And the winner is...

... no one. So sad. No one won this week. This one is from one of my all-time favorite songs, but obviously it is unmemorable to many: Asia's "Heat of the Moment". This next week's will be easy. I promise. Really.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Here we go again. Another week, another lyric. Again I have tried to make this just the right level of difficulty. Here it is:

I never meant to be so bad to you
One thing I said that I would never do

What's it from and who's it by? Email me with your answer (or guess for that matter). Have fun and good luck!

Swim Lessons

For the past seven weeks, my 2-1/2 year old son and I have been taking Mom-and-me swim lessons. Every time he has had to put his head under water he has absolutely hated it and firmly declared that he is not doing it again. This last week, though, everything changed. He didn't resist. He didn't cry or complain. I think he may have even liked it. Needless to say, I was so proud of him! Way to go my boy!!!

Monday Blues?

Monday got you down? Check out HappyNews.com, a news site that only publishes happy news. Seriously. It's real news, just minus the stories that are at all depressing.

And the winner is...

NerdMom!!! Congratulations on your victory NerdMom! Visit her at NerdFamily, a blog I read quite regularly. This week's lyric (or verse, as the case may be) is from Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love". Tune in next week when I promise I will use a line everyone should get.

80's Lyric - Round 2

Apparently I managed to make this contest even MORE difficult. I apologize for stumping everyone. So, instead of giving the answer away, here is round 2: same song, same line, but the entire verse:

Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying
I don’t wanna lose you
I could never make it alone

Email me your answer here.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Thanks to all who gave me feedback on this feature and how to make it more fun. More is always welcome! The general idea I got was: Make them a little easier and non-searchable. I'm not certain, but I think this one fits the easier part. Still working on the non-searchable part.

This week's lyric:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret

First one(s) to email me the correct title and/or artist will be listed here later tonight. Good luck!

My Verse

I've heard a lot of Christians mention they have a "life verse": a particular Bible verse that is meaningful to them. A couple of years ago I got rather distressed over the idea that I should have one and I don't and is it because I just haven't found it yet or is it because I can't commit to one verse to cover my entire life. I gave up and forgot about it really. Until the other day. I read this verse that so resonated with me. It states one of my core life philosophies (something I didn't even know I had until I typed this sentence). I knew it was a "Christian" idea but didn't know it was really in the Bible. Deuteronomy 15:10 says:

Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

I've seen this to be true in so many people's actions and even in my own life. When you give or serve freely, God blesses you; not just what you have given, not just the aspect of life out of which you gave, but blesses you in all aspects of life. My philosophy has always been: If you see something that needs to be done, do it. If someone needs help with something, do it and have fun doing it. Is it going to mess up your schedule? Yes. Is it going to cost you money? Yes. Does it matter? Somehow no. Somehow, maybe not immediately, but at some time, you look back and realize you're in a good place and that you couldn't have arrived there without the giving and serving. And you don't miss what was lost. Reading this back it sounds cheesy and rather cliche, but I'm just saying I've found it to be true. So does that work for a "life verse"?

Goodbye Ace

Tonight's American Idol bottom three were a bit of a shock: Ace, Paris, and Chris. And Ace went home. As April commented on the last post: Kellie has a huge fan base for her to be in the upper four after such a poor performance. Very interesting. We'll see what happens next week!

American Idol

It's been a few weeks (well, two) since I've commented on American Idol. Overall, tonight's performances were really good, but boring to me. (Not my kind of music.)

My prediction for the three with lowest number votes:
Elliot
Kellie
Paris

Who I think will win:
Chris

And the winner is...

...Brad, AKA ThiswillworkMan! He correctly answered "Jump" by Van Halen. Based on rumors I hear, he may or may not have used the help of an internet search engine. And he may or may not have done so in order to impress his wife. Since that is not against any rules (there aren't any), especially when attempting to impress a spouse, I officially declare Brad this week's 80's mystery song lyric winner. Congratulations ThiswillworkMan! Unfortunately he doesn't have a blog so I can't provide a link for him. The sad trend (of blogless winners) continues.

On the subject of this weekly contest I would love some feedback: Have they been too hard? Too easy? What would make it more fun? Please leave a comment or, if you prefer, email me. Thanks for your input!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

I think I've got an easy one for you this week. When you've got it figured out email me here (title and/or artist). Now let's show April she's not the only one who knows 80's music. Here's the line:
I've got my back against the record machine

Some Assembly Required

I live in an abnormal household. Well, I suppose we are abnormal for many reasons but I will expose you to only one in this post. We recently bought some new furniture for our office: a computer desk and two bookcases. They came in pieces. You think that's a bad thing, but, see, this is where we're abnormal: We love this stuff. At times, my husband and I have actually argued over who was going to put something together. Other times I've assembled things before he's had a chance to in the name of being "helpful." I love to assemble things quickly. He loves to assemble things correctly. This difference only caused a few problems for us this time.
First of all, we were at about step 12 of 28 when I picked up a portion of the desk to get it into position and didn't give it the support it needed, ripping the particle board at the places it had been connected. Ouch. It looked bad. But not to worry, with his cordless drill and bottle of Gorilla glue attached to his duct tape belt, ThismightworkMan (my husband's new superhero name) arrived on the scene! In no time he had the sub-assembly back in order. The next problem we encountered was a shortage of screws. This desk literally had 15 different types and sizes of screws and bolts. I sorted and organized them so they would be easy to find at each step. But we were missing two of one type. No problem-- not for ThismightworkMan who found a spare screw with smaller head and a washer to work for one replacement. For the other missing screw he used his favorite special power (air compressor + cutoff wheel) to shorten a spare screw that was the right size but too long. Finally we had all the pieces assembled! We slid the file-sized drawer into its opening. Why wouldn't it close? It was stuck on something. Something on the sides of the drawer weren't allowing it to close properly. The screws holding the slides on the drawer were getting caught because...you guessed it: They were the missing screws! But would ThismightworkMan be thrown by such a discovery? Of course not! With some smaller spare screws and a few drops of Gorilla Glue he had the entire desk together and working as if his silly wife had never touched it. If you're out there ThismightworkMan... Thank You!!!

The Mobius Bench

I've always been intrigued by the Mobius strip--you know, where you take strip of paper and make it a loop, first giving it a half twist? According to Ivars Peterson: "Ever since its discovery in 1858 in a purely mathematical context, the Möbius band has played a role not only in mathematics but also in science, engineering, literature, art, music, dance, crafts, playthings, puzzles, and magic tricks." The latest discovery: You can sit on them, too. Actually, the bench pictured here has been at the Shops on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California since 2003. Read more about it here. See more pictures here and here.

Peeps A-Plenty

Check out NerdMom's post on everyone's favorite Easter-time treat: Peeps!

And the winner is...

...April again! Congrats April on your awesome 80's song knowledge! You rock!

The line was from Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker", which was actually released in 1979, (though it was played plenty in the 80's). I will try to only use songs released in the 1980's--this exception was a mistake on my part! Sorry!

I also apologize for the delay in posting the answer. I spent many of the last 24 hours fighting with my computer while trying to uninstall/install software. I was replacing Norton Internet Security, which, much like a hawk, was holding on with all its might, its claws dug firmly into every application I have. It wasn't until this morning, after some sleep, that I was able to pry the last talon away. And I'm still cleaning up feathers.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Your love is like a tidal wave, spinnin' over my head

Sound familiar? Tell me what and who it's from here. The answer and winner will be posted late Friday.

Bruchko

I have finished my first book of the year. (Yes, I know it's April.) My bro-in-law Gabe gave me Bruchko by Bruce Olson for Christmas this last year. The note on the package said it was "off the hook" and, being as un-hip as I am, I thought it was some sort of clue as to what was inside (like a phone or a new-fangled fishing pole), not that he was just saying it was cool. Well, Gabe was right: This book is off the hook. It's about a guy who goes and lives with this Indian tribe in South America to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a really amazing story and one of those books you don't want to put down. Near the end the story gets kind of choppy, like he got 80% through and just wanted to finish the darned thing. (Somepost I'll tell you why I relate so well to that.) Anyway, I highly recommend the book.

Unbelievably Mandisa

All three American Idol contestants in the bottom three tonight had never been in the bottom three before: Mandisa, Elliot Yamin, and Paris Bennett, Mandisa having received the lowest number of votes. This is so hard to believe (even though I did mention her in my previous post)! Regardless, I expect she's going to have a lot of opportunities when her contract with Idol is up. So, next week Bucky's got to go. Speaking of next week, did Ryan Seacrest really say they're doing music by Queen?

American Idol

Who's going home tonight? Country week should have been Bucky's time to make himself look like he belongs in this group, but he didn't take the opportunity. His performance last night was okay but he's just missing that star quality. I missed Taylor's performance last night, but I'm wondering if people are getting a little bored with him. And Mandisa has been a little off the last two weeks, even though I think she's definitely final four quality. Well, it will be interesting to see which way it goes.