Briefly, my husband works for a major auto company (think 2 letters…but not the one going bankrupt) as a liason between their corporate credit division and all the dealerships in SE Texas.  He spends a lot of time traveling his district (SE Texas is big, y’all), meeting face-to-face with people, keeping everything on track and helping to grow his company’s business.  He’s also flown regularly to vast and varied areas of the country to meet with company execs and other district managers.

He’s gone about 50% of the time.

Our friend said something to the effect of, “Wow, it must really mess up your family’s schedule to have you coming and going like that.”

To which I responded that my husband isn’t very often part of our schedule.

Doesn’t that sound awful?  But it’s true.  The kids and I do our thing – I keep our world rotating, do what needs to be done, and when my husband can slide into our orbit, he does.  We’re usually pretty unfazed by the coming and going at this point.

Part of me is bothered with my complacency.  But a larger part understands that this is how I “handle” it – I can’t be lost and alone every time he’s gone, because he’s gone a lot.  And sometimes without much warning.  And sometimes for much longer than he intends to be.  Our lifestyle demands total flexibility on my part, and almost total independence.

I said we were unfazed, and this – at least for me – isn’t entirely true.  If I’m being honest, I’ll say that sometimes it’s hard for me to figure out our roles when he’s home.  I know that when he’s gone, everything is up to me.  But when he’s home, what’s “my” job?  What’s “his” job?  It’s a challenge to always communicate our expectations to each other when he is home, because the distribution of responsibilities is a bit out of whack.  That does lead to misunderstanding at times.

There is also the added challenge that when he’s home, he’s HOME – meaning, he works out of our house.  There’s a whoooooole other kind of lifestyle attached to that – like how he’s here, but unavailable, which is confusing to the kids and sometimes frustrating to me – but I won’t go there right now.

I look at how our lifestyle has evolved to this point, and I’m not sure it’s something I would prefer over, say, a husband who works 9-5 and is home for every dinner.  But in these times, with this economy, and with our family’s needs, I’m grateful he has a good job and that we are provided for.  I just know that this lifestyle isn’t for everyone, even if it has to be for me right now.

Here are some pictures and a video of my very courageous girl and her big day.

BEFORE

that's 12 inches of hair!

The new 'do!

Bravo, my girl!

Aside from last week’s tour of Pergatory (otherwise known as my volunteer service at Cub Scout Day Camp), during which I simply could not muster the energy to get into the Y, things have been going very well!

I got back in the saddle – or, on the treadmill actually- this week and have been in three times already!  And I’ll be back there tomorrow morning.  It’s even more fun now because my 15yo and 12yo daughters have been through the necessary orientation, and now they can come in and work out with me.  Today I dropped off my 22mo son at the Child Watch, the 8yo and 10yo at the Kids’ Zone, then my oldest two and I worked out for about 45 minutes.  It was so fun!

I have been very, very good with my eating, too.  Fruits, leafy greens, tons of fiber, and water, water, water!  I’m still learning what will keep me satisfied for longer periods of time, and what I actually like when it comes to “healthy” foods.

For specifics on my actual workout routine:  I’ve been sticking mainly to the recumbant bike and treadmill.  15 or 20 minutes of each, with stretching before and after the 30-40 minutes (I found out that the stretch chair I lovelovelove so much is the Precor C240i StretchTrainer).  Though I haven’t been increasing my time much, I have been increasing the intensity of the workouts through resistance or incline and have been steadily bringing my heart rate up.  My daughters got me on an elliptical machine yesterday, and I looked like a total JOKE.  Still, I think I’ll try it again – this next week is going to be about me stepping it up with longer workouts and a wider variety of machines.  In two weeks we’ll add strength training with weights to all the cardio.

I don’t know that I’ve lost any significant weight, which is odd, since my clothes are fitting differently for sure.  The biggest thing is that I’m feeling SO GREAT, and it’s been a relief to have someplace to go away from the house and out of the heat.

I bought myself a little $20 mp3 player – an RCA Pearl, our two older girls have one each and we’ve had great luck with them – and am starting to fill it with good workout songs.  Here now is the list I’m starting with, though I’m sure it will change and grow as time goes by.  It’s an odd little mix – some alternative, some pop, even a touch of country.  If you have any suggestions, I’m happy to take them.

• All American Rejects:  Dirty Little Secret, Move Along
• KT Tunstall:  Black Horse & the Cherry Tree, Suddenly I See
• Bowling for Soup:  Ohio (Come Back to Texas)
• The Academy Is…:  About a Girl
• Corinne Bailey Rae:  Put Your Records On
• Paramore:  That’s What You Get
• John Mayer:  Bigger Than My Body
• Shakira:  Objection (Tango), Whenever, Wherever, Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Asi), Hips Don’t Lie
• Anna Nalick:  In My Head
• Jason Mraz:  Curbside Prophet, Too Much Food
• Taylor Swift:  Our Song
• Counting Crows:  Accidentally in Love
• Train:  All American Girl
• The Village People:  YMCA
• Good Charlotte:  I Don’t Want to Be in Love
• Black Eyed Peas:  Pump It
• Duffy:  Mercy
• Jimmy Eat World:  The Middle
• Joss Stone:  Tell Me ‘Bout It
• Rihanna:  SOS, Pon de Replay
• Evanesence:  Going Under, Bring Me To Life
• Gavin DeGraw:  I Don’t Want to Be
• Green Day:  Holiday
• Eve 6:  Inside Out
• 3 Doors Down:  Kryptonite

So…I’ve entered a contest to try and get full a sponsorship to the mother of all blogging conferences – BlogHer – in Chicago next month, and I could really use your help!

I can’t embed the slideshow into this post, but if you follow THIS LINK, watch my “story” on Whrrl, and check the “I Like It” button, I would really really really really appreciate it!

Clearly, I’m not ashamed to beg your indulgence.

Also, you might have noticed the “Send Me” button on my left sidebar; I’m also trying to get to the Type A Mom Conference in Asheville, NC in September.  I’ve only just started looking for sponsors, so I will let you know how that goes, too!

It finally occured to me while shopping the adorable $4 tees at Target (love you, Target.  call me!) that I was just fooling myself by looking at the 24mo clothing.  A little voice in my head whispered, “Momma, you’re baby’s wearing a T now.”  Sniff, sniff.

He confirmed my suspicions of his impending childhood (vs. the retreating babyhood) by pointing at his chicken strips while we were out to lunch and asking me, “It’s hot?”  PREVIOUSLY SPEACHLESS TODDLER NOW SPEAKING SENTENCES SAY WHAT?  I almost started crying, but my 12yo (who also witnessed the amazing verbal exchange, which my son repeated a few more times) begged asked me not to.

Also during today’s out-and-abouts, he spontaneously shouted “Cow!” from the back seat.  Sure enough, two seconds later we drove by a Chick-fil-A (love you, Chick-fil-A.  call me!) with a huge inflatable cow out front.  My son hollered “Moooo!” at it as we drove by.

He’s an explosion of language and learning these days, and I love the way it catches me by surprise.  I also love the way he looks right this moment, watching a Dora video, wearing his super cute new orange and white striped shirt.  Size 2t, of course.

Well, it didn’t exactly change my mind.  It BLEW my mind.  The four artists – Nathan Pacheco, Ender Thomas, Leslie Mills, and Chloe – all have different strengths as singers and all bring something powerful and passionate to Yanni’s music.  I fell in love with the Yanni Voices CD.

Promotional Photo. L to R: Nathan Pacheco, Leslie Mills, Yanni, Chloe, Ender Thomas.

Two weeks ago I found out that One2One Network had two tickets for me & my husband to see the Yanni Voices Live in Concert in Houston.  YES!

We arrived at the Toyota Center in Houston, picked up our tickets *and* our VIP “meet and greet” passes.  Our seats were amazing!  My husband and I got there early and had fun watching people file into their seats.  I couldn’t help it – I had to laugh at the many people who walked to their seats, dressed to the nines, carrying huge trays of soda, popcorn, and nachos.  All the concession stands were open, and I was totally amused on the contrast of formal wear vs. casual food.  In fact, the contrast applied to the people there, as well.  My husband commented on the many, many different nationalities present.  There were also young and old, full suits and baseball caps and shorts.  We were a very diverse crowd.

The stage was designed in an unusual fashion; it was square and compact, with an opaque ceiling-to-floor curtain on all four sides.  The concert started with a mix of music and videos projected onto the curtain.  I understood the intention to be having the audience experience the music not only audibly, but visually as well, and that was alright.  The curtain came down and the proper concert started, but they did use the curtain at several other points during the night.  My husband and I agreed that five more minutes of the curtain, and we would have been slightly annoyed – but that’s not what I REALLY want to tell you.

What I REALLY want to tell you is that the concert was un.be.liev.able.  I lost count of how many times I used phrases like, “crazy!,” “amazing!,” “such talent!”  In fact, I had to apologize to my husband at one point for talking so much; I could hardly contain my amazement and enthusiasm.  All of the vocalists were so gifted.  And Yanni was clever and charming.  His orchestra must have some of the greatest talent in the world.  Several times during the course of the night he highlighted different members of his orchestra, and often they would have little “battles” on stage (like the two dueling violinists – wow!).  I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone play instruments like these orchestra members did.

You are going to think I am an incredible sap, but a few times during the night I thought I was going to cry.  Not necessarily because of any one song, but just because of the power and the passion onstage.  I don’t know how they did it, but every one of the vocalists, every one of the orchestra members, and especially Yanni himself, pulled the entire audience into their world that night.  The energy from the stage was electric; I told my husband that you would have thought they were playing Madison Square Garden or something.  They gave us their best – they gave us absolutely everything, and it was stunning.  My heart was so full.

I heard some people around us saying how they almost didn’t come to the concert that night.  There were apparently many “classic Yanni” fans who came to see just him, and were reluctant to try to understand this new Voices project with Nathan, Ender, Leslie, and Chloe.  By intermission, even the long-time fans were convinced of the brilliance of this group.  I thought it was great at the end of the night how Yanni came out for an encore and played some of his early work – those long-time fans screamed and cheered with great appreciation. 

After the show, we were pulled aside with a small group of people for a special meet and greet with the vocalists (side note:  my husband was bummed that he wouldn’t get to meet the trumpet player – that guy rocked the house!).  Sitting in a room with maybe twenty other people, I was tickled when one of the organizers came in and specifically asked, “Do we have anyone with One2One Network here?”  We got to meet them first!  Just us!  And by “just us,” I mean myself and one other Houston blogger who I was very happy to meet – Alba of Independentmami.  We met the vocalists as they were coming off the elevator, and despite just coming off stage from a long night, they were so warm and kind and happy to see us.

l to r: Nathan Pacheco, me, my husband, and Ender Thomas. Nathan was so gracious, and much quieter than I imagined, given that he has such a huge voice and stage presence. Ender is so sweet! Very energetic and affectionate. He and my husband conversed briefly in Spanish.

I probably shouldn't pick favorites, but I have to say, I *love* Leslie Mills! She sings my favorite song on the CD - "Before the Night Ends." Her voice has this amazing tone to it that at times reminds me just a bit of Stevie Nix! She is also such a warm person, and very interactive with her fans on Twitter. (@Leslie_Mills) She knew exactly who I was when I went to meet her!

Here is Alba and her fiancee at the meet and greet, too. I have them to thank for the pictures - unlike me, SHE remembered to bring her camera!

At the end of the night, I told my husband that I think anyone who appreciates music at all would enjoy this concert.  Yanni Voices Live in Concert still has upcoming shows all throughout California, as well as one in Las Vegas and one in Phoenix.  Some of those shows even have $10 tickets available!  To see a fabulous video of highlights from the concert (as well as video introductions to each of the vocalists), visit this page on Yanni.com.

Many, MANY thanks to One2One Network for introducing us to Yanni Voices, and for sending us to the concert!

Aside from forgetting to tell my mom that the show was actually going to air tonight (DUH), and then forgetting to record the show for playback on MomTV (D’OH), I think everything went alright.  At least from what I remember.  Which isn’t much.  ‘Cause I was nervous.  And I rambled.  Kinda like now.

Deeeeeeep breath.

I’ll get better as I go, I’m sure.  And I’m so grateful for the ladies who tuned in and interacted in the chat room during the show!  Thank you for being there – your time is important, and I appreciate you sharing it with me.  Me, who rambles.  And forgets things.  Like telling my mom to tune in. 

If you weren’t there tonight, I’d like to tell you now that our selection for the book club aspect of our show was announced.  We’ll be reading Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain, which we will discuss in 4 weeks during the July 12th show.  Until then, we’ll spend our shows talking about book reviews and recommendations, as well as encouragement and resources for life-long learning and finding/experiencing everday genius.

Please come and watch.  That way I’ll have someone to tell me what I talked about for an entire hour.  And maybe someone to remind me during the show to (a) make sure my mom knows I’m on! and (b) record the stinkin’ show!

Maybe “overwhelmed” isn’t the right word.  I’m certainly off-balance.  There’s just something about summer that feels like New Year’s Part Two; I find myself making all sorts of commitments to positive change, my heart full of exclamation points at the possibilities.  It’s just….how exactly do I go about making those changes?  And why do I get so revved up at such an incredibly inopportune time (ie:  5 kids home all the time, temperatures outside rivalling those on the Sun)?

With so many ideas for change – I’m going to teach the kids to cook!  We’re going to go to storytime every week! – all I really end up doing is sitting and staring off into space.  I feel so incredibly unproductive, even while in my head I am scheming and dreaming and planning.

These first few weeks of summer are such a hard transition period for me.  I just hope I can hold on to some of those “big plans” and not be completely undone by my kids and the heat.