the truck right into a ditch on a very narrow dirt road, and all of us laughing hysterically as he told us to “hang on!!!” as he revved the truck and lurched us out of that ditch!  (Not to mention the lad in the yellow sweatshirt who was pointing and laughing at us, who will forever be known to us as “The Banana”.)
• Our goal is usually to beat our friends and family who participate in the Rally, and one of our main targets this year were our friends Sharon & Wayne, Brandan & Amanda, and Jason & Mandy… However, when they were announced as the first-place winners, we were kind of glad we didn’t beat them! Ha!!  Congratulations, guys – looking forward to what you put together for next year!!
• Saturday was such a great day, but the weekend fun wasn’t over yet!  Sunday was our beautiful Baby Neve’s big day… her baptism!

Baby Neve with her Godfather Uncle Troy, Daddy, Mommy, and Godmother Auntie Steph

• We’re probably entirely biased, but it felt like such a special day.  Our student minister Nancy had a beautiful service planned, and Neve was literally a little angel all day.  She looked so lovely in her flowing white gown, and spent the entire day wide awake and surrounded by her doting relatives, close friends, and church family.  Here are some more pictures from Nevie’s baptism:

Photo from Lindsay – Nancy asked Caden and Danica to help pour the water into the baptismal font

Nancy baptizing Neve while her parents and Godparents look on

Nancy taking the newly baptized babe on the traditional tour to meet her church family in the pews

Nevie with her daddy

 This was the most upset I saw her all day! haha!  She was such a good girl :)

Luke, Amanda & Neve with the cake her Grandma Young made

What a cutie!!

It was such a wonderful weekend spent with family & friends.  I’m sure you all can understand why I was a little on the tired and cranky side yesterday, and had nothing better to do but whine about how much I hate cereal, right?!

Happy Tuesday :)

Linking up for Talk To Us Tuesday with Impulsive Addict and Shawn…

…as well as Random Tuesday with Stacy Uncorked.

I hate cereal.

This is the day that I should be re-capping what an awesome, fun-filled weekend it was with family & friends.  But, as per usual, I have not uploaded my pictures yet.

(The good news is I actually have pictures to upload, though!  I got my camera back on the weekend!  Woo hoo!  Thank you, Lynn!!)

Anyways.  So I’ll save the photo dump for tomorrow, I guess, and instead, I’ll tell you about cereal.  And how much I hate it.

I really really really hate cereal.

ew. ew. gag. puke. 

I stop in at my mom’s place every morning on my way to work.  People laugh & mock me for this, saying, “Your mom still makes you breakfast!”  Um, no.  I do not have a lavish spread of bacon and eggs and pancakes every morning, you donkeys.  It’s usually a bowl of Cheerios or a piece of toast.  More often the bowl of Cheerios.  So relax.

My mom does make me eat breakfast though.  When left to my own devices, I usually skip it.  She insists.  Most important meal of the day, you know! and all that crap.

Cereal makes me want to barf.  This morning when I walked in and saw it sitting there, I had to fight the urge to cringe.  And then I sat down and started shoveling it in as quickly as I could without gagging, just so that it would be over.

“Mom.  I hate cereal.”

“Me too.  It takes me half an hour to eat it because I dislike it so much.”

So there.  My mom and I both hate cereal, but our tactics for dealing with it are complete opposites.  I slam it down as fast as physically possible without vomiting it back up, while she drags it out as long as physically possible because she hates eating it so much.

I know people who love cereal.  They’ll eat it for supper.  Some people don’t even buy it because they’d eat it all if they have it in the house.

To those people I say…I don’t get it.  I just don’t get it.

Now.  For the record, I think I would be more willing to eat it if it were Froot Loops or Lucky Charms.  Those are definitely much more fun cereals.  If you toss in some bright colours and marshmallows and sugar, I’m down.

But I’m stuck with the somewhat healthy crap.  (I find Cheerios the most tolerable of the healthy crap).

Oh, and have I mentioned I hate milk?  I guess that doesn’t help either.

So there.  I hate it cereal.

Happy frigging Monday.

These are better days… :)

There’s nothing better than the anticipation of a big, fun weekend.  I’m ready to get this one rollin’!

But first… Confessions!

 

Linking up with Aubrey at High-Heeled Love while Mamarazzi continues her break :)

I confess… that I’m really looking forward to hanging out with friends tonight, enjoying good food and company as we celebrate our October birthdays.  It will definitely ease the sting of jealousy over not getting to see Springsteen tonight!

I confess… that the only reason I titled this post “These are better days…” is because that’s the Springsteen tune stuck in my head this morning.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  These really are better days… :)

I confess… that I had to laugh when all of my comments yesterday were from blog pals saying they either didn’t like The Boss that much, or didn’t really know many of his songs.  I admit that at one time I wasn’t that familiar with him either, but I’m so glad I bought that Greatest Hits CD way back when!  It was definitely worth the $10!

I confess… that I’m so very very excited for Car Rally tomorrow… like, almost as excited as I am on Christmas Eve.  (Okay, not quite…but close.)  C’maaaaan 2nd place!!!

I confess… I’m also looking forward to spending time with family on the special occasion of Neve’s baptism on Sunday.  It’s  a big day for our babe!  My Aunt Marion once said a girl only gets to wear two white gowns in her lifetime… Can’t wait to see Nevie in her first one on Sunday :)

I confess… that I totally screwed up my TV viewing last night.  I thought I had it all worked out (without a PVR – I thought I was amazing)… I planned to watch Big Bang at 8, Vampire Diaries at 9, and I was going to stay up late to watch Grey’s at 10.   Last week, TVD was on at 9…this week, it was not.  Totally missed it.  *sigh*  I’m craaaaaving Damon!!!

I confess…that I actually fell asleep during Grey’s and totally missed the last 15 minutes.  So I guess the odds of me staying awake for it at 10 PM were probably slim anyways.

I confess… that I’m eating pizza twice today – lunch AND supper.  The good news?  I love pizza.  Bring it.

I confess… as much as I’m loving fall, I’m kind of antsy to start listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies.  I get a little shiver of excitement thinking about busting out the JB Christmas CD again!

I confess… that I’m so very excited for my friends Brenda, Wayne, Brittany & Cowan, as their new house is arriving today!  I said yesterday that I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced that level of excitement – the arrival of my nieces and nephew would probably be the only thing I could compare it to.  I got to see part of it on the truck yesterday.  Can’t wait to see the whole thing on its foundation… and even better, can’t wait to be sitting inside enjoying a Caesar with you guys!! :)

Well, that’s all she wrote for this Friday!!  Have a great weekend, and for those of you who will be on the Rally – see ya there! :)

Pretending I’m going to Springsteen.

Funny how a melody sounds like a memory,
Like the soundtrack to a July Saturday night
…Springsteen

As I’ve already mentioned this week, I’m kind of insanely jealous of all the peeps who will be at Scotiabank Place to see The Boss tomorrow night.

My love for Bruce Springsteen developed in my late teen years.  I had a friend in college who was a big fan of his, and  it was because of her that I one day stopped and picked up his greatest hits album.  Of course, I was already very familiar with many of his songs, but it wasn’t until then that the real love affair began.

I would love to be there tomorrow night; I’d love to see The Boss just once in concert.  Unfortunately, I missed out on tickets, and thus that is why I’m going to be pretending I’m at the concert tomorrow night, playing my Springsteen albums in my dining room and hoping my friends play along.

So, in honour of the pretend Springsteen concert that I’m going to have in my dining room tomorrow night, I decided to compile a list of my Top 10 Favourite Springsteen songs.

Enjoy!

10. Born to Run – It’s classic  Springsteen.  That’s all that needs to be said.  The sax has never sounded so cool.

9. Atlantic City – This one has grown on me in the last while and slowly become one of my favourite tracks on his greatest hits CD.

8. My Hometown – It fills me with an odd sense of nostalgia every time I hear it.  It makes me think of my own hometown, and the line, “Now main streets whitewashed windows and vacant stores /Seems like there aint nobody wants to come down here no more” really paints a picture of our main street…

7. Brilliant Disguise – I remember after buying that very first album, this one jumped out at me as being “my favourite”.  Now, over 10 years later, I’ve come to love others more.  But this still sits in my top 10.

6. The Rising – In the wake of 9/11, a rash of artists produced songs to commemorate that horrific day.  Springsteen’s stands out to me as one of the more sincere, poignant, and true tribute songs; a gritty dedication to the men and women who worked so hard that day, and in the weeks that followed, to save lives, while putting their own at risk at such an uncertain time.

5. Dancing in the Dark – As a child of the ‘80’s, how could I not love this one?  It is an anthem of my youth.

4. I’m on Fire – Soft.  Haunting.  Beautiful.  ‘Nuff said.

3. Better Days – Hopeful and uplifting, it’s one that I love to belt out in my kitchen while I’m cooking supper.  Another that has grown on me, even more so in recent weeks.

2. The River – It’s one of those “storytelling” songs that The Boss does so well; paints such a sad and wistful picture in my mind.  I adore this song.

1. Glory Days – Gotta go with this one in my top spot.  It has been my favourite Springsteen song for as long as I can remember.  As I get older, it gets more meaningful…and yet still remains playful and makes me want to dance!

For those of you going through this list and thinking, “Hey…she forgot Born in USA!  Thunder Road!  Streets of Philadelphia!  Badlands!”…  Have you ever tried to make a list of your Top 10 favourite Springsteen songs?? 

It ain’t easy, brother.

A true testament to the man.

Jill, Currently…

I’m totally stealing this idea from other blogs.  I believe there might even be a link-up for it, but I’m not going to bother with all that jazz.

This is me, currently…

Current Book:  I’m reading The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.  It is our book club selection for this month, and while I’m not reading it as quickly as I anticipated, I am enjoying it and I’m sure it will inspire good conversation at our meeting.

Current Playlist:  One More Night – Maroon 5; Home – Phillip Phillips; Settle Down – No Doubt; Want U Back – Cher Lloyd; Wagon Wheel – Chad Brownlee; She’s So Mean – Matchbox 20; Oh Love – Green Day; I Won’t Give Up – Jason Mraz; Jumped Right In – Dallas Smith; Dancing Away With My Heart – Lady Antebellum. 

I literally pulled these right off my current iPod playlist.  These are the current faves.  Plus anything Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip, and Bruce Springsteen.  They’re all getting lots of play these days.

Current Colors:  Oh, fall!  I love the colours!  Right now, I’m digging greys, dark purple, dark blue…

Current Food/Drink: Chili!  Also thinking a lot about pizza (probably because of the upcoming pizza party on Friday night…)  And my current drinks are good ol’ water, hazelnut coffee (K-cups), and tea.

Current Favorite Show:  LOST.  As if you didn’t already know that.  I will also add in The Voice, The Vampire Diaries, The Big Bang Theory, and Grey’s Anatomy.  They are “my shows” right now.  I can’t pick just one.

Current Needs:  I need the NHL to come back, like, NOW.  I need this cold that’s threatening to just F off already.  I need Lost Season 3 on DVD.  Oh, and I need a boyfriend.  Just sayin’.

Current Banes of my Existence:  The lack of a PVR in my home, and the realization that I don’t think I can get an upgrade.  (It’s a long story, and it kind of makes me sound like a criminal I think, so I’m going to withhold that story for now.)

Also, the robot comments on my blog.

AND, my dirty fish tank.  Along with the fish that just will not die.

Current Celebrity Crush:  Ian Somerhalder, Josh Holloway

 

Current #1 Blessing:  My family & friends… I am so very grateful for them!

Current Indulgence:  On-line shopping.  I can’t stop ordering stuff from Old Navy and American Eagle.  It’s getting kind of ridiculous.  Oh, and also the purchases I made at the Silpada jewelry party I went to last night – a new ring and bracelet.  Someone take my credit card away from me.

Current Outfit:  Right now, I’m wearing my Mountainview uniform.  Black pants, lime-green golf shirt, and black zip-up sweater. All MVT’d up.

Current Excitement:  Looking forward to the weekend!!  Especially pizza party with friends on Friday night, Car Rally on Saturday, and Neve’s baptism on Sunday.  So.can’t.wait.

Current Mood:  Strangely, silly & giddy, considering I have a headache and I’m fighting off this cold.  I should be cranky, but I’m not.  Go figure.

Current Favorite Quote or Verse:  You guys already saw it posted here last week in my Friday confessions, but here it is again…

Current Wishlist Item:  A PVR.  A new winter coat.  The rest of the seasons of Lost on DVD.

Current Favorite Products:  Ricki’s nail lacquer & Revlon Lip Butter

 

What are you all about, currently??