I had a really wonderful Valentine's Day! Nothing romantic, just... a lot of love from my bitches.  the closest to anything romantic was Dave spending all day posting cute valentines on the band accounts and on his personal one dropping reminders and statements about him being single and how his dog back home at his parents' house in Galway is his forever valentine, lol. All of which was super adorable made me go, "awwww!"

My dog was extra snuggly all day long, literally more than anything else in the world she just wanted to curl up with me and snuggle. ALL day!!!  (and she's sooooo excited and happy for her new Bucks jersey my mam ordered for her to replace her Packers jersey which I take from her as soon as we're done for the season and it will make people sad instead of happy. Pup was refusing to wear her Badgers jersey after the game we lost to the 49ers, and I genuinely think it was because the red jerseys are the ones we lost to and she won't be a traitor to the Pack, so my mum thought that getting her one for a team that is also a similar shade of green, but still a Sconnie team would please her. My dog is so ridiculously happy and proud with her new Bucks jersey!!!!  She was more excited for it than for her latest BarkBox that came in earlier this week, lol.)

Also, when I got in late last night from work, there was a box of chocolate covered oreos on the counter with my name on it (literally) from Alana (who's still staying in Spare Oom.)  Yesterday, she celebrated Galentine's Day with her sister Augusta and bff Maddie since all 3 had off work and so they met in Baraboo and treated themselves to Galentine's Day chocolates and decided to get me the box of chocolate covered oreos. And it was super sweet made me smile!!! And while I have so far eaten 3 of the 9, I gave 2 to Mikaela (who was super excited for them) and 2 to my da who didn't know what they were just popped one whole in his mouth when I offered him from the box and then his eyes lit up over it.

Mikaela was off school today, so her mom dropped her off after a neurology appointment and since her afternoon pt appointment was canceled that i was going to take her to, Mikaela suggested a fire. I told her I was out of firewood so we'd need to get some but that it sounded wonderful. So she and her mom stopped and got a $5 cord of wood! As well as doughnuts from Greenbush Bakery for breakfast! So we had donuts and coffee, then laid a fire and drank tea while curled up near the fire reading. then ordered Tai's for lunch (Mikaela's favorite Chinese food) and i was able to bring some food into the office for her mom and my parents.)   And then after lunch, as the last of the fire was burning down, we both were lazy sleepy and wanted a nap and my cat Spock was curled up all cute in the bed so we decided to go invade and had a snuggle party with the fur babies and interchanged napping and reading for the rest of the afternoon. (I have a queen size bed. And yes Mikaela is 14 years old, but she's always been a hugger and a cuddler as a primary love language -- especially with her mother and with me as her older sister/cousin not related to her..)

Then I came into work and Crissy had dropped off cupcakes she'd baked the night before and brought into work. (Raspberry chocolate stout cupcakes and lemon chambord cupcakes.)  And Iopened a bottle of champagne (technically blanc de blanc) that I had put in the fridge at lunch and shared it with my mum, Sarah, Karissa (who was still here) and a small 14 year old sized pour for Mikaela. (In Wisconsin, while you're under 18, it's legal to drink alcohol so long as you're with your parent, spouse, or legal guardian and have their permission. Between 18 and 21, you can't, but under 18 you can.)   I also gave my dad some bubbly, though it was far too dry for him so mixed it with his black cherry soda like a kir royal, lol. So we had champagne and cupcakes and chocolate covered oreos together.

And then I've been at work hanging out with my dog since then. (Will be coming into work tomorrow as well.)  Sunday I have plans for symphony tickets, and maybe some figure skating with mom. O, and I get to head to Seattle on Tuesday to spend two weeks with my sister and brother-in-law and nephew and niece!!!!!  (although I am being stolen twice to go to Port Angeles and Sequim with Cath then Portland with Nancy to see We Banjo 3. And I may be stolen by We Banjo 3 to join them at the Bellevue Wintergrass festival which happens to be while I'm in Kirkland.... But I don't have a car so didn't commit to festival tickets and we've been dropping hints on both sides but I hate asking musicians to take time out of their schedules on performance days to come get me or drop me off or even just spend time with me unless that's a part of what they want/need for their own sake.....)  And then I get back and immediately there's two Socks in the Frying Pan shows, Choir of Man tickets with the family, then about half a dozen We Banjo 3 dates right near me, then some Aoife O'Donovan shows, then to St. Louis for a weekend for the last date on WB3's Rise and Shine tour, and then a whole bunch of Aoife Scott tour dates AND the Coronas AND East Pointers just announced they're touring back this way and have a lot of driveably close shows for us in early June!!!!!! So basically, all my Irish friends (and also Prince Edward Islanders) are showering their love on me in March, lol.

So yeah. Busy busy busy (though not while in Seattle/Kirkland other than right at the start) but just a big happy puppy love fest!!!

Like I said, other than Dave's hinting about crushes and constant, "I'm very much single not in a relationship right now" today there was nothing romantic but I just felt very loved and surrounded by love and giving love to the people in my life who mean a lot to me.


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Also, I listened to From Woman To Another today... I ate first to make sure I wasn't hangry irritable so intentionally fault finding then listened to it three times (with a long gap in between the second and third listen during which I watched Sunday's Doctor Who episode followed by eating one of the cupcakes from Crissy) to make sure that my reactions were stable not just knee jerk first reaction.

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And genuinely, there's musically nothing I like about it except the electric guitar intro at the start and the piano with horns at the bridge. Those are both beautiful and the promise of a bluesy jam at the start made the song itself even more of a letdown, tbh.  The vocals are just -- there's nothing good to say about them other than they're completely predictable nothing special, and then the songwriting is just really not great at all. It's a filler song, like you saw in the 80s and 90s to fill out an album with mediocrity that the artist didn't hate but everybody knew to be a throw away song meant to just fill out the number of tracks between the songs you hope make radio. And that's not a thing you do in the modern age with track by track downloads..... Honestly, there's nothing particularly above the mediocre forgettable in the melody or the lyrics and if anyone had asked my opinion, I'd have said that the song lacks power, passion, or pathos and without one of those 3 it's quite simply flat like drinking champagne you opened and left out overnight......

Genuinely, it's a song that I will always skip and never willingly choose to listen to and no instrumental layers or vocal gymnastics or production choices could save it from its own mediocrity -- the problems are in the song itself and its desire to be a cheap redux of Carrie Underwood but without any hook in the chorus. This isn't about who wrote it, it's about the song itself and what it wants to be but doesn't achieve because it's not real or authentic it's just trying to fit in be something it ain't. If you can't use your music to express something real in a way that is authentic to you, then you're never going to write a song with power and a hook because there's no soul light coming through the mask of it... And this song ain't nothing but a cerebral idea and a mask of trying to pretend to be something you aren't to fit in.....

If I had any expectations left based on how great their previous songs have been in the past, I'd be disappointed at this... But I've moved to an inner point of objective observation, with no expectations for good or bad from them, just a desire to see what is because the love I have for the music they have made in the past deserves I see this through.