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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today is a day to reflect upon our blessings, eat 5 million calories, watch football and live with gratitude.  I started my morning at the gym with a little Xtend Barre followed by weights.  Of course, I strategically timed my work out  before Thanksgiving dinner, so I won’t feel to awful about all of the things I’m about to eat.

As I baked the cheesecake last night, I started watching a new show that is wonderful.  My colleague recommended The Durrells of Corfu as it  reminded her of my kids..   This ITV produced show takes place in the mid 1930s in Britain and Corfu, Greece.   It follows the story of a widow and her four children (3 boys and 1 girl), who move to Greece after getting fed up with life in England. As an aside, the show runs on PBS’s Masterpiece Theater in the States.

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I quickly realized why this show reminded my co-worker of my kids. The show’s writers based it on the books written by the youngest Durrell.  The youngest son Jerry, much like my kids, caught and brought home every animal he caught.  Of course, the mom losing her cool on her kids that weren’t listening to her or helping around the house resonated with me as well.  The scenery, the characters and the plot are quite interesting.  My kids and I will definitely continue to watch this show.

Today we’ll be heading to my brother’s for a relaxing Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family.  It’s a far cry from the large gatherings we were accustomed to as kids, but its a nice change of pace.  I remember watching movies at my grandma’s with the family on the holidays.  One year we watched Star Wars Emperor Strikes Back and another year we watched Gremlins.  Speaking of gremlins, I’m pretty sure if I don’t get enough sleep tonight, I may turn into one tomorrow morning.

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To all my friends and family, I am forever grateful that you are in my life.  If there’s anything I’ve learned in 2017, its that life is precious and not promised.  Let’s be thankful today for the beautiful people that have helped shape our lives.  Let’s be grateful for the opportunity to rise and grind another day.  Lastly, today we remember those that are no longer with us.  While they may no longer be with us physically, they’ll always be with us in our hearts.

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Today’s song is the Beatle’s masterpiece “A Day In The Life.”  This song penned by Lennon and McCartney is one of my favorites and is both haunting and beautiful.  Moreover, this song features one of the most famous ending chords.  Interestingly, when Paul McCartney played A Hard Days Night in Miami he and his band ended on this chord.  (I hadn’t picked up on it, but my music expert Jake certainly did.)

 

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Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Happy Thanksgiving eve to the blogosphere.  I spent my night running, at Barre and baking a cheesecake for tomorrow’s festivities.  This of course after I enjoyed a very slow, but productive day at work.   Fortunately, I don’t have to cook tomorrow only bring my cheesecake and an appetizer.

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After my disappointing at last Sunday’s race, I was eager to hit the pavement and log some additional miles.  Sadly, much like last’s Sunday’s race the miles were slow and laborious.   Nonetheless, I logged a little over two miles with the Piggie before heading to pilates for the evening.   I am hoping that my run Friday goes a bit easier than tonight’s run.   The boys are an I are planning to run the Jingle Bell Jog for the 3rd year in a row.   Hopefully, by then my pace has improved and the miles aren’t nearly as laborious as they were tonight.

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Post-run, I headed back home to hang with the boys before they headed to the Panther’s game. While I headed to the pilates studio, Goalielocks and the Mayor headed to the Florida Panther’s game with Uncle Jon.  They were so excited to go that the Mayor had his chores down by 9:00 am.  In fact, he even sent me pictures to prove that he had done it.  When I got home from work last night, none of their daily chores had been done.  Like a tyrant, I told them if they didn’t their chores today, there would be no hockey game tonight.  This proved to be a great motivator for them.

As they enjoyed the free food at the Corona Club at BB&T, I was working my tail off at Burn.  Tonight, my instructor Adam, showed no mercy as we took to the TRX for the first half of class.  TRX is a great way to get strong and get fit without a lot of equipment.  Undoubtedly, I will feel this class tomorrow.   Fortunately, I’m heading back for more punishment tomorrow before our Thanksgiving dinner.

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Tonight’s song is “Dreams” by the Cranberries.  I loved this song from the moment it hit the airways.  I would have bought the CD if my dad hadn’t beat me to it!

 

 

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My World

For tonight’s blog, it’s all about giving you a glimpse in my world through the share your world challenge.  It’s one of the challenges run here in the blogosphere that make for fun and interesting reads while also connecting you to others bloggers.  So here it goes.

If you were having difficulty on an important test and could safely cheat by looking at someone else’s paper, would you do so?   I’m not good at being bad. So no I wouldn’t cheat because know I’d get caught.

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What things in nature do you find most beautiful?  I love the beautiful sunsets that light the Florida sky.  Also a top the items I find to be most beautiful are flowers, the beach, the fjords, mountains and waterfalls.   The Norwegian countryside was beyond beautiful.  Neither pictures nor words can adequately describe its beauty.

Complete this sentence: When I travel I love to…  I love to stay in the neighborhoods and experience the city or country as a local.  Consequently, we stayed in AirBnB’s in both Bergen and Oslo while travelling throughout Norway.  These accommodations were in the neighborhoods away, but not too far from the tourist sights.  In Oslo, our apartment had the cutest nest like area over the kitchen where the younger two boys could sleep.  Fortunately, they loved their little area.  Goalielocks had a similar room when we were in Bergen, which he also loved.  Nevertheless, the point is I want to be immersed in the culture of where ever I have traveled to.

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  This week I was heavily inspired by my dear friend Debbie, here family and our friends.  Months of hard work culminated with the Purple Stride event Sunday morning.  After the event, I was looking to see updated fundraising totals on the site and noticed a quote from Debbie. Here’s here quote that as a part of her keynote speech at the 2016 Broward Palm Beach Purple Stride event.

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“My first PurpleStride was in 2015. I wanted to complete the 5K as my own personal challenge. Being able to attend my second PurpleStride this year in 2016, was about showing that patients can live, cherish the moments they have in their lives, teach others to celebrate their own lives and to remember the gifts of those lives that are no longer with us.”

Tonight’s song comes to us courtesy of Tom Petty.  Enjoy “Learning to Fly!”

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Drama Free Monday

After last week’s truly manic Monday, this week’s drama free Monday was a welcome change.  Today was more productive than I had anticipated given it is a holiday week.  Thankfully, the day was was pretty smooth.  Since I’m exhausted from the busy weekend, it was exactly the kind of day I needed.

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My left knee and hip feel like they have a sludge stuck in them causing some pain and friction, hopefully some Aleve will put an end to that nonsense.  As I reflect back on the race, I’m still disappointed in my time.  Nevertheless, I had to stop running for awhile due to severe pain in my shins.  After taking a break for several weeks, my shins are feeling much better.  I’m excited to start training in earnest.  Unequivocally, I am definitely chasing a new PR.

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Meanwhile amidst all the craziness preparing for Sunday’s event, one of our chameleons had gone missing.  I am that lucky mom that has both a worm farm and a missing reptile in her house.  Are you jealous? Since I was busy sorting shirts and putting packets together, I couldn’t help look for it.  Consequently, hubby and Goalielocks looked for an hour to try and find the missing reptile to no avail.

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Goalielocks was distraught as the missing chameleon, who escaped when he mistakenly left the cage open, was  his little brother’s. Fortunately, the Mayor was at a sleepover that night, so he had no idea his creature had escaped.  Moreover, by the time he got home from the race, his legs were so tired that he never went up to  Goalielocks’ room to check on the creatures.

Today , Goalielocks’ called me while I was at work his voice was filled with both excitement and relief.   He excitedly told me that he had found the missing chameleon climbing in the Mayor’s room.  In the background, the Mayor was saying, “wait, what?  My chameleon was missing?  It was lost? What happened?”  Consequently, the Mayor was a little upset that we forgot to tell him his Chameleon had gone missing.

It’s never a dull day in our house.  Fortunately, for now, I can remove the chameleon’s from our milk cartons.  Not too mention, I don’t have to worry about accidentally stepping on it or it accidentally stepping on me. How was your Monday?

Tonight’s song,  in honor of my hubby’s favorite band and it’s co-founder Malcolm Young, is “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC.

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Today We Waged Hope

Today we waged hope for better outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients and their families.  After months of anticipation, the Purple Stride 5k was upon us.  It was a tough, heartfelt morning full of love for Debbie and her family that left me in tears a couple times.  Team Deb Force five won an award for raising the most funds as a team for the second year in a row.  Unquestionably, Debbie was the key our success.  Our collective love and the respect we hold for Debbie continues to inspire us to wage hope.  She was a tour de force, who inspired so many of us.  

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While we were highly successful fundraising, my training and preparation for the race was poor.  Sadly, the results showed this as I finished with a time of over 30 minutes.  Excitedly, Jake and The Mayor had awesome showings with the Mayor getting 3rd place in his age group with a time of 28:11.  Albeit Jake didn’t place in the top 3, but still finished with a time of 25:13.  Of course, he was disappointed with his time feeling that he could have done significantly better.  Nonetheless, it was still over a minute faster than his time at the event last year.

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At the start of the race, The Mayor and his teammates, Jake and my co-worker Imani were at the front.  The Mayor and his teammates were super excited and nervous to embark on their run.  They were the cutest.  It was a sea of purple as we lined up at the start.   This was my first run at FAU and this particular course was absolutely beautiful.  Undoubtedly, I wish I had been better prepared for the run, but now I know what I need to do before the next event.

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After the event, my stomach was churning -thanks to chili I ate yesterday, but we waited for our team to finish. As the team members finished as we enjoyed the free food and we waited for the Mayor to get his medal.  A big congratulations to the Mayor and fellow Deb Force Five member HB who placed 3rd and 2nd respectively in the under 13 age group.  I now owe the Mayor $50 as he finished under 30 minutes and he beat me handily! 

Lastly, while the event may be over our work is still unfinished.  There is a long way to go in the war against pancreatic cancer and doubling survival rates by 2020.  In fact,  it isn’t too late to donate to Team Deb Force Five.  If you’d like to donate, please click here. To our Deb Force Five family, thank you for your participation, your donation and your continued love and support of this beautiful family.  

Today’s song is “The Sky is a Neighborhood” by the Foo Fighters.  I was jamming to this song as I finished my third mile today.  It’s a great one!

 

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Mount Floyen Friday

It is a Mount Floyen Friday, can someone please take me back to Bergen?  I’ve been good this year, so pretty sure they’ll be no coal in my stocking this year. In lieu of coal, feel free to stock my stuffing with tickets back to Bergen.  Although I’m sure the beautiful city and mountain look a little bit different in December than they do in July.

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We took the funicular up to the top of Mt. Floyen first thing one morning, so we could hike and explore the mountain.  Fortunately, Mt. Floyen offers a lot of activities to those travelling with families.  There are number of different trails, a ropes course, a play ground and some other activities.  Moreover, if you’re really ambitious, you can do the day long hike from Mt. Floyen to Mt. Ulricken.  In addition, there is also a cafe, gift shop, a restaurant and bathrooms atop the mountain.

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The hike on Mount Floyen is significantly easier than the hike at Ulricken.  There are several walking trails, appropriate for all fitness levels)  along with rockier hiking trails through the woods.  Additionally, there are no significant drop offs around the trails (at least the trails we explored at Mt. Floyen), which makes it a little more child friendly than Mount Ulricken.  Truly, it is a good hike for all ages and all abilities.

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Fortunately, when the kids tired out from hiking before we did, they had activities they could do while we hiked.  Consequently, when the kids got bored and the grandparents got tired, they headed back towards the funicular where there was a nice playground.  While the kids played on the playground, Jake, myself, my brothers and my sister-in-laws decided to hike into the woods and off the paved path.

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The paths through the woods were incredibly beautiful.  In some places, it reminded me of the Valley of the Living Rocks where the trolls resided in Frozen.  You could easily imagine that trolls, witches and fairies inhabited these magical woods.  There was moss on the trees, delicate mushrooms carpeting the forest floor, little structures and fallen trees.

Unquestionably, it was a magical, beautiful place that was also peaceful and serene.  Of course, it didn’t hurt that once we finished our hike we were able to get a nice, hot latte before heading back down the mountain.  We headed back down the mountain to make our way towards Bergen’s tallest mountain Mt. Ulricken. That morning we hiked off the beaten path and were transported into a magical woods that was reminiscent of Narnia. Needless to say, if you’re in Bergen, make a trip to both Mt. Floyen and Mt. Ulricken a priority.

Tonight’s song comes to us from Nirvana and it is “The Many Who Sold the World.”

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Hazards of Being a Boy Mom 306

From the gross files, let me bring you hazards of being a boy mom 306.  As you may have guessed, my younger boys love animals.  They love their dogs, fish, lizards, guinea pigs, amphibians, birds and pretty much everything except for cats.  We’re now the proud owners of a bearded dragon (Iris), two veiled chameleons (Kenny and Ringo) and a basilisk name Yeezus.  Sadly, our basilisk named Cheez-its escaped.  Nonetheless, this healthy menagerie of reptiles goes through a lot of crickets and super worms.  Don’t let the name fool you, there’s nothing super about them.

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Goalielocks is an industrious child and always has been.  Since he’ll soon have to bear the burden of paying for the super worms and crickets, he started a super worm farm.  Originally, he started this worm farm in his bait boxes on the patio.  This was a good arrangement since I didn’t have to see it.

Well, all good things come to an end.  I should not have been surprised when the worm farm made it into a tupperware bin on my kitchen island.  Given his droll humor, at first I thought he was playing a joke on me.  However, it appears he’s hoping to keep it in the house.  Yeah, about that…  That arrangement will be ending soon.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Things Found in a Kitchen

As I asked my hubby what I was looking at and he confirmed my fears.  It was indeed a worm farm on my kitchen island.  I had to laugh.  Only a boy mom would have to contend with a worm farm in their kitchen.  I also had flashbacks to the movie Dumb and Dumber and Lloyd and their worm farm aspirations.

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The worm farm is slightly less gross than Goalielocks’ attempt to recreate the amber from Jurrasic park with a gatorade lid, a dead gecko and some Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup.  Moreover, I’m super happy that the hubby was the one that discovered their experiment and not me.  As soon as I found, I couldn’t stop laughing.  I reminded Goalielocks and the Mayor that Mrs. Butterworth isn’t actual tree sap as it is artificially flavored.  Goaelielocks’ eyes lit up as he realized he could use my maple syrup from Canada. I immediately told them they were not to touch my real maple syrup.  They sighed and walked away. Oh life with boys is never dull!

Tonight’s song in honor of the Mayor ,who will happily tell you that the Beastie Boys are always on vacation, is “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” by the Beastie Boys.

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Honk If You’re Thankful

Honk if you’re thankful!  Judging from the sounds of my morning and evening commutes, S. Florida drivers are super thankful.  Who knew that it was gratitude driving this behavior not anger issues or self importance as I had thought.  I wanted to share with you one of my favorite Debbie stories tonight.

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Let me take you back to last winter.   Our boys had home games early.  The hubby picked up John and TK and bring them to the rink  for warm-ups.  Debbie and I didn’t need to be there an hour early. Consequently,  she picked me up an hour later.  She was even kind enough to stop at Dunkin’, so I could get my coffee fix.  On our drive to the rink, we talked about things she wanted to do in the near future.  She was headed North to New York to visit family and ski, but she wanted to go to Iceland to see the Northern lights.

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It was then that she dropped it on me.  Debbie had decided that she wanted me to take her to a rave in Miami.  Keep in mind, this was probably a week or two after the devastating fire at a rave in San Francisco that had killed 36 people.  Not to mention, raves in Miami aren’t known to be held in the safest locations or be the safest events.

I looked her and asked if she was serious and/or crazy, she was in fact quite serious.  As I’m digesting this request, it dawns on me that Debbie determined that I might just be the hockey mom crazy enough to take her to a rave.  Sadly, and I hate to disappoint people here, even I am not that crazy.   We started talking it through and I told her that likely we’d both end up dead if we went to a rave in Miami.  Can you imagine two hockey moms at a rave with glow in the dark pacifiers?  I mean, can you?

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Rather than head to a rave, I suggested we try going to Ultra or WMC in Miami.  The atmosphere would be similar, but more controlled than a warehouse rave.  Debbie started looking to possible DJ shows we could hit too, but that pesky hockey schedule kept getting in the way.  As it turns out, WMC and Ultra were scheduled on spring break when Debbie and the family were going to be out of town.

One of the things that struck me most in our conversation was the fact that Debbie and her family had been planning things in three month windows.  Debbie and John, throughout Deb’s illness, were both so inspiring in their attitudes and approach to life.  In that  moment, it struck me like a ton of bricks.  While we all plan our lives in days, months and years, they had been planning their life around an illness for almost two years.  Just when you think you’re inspired by people, they blow you away with their amazingness in a whole new way.

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On the heels of the boys’ state tournament, we received the devastating news.  Debbie’s doctors were admitting her to hospice.  Incomprehensibly, Debbie’s doctors determined that she had exhausted all treatment options.  It bothers me that Debbie and I never got to SoBe to enjoy a dance party, but I know she’s dancing in heaven.  The lesson here is don’t wait to pursue your passions or your bucket list trips – go for it now.  And of course, honk if you’re thankful.

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Lastly, tonight is the deadline for online registration for the Purple Stride event.  If you’re thinking about participating, it’s go time.  There is no deadline for online donations to the team.  However, donations received after Friday will not be applied to the team total.  You can join the team or donate here Support Team Deb Force Five!  You can also cheer us on Sunday at FAU.  The race starts at 8:30 am.

Tonight’s song is one of my favorites from Swedish House Mafia “Don’t You Worry Child.” At their peek, the group spent most of their time providing the soundtrack in SoBe.  I hope you enjoy the song!

 

Daily Prompt: honk

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My Manic Monday

While last night’s blog was dedicated to my favorite riffs, I could have very easily written about my manic Monday.  Queue the Bangles song here please.  From the very beginning of the day, and I do mean the very beginning, I had a dubious feeling about they day.

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My Monday started as the clock struck midnight and Goalielocks woke me up.  Sadly, he was unable to fall asleep and was quite listless. His shoulder was bothering him and he had reached that point of sleep frustration where nothing was going to help.  Consequently, the poor kid only got a few hours of sleep when the alarms went off for school six hours later.

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Since Goalielocks had gotten no sleep, I made the wise decision to let him stay home and sleep.  The last thing we need is for him to be overtired all week and get sick.  Unfortunately, when he gets sick, he gets really sick.  Thankfully, he doesn’t get sick often and I wasn’t about to chance it this week.  He walked in a zombie like state to my bathroom and I sent him back to work.  For once, he quickly complied with my directive.

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Meanwhile, I still had to get ready for work and get the Mayor to the bus stop in time.  I failed.  Oh it was going to be one of those Mondays.  Sadly, the Mayor missed his bus and I had to drive him to southwest Boca for school  While his school is much closer to my work, the commute from his school to my  work is longer than my normal commute. Ugh!

All day Monday, it was one thing after another.  Nothing went right and seemingly everything was going wrong.  As I worked, I got an urgent call from Goalielocks at 3:30 pm.  Goalielocks was concerned that I had forgotten him this morning. Meanwhile, did you notice how he waited to ask in the late afternoon when it would have been too late for me to take him to school?  I did.  I chuckled and reminded him that I told him to go back to bed since he literally got no sleep the night before.  Keep in mind, I had spoken with him via text several times that day, but he never brought it up until he called me.

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When my work day finally ended, I had hoped the commute home would provide a respite.  Oh boy was I wrong.  I pulled up my Waze and kept looking for routes, but the commute got longer and longer with each refresh.  Noticing the extremely long commute, I called my hubby to let him know.  Unfortunately, he hadn’t left the job yet, so there was no way the Mayor was gonna make it to hockey practice last night.

 

Meanwhile, my drive took an hour and forty minutes.  It usually takes between 30-35 minutes for me to get home.  Oh what a little rain and snowbirds can do to one’s commute.   Honestly, driving in S. Florida is one of the most aggravating experiences one can have.  As I was literally parked on the turnpike, I noticed several drivers that felt the shoulder had become their new lane.  The fact that S. Florida drivers are that selfish, self-important and reckless is beyond aggravating.  If someone had been changing their tire or working on their car, they would have been killed.  I cant even with these people.  You see that?  They totally bring out my inner 13 year old girl.

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Fortunately, my night ended on a high note literally. I spent it writing my blog about my favorite riffs, cuddling with my boys and researching salt water tanks with Goalielocks.  Then I went to bed and shortly thereafter my hubby and Jake got home from their beer league hockey game. Before going to bed, I had sent Jake my blog link to get his opinion on my favorite riffs.  He’s a complete music aficionado, so I was both excited and nervous to get his credit.  When he came into my room to tell me good night, he told me I did a great job and that made my night.  I love my boys.  I have so much gratitude for my boys and their love.  I’m quite lucky.

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Before I leave you with my music video of the night, I wanted to be sure everyone in the blogosphere, Facebook, and Twitterverse are aware that tomorrow is the last day to register online for the Purple Stride event.  If you’re not local to S. Florida or can’t participate, that’s okay as you can support the team with your donation.  Presently, we’re over $3,000 away from our fundraising goal.  Here’s the link: Team Deb Force Five

Tonight’s song comes to us courtesy of the Bangles.  Enjoy “Manic Monday!”

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My Favorite Riffs

When I saw the daily prompt  I was super excited to write about my favorite riffs.  I love music!  Undoubtedly, music plays an important role in my life.  It truly makes my world go round.  Unquestionably, my dad was a huge influence on my musical taste, which you’ll see in the list below.  For this list, I’ve put them in no specific order.  Moreover, while I’m not writing specifically about guitar riffs, I think you’ll find guitar riffs are heavily favored in my list.

Here’s a list of my favorite riffs (in no particular order) to include the music video where available:

15.  Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne

14. Revolution by The Beatles

13. Enter Sandman by Metallica

12. Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N’ Rose

11.  Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

10.  Machinehead by Bush

9.  You Shook Me All Night Long

8.  Day Tripper by the Beatles

7. Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes

6.  Sunshine of Your Love by Cream

5.  Walk This Way by Aerosmith

4.  Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin

3.  Zombie by the Cranberries

2.   Back in Black by AC/DC

1.  Layla by Eric Clapton

 

There you have it, my short list of my favorite riffs.  Not surprisingly, I have many of these songs on both my hockey and my 5k playlist.  Are any of these songs on your playlist?  If so, which ones?  If not, what’s on your list of favorite riffs?