What a week!

Wait....do I already have a post with that title? Probably so. I seem to have quite a few "What a week!"s.

As I stated in my last Music Monday post, last week was going to be a killer in terms of time management, and I was not wrong. We did make the trip up to Tennessee to visit my oldest son's college, and now, almost everything is lined up and in place. We're just enjoying our family time until he moves on the 24th. I have already made plans to be off work that weekend, as it is move-in weekend for the Freshmen, and I would not miss this for the world.

I may not have been able to blog, or visit much this past week, but I did manage to finish reading 50 Shades of Grey. And yes, there will be a review of sorts coming up. So come back soon if you're into that sort of thing. I am trying for tomorrow, but who knows? It may be Thursday instead.

Also since my last post, Randy Blythe was released from jail and has returned home. According to a tweet from Slipknot, Lamb of God will indeed be performing at Knotfest. If you live in either of the Knotfest cities, I urge you to go to the shows - the lineup is pretty amazing and if you ask me, this fest needs to go on the road :) And speaking of fests, last night was the last show of this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. I am still having withdrawals from the show I attended three weeks ago. I am really looking forward to next year, though!



And now, for this week's Music Monday selection.....

First off, the rules:

1. You Tube, and lock & load!
2. Grab "Monday's Music Moves Me" Button.
3. SIGN LINKY, Follow us, & Rockin' comments are good!
4. Finally, Boogie down to your Fellow Rockin' Bloggers. Also, bring some back with you to join us!

Ryan Bingham - Heart of Rhythm

I fell in love with Ryan Bingham's music when he first caught my attention in Crazy Heart as part of Bad Blake's band. Bingham wrote the song "The Weary Kind" with T-Bone Burnett, and it won both a Golden Globe AND an Oscar for Best Original Song. Quite a feat for such a young musician! That particular song was sung by Bridges in the movie, but the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features Ryan Bingham's version. It is also on 2010's Junky Star.

His new album Tomorrowland is out September 18 (a GREAT birthday gift for yours truly, BTW!), and the first single, "Heart of Rhythm" was released last Tuesday. If you are not already familiar with Ryan Bingham's music, you are really missing out and should acquaint yourself with it ASAP....

The next few days

....hell, maybe even the rest of this week, promise to be a blur of activity.

I worked this morning into this afternoon, when my sons returned home from their month-long trip to their Dad's. They got here about 4pm, and since then I have:

• Attempted to jump my youngest son's car off.
• Went out for dinner with both sons and my oldest's girlfriend.
• Attempted to dry the same load of clothes for hours; it seems my dryer has quit getting warm.
• Attempted AFTER dinner to jump son's car off once more, to no avail.
• Had son remove battery from car, then we took it to O'Reilly's for testing. Dead, of course. Purchased new battery and came home.
• New battery worked. THANK GOODNESS.
• Went to get gas in son's car.
• Started doing my last minute Pre-Customs stuff for my oldest son's customs. Interrupted by an hour-long power outage.
• Out of boredom, went for a drive with my youngest son (oldest was out with gf) during the power outage, and got brought up to speed on how his summer went.
• Returned home, and spent literally HOURS doing this Customs stuff. We're still not completely done, though I have come to a point in which I can go no further tonight. Oh, and my dryer? Never heated up, and load of denim never dried. So I gave up, and threw a load of soft material in instead. Hopefully this won't be impossible.
• Made hotel reservation. Printed confirmation.
• Printed directions from our house to our hotel.
• Printed directions from our hotel to the school.
• Tried really, really hard not to panic at the rapidly-declining balance in my checking account.

On the agenda for tomorrow?

• Wake up early to apply for title and license plate for youngest son's car.
• Send oldest to health department for booster shot and copy of shot records, the most recent of which can not be found.
• Procure passenger side mirror for youngest son's car.
• Call insurance and get youngest son added to policy.
• Pack for customs trip.
• Work 5-9pm.
• Come home, grab packed bags, paperwork, and son, and head to our destination, 1.5 hours away.
• Pass out in hotel room upon arrival.

I mentioned last week how Lamb of God have had to cancel their tour due to singer Randy Blythe's continued detainment in the Czech Republic. Now there is a petition you can sign if you are so inclined. From Shelton Hank Williams III's facebook: "My Friend Randy Blythe is still In jail for no reason They have paid his bail and have jumped through all the corrupt loop holes in the czech republic.Please sign this to get the US EMBASSY to step in and do the right thing for a innocent American." That link also has a basic rundown of the situation as it stands right now.

So after all this chaos and such, it's good to tap into music to help slow it down some. It just so happens that today's 4Ms theme is "Funny Songs".


Rules:
1. You Tube, and lock & load!
2. Grab "Monday's Music Moves Me" Button.
3. SIGN LINKY, Follow us, & Rockin' comment are good!
4. Finally, Boogie down to your Fellow Rockin' Bloggers. Also, bring some back with you to join us!

Well...I had a few of these lined up to post, but since my brain is fried, only two are going to make it. And one of them is DEFINITELY RATED R!!!!!!

Andy Samberg/Justin Timberlake: "Dick in a Box". Because it just never gets old. Embedding is disabled by request, so you can watch it here if you like.

The Charlie Daniels Band: Uneasy Rider. Pretty funny!



Be sure to go over to XMas Dolly's to play along! We'd love to have you :)

As for me, I will get caught up with everyone later in the week. Too much going on till Wednesday!

As July comes to a close

I'm scrambling busily to finish all that needs to be done before my sons return home from their visit with their Dad. August is going to busier than any other month, ever. Ever. (that I can recall) One child will start his senior year of high school, while another starts his freshman year.....of college. I have so many loose ends to tie up that I am almost sick with anxiety, and that is no joke.

Oh, and I also plan on launching another blog, solely dedicated to rescued/re-purposed stuff. *IF* I can ever find the time to finish the project I want to kick the blog off with! It will also have to be finished in August, as it's intended owner will be moving and will need it before then. But I should have plenty of projects to get me through the rest of the year. I see an editorial calendar in my future!

In the meantime, this is a bit of what you can look forward to next week....

• Mondays always revolve around music over here, and this Monday will be no different, so be sure to stop by then to see what I have in store for you :)
• Also, I have (shamefully) started reading the 50 Shades trilogy. I am almost finished with the first book, 50 Shades of Grey, and I've got something to say about it! If I can get my act together, I'll probably post that this coming week.
• I need to get back to my other blog-hops this week, as well. The photo ones, and the writer's workshop ones. I don't want this to become a blog-hop-only blog, but at least that inspires me to try to get creative again, so there's that....

Rounding out the week, I'd like to call your attention to some worthy posts around the web....

• Via HuffPo Entertainment: Lamb of God has had to cancel its upcoming tour due to singer Randy Blythe remaining jailed in the Czech Republic since his June 27 arrest in connection with the 2010 death of a fan at one of the band's shows.
  
  This is just a tragedy (and a travesty) no matter how you look at it. For heaven's sake, people, don't be idiots at shows!
• Local celebrity Antoine Dodson speaks out about the Chick-Fil-A boycott. Dlisted has the most entertaining post about it.
• I really wanted to see The Watch.....till it got (at time of this post) one star at Rotten Tomatoes.

How was YOUR week?

Image Source: © Natalia Balcerska Photography; issued under Flickr Creative Commons