Making Cds

If you have a computer that's less than five years old, you have a CD burner. Of course, I had to ask Big Sal to help. She is my CD-burning Queen.

My gift to the goldies was a double CD with songs that meant something to us or represented our friendship. It included:

High Hopes (The Ant Song) -- Frank Sinatra
This One's For the Girls -- Martina McBride
You've Got a Friend -- Carole King
Thank You for Being a Friend -- Golden Girls theme song
I'll Be Around -- The Spinners

There are about 36 more but I won't bore you with them. I went through photo albums and made little CD covers with photos of us at various stages of life.

I made a similar gift for my father to celebrate Father's Day. Different songs and different photos but the same concept. I want my father to play these CDs and know that this woman adores him. In case he forgets, I included a couple of songs that have the name "Sherry" in them. I also added:

I Loved Her First -- Heartland
Because You Loved Me -- Celine Dion
My Girl -- The Temptations
Like a Rock -- Bob Seger

Like the other one, there are about 35 other songs. There's something about music. Some of us are lyrics people and others get absorbed in the drum or guitar solo.

Big Sal made me a CD about aging. It's called, "You're An Old B**** Now." Just reading the titles makes me laugh. Some of the songs:

You're as Cold as Ice -- Foreigner
I Keep Forgetting -- Michael McDonald
Heartache Tonight -- Eagles
Doctor My Eyes -- Jackson Browne
I Go Crazy -- Paul Davis
I'm Still Standing -- Elton John

This is the CD in my car at the moment.

Jan was driving home the other day, listening to her goldies CD. She called me and said, "I want this played at my funeral." Then she called me this morning to tell me that she is getting strength during tough times by listening to the CD. She feels surrounded by us and our friendship.

Not that I ever doubted it but it's a strong reminder of the power of music.

She Wants an iPod

This family is filled with music nuts. The husband plays in a band and listens to music every day. He and his mother relax by sitting at the piano and playing by ear. Both children have a fascination with music -- they're constantly introducing us to new groups or discovering musical interpretations that we've known for years. They both attend lots of concerts. Now the daughter lives in Austin, one of the music capitals of the country.

Thanks to the family, I own an iPod. Big Daddy, the daughter and the baby all have their own. I am not very skilled with programming it but I do listen to it every day. My favorite times are in the car or plopping it in my speaker system and taking it out on the patio. I have sole possession of the remote control.

Now the mother-in-law wants an iPod. She is not subtle. Every time she sees me headed to the patio with my little speaker system (remote control in hand,) she announces, "I want one of those." When she's in my car and I plug it in, she says, "I want one of those."

She did it again last night. I wanted to scream, "Then go buy one!" But I didn't. The husband said, "Maybe you should write a note to Santa." (That caused a little mini-stroke because I'm slapped with the knowledge that another holiday season is approaching and we will have passed the two year mark.)

We get a million catalogs. One of them is old music on CDs. For Christmas last year, I bought her every single one she had circled. Between what she already owned and the additions to her collection, she's built up quite a music library.

So, the husband said, "Even if you get an iPod, someone has to program it."

Suddenly, all eyes were on me.