rockin' out

I danced in my kitchen today. Not the silly, happy little dance you do when you try a new recipe and it works or the swaying, hugging slow dance you do when Husband gets home.
Nope. Full-on shakin' stuff rockin' out.

I blame stress. And the sunshine that peeked at us today. Oh, and the playlist that Oldest made me last year for my birthday. I knew the past several days had been stressful and the fact that my shoulders were touching my earlobes was probably a bad sign, but I was dealing with it.
Then I pushed play on my iPod while cleaning the kitchen.

I think I was halfway through Play Guitar, singing along with John Cougar Mellencamp, when I realized that I was getting very little cleaning done, but I was playing a mean air guitar. By the time Bon Jovi and I were done belting out You Give Love a Bad Name, I was a little out of breath (yeah, yeah, yeah--should've made exercise a New Year's Resolution). By the time I got done lamenting along with Cake that there "ain't no rest for the wicked...", I realized that my shoulders were relaxing and that I felt better than I had in...well, a long time.

So, when the next song came on, I let go. Don't judge me. And yes, I know that Oldest has a strange sense of what to put on a playlist he made for his mother. But when Sir Mix a Lot started with Baby Got Back, I held nothing back.
And I gotta say...I feel pretty good.

Sweet Vindication!

I feel vindicated, affirmed, freed from shame; supported in submitting to 2 of my favorite vices.  Proven by experts, proclaimed in a public forum, these objects of my desire have been declared sought after, beneficial, and useful.

Sweet science! Recognized experts, in the name of science, have revealed the dark, aromatic, earthy, slightly sweet, heaven-scented, soul-strengthening powers of coffee and dark chocolate real, proven, no longer debated. Not a figment of my far-reaching imagination! Not the wishful thinking of a desperate woman! Not the irrational rationalization of an addict! Science. The day of my vindication has arrived, waiting for me on pages 116 and 122 in the most recent edition of Reader's Digest.

Dr. Sanjiv Chopra says "Coffee is truly a lifesaving miracle drug." No kidding. I am fairly certain a large mug of hot dark java has saved me on occasions too numerous to count. Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum's section suggests I "kick off [my] day with [dark] chocolate". Like I haven't been doing that for years.

The day of my rebirth is here--no longer needing to feel shame, limit my consumption, or label myself a junkie, I can openly rename myself a model of healthy living. Sweet vindication is mine!