February 2012 – Wise Sass

Posted on February 24, 2012February 29, 2012 by Wise Sass · 2 Comments

I’m not really here

In fact, I’m not really anywhere. I don’t know which way is up, or down, or sideways either. I can’t tell if it’s morning or night, and the work days seem to blend into the weekends.

I no longer have much interest in interacting much on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I try. I fail. Miserably.

Friends? Socializing? Huh? What are these things you speak of?

Eight years ago I thought having a toddler, a baby, a working spouse and a full-time job was difficult. That was until I had 8 & 9 year olds, a full-time all-ohmyword-consuming job and a husband who acts in community theatre.

This post is brought to you by 7 weeks of my husband having nearly daily rehearsals and essentially leaving me as a solo mom at night and on Saturdays. And it’s brought to you by a vast well of work disappointment (that I won’t speak about here but trust me, it’s vast.) It’s brought to you by a perpetually messy house and some sleepless nights. It’s brought to you by loneliness. And it’s brought to you by Ally McBeal.

Yes, Ally McBeal. The TV show and the character. My best friend and I used to watch Ally McBeal together. Well, technically, I was living in Idaho and she was in California and we would call each other on the commercials to talk about what had JUST happened. Then we would hang up. Then call back again. It was one of those things.

Ever since Netflix came into my life I’ve wished that Ally McBeal was available for streaming. I’ve checked a few times a year. Last week my wishes came true. YES.

As I type this I’m sitting on my sofa with my laptop in front of me and my iPad streaming Ally next to me. With headphones, though, because my kids are watching Spy Kids in the same room. (So, yes, I’m sort of keeping an eye on them. That’s enough, right?)

And I’m loving this.

I’m watching Calista Flockhart in all her floopiness. She was the original Zooey Deschanel, you know. She was quirky before quirky was cool.

Oh, and the unisex! Fishisms! Do you remember, “knee pit?” The dancing baby. Vonda Shepard. The biscuit! And Barry White. “We got it together, didn’t we? We got it together, baby.”

And , of course, Robert Downey Jr. before he was Iron Man. Younger and devastatingly handsome. And crooning. I just watched this clip:

There’s something very comforting about watching this. I loved him on this show. He and Ally were magical.

For the length of this 40 minute episode I’m not an exhausted mommy anymore. I can forget about work frustrations, I can throw a blind eye to the laundry, and I can even, temporarily, keep myself from saying, “Don’t stand on the sofa! Don’t throw toys at the TV! Don’t fart on your brother’s head!”

(You’d be surprised how often that last one comes up).

So thank you Netflix and thank you Ally McBeal. Thank you for being the escape comforting me today.

Happy Friday, y’all.

XOXO,

Stef

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Wise Sass

Flashback Friday Fleetwood Mac Edition

You know how you hear a specific bit of music, for years, and it’s just background noise with very little impact and then one day you hear it, REALLY, REALLY HEAR IT and you’re blown away? Just absolutely floored?

So I realize it’s sad to admit that this was the catalyst but nevertheless here goes. Several weeks ago I caught a re-run of Glee with Kristin Chenoweth guesting (OMG, LOVE HER) and she was singing Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. And it was her voice and the music in that moment and as she sang:

Now here you go again
You say you want your freedom
Well who am I to keep you down
It’s only right that you should
Play the way you feel it
But listen carefully to the sound
Of your loneliness
Like a heartbeat.. drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost…
And what you had…
And what you lost

I fell in love. With the song. With the moment. With the feeling. I was crushed and moved.

Then I remembered how much I love Stevie Nicks. That chick rocks. She’s bad ass and she just does her own thing and doesn’t apologize for it.

Then, back to Glee, they did Never Going Back Again with like 12 guitars and it freakin’ rocked. And I loved it. And, hello, the original is Lindsey-freaking-Buckingham.

So I downloaded both songs (the Fleetwood Mac versions) to my iPhone and I’ve had them on repeat. They just seem to perfectly fit right now. Does that make sense? You know how music can match a time or a feeling at a certain time? Yeah, that. I really just need to download the whole album. That’s next.

Now I’m sharing them with you. Just enjoy.