Rock Out with your Bad Self

In case you haven't noticed, my life is a bit hectic. As in, crazy hectic. I rarely work a 40 hour week... meaning they're much longer than that. Heck, crazy busy important weeks sometimes yield a 60 hour week with no comp time to follow. (Gotta keep reminding myself that I love my job, right?) And then, outside of work, Puff and I make sure our lives stay full, enriched, and yes, busy. Our weekends are spent working on the house or traveling or hanging out with friends. Rest? What's that?

I don't even want to THINK about what life will be like once we add kids to the mix! Yikes!

And yes, sometimes all that crazy-busy-can't-stop-moving catches up with me. But I've learned over the years, since this whole ants-in-the-pants mentality isn't a new concept, how to just STOP. Even in the midst of anything and everything chaotic, you've got to take a second for yourself. Time to regain your strength and refocus and re-energize. And we all do that in different ways. My good friend, Rowdy, is an avid shopaholic. My other friend, Truck Stop Lizard, tends to hit up a bar with friends after a long day. And I know others who unwind with a good book & a glass of wine or who spend quality time with their husbands or who shut out the day by watching a mindless television show. ("Teen Mom 2", anyone?)

But what if you don't have time for that? What if there's just not a second to spare to pull out a book or pour a glass of wine or run to Target to buy something you don't need? A ha! I know those days. I know them all too well. So you know what I do? Well, besides occasionally pretending I have to pee at the office just so I can sit down and escape for 20 seconds? I sing. Yup. And I don't do it very well. How do I find time to sing in a crazy, hectic, long and insane day? Dude... you gotta get from place to place somehow, right? And it's not like I'm taking the city bus. Nope... I have my own personal car. And that comes with its own personal radio. A ha! And it even has an Ipod connector! Score!

I've mentioned before how much I love music. I will rock out to some Journey and then to some Godsmack. I know all the words to cheesy 80s Monster Ballads and know the chorus to a Ke$ha song or two. I drool over some Bon Jovi and Matchbox Twenty. And if it's been too nutty a day and I've come down with a headache, some James Blunt does the trick. And when I need that push of energy in the morning to get going, Shinedown, turned as loud as I can stand it. Oh yeah... and when days just totally suck at the end of them? Boston. "Peace of Mind" by Boston. Power chords, included. Air guitar, free of charge.

And that's the beauty of singing along to the music you love. There are so many types of music and so many ways to get it. And we've all got our favorites readily available. So, seriously, try it. Who cares if the person at the stoplight next to you thinks you're crazy when you're doing choreographed hand motions to "We Didn't Start the Fire?" They don't know you. (And if they do, you can just blame me. And if you're me, then people I know totally expect me to do stuff like that.) And for those of you who have kids in tow? Get them to join in! Some of my fondest memories of quality time with my parents was when it was just me and my mom or just me and my dad, driving home after work, jammin' to the radio.

I fully intend to pass that along to my kids as well. Here's hoping they're not as judgemental about my singing abilities as my husband.