Sometimes I Amaze Myself

Case Study #1

In January I managed to make it to 9:00 a.m. church before it started 3 of 4 times.  

This is a small feat considering I fly solo with 4 kids on Sunday's.  The hubs was so astonished the first Sunday that he couldn't help but acknowledge my presence over the pulpit as he was conducting.  I gave him a thumbs up sign and nodded as I accepted my praise from the laughing congregation.  The second Sunday he was even more surprised and again couldn't contain himself from announcing his AMAZEMENT.  I think by the third Sunday he was just plain speechless.

(We won't talk about what happened the next couple weeks.  
Let's just say I didn't let the pressure of being on time get to me.)

Case Study #2

Sometimes I pre-make my midday snack 6 hours in advance.

Around 5:00 p.m. I'll open the microwave to heat something up for my starving kiddos (that just can't make it to dinner) to find the midday snack I forgot about. Yesterday it was cocktail sausages left over from a Superbowl party. Don't worry, 60 seconds did the trick.


Case Study #3

Music swap = Best Idea Ever!

Last Saturday I held a music swap at my house with a handful of ladies from my running group.  

The plan:  Everyone in our group created a running playlist from their personal music stash.  Then we burned a CD for each person and exchanged over some light laughter and healthy snacks. (It was more like blowing of steam while chugging DP but whatever.)  Now I have about 5 hours of fresh new music to choose from to give my ipod shuffle an overhaul.  SO AWESOME!!!  We've even created a holiday for ourselves.  The first Saturday in February has now become our running group's annual Music Swap day.  It's already on my 2015 calendar.

Meet Kpod.  A shuffle that gets around as much as she does deserves a name.

Great running tunes give me joy.  If you haven't figured it out, I'm pretty much a running geek.  I can calculate pace in my head and estimate how far a run is no problem.  I know the lengths of all the hills within a 5 mile radius from my doorstep, can tell you how to find the perfect running shoe, and I also now how fast a song should be to meet my perfect BPM (beats per minute).  Yes, I really am that geeky. 

But it's like GOLD when I find an upbeat or fast tempo song that matches my stride.  My feet love to pound some serious pavement when this happens.  Here are a few favorites from my playlist.  (I've included some links at the bottom if you want to sample these tunes)

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton)

Imagine Dragons - On Top of the World

Matt Nathanson - Faster

Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines (feat. T.I. & Pharrell) [Will Sparks Remix]

Train - Hey, Soul Sister

Colbie Caillat - Brighter Than the Sun

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Say Hey (I Love You) [feat. Cherine Anderson]

Bruno Mars - Runaway Baby

The beauty of the swap is now I've got a bunch of great new tunes that somehow I've managed to miss along the way.  For instance...

Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark

Awolnation- Kill Your Heroes

Don Omar - Conteo  (I have no idea what this song is about since it's in Spanish.  But the beat gets in my head and pushes me.  Sorry if it's something nasty)

One More Trick

Here's another system I use to find upbeat music.  Most songs have a remix.  If you have a song you like but it's a little too slow, search for it's remix.  Ta-da!  For example...

Lorde - Royals  too slow for me.       But it's remix...        Dubstep Radioactive - Royals  much better!

Hope this helps your playlist overhaul as well...and if you get a music swap together, I WANT IN!!!