By Popular Demand: New Release by MommaDrool Mafia

I keep getting requests for a new release by the MommaDrool Mafia, and I admit, it has been a very long time.  I continue to joke that when I retire, I am going to write rap/hip-hop music.  Seriously, it would be awesome.  


Okay, so without further adieu, here is the new release.  Sometimes I just have to wait for inspiration to write these, and my messy house (that I can't seem to keep clean) gave me plenty.  The song that fueled my inspiration is "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra.  Enjoy!

The Clean House That I Used to Know

Now and then I think of when you were so spotless

Like when you looked like a house without ten kids

Told myself that it could stay this way

But then those kids made it all for them

But that was then and it's the clean I still remember

You can get accustomed to a certain kind of clutter

Like where to put all these drawings, always drawings

So when we found that there was no more room

Well you thought you’d make a pile there

But I'll admit that was a very bad idea

But you didn't have to throw your toys

Make out like it wasn’t clean and that you were playing

And I don't even want to dust

But you treat me like a housemaid and I feel so rough

No you didn't have to toss those clothes

Have to leave them on the floor and then say they’re dirty

I guess that I don't have the time

Now you're just the clean house that I used to know

Now you're just the clean house that I used to know

Now you're just the clean house that I used to know

Now and then I think of all the times you were so tidy

Part of me believing it would always stay just this way

But I don't wanna live this way

In a house that I cannot keep clean

I thought that I could let it go

And I wouldn't be so hung up on the clean house that I used to know

But you didn't have to throw your toys

Make out like it wasn’t clean and that you were playing

And I don't even want to dust

But you treat me like a housemaid and I feel so rough

No you didn't have to toss those clothes

Have to leave them on the floor and then say they’re dirty

I guess that I don't have the time

Now you're just the clean house that I used to know

The clean house

(I used to know)

The clean house

(Now you're just the clean house that I used to know)

(I used to know)

(That I used to know)

(I used to know)

The clean house

Keep Calm and Dance Trance

As part of my treatment plan, my doctor advised me to begin practices to lower my stress level.  He said that whatever I chose to do, it should be something that I enjoy.  I knew that exercise was probably the best medicine for de-stressing and making sure that the rest of me stayed well enough to fight off this cancer.  Besides spinning, I haven't found much in the exercise world that has held my interest for long.  My doctor kept telling me, "You have to love it, or you will never stick with it."  I started searching my brain for something that I love, and I could only come up with one answer: DANCING.

If I look back on my life, dancing is probably the one thing that I have felt the most passionate about (family, friends, and work aside).  If you had told me at 21 years old that there would ever be a time when I wouldn't be dancing, I probably would have looked at you like you had two heads.  Dance was a large part of my life from a very young age.  After high school, I went on to dance on the dance team at two different colleges.  It was such a large part of me...but life happens.  You get married, have children, and sometimes there just isn't enough time for those things that you are passionate about.

I continued to dance in my head and my heart even after my feet were no longer carrying out the steps.  I love music just as much as I love dancing, and really, the two go hand in hand.  The Husby is convinced that I am the human version of iTunes.  If it is a song, I probably know it.  There really aren't any types of music that I don't like, so my music collection is as random as it gets.  If you can dance to it, I probably love it.

The Fred and I were sifting through VHS tapes (I know, who has those anymore?), and she found several dance competition tapes.  I decided that it was probably time to burn all of them to DVD.  As we were watching each of them, one of them really stood out to me because I remember that it was at a time when I realized just how great of an outlet for expressing myself dance really was.  It was a song that I felt an emotional connection to (even though I had only just turned 15 years old at the time), and I found that I was able to express those emotions through dance.  Now, I know that this was well before I had reached my peak as a technical dancer, but it was a point in my life when I realized that dance would always be a part of me.

For me, music and dance are both great therapy.  I have a physiological reaction to both.  So, after deciding that the solution to my doctor's assignment was to start dancing again, I began looking for somewhere that I could do just that.  While searching for classes, I came across a website for Dance Trance Birmingham, and I was convinced from the beginning that this was the place for me.  How right I was.

Now, I have to admit, it has been a long time since I have danced (8 years to be exact), and it shows.  I am slowly getting the hang of it, and I have to keep telling myself that as long as I am having fun, that is all that matters.  Sometimes I forget that my body is not functioning at 100%, but as long as I am showing up and putting in the effort, I know that I am reaping both the physical and psychological benefits.

I was sitting at work last week and a co-worker asked me about where I was dancing.  I told her all about Dance Trance and explained that basically it was like a hip-hop dance class.  She laughed so hard trying to picture me doing hip-hop that she almost fell out of her chair.  For anyone that has met me after I stopped dancing, I can see why that is so funny.

Next Friday, I will be participating in Relay for Life as a survivor and as a member of Team Dance Trance Birmingham.  I am very proud to be participating with such a wonderful group of women that have the same passion for dance in their hearts.  We will all be wearing Dance Trance gear, and I felt like I really needed to come up with something that would reflect how much I love this place and the therapeutic role that it has in my life.  I decided that I would design a shirt to wear for the event that expresses just that...

I think that pretty much sums up my plan for lowering my stress levels.  Overall, I am thankful for the opportunity to do something that I love and have it make a positive impact on my life and my health.  And by the way, as of my doctor's appointment on Wednesday, I have lost 20 pounds!  That only sweetens the deal.