Last night we took everyone to see “Megamind” at our $3 a seat theater (I’m going to  miss that place when we move!)  Maura loves going to the movies, partially for the popcorn.  Last night, she was in rare form, whoo-hooing it up in the car when she found out where we were going, bouncing in her seat as she at her popcorn before the show started, literally on the edge of her seat when the movie began.

But there was one point, when Megamind (who starts of the villain in the movie) is sad because of events that happened.  There he was, on screen, looking sad and downtrodden.  And Maura burst out crying for him.  It  made her sad to see him sad.

I have to laugh though at it – this totally defines who Maura is.  Maura is so innocent, she will cry for the bad guy if he’s sad.  She wants everyone to be happy, just like her.  Maura is also the girl who roots for both teams playing a sport.  She doesn’t care who scores, she just likes seeing people score and be happy about it.  Another example –  I was yelling at Miriam over shoes once again not put in the closet, and Maura burst into tears.  She was more upset over it all than Miriam.  I guess I’m not allowed to yell at Maura’s most beloved sister either.

No, Maura likes everyone in her world happy.  Herself, her sister, the characters on the big screen.  So let’s all do our best to indulge the little princess, okay?  Thanks

Last night, Josh and I took Maura to see Great Big Sea.  I think she is now truly a full-fledged groupie.

I’ve written about our musical love affair with the band.  Maura’s been a fan of theirs for most of her life, ever since she first sat down and watched their DVD at age 2 1/2.  She attended her first GBS concert at 3 1/2, her second at 5 1/2. Last night was her third time.  All three times, I’ve managed to get front row seats – you know, because she’s short.  She needs to be able to see the band!

Oddly enough, I think she knew what was happening.  Maura doesn’t always have the best memory because of her seizure disorder, but when we got to the Michigan Theater, she got very excited and determined to go in.  She’s been there only one other time – the last time we went to see GBS.  Of course, she also saw the big popcorn stand and asked for some…the girl has a serious popcorn addiction.  Which we didn’t feed last night.

Just like the past two concerts, when the band came out and started playing, she got instantly excited and slightly overwhelmed.  I think it always surprises her that everyone else in the room also loves this band and is just as excited to be there as she is.  It definitely takes her about three songs to process that the band she knows and loves from the radio and computer are now right in front of her.   Last night was no different.  She stood there, chewing on her hand, trying to process it all.  She did look a bit stunned and I guess it showed because Alan looked at me with a “She okay?” look, I responded with a “She’s good” smile and he gave us a thumbs up.

Sure enough, after the third song, she suddenly got into the swing of things.  Almost too much.  It was a sold out house full of happy people cheering and hollering, and the energy was at an all-time high – which I think fed Maura’s own energy.  Before we knew it, Maura was woo-hooing with the best of them.  Not always at the appropriate time (we apologize for her loudness during “Yankee Sailor”…at least she didn’t yell out “Freebird!”, right?)  I also think this was the first time the band has ever had someone dance their dolly on the edge of the stage.  Then again, maybe someone else has…

Maura did get into a groove during the second set. I reminded her at times she needed to be quiet and she got it.  But she was also desperate for Alan’s attention, silly little groupie that she became.  Josh noticed that whenever he’d look her way, she’d wave and yell “HIIIIIIIIII!”   She clapped, danced, and cheered all evening.  She also planted her little chin on the edge of the stage and just watched them perform.  I even got a huge hug a couple times when they played songs that were her favorites, she was so excited by it all.

Maura sang along with songs the best she could. Remember, she has apraxia, so the fact that she will try to sing along gets us parents giddy.  If she couldn’t sing along, she’d move her mouth in time (like with “Mari Mac” – which got so fast, even I could barely keep up!)   There were also a couple of songs that probably weren’t the most appropriate for her to sing along with…but who am I kidding?  The girl could drop the F-bomb as clear as day and I’d probably be excited.  But she doesn’t get the lyrics so I let it slide.  It was actually really funny when someone in the band would crack a joke – the audience would laugh and Maura would let out this huge “Ahahaha!”…even though there is no way she got the joke.

At the end of the second set, she cheered for an encore with the rest of the crowd…and was ecstatic when they came back out.  The final song they played was one of her all-time favorites – “The Old Black Rum”.  Yes, my daughter likes songs about rum.  Yes, that’s led to interesting conversations with educational professionals.  But I digress.  So there were were, singing and clapping along, song wraps up and Alan comes down to the end of the stage right up to Maura and holds out his guitar pick.  Maura – who has spent the past two and a half hours trying to get his attention – finally has the object of her affections smack in front of her.  I had assumed she’d probably launch herself onto him for a big hug if he got close enough. Instead, she suddenly became shy and ducked her head into my side.  Josh and I told her to look, he had something for her and got her to hold out her hand.  He placed the guitar pick in her hand and she said “Oooohhhh!”  in total awe of it. Josh and I giggled at how carefully she was handling it.  She allowed us to tuck it into my wallet for safe keeping.  She got a second one from one of the crew as well, after waving and saying hi to him as he came out to break down things, which was sweet of him too.

To my amazement, Maura did not instantly conk out.  She stayed awake for a good half of the ride home.  She was thoroughly passed out by the time we got home though.  And this morning she was really stinking cute.  All I saw was hair sticking out from under her blanket.  I pulled the blanket back to try to wake her up.  Party Girl Maura didn’t even open her eyes.  She said “No.” and pulled the blanket back over her head.  Eventually, we got her up and dressed for school.  While she waited for me to finish making her lunch, I caught her trying to turn on my iPod player.  I asked “Do you want music?”   She said “Yes.”    I turned on some Great Big Sea for her.  She didn’t want the first song I turned on so I asked “Which song do you want to listen to?”  She said “One Two”…so I turned to the live version of “Jack Hinks”.  Backstory – the live version is counted in.  Alan goofs and starts with the second verse, so has a re-do, including the count in.  I swear, Maura learned how to count to four because of this song.  Sure enough, it was the song she wanted and I left her dancing in front of the iPod player as I finished getting her school gear ready.  She made it to school eventually.

I know it seems weird, that we take Maura to these concerts. But she loves music, and really loves their music in particular.  Also, she’s not a typical girl, we’re not a typical family…so why do typical things?  Life has its ups and downs, and we don’t know what the future holds, so we might as well jump up and down to the music while we can!

So thank you Alan, Sean, Bob, Murray and Kris – aka Great Big Sea.  Thank you for your music and for traveling from tropical Newfoundland, Canada to Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Your songs taught Maura how to sing and give me a boost when I need it.

And now – pictures from the concert – warning, there are a few

Before the show

The Penguin (Maura insisted I take his picture too)

Maura watching the show

Alan Doyle

Sean McCann

Bob Hallett

Murray Foster

Kris MacFarlane

Great Big Sea

Alan

Sean decided to try the drums out

Maura, impressed at all the people who also like the band

Announcement #1 – Josh has the message boards on Wonderpuzzle up and running.  Feel free to join up, start a discussion, share the message board with others.  Everyone is welcome on the boards…well, except spammers.  Spammers shall be publicly mocked and swiftly deleted.

Announcement #2 – I’m still annoyed with Apple’s costumer service (see previous post.)  I’m half-tempted to go into the store and have them demonstrate on one of their iPads what does and does not scratch their “nearly unscratchable” iPad surface.  Can keys scratch it?  What about fingernails?  I’m wondering if Maura’s medical bracelet was the culprit in our case – which is more irritating to think about since she has to wear that bracelet and we told the fanboy salesman it was for her use.    Yep – still annoyed.  Anyway, feel free to share my story with others, as a warning to get the darn screen protector!

For years, I’ve heard about what outstanding customer service you have, and how great your products are.  I’ve never really needed to use your customer service because I like my less-expensive-than-a-Mac PC, and haven’t needed any work on my iPod (which was a hand-me-down from my husband after he got a Zune.)  Also, as the wife of a Microsoft employee, it seemed a bit disloyal to even walk near an Apple product.

But we sucked it up three weeks ago to go into the Apple store at our local mall and purchased an iPad for our special needs child.  After watching her use the iPad with her private speech therapist, seeing how well she used it, and searching out for less expensive alternatives, we finally put out about $800 for the 32 gig iPad with extended warranty and protective case.  Then we spent another $80 to buy an Otterbox case, to make sure we had the ultimate protection for said iPad.

We are concerned about Maura doing damage to the iPad, hence the uber-protective case that had a screen cover, so that while we transport it, the screen is covered.  The Otterbox did come with one of those clear screen protectors, but I couldn’t get it on straight so gave up.

I gave up because the salesman at the Apple store assured us we didn’t need one.  I asked if we needed one, using the one on my cell phone as a visual example.  He said no.  That it was all but impossible to scratch the screen.

Not three weeks later, and I have two scratches on my iPad.  This does not make me happy.  I’ve worked hard to keep it safe. Maura isn’t allowed to use it unsupervised, and the other three kids don’t touch it unless it’s to help Maura with it. I have no clue how the scratches happen as it’s not been in my sight the entire time.  But I’m not happy about it.

So today, I went to the Apple store in our local mall.  You know, for a company that boasts how great your products withstand the test of time and never break down, there sure were a lot of people in there.  Including a woman who was bringing in her Macbook for the third time…who left with a new replacement…but I digress.

The first young woman to help me was very friendly and helpful, polished up the screen, did note the scratches, and made me an appointment with some tech guy.  I waited, went to get an iced tea at Starbucks, came back in time for my appointment, waited a little more, Maura had a huge screaming fit in the middle of the store, and ten minutes after my appointment, the tech guy came up to me to help me with my problem.

Well, I was supposed to get help. Instead, all I got was “Your warranty doesn’t cover scratches to the screen.” and “It’s auto grade glass, it shouldn’t scratch, but obviously it’s not impossible to scratch it.” and “Oh, we don’t sell the screen protectors.” and “What do you want us to do about it?” and “There’s nothing we can do.”

Really, all I’d been hoping for was a free screen protector and a geek in a blue shirt to put it on for me.  I asked if there was any possible way to fill in the scratches (he didn’t know.) Instead, I got “Well, what do you want us to do about it?” in a tone that could rival my fourteen-year-old in disinterest.  I did not feel the warm fuzzy vibes others have felt when receiving your customer service.

So after waiting almost an hour, I got the proverbial “Not My Problem” brush-off and am now left wondering what my warranty does cover.  I felt a little deceived and a lot disappointed.

And my barely three week old iPad still is scratched up.

Really, now what I want is a new iPad, one without scratches.  I know that’s not going to happen.  But instead of telling your employees to tell future iPad buyers that the surface is all but unscratchable, what about selling screen protectors instead?

For the record, as soon as I left the store, I went to Target and purchased a screen protector.  Because I don’t believe the guy today who said they’re all but impossible to scratch.  Add another $30 to the cost of this item.

Signed,

Not feeling the Apple love customer

…who boarded a school bus the other week and ranted at kids who were bullying his daughter?  I had heard about the story, caught it ever-so-slightly while the news was on, but didn’t pay attention to it too much.  My initial reaction was “Probably not the best reaction, but not criminal either.”

On The Today Show this morning, they had the father, daughter and mother on the show for an exclusive interview.  As Matt Lauer went over the background of the story, he added a fact I didn’t know about the daughter – she has cerebral palsy.

It was amazing how quickly I went from slight interest in the story to Mama Bear mode.  Suddenly, I had more insight to why this father reacted the way he did.  I could imagine Josh doing the same thing if anyone ever treated Maura that way.  Was it a good judgment call on the dad’s part?  Probably not.  However, in light of the situation, the conditions on the bus, a father’s instinct to protect his child – I cannot blame him for what he did, and the idea that he could face jail time over the incident is nauseating to me.

We are extremely lucky.  Maura is known by everyone in town – I joke she’s famous here.  It’s a small town where you know everyone, everyone knows you.  Your kids play soccer with their kids.  Their kids are in dance class with your kids.  You run into people at church, the grocery store, the farmer’s market, walking to school.  You look out for other people’s kids when you see them doing something stupid (like the time my friend called to let me know the boys were riding their bikes in the street – I thanked her and promised to rat her son out too someday.)

Maura rides the bus.  She LOVES the bus.  I know her bus driver, and trust the bus driver to watch out for Maura, which she does.  She has assured me that everyone on the bus is nice to Maura.  The kids at school are all very accepting of Maura.  In many ways, the kids around Maura are so used to her, they just write things off as “Oh, that’s just Maura, she does that.”

But, there have been moments, when we’ve left our protective bubble, where I find kids staring at her with that “I’m smelling something bad” scrunched up face look.  There was one day a few weeks ago where I was having a rough day with Maura, who was frustrated and screaming and just a plain old handful…and some little girl was causing herself eye strain from staring at Maura so hard.  Maura gets a lot of stares, and I can tell the difference between the innocently curious stare and the “OMG!  What is wrong with her?” stare that gets under my skin.  The little staring girl was doing the latter.  After what seemed like forever, I finally said politely “Could you please stop staring at my daughter?”

I can’t imagine how I’d react if Maura was being outright bullied like this other girl had been.  If they were spitting at my daughter, smacking her in the head, twisting her ears and more – well, I can’t say I wouldn’t storm on the bus and give those kids a piece of my mind like that father did.  When I saw the interview, I saw this really nice family with this quiet little girl who was trying to be brave but was brought to tears, a father who was heartsick over how his baby girl was treated, and a situation that I could completely understand.  No, that father does not deserve jail time.  But maybe the parents of the kids on the bus should give their children a lesson in tolerance and acceptance.

To read about the story or watch the interview, click here…

Part of the problem with Maura is we never know what may work for her.  Sometimes, it’s a crap shoot, risking money on something we aren’t sure will work. So when we find something that will work, we run with it.  It’s even better when we find out something will work before investing money into it.

Case in point – the iPad.

Now, when the iPad first came out, I thought it was kinda lame.  I assumed it would be like a netbook.  They called it a tablet, and all the tablet computers I knew had keyboards.  Anyway, after realizing it was a really big iTouch, I passed it off as lame.  But then Maura’s speech therapist got one, loaded it with educational, speech producing applications and let Maura play with it.  Maura took to it instantly, loved it, and best of all, could manage it. Maura usually has a problem with manipulating things.  Her fingers are very bendy and she has motor planning issues.  But the iPad is big enough that she can mange the touch screen really well.

I’ll admit, we did check around to see if there was anything maybe a little less expensive that would do the job.  But there wasn’t.  There also weren’t any of the apps like the ones that were written for the iPad.  So this week, we went to the Apple store.  Ten minutes later, we left with the iPad and a case for it. I then spent an hour the next day finding and installing apps for it.

When Maura got home from school, I showed her what we got.  She saw the iPad and said “Wow!”  And then showed her siblings her mad touch screen skills. Some things are really easy for her.  Others are a little tricky, like tracing letters.  But she works hard at it.

Today was a great example on how we are going to utilize the iPad.  Mim wanted to audition for The Nutcracker (which I am geeked about – I hope she gets it!)  Now, Maura always wants to do what Miriam does and it can lead to very loud moments from Maura.  So today, as Mim went with the rest of the kids to audition, I pulled out the iPad.  Instead of running after Miriam, screaming her name, Maura sat down, picked out a game to play, and spent the hour doing things like matching games and spelling games.  And once she got tired of the learning games, she figured out where her Shaun the Sheep videos were and turned one on. Not one scream out of her.

Oh yes, we’re going to enjoy this.

On a message board I frequently frequent, a topic came up.  It was a normal type of topic, a “I’m sad, my baby is growing up so much!” type of post.  I read all these posts from other moms who felt the same way.  And part of me gets it.  I know I’ve had my moments of “What happened to my baby????” Seriously, I look at my boys – who are now taller than me – and wonder when I blinked, becauseI swear, they were sweet little six and four year olds just a moment ago. 

But do I wish they were babies, toddlers, or sweet little six year olds again? No. First, I do enjoy who they are right now. They’re fun guys. My oldest has a wicked sense of humor that is fun to watch (like the day he told his sister that if she became president, it would be the next Apocolypse.) 

The main reason though that I’m glad they’re growing up is because I live with the result of what happens when your child doesn’t grow up. Maura is seven, but is like a big 3 year old. Yesterday, she was all set to go in a ballet costume, her sister’s shoes and sunglasses. Cute now. But will she still wear this outfit at 25? High possibility. Will people think she’s cute then…or just some weird woman in a ballet costume?  We won’t think of that answer just yet.

It takes Maura forever to go through stages of life. We spent a while being an infant, long after she was too big to be one. Then we spent a long time in toddlerhood. Toddlers are adorable – when they’re 20 lbs. When they’re 40 lbs, it makes things harder. Imagine when your 3 year old has a temper tantrum and throws himself onto the floor…you can usually scoop the kiddo up and manuever him easily. Not so easy when that screaming child is 50+ lbs and only a few inches shorter than you.

Old ladies come up to me, see Maura and tell me “Oh, she’ll grow up so fast.” I surprise them when I say “I hope so!” I’ve never wished for a child to grow up as I have Maura. Because I see daily the effects of not growing up, and it’s hard to watch sometimes. I love and appreciate every little grown up moment that she has.

So what was my advice to these other moms?  Basically - this post.  When your toddler is running away from you – be grateful they can run. When your 3 yr old is talking your ear off – be thankful they can talk. When your 2 1/2 year old is frustrating you because they’re *almost* potty trained but not quite – get down on your knees and thank whatever deity you want to that they can be potty trained and you’re not changing the diaper of a 7 year old!

Celebrate your child’s emerging skills and abilities and independence. Because while we all wish our babies would stay our babies, the reality is, watching them grow up is less heartbreaking than watching them not grow up.

Though I’ll admit – I love that I have one kid still who wants to give me hugs and kisses

For those of you with two or three-year-olds…you know how they drive you crazy, getting into everything, coloring on your walls, emptying entire containers of milk onto the floor, emptying the dresser full of freshly washed and folded clothing?  You wonder sometimes if you’ll ever survive this phase?

Now, imagine that phase lasting not months, but years. 

Imagining it?  Years of cleaning orange juice off the floor, permanent marker off your windows, crayon off the ceiling of your car.  An exhausting thought, isn’t it?

Welcome to my world.

Having developmental delays means it takes longer to go through each developmental stage.  Maura was an infant for a long time.  I joked about our stay in Extended Toddlerhood.  We’ve been stuck in the Terrible Two’s and Three’s for what seems like forever.  I would happily go through this stage with a regular kid, because I know we’d eventually leave it behind.  With Maura though, we just hope we’ll leave it behind. 

Three years ago, I painted the girls bedroom a lovely shade of pink.  Maura scribbled on the walls in pencil and pen.  Eighteen months ago, while cleaning up the chips she spilled onto the floor and then stomped on, Maura scribbled on the dining room walls in pencil.  A few months ago, while I stepped out onto my front porch to talk to a friend on the phone, Maura colored the dining room walls again, this time with a dry erase marker. 

I am one with the Magic Eraser.

Today was another one of those days.  First, I heard this splashy sound.  Upon investigation, I found Maura, sitting on the floor in a puddle of water, playing in the dog’s water dish.  Which I think she added more water too.  I told her no, cleaned it up, went on my way.  While on the phone trying to make her a doctor’s appointment, Maura decided to get the carton of orange juice out.  Let’s just say we’re out of orange juice, the dining room floor is clean, and the table runner plus several wet towels from the day are now in the washer.  And her sister’s new gym shoes that she was wearing are on a shelf in the closet.  It would be nice if those didn’t get ruined before Tuesday, when school starts.

Yesterday, we got a big box in the mail (got to love how Amazon always chooses the largest box possible to put your items in.)  It was great.  She loved the box.  It was nice and long.  She placed a blanket and pillow in the box, and hung out in the box all afternoon.

Maybe we’ll get another box today? That would be lovely!

I’ve done the back to school thing for years.  It usually includes a new pair of gym shoes and a new backpack.  Then we wait to find out what teacher which child gets, and all is good.

With Maura, there’s a few added items to my checklist…like…

- waiting to find out who her new aide is (check)

- medical training meeting with teacher, special ed teacher, new aide, OT, ST, principal, office staff and nurse (check)

- order new medical id bracelets as the old one broke (check)

- order new orthotics (check)

- order a case of diapers to leave at the school (check)

- have labeled bottle for prescription meds ready to be left at school (check)

- have emergency medication ready to be handed over to the school (check)

- get copies of the neuropsych’s report to the appropriate people at school (check)

- make new seizure info pamphlets to hand out to school staff members (check)

Oddly enough, what I don’t have for her yet?  A backpack and new gym shoes.  Hmmm…maybe I should work on that.  School starts in a week.  In my defense, I can’t get the shoes until I have the orthotics.  But she’ll need a backpack, as I threw away her old one already.  Ooops.  Oh, and a new thermos to hold her beloved mac and cheese, her favorite lunch.  Now that’s important!

Maura loves music.  She loves to listen to it, sing along with it, dance to it, pretend to drum along with it.  She can connect to it quickly, which for Maura, is something else.

Now, I am proud to state that Maura has good taste in music.  Oh, she’d tolerate the Wiggles and Laura Berkner (is that her name? )  She thought they were fun enough. But she’s left those kiddie singers long behind.  In the car I’ve caught her singing along to Jason Mraz, Cheap Trick (“I Want You to Want Me”, lol!), Colbie Caillat, Sugarland, and of course, her first band crush Great Big Sea.  

Great Big Sea is a band out of Newfoundland – they’re a mix of traditional/Celtic/Newfie/rock.  My friend Bodi was the first one who told me to check them out.  As Bodi hadn’t steered me wrong yet on music, I went out and bought their Great Big CD and DVD combo.  She was right (of course), I did like them. 

Maura was almost three years old at the time.  One day, I decided to watch the DVD on my computer.  Maura came over, climbed up on my lap, stuck her thumb in her mouth and sat there, watching the guys play.  I was impressed.  I’d never seen Maura so enthralled by something…well, other than food.  I didn’t realize though how much she took in until a couple of days later.  We were in the car, I had the CD on, and suddenly I realized she was clapping along, raising her hands like the audience did while yelling “Hey!”, just like on the DVD.  At a time in her life where something like that would take weeks for her to learn (seriously, Ring Around the Rosie took her a good year of watching to figure out), Maura picked up this in days.   She also quickly learned to sort of sing along with one of the songs.  Again, this was a child who could barely talk, but there she was singing “Oh me, oh my”.  I’ll admit, my reaction was sort of “Holy Crap!”

Maura, age 3, watching the Great Big DVD

Something about the band reached her, and I loved their music as well.  The other kids also got into it.  Needless to say, we became big fans around here. 

Of course, the fact that she enjoyed drinking songs caused a couple of problems.  Like when she was about to start preschool…it was a preschool class for developmentally delayed children, so the parent meeting was an intimate gathering (four parents.)  The teacher asked one parent if her child enjoyed music.  The parent said “Oh yes!  We sing the ABC’s all the time!”  Another parent chimed in.  “Oh, we do to!  We also love the “Wheels on the Bus” song too!”  The teacher then turned to me and asked “Does Maura like music?”

“Oh yes!” I said.  “She actually has a favorite band.  They’re called Great Big Sea, they’re out of Newfoundland…her favorite song is “The Old Black Rum”…so…um…if she should happen to say “rum”, that’s why.  But it’s a traditional Irish song….”  Okay, it’s not.  But I realized the other parents were eyeing me funny and it was probably not the best introduction of our family life to the teacher.  Luckily, the teacher was very cool about it. 

Maura at her first Great Big Sea concert

We’ve been to two of their concerts so far. The first was when she was almost four.  The look on her face when they came out on stage was priceless.  I think it took the first song for her to realize that yes, they were live in front of her and not on the tv.  The entire concert, while they played, she sat on my hip, thumb in mouth, watching them intently.  In-between songs, she’d clap along with the rest of the audience, and then stop, stick her thumb back in and start watching again.  She was adorable in the little concert tee I found in her size.  The people around us were great too, one giving her a little flag of Newfoundland, another offering to hold her for a bit.  Two teen-aged girls snuck down to the front by us and were dancing with her (until security made them go back to their seats, lol!)  And the band was cool to her too.  Bob got down to her level and played to her.  Alan came across to give her his guitar pick.  All in all, it was a great night.   

The next time they came into town, we went as a family, you know, so we could overwhelm more kids at a time.  And now, they’re going to be back in town.  I have front row seats for Maura and I and a friend.  I can’t wait!  They’re a great live band, it’s always fun, and they have the best audience who think nothing of me  bringing a child or four along. 

Now, at this point, you may be wondering where the title of this post comes in.  “Sea of No Cares” is a title track to one of their albums.  The song itself is about dating, falling in love, not caring about what others think.  But for us, just the phrase “sea of no cares” really sums up Maura in a way.  In a way, she has no cares.  All is good in her world.  She’s a happy little goldfish swimming in a sea of no cares.  When you have a child like Maura, you tend to worry about how they are, what they’ll be.  But eventually, for me, I realized that Maura was happy.  She had no real reason not to be happy.  Her world is good.  And this song reminds me of that when I need a reminder. 

Sea of No Cares – Great Big Sea