Thursday, September 13, 2007

Songs that will always remind me of Chloe Grace

I'm sure most people can agree that certain songs out there remind them of certain things, certain people, or certain situations. For instance, when I hear "I've Got You, Babe", I chuckle as I picture Bill Murray destroying his alarm clock over and over and over again in "Groundhog Day". I remember dancing to "Stairway to Heaven" with my high school sweetheart at our Vice Versa dance senior year, which is bizarre actually, because it was 1996, not 1976.

Anyway, there are songs I will always attribute to my daughter, Chloe. I will never forget being wheeled into the operating room after 4 am on December 30, 2006 to have a c-section. The room was cool and blindingly bright. My epidural made me VERY happy. As I was being operated on, Floyd looked fuzzy to my left (couldn't wear my contacts) and as I heard all the doctors talking to each other, I remember hearing Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now" floating around the room. 'Cooooollll...' I thought to myself in my epidural-causing stupor. ' I loove Chiiicaaggo." Minutes later, the beginning of "When the Leevee Breaks" by Led Zepplin had taken over. 'Coooolll...' I thought to myself again. ' I loooovve Leeedd Zeppppliiin..' ( I really did feel high with that epidural. For a girl who had never gotten high or tried any drugs in her life before, I was feeeellliing gooood!)

So, in addition to those two songs that were playing in the operating room, here's a list of songs , in no particular order, that will always remind me of my sweet Chloe Grace:

Songs By Neil Young:

* "After the Gold Rush"

* "Long May You Run"

* "Tell Me Why"

* "Harvest Moon" (which coincidentally is Floyd and my song)

* "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"

Songs By U2:

* "Running to Stand Still"

* "Stay"

Songs By Bob Marley:

* "Is This Love?"

* "Kaya"

* *Actually..every song by him reminds me of Chloe..she was kicking and dancing to him while living in the womb. :o)


Another song that should be added to the list is a take on "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music". Floyd changed the word "Edelweiss" and put the words "Chloe Grace" in its place...so it's the "Chloe Grace" song now. Sorry, Julie Andrews.

These songs on the list are ones that we've listened to and that I've sang to Chloe over the past eight and a half months of her life in lieu of "traditional" lullabies or kiddie songs. Although she does enjoy hearing "Winnie the Pooh", and I love listening to Floyd struggle as he tries to remember the lyrics, it's those songs that got us through long, long, sleepless nights as we bopped along to Bob Marley's spirited cries for freedom or slowly swayed to Neil Young's distinct, somewhat nasally but emotional voice. It is those songs that I will always remember many decades from now, and those memories will simultaneously bring a tear to my eye and a smile to my face.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Just an observation....

My stepmom Julie called my husband the other day to ask if she could enter Chloe in something called "The Cutest Baby" contest at the Walmart in Washington. Floyd said, "Sure..why not?" There were atleast a dozen or so contestants involved. Walmart took the picture that you submitted of your baby and placed it on a jar, and people could vote for who they believed is the cutest baby by placing money in the jar. The contest runs until September 9th, and whoever has the most money in their jar will win a basket full of baby goodies (i.e. bath wash, lotion, wipes, etc.) Also, every cent collected will go to the Children's Hospital . I think that is splendid. I love a good cause. When there are "baby contests" like that which are all in good fun and support something wonderful like the Children's Hospital, I'm all for it. When it comes to those creepy JonBenet type "beauty" contest for little girls...eh, not so much. Those make me a little queasy.

Anyway, we stopped by Walmart to surreptiously scope out the "competition" and throw a buck or two in her jar. I must say, Julie picked a great picture of Chloe to send in and her jar has a very prominent spot on the table. If you happen to take a stroll into the Washington Walmart, check out the baby table in the front of the store by the customer service department. If you want to vote for Chloe, her picture is easy to spot. She's the cute one. :o)

Floyd threw a couple of dollars into Chloe's jar, and we talked about spreading the wealth a bit among the others. When I searched in my wallet, I discovered I had no paper money; however there was an insane amount of change in there. So I placed a good amount in every other jar, especially those that seemed a little empty. After all, every one of those babies were adorable. Each jar had a red lid with a big circle cut out about the size of a half dollar for easy money insertion...all but one jar. The single lid that was different than the other red lids didn't have a half dollar sized slot; instead it was a thin straight slit about two inches long. Here's the thing that stood out, and as I stated in the title of this post, it's "just an observation": The jar with the small slit in its lid also had a picture of the only black baby entered in the contest.

Now, I don't want to accuse anyone of what COULD be seen as a blatant racist move. I'm not one to blow the whistle on things. I'm usually an easy going, somewhat quiet person. But for some reason, that image kind of stuck with me.

It was actually Floyd that pointed out that there was a lid with a different opening. After I inspected the others, I told him "It's also the only one that doesn't have a picture of a white baby." He replied, "Yeah....I noticed that, too."

I mean, let's look at the facts. Washington is a nice, small town with what seems to be a predominantly white population. But then again, maybe Walmart only had fifteen jars with the bigger openings and had a last second entry into the contest, so they found a different jar. I just really, really hope it was pure coincidence.

Please feel free to leave any comments on what it seems like in your eyes. Perhaps I'm just being silly. After all, I am an overly sensitive artist who sometimes observes the world differently. Lemme know your thoughts, and if possible, check out the Cutest Baby contest at Walmart. :)

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Now all I need is a sweet pair of mom jeans to complete the soccer mom package. Woo-hoo!!!

Hello. My name is Jenny and I'm a minivan owner. Wow..it feels so refreshing to admit that. Yep, it was hard for me to accept that we were in the market to buy a minivan, but I think I've come to terms with it now.


We've been talking for a few months about upgrading to a minivan to help accomodate our rapidly growing family. We presently have an 8 month old Chloe, and for some reason, she seems to be getting longer. Can't figure it out. So we knew we had to trade in the two door Monte Carlo that my husband's been in love with since day one. We arrived into town this weekend, dropped the baby off at Grandma and Grandpa's, and Floyd said, "Well, we're off to buy a minivan." I thought we were still "just looking". Sho 'nuff, he was right. We're now the proud owners of a Dodge Grand Caravan Sport. Ooh la la! How sexy!!


It's not too bad though. It contains all the amenities any soccer mom in the making could dream of, from the hooks in the back of the seats to hang your shopping bags to the DVD player to entertain your 2.5 kids. Floyd was upset to learn the DVD wasn't attached to the dashboard so he could watch movies as he drove. I honestly wanted to find a minivan that lacked the DVD option. *gasp* Yes, I know. What kind of crazy lunatic mom would say that?!?! I must confess, although I am only 29 1/2 years old, deep down inside of me is a crotchety 78 year old man with a gravelly voice who says, " Why do these young whipper-snappers need them there DVD players in the car? We never had that when we was kids. Hell, we never even HAD a car! And that's they way we liked it!!" But anyway..that's just my humble opinion.



So, all in all, it's been an exciting day, but it's going to take some getting used to. The last minivan I drove regularly was my mom's 1988 Ford Aerostar when I was learning how to drive. They sure have come a long way since then. :o)

Another post to ring in the new month!!

One of my four regular readers informed me that y'all are anxiously waiting for a new post from me. So here it is. :0)