Never mind.
Kenny Rogers is underrated... that gravelly voice... the songwriting... I almost never listen to his music, but when I do, it gets me every time. Hey: did you know that at least several educated people believe that listening to music is super good for you? See?
If you follow those last couple of links, you will find links to studies/articles on how music reduces cortisol. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, is great if you need to engage in fight or flight, but chronic stress (high levels of cortisol) makes many people's health goals harder to attain. It's a big deal.
Stress is on my mind, because I'm human and I'm an American! Kidding aside, though. Stress is a risk for everyone, as far as I can tell. Lately, I've been accepting stress in the forms of having our house on the market (uncertainty about the future), worrying about our kids (there's always something), and getting things checked off my Responsible Adult To-Do List (RATDL).
Sometimes, I successfully flip stresses on their backs by breathing deeply, listening to music, chewing gun, exercising, writing, and letting go and letting God. It doesn't happen as often as I would like. (This is where I wanted to insert a gif of a turtle or a beetle stuck on its back, all of its legs wiggling uselessly in the air.)
Internet: please make an gif of a turtle stuck on its back.
Thank you.
I did find this, however:
Huh. Before 10:45 p.m. on October 25, 2014, I was unaware that "Let Go (and let God)" is actually a song. I would really like to include a link here on the origin and history of "let go and let God," the phrase, not the song, but I can't find anything on the interwebs after my exhaustive 6 minute search. Here's a music video, though.
The above song by Dewayne Woods doesn't really do it for me, but at least now I know! (I love to know, by the way.) My amazing husband gives me a hard time, sometimes, for "being on my phone too much," but what I think he fails to understand is how often I am just using that phone to find the answer to a random question I have, or read up on something I'm curious about. I rationalize that this shouldn't count against me as "phone time," because I could be doing this with other resources, the phone is just faster and more convenient. Same with using my phone to communicate with friends. I feel so much better now that the world has access to my personal excuses on this publicly accessible blog! (wink)
Update on the kids:
I went to a gym sleepover with Lucy last night. We stayed up until 4:00 a.m. Many wise people collected their children before it got too late. They are undoubtedly much better rested than our family today, but it felt good to support Lucy and to get to know more people involved with her gym better. Three separate people decided to share their (unsolicited) opinion about Lucy. They love her. These things are good for a parent to hear.
Gabe has a newobsession passion: Skateboarding. Today, he spent a good amount of time lamenting his lack of skateboard instruction. He just feels that his dad has failed to adequately teach him how to skateboard. He IS five. That's a lot of wasted years! I'm going to have to work that parental shortcoming into his therapy budget. Gabe loves time with friends. It fills his cup. Love him.
One of Charlie's new things is his way of saying prayers: He has ditched the old format and in favor of his own. His prayers sound like Power Rangers adventures. They are different every time, so he has that going for him... Charlie loves preschool and loves the air of authority he commands by walking around with his fists on his hips. He's gotten very good at telling all of us what we ought to do at any given time.
Brian is busy with... well, mostly the same stuff, but not the same... (I don't REALLY know.) ...Since nature abhors a vacuum, I will just say: Brian has been spending a lot of time thinking about how amazing I am and how lucky we are to have each other. He has been losing sleep trying to figure out how best to memorialize our love. He thought of buying a constellation, or having one formed with satellites. He thought of doing a sort of "Mt. Rushmore West" with our faces immortalized in stone - forever locked in a passionate kiss. Of course, I told him that was really too much, and that he could just rub my shoulders next time we are sitting next to each other.
Update on the kids:
I went to a gym sleepover with Lucy last night. We stayed up until 4:00 a.m. Many wise people collected their children before it got too late. They are undoubtedly much better rested than our family today, but it felt good to support Lucy and to get to know more people involved with her gym better. Three separate people decided to share their (unsolicited) opinion about Lucy. They love her. These things are good for a parent to hear.
Gabe has a new
One of Charlie's new things is his way of saying prayers: He has ditched the old format and in favor of his own. His prayers sound like Power Rangers adventures. They are different every time, so he has that going for him... Charlie loves preschool and loves the air of authority he commands by walking around with his fists on his hips. He's gotten very good at telling all of us what we ought to do at any given time.
Brian is busy with... well, mostly the same stuff, but not the same... (I don't REALLY know.) ...Since nature abhors a vacuum, I will just say: Brian has been spending a lot of time thinking about how amazing I am and how lucky we are to have each other. He has been losing sleep trying to figure out how best to memorialize our love. He thought of buying a constellation, or having one formed with satellites. He thought of doing a sort of "Mt. Rushmore West" with our faces immortalized in stone - forever locked in a passionate kiss. Of course, I told him that was really too much, and that he could just rub my shoulders next time we are sitting next to each other.
