imagination

My Favorite Things–CDs

A Relaxing Soak in the Tub–I picked this one up at Hallmark at least 10 years ago, and I still love it. A nice collection of classical music, perfect for falling asleep to.

Boys Night Out–The Rat Pack–I feel like I’m in a swanky nightclub whenever I listen to this (or at least what my imagination has created a swanky nightclub to be!)

This One’s From the Heart–James Darren (aka Vic Fontaine)–All I have to do is listen to this CD, and I’m instantly transported to my happy place.

A Splash of Pops–Boston Pops–Every year around the end of June, I have an uncontrollable urge to listen to this. It wouldn’t be the Fourth of July without the Boston Pops!

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Soundtrack–I love the songs (even the corny test copies) that never made it to the movie. So much fun!

O Lord Open My Lips, And My Mouth Will Declare Your Praise, and With High Delight–St. Paul Lutheran Church Children’s Choir–Rumor has it that there is a fourth CD, Sing With All the Saints, but someone (*cough* Ryan *cough*) hasn’t gone down to the bookstore to check out the price for me!

Hymns for All Saints series–CPH–I love the groupings of music on these CDs, and I also love that I got at least one of them free from good ol’ Thrivent.

Road Trip–Not a music CD, but a compilation of old time radio shows dealing with travel. So, my secret is out–I love old time radio. I’m weird, I know it, and I’ve come to accept it. I blame my father, I really do. My favorites are Fibber McGee and Molly, Jack Benny, and the Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show. Oh, and My Favorite Husband, the precursor to television’s I Love Lucy. So mostly comedy. But I love all the selections on this set, and I got to listen to some shows I normally wouldn’t have otherwise.

The 60 Greatest Old Time Radio Christmas Shows: Selected by Andy Williams–I don’t technically own this on CD–I got the audio tapes (does anybody still listen to those?) on clearance. I love this set because: 1.) it’s Christmas; B.) it has a lot of my favorite shows; and, 3.) it has some shows I wouldn’t have normally listened to, and discovered that I actually enjoy (Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, anyone? “On you huskies!”)

The Best of Fibber McGee and Molly–More old time radio–the McGee’s are the first show I fell in love with, and still my number one favorite–there are days I wish I could live in Wistful Vista!

Back Home–Caedmon’s Call–This CD will always remind me of my first pregnancy, so how could it not be one of my favorites?

Sinatra Reprise: The Very Good Years–Frank Sinatra

Anything by Andrew Peterson (but Carried Along will always be my favorite!)–He’s my favorite Christian singer.

WOW 2006–I think this was the first in the WOW series, and in my estimation, it will always be the best.

Christmas with the Rat Pack–The Rat Pack–This is my most-listened to CD every year at Christmastime.

The Nutcracker/Symphony #4–Tchaikovsky–Ryan got me the complete recordings for Christmas one year, and I love them! If I’m really lucky, I can convince him they’re not technically Christmas music, and get my Christmas fix in July.

A Charlie Brown Christmas–Traditionally, this is the first Christmas CD we listen to every year. Possibly because I cheat with it sometime after we watch the Great Pumpkin in October–hey, it’s Charlie Brown music, not Christmas music! That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!

The Christmas Song–Nat King Cole–This CD has no less than three different recordings of The Christmas Song, aka Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, and also a really cool Toys for Tots promo recording.

White Christmas–Bing Crosby–Classic. What more do I need to say?

Any Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CDs (especially Christmas–love the version of Stille Nacht at the end!)–I know they’re considered “New Age” or whatever, but I can’t find anything objectionable about their Christmas recordings.

The Christmas Trilogy–Trans-Siberian Orchestra–I admit, there are some things on this set I don’t really care for. But there are also some really awesome recordings–especially Christmas Canon.

Holiday Pops–Boston Pops–It wouldn’t seem like Christmas without hearing the Pops perform Sleigh Ride.

Huh, I have an awful lot of Christmas CDs on here. What can I say? I love Christmas music, and listen to it almost exclusively through November and December, and on into Epiphany. And the worst part is, I know there must be a least a CD or two that I’m leaving off this list!

Hoosiers Soundtrack–OK, I never actually actually owned this on CD, because it doesn’t exist, but I wore out the tape in high school, because it was my favorite thing to listen to when falling asleep.

Anything Veggie Tales–I know they’re children’s CDs, but I can’t help but love the dialogue in between tracks, and some of the songs are really funny! And the Junior’s Bedtimes Songs CD is really sweet. I can’t help but tear up at a few of the tracks (One in a Million gets me every time!).

Mad About You Soundtrack–I like this one so much, I’ve owned two copies of it, because my first one mysteriously disappeared!

The Very Best of Sheryl Crow–Can’t stand her politically, but this CD always makes me feel happy.

From Boats to Trains

Very weird. For the second time since we’ve lived down here, I felt an earthquake. Now, I know to old pros out in places like California, this was small beans. But to a midwesterner like myself, any earthquake is big news.

The first one, a couple of years ago, was very subtle. I don’t know if it was the difference between being on the ground level (then) and being on the second story (now), but the first one just felt like trying to walk on a boat. The ground kind of rolled under me for a few seconds, and then it was done. In all honesty, had that quake not been confirmed by the news, I could have easily thought I was crazy, because very few people I knew felt it, and I could have easily passed it off as a moment of dizziness.

Last night’s earthquake was a little different to me. I’m sure part of it was because I was on the second floor of our house, and part of it was because it woke me out of a dead sleep, but this one was more jarring. There was no rolling this time, only shaking, and a lot of shaking. The windows were shaking, the walls were shaking, the bed was shaking (at first, groggy as I was, I thought it was a little girl shaking the bed, trying to wake us up), and my lamp wouldn’t stop shaking, even after it was over. The vibration must have been enough to set the lamp shade off at a weird angle, and once it started, it couldn’t stop.

Anyway, the fact that it woke up my husband, who I swear could sleep through a tornado, assured me that there was no way I was imagining it this time. When your mind is trying to sort out what it going on, it’s fun the possibilities you go through. Thunder aftershock? (No, not raining yet, but we knew rain is on the way, so it seemed like a viable possibility…) Train? (But we’re too far away from the tracks for that kind of shaking!) Low flying aircraft? (I’ll never forget the way the Sky Fox used to rattle our windows in our first apartment!) Explosion? (Not really sure where that one came from, but when you’re sleepy, your mind imagines all sorts of things.)

I think I should get an award for being the first one to properly identify the cause of the movement, but I suppose no such award exists. Funny, it never occurred to me to call the police department, but word on the street is that their switchboards were quite busy with calls from inquiring residents, trying to figure out what had just happened. I guess I just figured once my brain landed on earthquake, that’s what it was, and it was only a matter of time until the news reported it. (The nonchalant way my husband went right back to sleep also convinced me that it couldn’t be too serious, even if I was up for the day at that point!)

At any rate, I don’t see myself moving to California any time soon. 5.2 is enough excitement for me!