Quick update – I promised (you, but mostly myself) that I would write something once a week (and here we are), cook 2 times a week, and go to yoga.

Well…this part is going well (hi!)  And I was in a cooking frenzy during week one – cookies, muffins, brownies, soup, and chicken.  This week I made a batch of cinnamon raisin bread and fried an egg (two eggs, actually – so there’s that.)  So…working on it.  And I was (really truly) going to go to yoga at 8:15 this morning (I KNOW!) but that class is no longer on the schedule…and I have allergy problems…and I was tired.  So, yeah.  That didn’t happen.  I did do a number of other active things last week and truly ran on the treadmill yesterday (briefly – and not just dreaming about it) so, progress.

Anyway…on to today’s writing, since I do seem to be able to keep that going.

I’m pulling a topic from my book (642 Things to Write About) since my head is all full of decongestants and antihistamines and all of the ideas seem to have taken a vacation.

Today’s Topic: If each decade of your life was represented by a pop song, what would they be?

Fun, right?

Birth – Age 9: Our House – by Madness

Uncomplicated childhood…I don’t have much to say about it, but home was always pretty much my favorite place to be.

I was born in Virginia while my Dad was in the army (Vietnam, never overseas, thank goodness).

We moved to Springfield, PA when I turned one.

We lived there until I was 5, when my parents rudely decided that I was not to be an only child forever (I forgave them). Then we moved to Media, PA (Middletown Township, actually) and lived in a townhouse in the lovely neighborhood of Glenloch until I was 15…so that’s what was going down.

I played in the woods, skated on the pond. I was briefly bullied (still a little traumatized about that) in second grade by a girl named Faith who for some reason wanted to kick the stuffing out of plain vanilla little me.

But mostly it was just happy childhood-y family stuff.

Father gets up late for work (Note: No, never…not my Dad)
Mother has to iron his shirt (Note: I believe he ironed his own…)
Then she sends the kids to school
Sees them off with a small kiss
She’s the one they’re going to miss
In lots of ways  (Note: Yep)

Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our

I remember way back then when everything was true
And when we would have such a very good time
Such a fine time, such a happy time  (Note: Indeed)
And I remember how we’d play simply waste the day away
Then we’d say nothing would come between us, two dreamers

Age 10-20: Make Some Noise – Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus (I know…)

This is a quite a broad decade – hard to find something that applies to the whole thing, but this seems to work.

I was a shy kid. Not like cast away hiding in a locker shy or anything, but never really confident in building friendships and relationships. I spent most of my teen years trying to stay under the radar.  I had a few super close friends, was friendly with a lot of people, but in no way was I “popular” or a huge teenage success story.  I wish I had had more faith in me, and other people. I think it could have been a lot more fun.

In college I found a group of folks that I felt a bunch more connected and confident with – so yay! Those people are still my closest friends, so I finally got myself together to let some other folks in.

It’s easy to feel like you’re all alone
To feel like nobody knows
The great that you are, the good that’s inside you
Is trying so hard to break through

Maybe it’s your time to lift off and fly
You won’t know if you never try

Age 20-30: If She Knew What She Wants – by The Bangles

I spent this entire time trying to figure out what the heck I was supposed to be. And other people spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to support me in the changing quicksand of what, who, and where that led me at any given moment.

I was a computer programmer in Delaware, an electronics buyer in Connecticut, a graduate student in North Carolina…I got around. I tried to LOVE something and I ended up with a lot of “meh.” I tried to LOVE people and ended up with a lot of angst. And at the end of the decade, I ended up married.

But she wants everything
(He can pretend to give her everything)
Or there’s nothing she wants
(She don’t want to sort it out)
He’s crazy for this girl
(But she don’t know what she’s looking for)
If she knew what she wants
He’d be giving it to her
Giving it to her

I’d say her values are corrupted
But she’s open to change
Then one day she’s satisfied
And the next I’ll find her crying
And it’s nothing she can explain

Age 30-40: Manic Monday by The Bangles (yes, again)

These years I was pretty much busy. Busy having and taking care of babies. Busy working and taking care of houses and cooking dinner and cleaning up from dinner. Busy taking kids where they needed to be. Just – busy.

I loved it – it was all good stuff. But oy…busy.

Six o’clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin’ Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream
But I can’t be late
‘Cause then I guess I just won’t get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made

It’s just another manic Monday
I wish it were Sunday
‘Cause that’s my fun day
My I don’t have to run day
It’s just another manic Monday

Age 40-Now: Defying Gravity by Edina Menzel

Things changed. I changed. My life changed.

I wasn’t happy about it at first. I’m still kind of annoyed that it had to happen, and certainly that it happened the way it did. But now I feel a lot more like the sky is the limit and things are better than they ever were before.  Life is full of goodness and happiness, with nothing pesky weighing me down.

Time to fly!

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I’m through with playing by the rules
Of someone else’s game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!

It’s time to try
Defying gravity
I think I’ll try
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I’m defying gravity
And you won’t bring me down

I’m through accepting limits
‘Cause someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change
But ’til I try, I’ll never know!
Too long I’ve been afraid of
Losing love I guess I’ve lost
Well, if that’s love
It comes at much too high a cost!

Unlimited (unlimited)
My future is (future is) unlimited (unlimited)
And I’ve just had a vision
Almost like a prophecy
I know it sounds truly crazy
And true, the vision’s hazy
But I swear, someday I’ll be…

Flying so high! (defying gravity)

SO…if you had to pick the songs for YOUR decades, what would they be?? I seriously want to know!