You just never know, and if you believe - there just may be angels watching over us....

So, it's been a relatively stressful week.

We found a house we love. I mean love.....
And just as we were ready to put an offer on it --- another house became available for possibility. A house that we'd been hoping to get into and see but for whatever reason, we weren't able to make happen.

And just as we were about to put an offer in on the house we love - the not so available one, well - became available.

But they didn't make it easy for us to actually just look at it. We had to jump through a few hoops - and hoops that were necessary anyway, if we were to put an offer on any house, truthfully. We just didn't know we'd need that quite so soon. But, it's all good.

We're hopeful that the house we love accepts our offer - even though it will be a big transition for the family since it will be in a different town.

But the good news is -- we now have a back up if they decline!

And I didn't see the week quite ending this way, since it definitely was rather stressful getting to this point.

Funny...when I was getting ready for work this morning, I was looking for a bracelet to match my outfit. I came across a Chakra bracelet my mother made for me a few years back. I haven't worn it, truthfully - since she passed away. I used to wear it for luck; when we competed for our liquor license, when she went for her PTScan diagnosis, her funeral, etc..

This morning, I decided to wear it. It's pretty, it's got 7 different colored crystals to represent each Chakra (Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, & Crown), along with two little charms that read: Love & Believe.

Maybe...just maybe....that has something to do with why my week ended up the way it did. Maybe it was my Mother's connection to that bracelet that truly brought me "luck".

Or maybe it didn't.

But either way, I'm glad that if nothing else - I had a piece of her with me today - and that in that small connection, she may have felt my energy and shared in the course of emotions I had today.

Music that changed my life...for different reasons, different seasons.

The very first time I heard of Linda Eder was 4th of July 2000. I was watching the Boston Pops by myself - and she taking the stage. That night, I forever became a fan of hers - and very specifically - this song. When I say it moved me watching her sing, I'm not exaggerating. To this day, I still feel that the last 60 seconds of the song is one of most beautiful endings, ever. I hope you enjoy it too.





Ahh, the lovely Miss Edie Brickell - her fabulous lyrics and hippie like style changed this metal loving girl forever. While I always was a fan 60s and 70s folk as well - this song in particular came out at the right time to prove that flower power didn't have to be a thing of the past. The theme became a mantra that I still hang onto today. What I am is what I am -- are you what you are, or what....?





Another 80's classic - and one of my most favorite bands, the Cult - had a song that caught my ear and my heart. This song stands out for me because while I always was in admiration of good lyrical arrangement, this one in particular drew me in because of it's tragedy. Not just about the death of the star of the song - but the tragic way the song tells the story. So much raw emotion comes through, and you can't help but feel it.





We hear the National Anthem thousands of times over our lifetime - by a variety of artists. But no one artist has ever sung it so effortless, beautifully and with such emotion as Miss Whitney Houston at the Superbowl 1991. To this day it gives me goosebumps when I hear it and feel oh-so proud to be American.





And finally....while there are dozens of other songs that I could share with you all that forever impacted my life, I will leave you with this one. This is the acoustic version of the original that I'd heard - but it restored my faith in the fact that there is truly talent out there, who can put out a cd - and have every single song be absolutely amazing. From beginning to end. And that...is a gift.

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the Facts of Life...

What 80's child didn't love "The Facts of Life" back in the day? While I didn't love the episodes when they were older and in college (even back then I wasn't a huge Clooney fan, nothing personal George...) I did love their high school days. There was a character for everyone -- there was at least one persoality that you could relate to. The character I related to the most was Jo. Though we had entirely different upbringings, and I wans't nearly as much of a tomboy as she was - I completely identified with the awkward, feeling "out of place" or not exactly fitting in feelings - and the tough exterior, pretending not to care. She also was very protective and loyal, another why she was my favorite. I also thought that she was the prettiest. (Girls are funny - we can like you or dislike you based strictly on your appearance. Catty, I know but there it is.) But while she wasn't the "girly girl" pretty like "Blair" (the actress who played her is gorgeous... Blair just wasn't my favorite character.), I thought she had this really pretty look of dark hair and light eyes and this great sensitivity that just made her so likeable. I actually didn't watch too much television as a teenager -- I was more about the music. But this show was definitely one that I made time for, and to this day if there's an old re-run on, I just can't help but watch it.

And they're off....

We saw Secretariat tonight.
First off - I loved the cast. Diane Lane, she was good - but I love, love, love John Malkovich - as well as Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette from True Blood) - and of course, the star himself: Secretariat. Or at least the horses who portrayed him.

It's a Disney Movie, so it was a feel good movie which is great - I just wish Steven Spielberg had done it, because it could definitely have been a complete tear jerker, but in the happiest of ways as only he can do.

Of course, watching a based on fact movie waxes nostalgic on this girl - so I figured I'd share with everyone the most amazing footage of the actual Triple Crown victory, which is absolutely amazing to see.

Check it for yourself!