Can't Live if Living is Without You

I’m super excited to have been invited to join a blog group alongside three talented bloggers.  Each week, one of us chooses a topic and we all post a blog entry on that topic, usually on Thursdays.   

Here are the links to the other fabulous blogs:

Merryland Girl

Froggie

Moma Rock

This week’s topic comes from Merryland Girl who said:  Write about either “10 things you CAN’T live without” OR “10 things you CAN live without.”  These “things” have to be items that you spend money on and not people or metaphysical concepts.  Merryland Girl got the idea for the blog post from the book The 100 Thing Challenge.  I haven’t yet read the book, but from what I can gather, Mr. Bruno gives up a whole bunch of material stuff.  But I’m feeling needy, so I went with Ten Things I Can’t Live Without.  And here they are:

1)  Books:  This one is a no-brainer.  I need to read.  And none of those electronic downloads.  I want – I need – to hold a book in my hands.  I need to turn pages.  I need to stick a piece of scrap paper between the pages when I take a break.  It’s all part of the wonderful reading process.  I don’t necessarily have to buy the book (though bookstores are my favorite stores); I’m fine taking a loan from the library.  But there’s something oh so comfortable about a stack of my books in a room.  In every single room.   

2)  Music:  I can’t even imagine a life without music.  Even when I’m in a crappy mood, if a good song comes on the radio, I turn it way, way up and suddenly I feel a whole lot better.  I’ve loaded my phone with tons of songs and I stash a pair of earphones in my bag so I can plug in when need be.  The songs run the gamut; there’s hair metal, of course, but there’s also Queen and Rufus Wainwright, and Jellyfish and Barry Manilow, too.  My latest iTunes download?  Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines.  Just because it’s catchy and it makes me want to dance (don’t worry, I don’t).  There’s a song for every mood, and for almost every memory.  I can’t even fathom life without music.  

3)  Bon Jovi concert tickets:  You might think that “music” encompasses Bon Jovi tix but it really doesn’t.  For me, a Bon Jovi concert is much, much more.  There’s the music, of course, but there’s also Jon Bon Jovi standing right there!  Add in the crowd and the energy, the sound of 60,000 voices singing as one.  And there’s the good dancing (Jon’s) and the bad dancing (mine).  And, of course, there’s Michelle, my Sister in Bon Jovi, right at my side.  A Bon Jovi concert provides an energy I’ve never found anywhere else . . . and I know I never will. 

4)  Car:  I can’t say I always love to drive, but I always love having the option to drive.  To me, driving = freedom.  I like being able to climb in the driver’s seat and go wherever, whenever.  It doesn’t have to be a fancy car; hell, I keep my vehicles until they die.  It just needs to be safe and to go when and where I want to go. 

5)  A pen and paper:  I love to write almost as much as I love to read.  I typically use a computer, but at heart I’m old school, and I’d do just as well with paper and a pen.  A paper and pen also allow me to doodle or write a grocery list (which I almost invariable leave on the counter when I head for the store).  I like the feel of a pen in my hand.  I like to twirl it around my fingers and shake it back and forth while I think.  And is there anything as beautiful as a sheet of blank paper?  It’s just full of possibility.

6)  My KitchenAid stand mixer:  Have you tried my salted caramel cookies?  Baking is one of my favorite hobbies.  It’s relaxing, from start to finish (and delicious at finish).  I’ve had my KitchenAid mixer longer than I’ve had two of my kids, and I love it almost as much.  It’s sturdy and reliable.  It allows me to create cookies and cakes with much less effort than a hand mixer or even a lesser stand model.  My model is classic white and I’m hoping it stays around long enough for me to bequeath it in my will.  I love it that much.

7)  My contact lenses:  I’m mildly farsighted with an annoying astigmatism that makes night driving super fun, requiring me to wear corrective lenses.  I opt for the disposable wear-for-two-weeks-or-until-they-become-uncomfortably-blurry.  I briefly considered Lasik so I’d no longer need to deal with saline solution and that little white case, but then I learned they freeze your eyes open and that just freaked me out.  Although I’ve recently had to add a pair of drugstore readers to my repertoire, I reserve those rhinestoned-purple beautiesfor dark restaurants and at-home small print.  Glasses aren’t really an option because my nose is crooked . . . making my glasses crooked.  Anyway, I’m just not cool enough to pull off frames.  (And I have the 1990s-era photos to prove it.)

8)  Gap blue jeans:  I prefer wearing jeans to any other type of clothing.  No yoga pants for me; denim is much more comfortable.  A few years back, I stumbled onto the Gap’s Long and Lean jeans – which is funny, because I am neither long nor lean.  The jeans are well made and super comfortable and only about $25 at the Gap Outlet.  I’m mourning the recent loss of my second-oldest pair of Long and Leans, which bit the dust after one too many washings and an unfortunate rip in the knee.  But don’t worry; I’m currently breaking in a new pair.  Soon, they’ll feel like the second skin they’ve come to be.

9)  Tinted moisturizer & mascara:  This one may seem shallow, but if you’ve ever seen me make-up free, you’d understand.  On the rare occasion I leave the house bare faced, someone invariable asks me if I’m feeling okay.  I don’t look okay; I look pale and splotchy.  Taking ten minutes to brush on a little Stila moisturizer and some black mascara makes me feel pulled together and apparently keeps me from looking like the walking dead.

10)  My AM radio:  When I was a little kid, my Mom religiously listened to WGN, a Chicago AM station.  She listened to talk radio hosts like Bob Collins and Wally Phillips, men I considered old and boring.  (We caught a break on Sundays when she switched over to the Polka Hour.)  Of course, this constituted torture for me.  I wanted music – not old people chatter and certainly not Polish music.  Fast forward to today and guess who’s tuned into WGN?  I listen from the time I wake up (Steve Cochoran) through the evening (Garry Meier).  I play WGN in the house on my eldest daughter’s long-abandoned Hello Kitty radio; I play it in the car where the tuner is always on AM.  I even downloaded the WGN app so I can listen when I’m out of town or just out for a walk.  As a bonus, WGN broadcasts the Cubs games.  My friends mock my affinity for the “old people” station, but I won’t be deterred.  And I always know the current temperature.