MusicMonday—Mondo Bongo

I have been going to Zumba exercise class once a week at the YMCA since August.  I LOVE IT!  And, boy, is it exercise!  But it goes by so fast and is so totally enjoyable, you don’t mind that you’ve been working out hard for an hour.

 

If it were offered every day of the week, I’m telling you I’d go at least five.

You might have seen the infomercials on tv for Zumba.  It is hot dance moves set to hot international music, very Latin.  I am not kidding when I say hot.  I have sweaty legs by the end of the first song.  Legs, people.  You can imagine my head and chest.  I am literally dripping.  And I’ve got another 50 minutes to go.

I think part of the appeal is the encouragement you get to shake it and work it, which this little piece of clip art does not truly capture, but still I thought it would be fun to add.  Jazz it up a little here on the Monday bloggie.

Really, how many times in your life are you encouraged to put a bigger swing on the back porch?  From someone who has lived her life trying to get a place with a smaller back porch, it is so cool to hear.  Move it with freedom, girl, and move it big!

And then it also helps that your wonderful Zumba instructor wants to see you do your belly dance moves while you still have a pitiful, three c-section flop-over belly.

It’s like come as you are, have fun, do what the sexy, hot girls do.  That, my friends, is pretty liberating.  

I highly recommend it.

Plus, I have learned that all this hip action can help us ladies down the road by reducing our chances of broken hip bones.   Use them and you keep them strong and flexible.  I can see it now, this generation’s just gonna bounce when we hit the ground in our 90’s, right?

Plus, it burns like a quadrillion calories so it makes it  totally a little more ok for me to go straight for Mexican when Zumba gets out at 11:30 a.m. 

Our regular instructor is HeatherSparkPlug.  I don’t know, plug doesn’t sound very kind.  She is full of energy, but really she’s not waif-thin.  She is built sturdy we’ll say, but so in shape and so able to move her stuff.  Apparently the girl weighed 200+ pounds when she started Zumba.  And she said that’s all she did to get fit.  I was impressed.  I’d guess her now at 135-140, about my height, and looking very healthy, with kinda a scrappy street attitude that I find really motivating.  Man, she can move.  And not a tad bit timid about doing it.

When she leads Zumba, it is hard core. 

But every once in awhile, we have DeLisaSloMo as a sub.  She is totally different in style.  She has slow moves which initially was disappointing following my exposure to HeatherSparkPlug, but I have found the repetition is the work out and my legs are worn out by the end, even if I am barely upping the heart rate and the sweat-o-meter is only registering a five. 

So anywho, last Friday we had the slow-motion sub.  She brings her own different music whereas Heather Spark uses, I think, official Zumba music.  As we did our cool down, I noticed the last song and really liked it.  I couldn’t figure out the words, though. I thought it was saying something like “king of the rainbow.” 

I asked DeLisa then after class what that song was.  She didn’t know who it was by, but she thought it was called Mondo Bongo and told me it was from the Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie soundtrack.  You now, the movie that brought the world  Brangelina.   

I know we rented it sometime, but I really don’t recall this song or this scene where they dance to it.  It must have been when I did my usual cat-nap-during-regardless-if-it-is-a-good-or-bad-movie thing.  

With the coolness of my new fun and useful phone, I sat in the van, googled  Mr. and Mrs. Smith soundtrack and confirmed it was Mondo Bongo and it was by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros.  Cool name. 

I looked up the lyrics.  My “king of the rainbow” was actually:  “Latino caribo.”  So much more cool. 

I then found out that somewhat familiar name, Joe Strummer, was a founding member of and singer for the huge 70’s-80’s punk band The Clash.  He’s on the left here.  Very cool.

But he died in 2002 at the age of fifty from a congenital heart condition after being out walking his dogs.  Uncool.

And it turns out this song is from the 2001 album called, get this!,

  Global A Go-Go.  How cool is that?!

Enjoy.  It’s got a great sound.

Two Little Stories: The Helmet and The Helmet Hawk

When you are the fourth-born kid, you will undoubtedly get handed down your sister’s purple flowered bike helmet.

But because your mom has a heart, though maybe not unlimited cash flow, she will do her best to make it a helmet her little boy can wear to ride with pride. 

What is that saying?  Mother is the invention of creation?  The creation of mother’s invention?    Something like that.

Enter the:

• blaze orange spray paint
• black electrical tape
• and confidence that she can pull off a tiger stripe motif.

Even if there are men beside her taking bets that this little project is a big FAIL waiting to happen in, I believe Gary said, “(laughing, laughing)….three days and all that tape is peeling off!”

Ross, I think, said he was giving it a week. 

Probably just because he was company at our house and he wanted to protect his dear aunt’s feelings more burritos and fakeOreos.

Yes, they were totally laughing at me the whole time I was crafting the work of art.

Mind you, in the dark, on the porch, with crappy scissors, numerous distractions, and nothing to go off of. 

 

So there it is!  Rest assured, I will be updating you all on the life of the helmet.  I think it’s more in the scope of YEARS.

It’s already been three days and  absolutely no tape is peeling (laughing, laughing)!

Most importantly, Sammy likes it!

(This picture was, unfortunately, taken when I mistakenly thought this was the back of the helmet, oops, and I didn’t care if the striping looked so bad. 

Never fear, once I realized this was the front view, I kept working it.) 

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Story Number Two

Grant’s school had a family bike ride last Sunday and he participated in the 9-mile trail ride with his nice new neighbor family, The Hunters, because his real family was lazy, busy, sickly, all of the above. 

He had a great time and it was a beautiful day for sure.

I snapped this shot of him before he took off.  That day he was sporting a new hair…um...would you say hair-do or hair-don’t?  

 

I like to call it the helmet hawk.

Stanley, Caroline, and Kitti

Flat Stanley came to our house in an envelope recently, just as he has come to some of yours.  The letter inside asked us to show Stanley some things from the area where we live.  He had a big time with our cats.

Well, maybe except while he was being clawed

 

and treated a little too friendly.

 

Caroline enjoyed putting her reply together with pictures and mailed it off all the way to….

Glen Carbon.

Yeah, Stanley travelled a whole eight miles.  Flat Stanley was sent here from, speaking of cats, Caroline’s good friend, Kitti. 

Caroline and Kitti go way back, well, as way back as back can be when you have lived for seven years.  They became fast friends in Kindergarten.  Kitti did not speak one word of English when she came here from Hungary at the start of that school year.  It was amazing how quickly she picked it up.  These days you would not have one doubt that she was not born and raised all-American.  Well, until she talks with her limited-English-speaking Mom, but really that’s it.

I remember once having lunch with Caroline at school one of those early days of Kindergarten, and there was Kitti sitting at the lunch table and she was in tears.  I think she didn’t recognize or like the cafeteria food in front of her, but no one knew exactly what was wrong or how to help her.  I felt so sad for her right then but that was short-lived.  The girl is so sweet and so smart and adjusted so quickly.

She and Caroline were in different classes last school year, but got together frequently since we lived just down the road from each other.  They rode the bus together and Caroline’s first sleep over was with Kitti.  Now then this year, they are at different schools since we moved, but they still are best of friends and just a car ride apart.

But some day not too far off, Kitti’s letters will be travelling much further, addressed from her home in Hungary.  Her family will be living here just one more year as her dad works in St. Louis temporarily, and then they will return to their home country. 

But who knows, with cell phones and Internet and whatever else lies in-store technologically, I am thinking they could easily remain friends forever.

Hamming it up for the camera at our house last weekend. 

One Fall Day

It was time to head out to school one morning and I didn’t know exactly where the kids were.  I found them out here, at the far south edge of our yard.  They had gone to the Leaf Forest, as they called it. 

I didn’t even know we had a Leaf Forest.

For someone who has a face as sweet as this, she sure can irk her brother in an instant.  See?

I think it was just because she put her arm around him.  Still just being sweet.  Maybe Sammy was just extra sensitive that day?  Or maybe she had just pinched him.  Who knows?  Well, besides Sam.

Now they’re both being sweet.  I can hardly stand it.

 

Sam suggested we take a shadow picture.  We did.

 

One more fun picture and then it’s off to school.

MovieMonday--Finally

It has been a long time since we talked movies.  We watched a couple this weekend.  One that I picked out, one that older boys picked out.  We should have let Gary pick—he was sick and on the couch all day.

I will say that if you are between the ages of 10 and 43 and BOY, you might enjoy Ironman 2.  I really can’t offer a review of it since I watched it for all of thirty seconds. 

Or maybe that is my review.

I was far more excited about my pick!  I had waited a long time to get to see it and just knew it’d be good for some great laughs.  I have to admit I laugh a lot at the really dumb, crass movies and this one would seem to fit that bill.  Plus, it had John Cusack.  I have, in the past, really enjoyed John Cusack movies.  And Darrell from The Office.  He’s likeable.

Well, Hot Tub Time Machine sounded like a winner to me. 

I loved the title from the get-go.  But no, yikes, it was pretty stinky.  Gary thought so, too.  Less than an hour into it, I asked him if he wanted to shut it off.  He said that was ok with him. 

My first movie in months and such disappointment! 

Well, I will throw this out there:  Caroline watched Hotel for Dogs and, again, while I have no first-hand information to share with you about it, she liked it. 

Maybe that’s the one to pick?

A Conversation Overheard

Today is Sam and Caroline’s Fall Fest at school, put on by the PTO.  It’s a collaboration of parents and teachers offering a good, fun time for the kids while raising funds for the organization.  I just found out my assignment; I work the balloon booth. Cool!

The kids are very excited about it this afternoon and I just heard them just discussing the events.  One event is Pie-in-the-Eye where kids can throw a pie in the principal’s face for $1 a pie.  Both kids asked excitedly if they could have a $1 from me. 

Caroline said she was going to throw hers right in the principal’s eyes since the name is Pie-in-the-Eye. 

Sam said, oh no, he wasn’t.  He will throw a pie, but does not want it to go in her eyes.  He said he does not want to because the principal said she will give out detentions to anyone that throws it in her eyes. 

Caroline clarified, “No, Sam.  She was just joking!”

Sam answered back, indignant as I’ve ever seen him,

“No, Caroline!  She doesn’t joke.  She’s a teacher!”

An Observation

 

I am not sure about the new house. 

Do you think it says WELCOME?

Sam at School

Sam is still having an excellent attitude about school and has learned so much in these few short weeks since starting Kindergarten in August.

I went through his papers last night as usual.  I had to ask him just what was going on with his tracing H’s.  He had these circle additions on a couple them and then the next letter, you could tell was completed by the teacher in yellow highlighter. 

I could just see the classroom scenario playing out in my head.  He’s doing something goofy, she walks by, she corrects him, and hopefully she gets him back on target.  It appeared that worked, judging from the rest of the paper.

I just couldn’t figure out about the circles.  I wondered if he was trying to make the H’s maybe look like cursive.  Caroline has cursive on the brain these days, so I thought that might be it. 

Nope, he told me, he just wanted them to have feet. 

Caroline’s Latest

Well, Grant’s taking a break apparently, and now it’s Miss C that seems to be supplyin’ the funnies. 

She has joined a troop this year at her new school and is selling Girl Scout cookies.  There is an option on the order form for someone to pay for a box that will be donated.  She asked questions about that.  I explained those boxes are paid for by one person and the cookies are sent to another person as like a present.  I said they might go to a military person that is overseas. 

OK.  That sufficed.  The day went along.

That evening told me she thought her Dad should get some of those boxes of cookies.

“Of course, we will order tons some, silly.  We always do.”

No, she clarified, her Dad should get some of those cookies that are donated…. 

because he is an engerine (pronounced like tangerine).

An engerine?

Took me a minute, but I realized she was combining Marine and engineer.  Yep, that’s her Daddy, the engerine.

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BTW, Caroline is selling Girl Scout cookies.  : )

MusicMonday—Seeking a Thrill

Hi everybody.  I feel like I just haven’t had much interesting to share lately on the ol’ GoGo blog and am sorry to say I don’t feel all that inspired to even post a MusicMonday, but I will try. 

Nothing is really wrong, but I will say, lately, I have been in some kind of strange mood to seek a thrill, for lack of a better word.  And I don’t even know what kind of a thrill, but just some thing in general.  Even something little. Nothing too crazy.  

I just want to try a new food that I find I love.  Or discover a brand new place and find that it is great.  Or stumble onto some new music that I find as fulfilling or exciting as my Chili Peppers or John Frusciante because to be honest, I feel I have about run my limit on them for awhile after such intense focus for the past three-four years. 

So wonderful new food, new place, or new music…where are you? 

I will wait and maybe when I quit looking for something to appear, it will happen. 

In the meantime, I share with you here the random song appearing in my iTunes at this moment as I hit “shuffle.”  It’s…..

Message of Love  by The Pretenders

Like Brigitte Bardot! 

I love ya, I love ya, I love ya.

Translator Needed. Please Apply Within.

Caroline:  Mom, remember that time you put those duckamovers in your hair?

Me:  What??

Caroline:  That time you put those duckamovers in your hair?

Me:  Duck-a-movers?

Caroline:  Yeah.

Me:  Caroline, I have no idea what a duckamover is!  What is it?

Caroline:  You know, one of those thingies.

Me:  No, I don’t know what it is.  Draw me a  picture.

Still, ???????????????????????????????!!

Me:  Hmmm.  I still really don’t know what it is.  How do you know about duckammovers? 

(Oops, sorry, my mistake.  Guess I had been misspelling it the whole time!)

Caroline:  Grandma Betty told me about the time you were a little girl and you made a crown and you got it stuck and you had to get it cut out of your hair.

Me:  Oh, Caroline, you mean cockaburrs!

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Duckammovers, cockaburrs—same thing. 

(I do not make this stuff up. I promise.  Wait, there’s even more.)

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Next day… 

Caroline:  Mom, it would be cool if you had an atlas for your phone.

Me (thinking yes, an atlas application could be cool):  You’re right.  That would be a good one!

Caroline:  Yeah, ‘cause then you could write messages better.

Me (thinking, ok you lost me, girl): Oh.  How would a big world map help me write better?

[She and Grant powwow for a few seconds and Grant comes back with:]

Mom, she means stylus!

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Then next day…

We are headed down the road in the van.  Caroline and Sam are “discussing.”

Sam:  His name is Bruce Bwain (Sam-speak).  That’s Batman’s real name!

Caroline:  No, it’s Bruce Brain.

Sam: No, Caroline, it’s Bruce Bwain! (trying to actually say Wayne)

Caroline, getting heated:  No, no, no!  His name is Bruce Brain.  You know, that thing in your head?!!  It’s Bruce Brain!  It’s not Bruce Skull!  Bruce Brain!

Jack

Gary got up early one morning a few Sundays ago, sorta just spontaneously decided to do it, driving all alone over to Florissant, over by where he works.  Not his favorite drive in the world, I can tell you. 

He wanted to run a 5K there.  No one was there that he knew.  None of us were there to see him or cheer him across the finish.  He just wanted to do it.

This is the shirt and medal he brought home… for Jack. 

He got second in his age class. 

I was very proud of him.

This was taken the morning before Jack got his braces banded on last week.  He has since also gotten a hair cut, thankyouverymuch. 

His smile already looks good in my eyes, but there are some alignment issues with the molars so whatever.  I overheard Jack telling someone, “It’s ok.  It’s only going to be for 18 months.”

Only 18 months.  He’s a trooper, folks. 

 

This is from the day, within the past couple of weeks, that he wore his scout uniform to school, in the midst of all the middle school peer pressure you know exists, kids wanting to come off as cool and all that. 

He was hand-selected by school personnel and asked to participate in a flag ceremony in front of the school of approaching a thousand students, for, I think, Constitution Day.  I didn’t know we had Constitution Day.  Still, I was quite proud.

And can I tell you how incredibly heavy this backpack is!  He doesn’t complain about the half-mile walk he has to/from the bus stop every day with this thing.  And sometimes, he adds in a trumpet.  Thank gah, he’s not lugging the tuba. 

Sometimes I think I forget he is just a kid.  He’s just twelve years old.  A boy.

This was the evening his middle school band marched with the high school band at the big Friday night football game.  It was last Friday night.  I’m thinking this is just the start of more nights like this.  And that makes me happy. 

He’s in there, behind that first row kinda-centered saxophone, just can’t see much of him, ‘cept the hair.   It was looking really long that night.  Next day, we got around to getting it cut, finally.

Then this week, he was awarded two rank advancements in Boy Scouts based on his achievements.  The whole family went for the ceremony.   He and Gary were recognized for that week they spent at camp in July.    

So… yesterday was Jack’s diabetes clinic at Children’s.  It went fine.  He had grown two stinkin inches (yes, clearly beyond me now) and gained eleven pounds since the previous visit three months earlier. 

No wonder we are having issues with getting his insulin doses matched up with what his body needs.  

His evaluation showed he’s doing fine, but he just has so much to deal with. 

No wonder I forget he just turned twelve years old.  No wonder that I forget he’s still just a kid.