2008

2008 has been a great year. There have been a lot of changes in 2008. We've moved. I've begun working from home. Marc graduated. One of our best friends is engaged. Kids have started school. We've met great people who have come to mean a lot to us. Exciting ideas have begun to take shape. We are looking forward to 2009, that's for sure!!

As we've come into the holiday season (the favorite time of the year around this house), we really have started to count our blessings. We have been very fortunate this year to be able to spend time with each other and all our loved ones. Hopefully, in 2009 we can spend even more time with everyone.

So, the Shea's will begin our holiday traditions. Getting a turkey that is way too big for a family of five, stuffing it, and throwing on all the yummy sides. Going shopping in secret to help Santa out. Going through our clothes and toys to donate whatever we can to people who need it more than we do. This is the greatest time of year and we hope to share as much love and laughter as possible with all of our family, old friends, and new friends (all of whom mean so much to us).

Happy Birthday, Moo

Yesterday was Moo's birthday. Happy Birthday MaggieMoo! We love you!

Joosin' Up

It's been a while since we've blogged consistantly. And I'm sure our millions of readers are annoyed by that. To remedy the situation, I am writing about my new favorite drink. Oh we all pretend to love single malts, microbrews, and vintage vino. But when you gotta get your drink on, you need Joose! This stuff is insane. It's a malt beverage/energy drink. That's nothing new. What differentiates this from Tilt or Sparks is the alcohol content. It's a whopping 9-9.9% ABV! There are four flavors apparently. As far as I can tell, you describe them much like you describe the taste of Kool-Aid; by color, not actual flavor. The flavors are orange, red, blue, and purple. I've only had the orange and I can only describe the taste as liquored-up grapefruit juice, but not as tart or sour. Yes, that's a perfect description. I have to give it up to my buddy, Mike. He opened me up to the world of Joose. My eyes have been opened and my mind expanded!! Although Mike warns me that Blue Joose doesn't taste so good. Maybe he had a bad Joose trip.

Fantasy Baseball

Well My Fantasy Baseball season is over. After an impressive 10-0 start, my team, The Cheese, ended up finishing 2nd overall. The Bom-Chicka-Wow-Wow Team beat me. I wasn't upset, though. They had beaten me two other times this season and they won using Andy Pettite and A-Rod in the last game at Yankee Stadium. The score was so close that the last game was the deciding factor. So, I tip my hat to the Bom-Chicka-Wow-Wow's. They owned me all season. Being #2 isn't too bad.

The Verve's Forth

Not long ago, The Verve, possibly my favorite band of all time, released their fourth album. The appropriately titled Forth is the band's first release in about ten years. I'd love to say that it's the best thing they've ever released. But I can't. It's solid and a great release for a band that's been on hiatus for a decade. It's an interesting mix of their first three albums. There are tunes on this CD that could fit on each of their other albums. The highlights for me are:
Sit and Wonder, Judas, I See Houses, Valium Skies, and Appalachian Springs. Each song is amazingly strong. The other half of the album (it's a 10 track offering) is considerably weaker. Rather Be is really good, but take out the background vocals and I would like it even more. Love is Noise could be better without the bizarre "oh-oh, oh-oh" and "woo-hoo" that pepper the song. Take them out and the song kicks ass! Numbness sounds like it should have been left as a B-side. Noise Epic and Columbo are strange and a bit disjointed.
I would have loved to hear guitarist Nick McCabe go crazy. But even during the jams he seems subdued. The album is DEFINITELY worth getting. Maybe after a decade of waiting, my expectations were too high. Hopefully this album is just a springboard to even better offerings in the (hopefully near) future.

New site

If you've ever had a crappy job or just hate those stupid motivational pictures then check out the newest friend we put on our site: Despair.com. I haven't laughed so hard in a really long time. The videos are hilarious!

Remember This?

Thou Shalt Have No Cymbals

Thou Shalt Have No Clue

Thou Shalt Not Play The Same Song Again

Thou Shalt Have As Many Pedals On As Possible

Thou Shalt Only Play After 9PM

Thou Shalt Never Try To Record Track By Track

Thou Shalt Play The Blues A Lot

Thou Shalt Never Play Cover Songs

Thou Shalt Never Write Lyrics

Thou Shalt Not Have No Feedback

Thou Shalt Pray To The Wah-Wah

Thou Shalt Have Duels With The Drum Machine Regularly

Thou Shalt Always Achieve Loudness

Thou Shalt Slam

Thou Shalt Always Be Super Karate Monkey Death Car

Ed's S.K.M.D.C. -O- Gistics

Dinosaurs you may have never known existed....

Longneckasauras

Bladeasauras

That's a duck named Chicken.....

Look, Mommy......


A SEA BEAVER!!!!!!

The magic of childhood

The tooth fairy visited our house for the first time and we are very excited! It is amazing to share little traditions with your kids. This was a great one! Congratulations Bean!!

The Wedding of Cheek and Teddy

May 19, 2008 - Cheek and Teddy became one today in a private ceremony surrounded by family and friends. The nuptials, officiated by Bean, and attended by Bub, Moo, Baby Elephant, and Marc and Beverly Shea, was THE event of the season.

The bride was resplendent in pink fur and the groom was handsome in white. The ceremony was brief and was capped off by a small kiss between the new husband and wife. The happy couple ask that in lieu of gifts, a donation be made to the Stuffed Animals of America Happiness Fund.

Congratulations!!

A great, big congratulations is necessary for my loving husband, Marc! As of May 5, 2008, my hubby is a college graduate! This has been a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice, and has taken a lot of dedication. College work can be hard but it is a lot harder when you have to juggle work, kids, a wife, church, family, moving, a career change, extracurricular activities, and school work. I have to say my husband has undergone a lot of stress to get to this point but he handled it well.

Marc, I am so proud of you. I know one of your biggest regrets was not finishing college and I saw how hard you were on yourself. But you knew you needed to do this for your family, so you pushed through all the tough times.

I am amazed at your strength of character and I want you to know what an inspiration you are. I am truly proud of you and proud to be your wife. The kids are proud of their Daddy, too. I love you, babe.

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-CLASS OF '08 ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Engrish Locks!

As you may have noticed, we have added a new link to our blog. It's www.engrish.com and I am addicted to it. If you have ever purchased anything from another country, you have probably experienced engrish. I can't stop checking this site out. Every time I go there, I just crack up. I've become addicted to it! I can't look at it at work because I don't get any work done!! Check it out and you can thank me later!

9 Things I Am Thankful For

1. God (No explanation necessary.)
2. My babies and their silly laughter (There's nothing like it. It is so sincere and has the power to make me laugh no matter what mood I'm in.)
3. My hubby (He knows why...)
4. Family and friends (Nothing more important in the whole world than my family and friends.)
5. Good food, good wine, good dessert (Ummm...making myself hungry.)
6. Turn signal that automatically turns itself off (Otherwise the click, click, click would drive me bonkers.)
7. Mute button (Oh, the joys of silence.)
8. Oldies music at a car show (There's something so cool about a bunch of people coming together and enjoying themselves in such a simple way and seeing Marc smile and reminisce is amazing.)
9. Cooking (I love making food people enjoy. Don't always get it right but when I do Marc closes his eyes and I get a very happy "ummmmmm" from him. Makes me happy.)

An Ant's Life in the Shea Household

Here is an account of what happened this morning:

Moo: Mommy!!!! There's an ant on the sink in the bathroom.
Mommy: Okay. Calm down. Just swish him away.
Moo: No!!!!
Bub: How 'bout say something scary to him.
Moo/Bub Chorus: Boo!
Moo: No...that didn't work!!
Bub: How 'bout we tell him a joke.

a '90's Flashback

I experienced something the other day. I put in a CD the other day that I hadn't heard in a while. It was A Northern Soul, by The Verve. As I listened I remembered buying the CD, listening to it, and thinking that the CD would quite possibly NEVER leave my CD player. For quite a long time, it didn't. But, as is usually the case, something else came up (probably Urban Hymns, The Verve's follow-up). As I did my chores, listening to the album, I thought, "How did I let so much time go by without listening to this"? Every track is amazing. It has kind of inspired me to revisit some of the CD's in my collection that I haven't heard in a while. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm looking forward to pulling out my CD's from Catherine, Snow Pony, and King's X.

And I thought three was tough!

Bev has me almost hooked on a new show. Actually the show isn't new but we're new to watching it. It's Jon & Kate plus 8. This is a couple who had twins, then four years later, they had sextuplets! If you ever wanted to know what Bev and I are like, WATCH THIS SHOW!! It's actually very funny. I don't know if it'll be as funny to those of you without kids, but you mommies & daddies out there will love it. They just seem like people you can hang out with. So I'm almost hooked. So I really enjoy the show, but if I miss it, I'm not annoyed (plus Bev DV-TR's it each night, so I can always go back and watch it).

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to Uncle Scott!!!!!!!!!!

We send love, hugs, and kisses!!!!

Good for a chuckle...

Miss J. came to our room a couple nights ago. She stood in the doorway, in the darkness of the hallway with something in her hand. I hadn't been feeling so well that day so she brought me something to make me feel better. Quietly, she explained what she had brought to me. So quietly, in fact, that I couldn't hear what she was saying. I asked her to repeat what she was saying.

Exasperated with her mommy, Miss J declared: "Mommy, I brought you a camel..........you know....a desert animal.......it's got two humps on it...."

Top 3 Surprise Albums of 2007

I was asked a few weeks ago to post something about the three biggest musical surprises of 2007. Well, I'm going to preface this post with two disclaimers. Disclaimer #1: These albums are my biggest surprises of 2007, but the albums may have come ouot earlier than '07. Disclaimer #2: I'm going to list five albums (plus one honorable mention), not three. These albums are in constant rotation in my car, at home, and at work. So here,without further ado, and in no particular order, are my five biggest surprise albums of 2007.
The Shore - The Shore:
This is the best Britpop album Britain never produced. The band is from California, but the sound is pure U.K. I've posted about the album before, but it deserves mention again. The CD was released in 2004 on the Maverick label. The good news is that the band should be releasing a follow-up soon. Stan outs include Waiting For The Sun (NOT the Doors song!), Firefly, Different Ways, and Hold On.

Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminals Starvation League - The Longest Meow:This album is awesome. There is such a wide variety of styles on here. At times it sounds like Marty Robbins started hanging out with Neil Young. The album was released on Bloodshot Records in 2006. According to the liner notes, the 11 tracks were recorded in 11 hours. The 12th track, a Pixies cover, must not be included in that! The vocals are always so heartfelt. It fits perfectly on the Bloodshot label. To me, this is the equivalent of a modern day Flying Burrito Brothers album. Stand out tracks include Snuggling World Championships, Back to Blue, Stop Crying, and Borrow Your Cape.

Back Door Slam - Roll Away:

These guys are a power trio from Britain. The blues-based rock this band makes shows a definite Cream influence. But there's more. There is also a hint of Dire Straits and maybe a bit of Derek & the Dominoes. Guitarist Davy Knowles plays like Vaughan, Clapton, and Knopfler, all rolled into one. I'd take him over John Mayer any day. While Mayer is a better fit for pop music, Knowles voice and playing is perfect for British blues. The album was released on Blix Street Records in 2007. Stand outs include Outside Woman Blues, Come Home, Heavy On My Mind, and Too Late.

Johnny Society - Coming To Get You

I have all but one album by this band. I bought them all in '07 after hearing one song! So, instead of putting all of the albums on here, I'm putting the album with that one song on the list. That song is The Witch's Plea. I'm not really sure how to desribe this band. Their sound is all over the place. Not heavy, not pop, not wussy. I guess they're kinda like a modern Wings. Great songwriting with a sense of humor. It's just a fun album, and a fun catalog of work! The album came out in 2005 on Messenger Records. Stand out songs are (obviously): The Witch's Plea, What Breaks In You Might Break You Through, Don't Talk Me Down, and Bound.

A Shoreline Dream - Avoiding the Consequences:

This band is really cool. I'm a big fan of big, loud, sonic landscapes. Tons of guitars, droning chords and vocals, slow tempos just draw me in. This album has this is spades. The CD almost puts you in a trance, so you may not want to listen to this while driving or operating machinery! It's an album that flows together. It sounds powerful, but not in a Tool kind of way. It's like listening to the ocean. There's a powerful beauty that's very subtle at the same time. It was released in 2006 on Latenight Weeknight Records. Stand out songs are: Laying This One Down Now, Focus The Present, Love Is A Ghost In America, and Pour.

Honorable Mention goes to The Meeting Places - Find Yourself Along The Way. Graet throwback to shoegazing. Fuzzed out, multi-layered guitar, dreamy vocals. That's a winning combination for me.

Happy Birthday!!

It is Mom's birthday today and we all would love to wish her an extremely Happy Birthday!!! Love from the Shea Crew!!

10 things I love...10 things I hate...

Sunday night. Sitting here thinking about my 30th birthday coming up and wanted to add a new blog. Here's some things you may or may not know about me:

LOVE
1. God
2. Marc & the Kids
3. Family & Friends
4. Nice, Crisp Wine
5. Chocolate
6. Bread
7. Quiet Time
8. Capers
9. Soft Clothes
10. Trips

HATE
1. People Who Can't Merge; Signal; Drive
2. Bread That Molds Too Fast
3. Arguments
4. Stress
5. Not Seeing Family or Friends
6. Loud Noises
7. Hair Issues
8. Weight Issues
9. Tooth Aches
10. Rude Language

Care to share your own list???

Finding time

Can anyone tell me what it is like to go to the bathroom uninterrupted? I can't tell you the last time I was able to close the door and have a moment. Actually, the last time I closed the door, the kids started banging on it so hard I thought Jack Nicholson's face was about to break through and shout "Honey, I'm home..." Every day, I have to scold the kids for silly stuff. Things like: Bubbie give your sister a hug!!!; or Moo, eat at least three beans!!!(I have no idea if three beans give her the proper nutrition she needs but I'm hoping); or Bean, don't use all your ChapStik at one time (She's turned up greasy on several occasions).
Luckily for me, Marc helps me out with the kids. Together, we get to wipe paint (washable kid paint, thank God) from the bathroom sink and floor. We get to find the missing Cold Blankie (and place it in the correct order of blankets: first of five), and we get to explain that "things" that are blown out of the nose should not be called "gum".
Parenthood is an amazing adventure and you never know what you may face from one minute to the next. Currently, Moo is a cat, Bean is feeding her, and Bub is hitting a ball with a Whac-a-Mole hammer.
It is always a good day when Marc and I find time to sit back, relax, and listen to an off-key version of Happy Birthday, Horsey; late-night conversation between kids; or a soul-stirring giggle that never fails to make us smile. These are the things that are worth finding time for and I hope we will always remember how lucky we are even when the door is threatening to buckle because kids are demanding entrance into the bathroom.

Another quote from one of the kids...

Hello, everyone! It feels good to be connected again! Moo has been at it again. They all dispense little nuggets on an almost daily basis so I struggle to remember some of the completely silly things they say.

This one has to top all I've heard lately:

I sat next to Moo and was telling her how great she and her sister and brother are. She didn't seem very interested in what I had to say (I could tell by the lack of eye contact and the sigh). After getting no response from my praise, I continued to try to provoke some love and smooches from her. I said, "Moo, I love you." After a long, exasperated sigh, she plops her chin in her hand, shakes her head and says: "I don't have time for this...."

(I'm still laughing over this one and it has been a couple of weeks.)