shower time

i have been known to sing in the shower.  and by sing i mean put on full concerts.  like, sold-out-show-in-the-vienna-opera-house style, holding nothing back, belting it out like that famous fat lady. 

today i sang for the first time in my new shower.  i've been showering silently since we moved in, hesitant to give my roommates tangeable evidence that i am a weirdo.  but today, i just couldn't help myself.  i mean, the shower is huge and echo-y, and after humming a few notes to test the acoustics, i was a gonner.  there was nothing for it but to sing. 

here is my typical shower playlist:

only the most emotional and melodious songs make the cut for shower-time-singing.  it is not the venue for hip-hop, and rap sounds ridiculous bouncing off the walls reminding me repeatedly that i am, in fact, not black.  no, the shower a place where emotions run free. 

my singing career started when i was 3 or 4.  i made up my own songs then, though.  my favorites were, "flowers grow and flowers die" and "you are precious, precious to me".  not only are those the titles of the songs, they are the lyrics as well, repeated to taste.  i later advanced to "somewhere out there" the reading rainbow theme.  it has exploded from there. 

it has recently come to my attention that i know next to no boyz II men.  i'm pretty embarrassed admitting that.  especially since they would make such an amazing addition to the playlist mentioned above.  starting the day off with this song and a nice shower just feels right.

grandmother

meet my grandmother

maybe i love watching downton abbey as much as i do because it feels like watching my life, or, at least, my grandmother.  just look at them, violet and effie dean, empresses of their own domains:

one and the same.  two peas in a pod.  they would be best friends if the laws of physics and reality would permit.  oh, the tea-parties that would be had, the jewelry that would be sported, the side-comments that would be made.  my grandmother is living proof that the british aristocracy is not dead.  not even in america.  court is still held, lavish dinner parties still thrown, capes still worn, and right here on normandie circle.

this regal woman

has had a profound influence on my life.  before you meet her you should know that she insists on being called grandmother.  nothing else will do.  believe me.  i have tried using other names and on one such occasion, she informed me that i had one last chance before i was dead to her.  i did get away with calling her "ganagome" when i was little, but that was only because i was so darling.  however, her hearing isn't what it once was...

like lady violet, grandmother is a strong woman with a strong personality, a strong will, and a knack for surviving.  ever since my granddad died 16 years ago, she has presided over our family.  but i am willing to bet that even when granddad was alive grandmother still manned the helm.  that's just who she is.  that's just what she does.  she has taught me much of the power that determined, tough, spirited women have.  she often tells me that i am capable of anything and she believes it enough to make it true.  

i used to think that my grandmother was like a female dumbledore.  now i know that she is really violet, dowager countess of grantham.  

some parting words of wisdom:

moving

since i graduated from high school i have moved no less than 15 times.  i admit, part of that is because i bounced back and forth between utah and arizona in the summers, but i still had to pack and unpack and repack all of my junk.

this year has been  no exception to the moving trend in my life.  i moved back to salt lake from provo and into a little place in sugar house where i lived until the end of december.  at that point, i thought i should move back home with the parents for a bit, so i sold my contract and that's what i did.  but last week, my cousin melindie and i decided we should probably rent the taj mahal which, contrary to popular belief, is not located in india, but on 1300 east 522 south, salt lake city, utah.

i wish that i had pictures to back my claims of grandeur.  but since i don't i will list the home's greatest features in a tidy list.  (since starting law school, i have started to LOVE lists and outlines.)

1) a pool
2) a slide into said pool
3) a waterfall next to said slide into said pool
4) a wrap around deck complete with posh lawn furniture and fire bowl
      a) as if my cravings for summer weren't bad enough, now summer taunts me from my own back yard as salt lake's weather grows evermore dismal
5) a floating staircase
6) oversized leather couches
7) a HUGE laundry room with built in study counter
8) a shower that feels lonely with 3 people in it
9) a window seat/niche in my bedroom
10) no tv

ok, 10 might not be an attribute, but i am telling myself that it is because it will make it so much easier to do cool law school homework.

i have never been more excited to move than i am about this one.  the house is a beaut.  but more than that, melinda and i have been talking about living together since we were just wee ones.  dreams are coming true.  good, good dreams are coming true.

and here's a good song to top it all off:

and here is a rap that i have almost completely learned: