Generation Exhausted

Sticky songs

The term "ear worm" has become a part of our lexicon, right up there with "Google" as a verb and "double double". (ok, maybe that last one is just in Canada) Regardless, we all know what one is, and even if we don't, we've all had one - that song that gets stuck in your head and you just can't get it out.

In Sympatico/MSN's Music news today, there's an article about the 10 Stickiest Songs, as determined by some guy with a PhD. I don't recognize most of the "official list", except, of course, It's A Small World, aka IASW to us Disney nuts. But, like the article's author, I'm inspired to create a list of my own. Sadly, the entire songs rarely go through my head; instead my mental space is filled with constant repetitions of a single line or chorus that provide background music as I try to continue through whatever I happened to be doing when the worm crawled in.

We're All In This Together: I only have to read the phrase, and I'm instantly resisting the urge to slide, twirl, clap my hands and whatever the rest of the routine is in High School Musical - a movie that I'm not even fond of. I'm humming it as I type.

Life Is A Highway: The Rascal Flatts version. You don't know cultural permeation until you unconsciously murmur "life is a highway..." and the ten-year-old doing her homework across the room instantly belts out "I wanna ride it all night long!" Of course, it was in Cars, so maybe it's to be expected.

All God's Critters Got A Place In The Choir: I can't help it. Weird, ain't it?

Let's Hear It For The Boy: Do you know that I wasn't even old enough to see Footloose without an adult when it first came into theatres? And for all my fascination with and appreciation for the Eighties, I wouldn't repeat the decade for anything.

That Stupid Song From Barney: It's a parental affliction, even if your kids are so young that Barney was never cool for them. "I love you, you love me...dee dee DEE dee, deedeedee..."

Tomorrow: Yep, the sun will come out, even if you do manage to turn off the tune.

Yellow Submarine: I don't know all the words. It's just goes 'round and 'round. And speaking of 'round and 'round...

You Spin Me Round (Like A Record): "'round, 'round, right round..." GAH!

So what are your sticky songs? Or is your head now filled with mine?

And so I turn to the wisdom of the Internets...

Having sweltered through Thanksgiving, the cold weather has now been turned on. This has led to much sorting of clothes as we prepare to "change over" our wardrobes.

Five people + small house + even smaller amount of closet space = off season clothing gets stored.

Which led once more to the annual Discussion Of Shelley's Clothing Organization Neurosis.

I have a sock & underwear drawer, which is also where belts and bathing suits reside. When I had a larger dresser, socks and underwear each had their OWN drawer, with belts and bathing suits being put in with the socks. I also have a pajama drawer. All other drawers are just...clothes. (I've mellowed in my old age)

When hubby wants to see my eye twitch, he talks about how it would be okay to NOT have a drawer just for socks and underwear, but simply put them all together, wherever they may happen to land.

Youngest mostly does things my way. Middle, who has twice as many drawers as the rest of us, has a system that I can't begin to understand.

And Oldest, who is really getting into the I'm Old Enough To Run My Own Life groove appears to store clean clothes in the hamper, dirty clothes on the chair and books in the dresser drawers.

So, dear Internets, tell me - am I crazy for believing with all my heart that socks and underwear should have their own drawer?

Are you sure we can't put the air conditioner in?

I'm not sure which one of us really thought of it, but we were both on the same page, in the way that couples who have been married 18 years can hopefully be most of the time. Regardless, this summer, hubby and I did a very brave thing.

We chose to go without air conditioning.

I'd like to be all holier-than-thou and say it was an example of "green" thinking. After all, one of my very dear friends has already admitted she's killing the planet all by herself, and Middle has developed an annoying amusing habit of coughing "global warming" whenever we comment on the unpredictability of the weather.  But in reality, it was not Live Earth and Al Gore that inspired our sacrifice this summer.

It was simply a matter of dollars and cents. Electricity rates are obscene; they're quickly approaching the point where they will eclipse a standard mortgage payment. Since we were able to power through (pun intended) without A/C until August last summer, we figured we could make it all the way to autumn this year.

It was tough. But we made it, and a few weeks ago I was closing windows, and snuggling under the comforter as the temps dropped to fall-like conditions.

Ha.

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. You know, the Great White North, land of ice and snow? And the temperature this weekend, and into tomorrow, is hovering near ninety. Plus humidex.

I baked five pies and numerous tarts today, and the main floor temp now at 1 a.m. has got to be 100. It's insane. I'll have to dig out my Thanksgiving tank top and shorts for the big family thing tomorrow.

Kim, I don't think you need to worry about turning on the furnace before Christmas.

The One Where We're Going To Bake A Pie

Picked Middle up at work last night, then she, Youngest and me dropped into the grocery store to pick up a few things. Primarily coffee, but also less important staples, like, you know, meat and vegetables.

I have written here before about the one in the middle. Turns out, I'm a little like her. So the episode in the grocery store went something like this:

We are in the produce section, because we need produce. Except not apples, because the neighbours went apple picking on the weekend and gifted us with enough apples to feed a preschool. What are we going to do with all those apples?

We should make a pie. Because it's Thanksgiving this weekend, and we have apples.

We will need a frozen pie crust. Because while I'm mildly intrigued by the old-fashionedness of baking a pie, I'm not THAT intrigued. And we will need sugar and cinnamon. The sugar and cinnamon aisle is on the way to the pie crust aisle.

Oh look, here in the sugar aisle. A great large display of canned pumpkin. We're making pie anyway. We should also make a PUMPKIN pie.

So we will also need eggs, and nutmeg, and evaporated milk, and...

We should make little pies as well as big pies. Let's get some of these handy little foil pie tins. And when we get to the frozen pie crust, let's also get little frozen tart shells and make TARTS! APPLE TARTS! AND PUMPKIN TARTS! AND DON'T FORGET THE WHIPPED CREAM!!

Now we have more things to make pie IN than we have to make pie WITH. SHOULD WE GET LEMON PIE FILLING TOO?

It's like having a little grocery store blackout. On the way out, as I handed over $30 + for pie ingredients, I pretended not to see the display of already-made pies for $4.00 each.

I'll let you know how the pies turn out.

The third sign of the apocalypse?

For one brief and shining moment last week (it may have been Friday), the Canadian dollar was worth more than the Yankee buck. Although it's happened before in my lifetime (November 1976, dog, I'm old) it didn't really register when I was five, you know?

The rise of our dollar, hovering around par recently, has been such momentous news on our side of the border that there was one morning when, I swear, CTV daily news was giving it the same treatment that CNN usually gives to the Big World Tragedy Of The Week. Title cards, a crawl, theme music, you name it.

All the experts say this is bad for us. And it may well be. But in the meantime, I couldn't resist a cross-border run to Meijers the other night, where we stocked up on such necessities as Kool-Aid Bursts and Steak-Ums.

I mean, a dollar near par and 24-hour shopping. Those Americans, they know how to get you spending.