Musical Monday!

Although I've been seriously slacking off in the blog posting world, I couldn't let nother Monday go by without........... Musical Monday!!!

To start things off, here is a video from Michelle Branch's official site. Michelle and her daughter Owen singing "The Bees" by Lee Ann Womack:



And, I have to include something from Movie's Night of Nights... "The Musical Is Back":



xoxo
Mandy

Who let the dogs out???

Hi. My name is Mandy and I, am a cat person!

I've always had cats and loved them best. When I lived with Princess though, I fell head over heels in love with her dog! It wasn't instant, like it is with cats, but she made me love her. She was the one who made me decide "okay, when I grow up, I want 2 kittens... and a puppy!". Princess's dog got out of her yard and was killed by a car over Thanksgiving. The last time I saw her was over a month earlier, when I'd housesat and taken care of her and her Kitten-brother. I cried for a week! I was so devastated by her death.

I'm beginning to think though, that it was just her that I loved.. not dogs in general. Dogs are fine and fun for a short time, but they are so much work!! I'm housesitting again, and this time I have Kitten-brother and Puppy-kinda-stepsister. They're probably both around 8 months old? Puppy is driving me insane! I spend half my time feeling guilty for putting Puppy out in the rain when I go out, and the other half feeling angry at Puppy for misbehaving while she's inside. She does not listen to anything. Maybe she has the same problem with my "no" as other Americans? No amount of stern talking, yelling, or physically preventing her behavior is working. If Kitten is within earshot, Puppy must chase him.

Kitten's idea of naughty is to jump onto the counter in Princess's bathroom, knock her hairties to the floor one by one, put them delicately into his front teeth, and carry them around the house. Cute? Yes. Puppy's idea of naughty is to notice kitten, run and jump on top of him, put her bottom on Kitten's face, pin Kitten to the ground with her paw, get hairtie, stick it far into her mouth and chew on it until I get the soggy thing away from her. Cute? Not so much!

All this is partly due to their age, Puppy's lack of training, and Puppy's desire to dominate. But this is Kitten's house, so I'm an advocate for puppy not becoming the boss! Also, the fact that they don't live together 100% of the time doesn't help because they're not so used to each other. I'm trying to relax and let them play while monitoring them, but they've made such a mess and I'm scared they will hurt each other. Needless to say, the evening hours (when Puppy has to be inside to avoid wild animals) are the most stressful times I've had in a long time. I'd really rather be taking care of children!!

It's late now, but this is the most peaceful time of day. Puppy is asleep in her cage downstairs, and Kitten is asleep next to me on the bed, purring his little heart out. I love cats! It's no longer in my personal life plan to have a dog.

xoxo
Mandy

Musical Monday

The Grammy's were last night and I watched bits and pieces of the show, but not a lot. I did manage to catch this performance by Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus. I didn't love it, and to be honest the first time I heard it I didn't really even like it. But it's growing on me. I really like it now, except for Miley's first line. It's way too harsh. I love this song and I love both of them as artists though, so I'm excited to see Miley and Taylor perform together.

Taylor Swift & Miley Cyrus - "Fifteen (Live)"
Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday
but I realized some bigger dreams of mine
Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind

*edit* Someone keeps claiming copyright and making youtube delete the videos of the performance. Here's an interview with Miley & Taylor before the Grammy's, to keep you entertained until the performance is available again.



Just one more video today, and it is Taylor Swift again. Her new music video is out. You may have heard the song on Grey's Anatomy, if you watch it. All of Taylor's music videos are great but usually they're all about her looking pretty and wearing awesome dresses! This one is different, more stripped back and natural.. and sad.

Taylor Swift - "White Horse"
I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet, lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood. This is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now it's too late for you and your white horse
To come around



xoxo
Mandy

What would you cut back on?

This post was inspired by everydayadventuresinthecity, who asked recently:
"Is anyone else cutting back in "fun spending?" If so, where are you making adjustments in your budget? Or where is the one place you really don't want to cut back?"

I'm in a different situation to those people who have lost their jobs or who fear losing them. I've been living without a job for about 8 months, after moving here to the States on savings. But the economy is limiting the jobs available now that I'm looking for one! And the savings aren't going to last forever.

I've cut back on: Buying dvds, cds, books. I'd gotten into the habit of buying dvds as soon as they came out, just to watch them, and then half the time I didn't end up watching them for a really long time. I don't know why, but I just had to have them right way! I am quite a consumer at heart. I haven't bought a dvd in a long time. I've been watching a lot of movies on cable. On top of my regular cable, I pay for HBO ($5 a month for 12 months) and the Encore tier (also $5 a month).

I need to cut back on: Groceries. I live alone for the first time and I don't like cooking in my tiny, useless kitchen, and so I am not very organised with my shopping and eating. I'll frequently buy prepackaged meals, and I'll often let food go to waste because I don't use it before it goes bad.

I don't want to cut back on: TV. I've heard that some people get rid of their cable. Not me! I love my cable and DVR. It's such a novelty to me because in Australia I had 5 channels on television. I love tv. Also, my cell phone. I think I'm on the cheapest plan possible for my iphone but it still isn't cheap,. However, I'm on a contract for the first time in my life and I wouldn't want to give up my iphone anyway.

What about you?

xoxo
Mandy

p.s I'm glad that so many of you like Lily Allen! I have listened to her new album once and haven't been enamoured with any of the other songs yet, but I'm loving "The Fear" more and more every time I hear it!

Musical Monday

First up, Lily Allen. She is a British singer who is amazingly honest and usually very funny in her lyrics. I loved most of the songs from her first album, Alright, Still. In honor of her new album coming out next week, here is her new single, which I think is awesome:

Lily Allen - "The Fear" (explicit lyrics)
Life's about film stars and less about mothers
It's all about fast cars and cussing each other
But it doesn't matter 'cause I'm packing plastic
And that's what makes my life so f*cking fantastic




This next song is by James Morrison, and I first heard it on One Tree Hill. I thought he sounded like Gavin DeGraw! I hadn't really listened to James' music much, but I should because I love this song. The lyrics are beautiful:

James Morrison - "Once When I Was Little"
Yeah I could dream more then , yeah I believed more then
That the world could only get better
Yeah I was free more then, I could pretend more then
That this life could only show me good times
Once, when I was little




Finally, a cute little song by a new artist I've recently discovered - Alessi's Ark. This is her single, and I believe that her debut album will be out within the next few months.

Alessi's Ark - "The Horse"
I was told kite flying's for lovers
I was told that we can't share the covers
If you'd like me to, I'll try to be brave like you.
I know you'd like me to, I'll try to be pretty too.




Enjoy! Let me know if you like them.

xoxo
Mandy

Australian accents are not always a good thing..

I answered a call from a blocked number on my cell, which I don't normally do because I do get a lot of wrong numbers. This is how the conversation went:

Me: Hello
Caller: *mumbles* Cindy?
Me: Hello??
Caller: Cindy?
Me: No
Caller: Cindy? Is this Cindy?
Me: No
Caller: Yes?
Me: Noooo!
Caller: Norris? Oh, wrong number.

Grrrr! I hate my voice so much sometimes!

Stay tuned for Musical Monday.. coming sometime this evening.

xoxo
Mandy

My weekend

Uh-oh, I didn’t update all weekend! It’s technically Monday now.. I became one of those people. Sorry!

Saturday was a long day, but a nice day. I only got about 3 hours of sleep, but I left the house on time (7:30am) and headed up to Princess’s house. I watched her play volleyball and then we went back to her house and hung out. It was nice having only 2 kids around and getting to know Princess’s kinda-stepsister (K) better. K has 2 brothers who were at their dad’s house that day. We chatted, played and sang songs. I spent lots of the day taking pictures and videos. Videos are my new obession... so much fun! The original purpose was to film Princess for her other previous nanny, who is now back in Scandinavia. She’s seen photos, but it’s so different seeing video – you can really see how much older she seems than over 2 years ago when the other nanny left.

After lunch, all of us went on a mini-hike, which was good exercise – especially on the way home as there were a lot of hills. The girls then decided to change into their bathing suits. It was really warm (around 82 degrees, crazy Cali) but they chickened out of their big plan to jump right into the pool. Instead they sprayed each other with the hose and then played in the jacuzzi. K’s puppy did something crazy while we were outside. Princess’s dad was trying to teach her to drop the tennis ball after fetching it. He smacked her and said, “drop it”, and eventually she did. Then he threw it again and the dog carried it in her mouth to the grass, dropped it, turned around and pooped right on top of it! I don’t know much about dogs, but it really did seem like she was doing it with the clear intention of making a point. Disgusting!

The family had a dinner to go to, so I left at around 6:30pm. I had a huge headache (from lack of sleep, no doubt) so once I got home I watched a movie, then went to bed at around 10pm. My dad called, startling me awake at 10:30pm, but I chatted to him for an hour. Typically, I was wide awake after that, but fell asleep again at 1am.

In contrast, on Sunday I did nothing (no, I did not watch any Superbowl) except some grocery shopping and errands.

"Oh, it seems like I can finally rest my head on something real. I like the way that feels."
- Ashlee Simpson

xoxo
Mandy