Some good things (music related)

Maybe it is the cold winters or the beautiful autumns or the abundance of beautiful lakes, but there is a lot of GREAT music here in Minnesota. (come visit, I will show you around). I am currently very much in love with the sounds of Haley Bonar. If you happen to be in Fargo, ND on November 2nd, she is playing with Mason Jennings (HOLY MOLY GREAT SHOW ALERT!) And strangely enough, the guy that makes her guitars, lives out here on the Lake. Check Er Out--NPRs Song of the Day AND Now for one of the greatest inventions....EVER. Pandora...geez what took me so long to find it? Pandora is an online radio station. You type in a band or song you like and it picks some music it thinks you should like. And so if you like a variety stuff, you can have your SnoopDog Station and your Dolly Parton Station and your Jimmy Buffett Station. Current Favorites of the Monkeys: 1)Dan Zanes (always at the top of the list) 2)The Pipettes

Nicknames

When I first found out I was pregnant with Kendall, at the time we hadn't thought of a name and so for the entire pregnancy she was Peanut. Then when she was born it was Sweet Potato or Sweet Girly.....(strangely, I still call her my Sweet Girly, but only when she is going to bed.) Well, Sweet Potato morphed into Tator...and well, that is her name now...sometimes it is Tatorbug, or Sweet Potator...but all in all, she is my Tator. Then along comes Emmie (Auntie Em, Emmylou, Lemonie, Lema-Nema-Ding-Dong (sp?)) and she starts calling Kendall, Dilly. All of which are fine names. So to summarize Kendall = Tator, Dilly, Monkey Then the Mace shows up and yes, we call him Mace (or should we spell it Mase?)---lately, he has turned into the Masonator and even Kendall will say (where is the Masonator, Mommy?) So now we have the tag team of Tator and Masonator(sometimes referred to as the Poopmonsters or the StinKy Pies or the Monkeys) (Side Note: Maybe we need a cutesy nickname for Mace? Toodlebugs, Pooh Bear, Sweet Pea---ideas will be considered). Now on to my lovely nicknames (can you hear the satire in my voice?)---my wonderful husband calls me, (hold on)--Beccalingus and Beccaringus. Aren't they soo purdy? No seriously, they sound like sexually transmitted diseases. Sometimes when we are joking he will call me Schmoopie. That is a tad cuter. Now on to the family, or as the Sisty Uglers referred to it--the famn damily or damn family.....there is my mom, Co. When we were kids, my brother and I jokingly (and VERY VERY lovingly) called my mom Annie (after that one Stephen King movie) and on some rare cooking occasions, "Jane Brody". Jane Brody was big in the 80s, she was ahead of her time. Nutritional and organic and healthy and well....YUCK. SOOO anyway, back to the nick names--on Josh's side--there are a gazillion nicknames....in fact, I can't even name them all. There is Dude, Cookie, Noonie, Birdie (Auntie Birdie Freaky).....name overload. can't. compute. can't. remember. the. rest. Then there is my brother, Dave. Now lovingly referred to as Unky Dave or Hunky Dave. In school my brother had a white guy afro, so he was called Screech, after that dude on Saved By the Bell. And then along the way, he became Roscoe. I have no idea why. And lastly, there is Lou-Lou. My little sister....she was just always little Lauren Lou-Lou. Oh wait, there is also my friend ALBERT that lives in Alaska, but to me he will ALWAYS be Binky. Got it.

Times they are a'changin.....

Have I mentioned lately how cute my husband and kids are???

So, yesterday, Friday, was my last day at work. For the past nine years I have been selling cytokines, antibodies and ELISA assays for R&D Systems. You are probably asking yourself, what the hell are those? Well cytokines are the majority of the proteins that float around in your body. They are critical for wound repair, cancer, HIV, alzheimers, heart burn, pregnancy, .....on and on and on.....and your next question might be....what is so great about them? Well, I will tell you why...because if you can control those proteins, or some in cases increase the level of those proteins or decrease the levels--then you can really do a lot for disease prevention. So anyways, my whole point for telling you all this is that I was very proud to have sold these proteins. But now I am moving on and not looking back. I have a new job, starting monday and I will take all the good vibes you send me. Change is scary, but necessary and so I am ready for the challenge.

Please Oh Please Let My Cable Modem WORK

I had this whole post about Sarah Palin and well, I just can't bring myself to publish it. All I have to say is, just because I share some X chromosomes with her and the fact she is a mom, does not make her "my gal".....I happen to appreciate my personal rights and freedoms (oh yeah, I also happen to love a library that is packed full of interesting/controversial books.) Mason is officially a walker And so I hope the above link works. I would post more but my stupid computer is not working well with the stupid wifi and some I can't get any pictures video to download....argh. The sorrows of living in suburbia......