Fully Alive…Ready to Smile

Go to Val’s blog to see a couple fun pictures and leave comments. I will post again when I can upload my pics to my blog. I may have a thousand words, but pictures will definitely help : ) So until then…

5:30 a.m.: Roll very, very sleepily out of bed.  Didn’t actually do much sleeping as I was mostly dreaming in and out of consciousness about driving.  Hmph.

5:35 a.m.: Stand sleepily looking in mirror and decided to do something about my bed head hair.

6:00 a.m.: Try to eat some breakfast…body is not used to partaking of food quite this early in the morning.  Let’s see…yup, usually another 3 to 4 hours before fast is broken.

6:25 a.m.: Carry last of bags to car grumbling as Jer is sitting in front of the t.v. trying to find the soccer game on the guide so he can record it while we are gone.

6:33 a.m.: Pull out of driveway.  Thus starts the beginning of the longest roadtrip I have ever been on.  3200 miles to be exact.  I still can’t believe we are going to drive all that way.  I DO have a passport, so if it all gets to be too much, I could always fly home : )  Kidding.

7:33 a.m.: Arrive at Canada/U.S. border.  Just made it there before the rush and it only took 20 minutes which is amazing.

7:53 a.m.: Make first American pee stop in the rest area at the Canada/U.S. border.  This is exciting stuff, people, exciting stuff!  Just you wait.  Only 4 more pee breaks to go : )

9:02 a.m.: Stop in Grand Forks, ND for second pee break and breakfast sandwich from Subway.  I’m like a Hobbit, you know, first breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, etc.

11:58 a.m.: Rest stop. middle of nowhere.  Third pee break and what I guess would count as elvensies considering I had a granola bar and some rice chips.  Enjoyed the sunshine for a few moments and we were back on the road.

I will interrupt this amazingly exciting accounting of our time to say that we have a new friend.  She’s British.  Her name is Penny.  At least that’s what we call her.  And does she ever know her directions!!!  She is bang on.  Yup, that’s right, we named our GPS.  I’m not sure how we survived without her.  I didn’t look at a map once.  Not once, in all eight hours of driving.  We made it to find gas in a town we didn’t know.  I just pressed nearest gas station and she pointed us in the right direction.  Now at this point Jer decided HE knew better than Penny.  It’s really unfortunate that these GPS units are so polite because at this point she could have yelled something along the lines of, “I know where I’m going and you don’t, stupidhead!  Next time I tell you to turn left, turn left and save yourself the hassle of having to make a u-turn and backtracking 2 blocks.  Hmph!”  We made it to Minneapolis, got to our hotel and to the Mall of America and to an awesome Mexican restaurant all without a single glance at a map.  If I could marry my GPS I probably would.  Or maybe Jer should marry her since she is so nice and doesn’t yell at him when he makes wrong turns.

2:00 p.m.: Stop in Albertville, MN home of the Premium Outlet Mall.  Sixty-five stores all at premium discount prices.  None of which I went into.  But I saw them.  They are there.  We sat in the parking lot for about 20 minutes while Jer stretched his legs and ate trail mix.  Apparently it was the best he’d ever had.

3:01 p.m.: Arrived at our hotel.  I must say it is a really cool hotel.  The lobby and even our room has a very modern feel to it and is unlike any hotel I’ve stayed in.  Very “boutique” feeling.

Here are some pictures of our very awesome room.

Entrance of our room with a lovely couch and pretty throw cushions.  All in the details.  My camera makes the colors look a little 70’s ish, but it’s really pretty.

Across from the living space is the desk (where I’m sitting RIGHT NOW!) and the bar and fridge.

Looky at that MASSIVE t.v.!!  Guess where Jer is right now?  One guess.  You got it!  It’s cool because it’s on this nifty little cabinet and it swivels so you can see it in the living room or from…

our big king size bed!

The vanity space is nice with a granite counter and a place to do makeup.  Mirrors on three sides so I can see myself in 3d cause straight on isn’t discouraging enough.  Luxury!

And the pretty blue bathroom.

4:00 p.m.: Left for Mall of America which is 2 blocks from our hotel.  Penny led us straight into the parkade.  What a doll.  So reliable.

Here’s Jer standing in front of a really large Lego thingy.  It’s ALL made of Lego.  I took the picture for my girls because they LOVE Lego right now.  And yes, Jer did shave his head.  I’m not sure why.

8:12 p.m.: we left the MOA and let Penny guide us to Don Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen.  GREAT food!  I had the Conquistador Combo plate.  It was the mother of all combo platters.  I finished maybe half of it.  We also got a basket of yummy homemade tortilla chips (still warm) and salsa and a bowl of tortilla soup.

9:15 p.m.: Arrived back at hotel and sat down to blog.

10:27 p.m.: My eyes are slamming shut as I’ve been awake for 17 hours now.

I get to see Val tomorrow!!!!  First we have to drive 9 hours, but it’s like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow : )  I guess I’ll have to pitch in with some driving since Jer drove the whole time today.  I enjoyed my book and my music and even a little nappy.  Very relaxing.  And it went by incredibly fast.  Hopefully it all continues to go as smoothly and relaxing as today did.  Nighty night.  More awesomeness to follow assuredly!

Well it’s 8 hours till we leave (and I’m not in bed yet).  Car is almost all packed.  Suitcase actually got packed.  Dishes are done.  Garbage is out.  All I have to do is shave my legs and sleep.  I think we FINALLY figured out how we’re going to come home.  We decided to go through the Great Lake region.  See Niagra Falls.  Drive across the Mackinac Bridge.  See all the beautiful scenery on the South side of Lake Superior and then back up to Canada.  We’ll be crossing the Canada/U.S. border 4 times I think.  Crazy.  Apparently it’s very scenic and lovely and there will be lots of photo ops I’m sure.  It’s a bit of a longer drive, but well worth.  I think we’re going to do no other planning than that, turn on the GPS and drive till we feel like stopping over somewhere.  It’s going to be an adventure I’m sure.  We have a tent if we can’t find any hotels with openings, but I SINCERELY hope that won’t be the case.  I’m sure I’ll be done camping after the four days of the festival.  Luckily we are not doing any camp cooking.  There is a food court and grocery store at the festival.  Yay!  Okay, off to bed.  I’ll be blogging en route.  Our hotels (and Val’s) have internet access.

Talk to you soon my peeps!

Instead of actually doing anything productive (like I said before, 1 day is LOTS of time…or was it 2, or 4?!?) I spent my day thinking about the final leg of our trip.  We thought of going to Chicago for 2 nights and one full day.  Then I looked at Google Earth…maybe not.  I don’t fancy the drive on those crazy highways, expressways, skyways, multi-multi lane freeways.  And the traffic!  So then we thought, maybe we’ll go around Chicago and do the Wisconsin Dells.  Yup, apparently there’s been a disaster at Lake Delton and the lake drained last week.  Umm, okay.  I’m not sure what this means for the scenic tours that I thought would be fun.  The waterparks are still open, so that’s good.  Maybe we’ll just have to go and see.

In the event that that isn’t such a great idea, I thought maybe we could go to Minneapolis again on the way home and go to Valley Fair.  Because we all know how much I love amusement park rides…right.  I’ve been to Valley Fair back in the day and I actually did almost all the roller coasters.  Me.  The one who is deathly afraid of heights.  But then again, it WAS 10 years ago and I WAS trying to impress someone with my fearlessness and coolness (they only had to physically drag me onto the first one which happened to be the ‘Wild Thang’ and after that I put them all to shame with my bravery).

I still have to pack.  Tomorrow.  I have ALL day tomorrow.  That’s lots of time.  Plenty.  One thing I did manage to do was get us a GPS unit this morning.  Garmin Nuvi 260, badabing badaboom!  This is a sweet little piece of technology and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  I know now that I’ll be able to enjoy the scenery and stay out of the backseat while Jer is the one driving.  Hi, my name is Erin and I have a serious case of backseatdriveritis.  Well when driving with my husband.  It’s not that I don’t trust him, per se, it’s more that I know how to do it better.  Sometimes.  I mean I AM a year older and have been driving that much longer.  So really.

Don’t tell him I said that.  Right, okay.  So I’m thinking of starting to pile stuff at least.  That will look productive.  That will make me aware of how much I actually have to do in the next 24 hours.  Maybe light a little fire under my tush.  Here I go.  Really.  I’m going now.  If anyone has any bright ideas of fun things to do between Pennsylvania and Minneapolis, let me know.  Bye.

I made a decision just a few moments ago that I highly suspect will be trip/marriage saving…get a GPS unit!  I’m trying to wade through the large stack of maps, both the paper and internet variety to figure out what our best routes are and looking closely at turn-offs, merges, exits, turnpikes.  Zooming in closely on the large cities and feeling slightly nauseated at the thought of driving through them with all the big highways and traffic.  I’m a country girl.  This is big stuff, people.  My head is starting to spin and the rocking and humming may commence shortly.  I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I’m going to spend 1600 miles with my head buried in maps and watching all the signs with hawk eyes, thus not seeing any of the marvelous countryside we’ll be travelling through.  Not to mention the almost certain fighting that will ensue when directions are not followed or given quickly enough, thereby missing turns and wasting time, and very possibly getting lost.  I get all twitchy and tense just thinking about it.  So methinks that a GPS unit would be a God-send.  A life saver.  An investment well placed.  From the reviews I’ve read, it’s a no-brainer, really.  Heck, we’ll probably pay for it with the gas we’ll save by not taking wrong turns and avoiding construction (oh, yes, these babies give you alternate routes because they can get the most up to date road conditions!  How sweet is that?).

I did my shopping today and picked up a bunch of things for our trip.  For instance a hat.  Ick.  I do not do hats.  This one isn’t really nice, either, although it was the best option since I refuse to wear sun visors, or HUGE floppy straw hats, or even baseball caps.  Still (Shudders).  It does solve the problem I was having.  No electricity while camping equals no blow dryer or flat iron for my hair and four days of camping and outdoors is sure to have very dire effects on my coif.  Problem solved…I do my hair on Wednesday before leaving the hotel, day two I put it in cute little pigtails, day three and four…wear ugly hat.  It will make for some lovely blog pictures fo sho.

I also bought our Wal-mart completely out of ketchup chips today : )  I bought every last bag they had.  All of them.  Granted, there were only 5, so it’s not really a colossal event, but I thought it was funny.

Two more days until lift off.  Car went in for a tune-up yesterday.  Apparently you are supposed to replace your fuel filter more often than never.  Actually every 2 years is recommended.  We’ve had our car for 5.  You do the math.  Could explain a few funny little quirks our car has been manifesting lately.  The mechanic also suggested 4 new tires.  Ours are in less than recommended condition for driving to the store and back.  So tomorrow I’m getting 2 new ones put on.  Two’s better than none, right?  That’s what I thought.  I got CAA today so that I feel safe while driving in quirky car with 2 bad tires.  I’m thinking 3000 miles without the option of 24 hour road side assistance is just asking for trouble.  And they gave me a largeish stack of reading material in the form of tour guide books and maps.  Free.  I’m such a good mennonite.

Now I just have to pack.  I have 2 WHOLE days yet.  That’s lots of time.  You can do lots of things in two days…unless you’re me.  I’ll probably be down to T minus 2 hours and counting before I actually pack.  That’s how I roll.

My list just keeps growing and I’m not crossing any of them off. Fold laundry, figure out what to take on our trip, figure out what the girls need to have for 11 days away from home, tackle growing pile of dishes, get maps, finish booking hotels, do some shopping, etc., etc. We’re are 4 sleeps away from leaving and I’m nowhere near ready. But that’s okay, because I still have 4 days. A lot can happen in 4 days.

Instead of all that, I sit here perusing Google Maps, trying to figure out where we are going and where we are staying. I think on our way home we may take a different route and stay in Chicago for 2 nights, spending a full day there sightseeing. I mean how many times are we going to have this opportunity? Let’s make the most of our trip and have some fun too! We are going to be 2 hours from Hershey, PA and you know what Hershey means…CHOCOLATE!!! Can I really be that close and not go there? I wish we had time, but then I have to miss some of the bands at the festival and I don’t know if I can do that. Sigh. So many decisions. Not to mention we will probably drive through all kinds of interesting places on the way there and back and not be able to stop for lack of time. I’m thinking we may have a lot of really early morning starts just so that if I feel the need to explore something we can. I’ll probably need a vacation after this trip!

And then of course there’s the overwhelming joy of getting to see Val again! It’s been 8 months since our visit. For those of you who are new to my blog in the last few months, Val and I met through our blogs during last year’s Ultimate Blog Party and we hit it off. I got the chance to go and meet her in October of last year and it was fabulous. Who knew I would find a BFF through my blog? I hate that we live so far apart. Seeing as how busy we both are, it appeared that we wouldn’t get another chance to see each other until next year, but trust me to find a way. When we decided to go on this road trip and I saw that I could make it work to drive through her town and visit for 2 days, I jumped at the opportunity!! I’m so pumped. Only 5 more sleeps till I get to hug my Val! YEEEEEEEE!!!!! I’m packing as many boxes and bags of ketchup chips into my car as I can possibly manage without it looking like I’ve got some sort of ketchup chip contraband operation going on…I can only imagine what the U.S./Canada border people are going to think about that, lol : )

I still can’t decide what I’m more excited for, seeing all the awesome bands that I’ve yearned to see for so long, or getting to see Val again. Jer jokingly asked me if he was going to be able to pry me away to actually go to the festival. I guess we’ll see.

Okay, back to the laundry. It’s a massive pile, people. Gargantuan! And course it’s the nicest day we’ve had yet. Perhaps I’ll go fold it on my deck.

This weekend was our town’s esteemed fair.  It’s quite the little shindig already.  I look forward to it with great anticipation and I am usually not disappointed.  Granted, this year we didn’t have any of the usual long hot summer nights, but it was still fun bundled up in winter coats and blankets.  I exaggerateth not!  One of my friends was wearing her winter jacket.  And I of course looked all chill and hawt in my thin, springy white coat, but I was a shivery mess under the thin facade of hotness.  Not to worry, though, I used a bag of steaming hot mini donuts to warm myself up.  On at least 3 different occasions.  Me thinks that’s not very “cleanse friendly” food.

We took the girls on Friday night to the “street party.”  This is where everyone you know and lots of people you don’t know congregate on main street (which is blocked off from one end of town to the other) to reconnect with old friends and stuff their faces with cotton candy, sausage burgers, corn dogs, watermelon and rollkuchen, borscht, mini donuts and many other scrumptious delights.  I TOTALLY get my $10 worth of food out of this night : ).  It feels like a great big Facebook gathering and just a little like a high school reunion every year.  Which is good because it makes me feel a little less guilty that I’ll be missing out on my 10 year reunion next weekend as we’re on our road trip.  I didn’t do that on purpose.  Promise.

There’s always a really good midway set up on one end of Main Street and this year I was excited to see my girls actually want to go on the rides and enjoy them with so much enthusiasm.  The last 2 years have been a total bust where the rides are concerned as the girls were not at all interested in even trying them.

I was even surprised when they begged to go on the ferris wheel and loved it when Daddy took them up.  Mommy stayed behind because SOMEONE has to take pictures…okay and maybe I’m a _little bit afraid of heights.  Or a lot.  Although there was such a beautiful sunset that I was wishing I had sucked it up and gone up with them to see it and take some pictures.  Oh, well, I got some cute pics of the girls.

Ella and Daddy as they wait to go up.

Aidan peering through to get her picture taken.

The lovely sunset made such a gorgeous silhouette of the ferris wheel.

That’s Ella looking for me on the ground.

You may have noticed in the pictures their cute faces.  They wanted to get their faces painted.  Ella got a lovely butterfly complete with glitter and Aidan got a bunny, which if I do say so myself, made her look even more mischievous!

The evening concluded with an incredible display of fireworks.  I have to say that our town puts a lot of fireworks out there to shame and this year’s were by far the best yet.  The girls were awed by how sparkly and loud they were.  I’m a sucker for fireworks and so I’m just like a kid at fireworks time.

Saturday we pawned the kids off to Jer’s parents and we went to the fair in the early evening.  Jer had to work serving at the chicken dinner with the rest of the guys from his work.  They tried to rope me into helping as well, but I was there for fun, not to work…and the t-shirt and free wristband was just not enough of an enticement for me.

After Jer was done his stint serving coleslaw and corn we meandered for a while until I got the brilliant idea that we should go on a ride.  I don’t do rides for the most part because they are usually high.  I LOVE the Tilt-a-Whirl and I’ll do that umpteen times in a row, but Jer thought we should go on the “Monster” a.k.a. “Octopus.”  Now who in their right and sane mind goes on a ride called that?  Just wondering.  And for some reason my head is bobbing up and down saying yes while everything in me screams “YOU IDIOT!!”  I thought it would be a little like a glorified Tilt-a-Whirl because it spins and stuff.  Yeah well.  Dumb, dumb, dumb!  Not only does it spin you around in your little bucket, it spins around the whole ride and then it goes up and down at retarded speeds.

I made it around the first rotation and I’m thinking, “this isn’t so bad, I can do this” and then she really got going at a good clip.  Let’s just say I pinched my eyes tight, held on for dear life and pretty much lost all feeling in my legs.  I think I may have screamed, definitely prayed and maybe just maybe swore once or twice.  Hey, I was in self preservation mode.  When the ride stopped I was white faced and week-kneed.  I think I’ll stick to the Tilt-a-Whirl from now on and most definitely not let Jer pick rides anymore!!!

After that was over and I could walk again we made it back to the area with the stage and bleachers and found our friends.  Doc Walker was the main entertainment for the night and they put on an awesome show.  And I don’t even do country music.  I think I might even download some of their tunes because I was that impressed.  Ssshhh, don’t tell anyone because that would ruin my reputation as a country music detester.

The concert ended with another round of fabulous pyrotechnics.  Happy sigh, I LOVE fireworks.  I think I said that already, didn’t I?  We were going to go home at that point as I was freezing cold, but then the rides seduced us one more time.  I did one last spin on the Tilt-a-Whirl with a friend and then convinced Jer to go on the Sizzler.  This one was AWESOME!!  The g-force on that thing was something to be reckoned with.  The guy even asked if we wanted to stay on for free rides because there was no one waiting, but at this point I figured I should probably just call it a night.  Sure enough, when we got off I couldn’t walk in a straight line.  It was hilarious! : )  And as we were walking back to the car I discovered the most interesting fact, you use bum muscles that don’t usually get any use when you are tensed up while on crazy death defying rides.  I can’t even sit today.  My buttox feels completely bruised.  TMI?  Sorry.  I thought it was interesting.

Other than the weather being cold, it was a perfect weekend.  Can’t wait till next year.

I was sitting by my computer the other night (Wednesday to be exact) and musing over how I’ve “always wanted to go to Sonshine Fest, but it’s never worked, and oh, my look at all the amazing bands playing this year, we should go, Jer!!!”  So he says, let’s do it, it’s in July that gives us time to work out the details.  So I’m on the order page and about to click send to order our tickets when it hits me…that’s the same weekend as my cousin, Jenene’s wedding and my daughter Ella is a flower girl.  Yeah, not so much a good idea to be gone that weekend.

Now Jer is annoyed and I’m annoyed because it’s a really, really, REALLY good line up of artists and it would have been amazing.  I’m far from convinced that this is the end of the road.  There’s got to be another festival somewhere on God’s green earth that we can find.  So I Google “Christian Music Festivals” and yup, there are in fact about 5 or 6 really good ones.  I browse through the artists playing at each venue…

“What about Ohio next week?”

“Um, I think that’s a little short notice, don’t you think?  And besides, isn’t that a little far to go?” Jer replies.

Back to the drawing board.  Cornerstone is a really big festival in Illinois with lots of great bands.  And it’s close to Val.  That’s ALWAYS a perk.  But it doesn’t have as many good bands as Sonshine Fest had.  So scratch that.  Another one in Wisconsin, but again, not as many good artists as I’d like to see if I’m going to drive all that way.

“Creation Fest ‘08…Oooooh, listen to THIS Jer, Newsboys, Switchfoot, TobyMac, Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp (DID YOU HEAR THAT…Oh, my gosh), Kutless, Skillet (AAAHHH, I’ve ALWAYS wanted to see them), Flyleaf, Barlowgirl (YEEEEEE!!!!), Family Force 5, Disciple, Pillar, Red, Fireflight…we are SO going.”

And those are just the bands I love.  There are tons more great bands playing there.

Jer is all pumped.  He’s as excited as me because a bunch of them are his faves as well.

“So, um, where and when is that one?” he inquires.

“In Pennsylvania in 2 weeks.”

His eyes bug out of his head.  “THAT is further than Ohio.”

Very good Einstein.

“If we’re going to do a roadtrip let’s do a roadtrip!”

So we are.  And we leave in a week from tomorrow (Unless Jer doesn’t hurry up and ask for time off.  Then we won’t be going).  I’m very excited.  I need a holiday.  We’ll be gone for 10 days and one of the most exciting parts is I’ll get to see Val on the way through Illinois.  Yay!  Oh, and the other exciting part…no kids.  We haven’t been away from our kids together for any more than two nights in the five years since Ella was born.  I guess it’s time.

And if for some reason 10 days alone is too much, I’ll just stay at Val’s : )  Just kidding.  Maybe.

Okay, so I took my medication this morning and the rocking and humming have subsided to more of a facial twitch. In case you were all wondering what was going on in my head the other day, that post was just a cathartic way of releasing past hurts. Getting old feelings off my chest. I’m not going through any major crisis at the moment with friendships, but I recognize my tendencies and know that there are probably lots of people out there who have been hurt like that. I wasn’t going over the edge or anything.

I know, I know, I’m not usually that serious sounding, and y’all didn’t quite know what to do with it, did ya? I DO, however, appreciate all the loving and concerned emails and phone calls I received. Wow, am I loved! I have to say that it touched me so deeply to know that I have, in the last couple of years, built friendships and relationships with people who DO handle my heart with care and they are genuine and loving. It does my heart so much good to know that I have trusted my deepest, darkest secrets to some of you and I know that I am still unconditionally loved, come hell or high water. No matter what happens and what mistakes I’ve made or will make, I’ll still be accepted and cherished. That is a humbling feeling. So you passed the test. I’ll still be your friend…just kidding. Not about being your friend, just that I wasn’t really testing you.

And in case you were actually wondering, I’m not on medication.  Not that I couldn’t use some most days : )

Oh, and I ate cheesecake last night. I figured that was an event worth an honorable mention. Just sayin’.

I think I am a sucker for punishment. I mean, why? Why do I keep going back for more. Shut me down and watch me get back up and offer my heart to you on a platter so that you can stomp all over it again. “Here, would you like me to hold it down for you so you can get better aim? Just watch my fingers please.” Really. Is it my infallible belief in human goodness? Is it that I’m forever the optimist? Whatever doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger, right? Right. I think. Or maybe I’m insane. “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” Albert Einstein

There are times when I get that feeling in my gut that it really is not going to be a happy ending, but I push on thinking I am just overreacting, that it will all be okay. How many times will I be vulnerable to the point of excess? The answer, my friends, is probably forever. It’s in my nature. I will forever be open, I will wear my heart on my sleeve. I will always hold onto the hope that what I give will be reciprocated.

I will say sorry, I will forgive, I will love, I will continue to think the best. I don’t give up on someone that easy. I’m a fighter. What hurts is when someone gives up on you. When they don’t think you are worth the fight. When what you have given has been evaluated and found wanting. When you realize the time has come to stop fighting and chasing. When you must stand still and let it be..,feeling like you have failed. That maybe at some point you let a moment pass by that perhaps could have changed it. Something could have been said to make the outcome different. The unfortunate thing about hindsight is that even though events appear clear from the finish line, you can’t turn back time and do it over. And that frustrates me.

I keep telling myself I won’t let it happen again, but in truth, I know I will. To harden myself so much that I can’t be hurt is to be emotionally dead and not have relationship at all. It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. I want to live my life feeling to the fullest. And if it means that in the process I will lose pieces of my heart, then know that you have been given a gift.

_{Edited to add: for all of you worrying, this is not anything to with my husband…just thinking out loud about past experiences.  Sorry to alarm anyone!}

Next time I go to a concert I MUST bring a notebook and pen. There is more blog fodder at a concert than I have time or memory to put to words. Oh.My.Goodness!!! Going to the Boston concert was worth it just for the people watching. I went thinking that it would be tame, most of the people are in my parents generation. Jer laughs and says, “I guess there won’t be any moshing tonight!” Well, we were both a little surprised by the exuberance that Foreigner and Boston songs bring out in people. I think the young girls in front of us with their parents were also a little surprised and more than a little embarrassed by their father’s happy little jig he was doing to the music. Here are some highlights:

- Mr. Leather Pants in front of us. WWWOOOOOOOOOOO (hands shooting in the air with the rock and roll hand symbol)….YeeeeAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Always about a beat and a half behind, but singing at the top of his lungs. You go man.

- Mr. I’ve had FAR too many beers also sitting in front of us. He fell over into his chair 6 times in a row, and always got back up to sway to the music. Nothing was going to keep him down. That’s perseverance, I tell ya.

- Mr. Leather Pants and Mr. I’ve had FAR too many beers high fiving each other even though they weren’t together, weren’t even sitting close to each other. I think the excitement was just far to much for them to handle and they saw kindred spirits in one another.

- The lights going down and not even 2 minutes later…the scent of pot. Somebody was REALLY reliving their past. I could have done without it, that’s for sure.

- The largish, aging man with crazy grey hair who walked onto stage with the other band members and my first thought was, “Roadie” and then he picks up the microphone and I gasped. THAT is Lou Gramm?!? Hee, hee…ahem, I mean, wow, he’s getting old…er…older. But boy, can he sing.

- All the people my parents age and older dancing to the music of their youth, remembering those long hot nights, their fevers of 103 and no doubt their tight pants (good thing the 80’s are back in style, because they almost looked normal being dressed that way). I’m sure many a child was conceived to “I Wanna Know What Love Is.” And the way they were dancing…this dance seems to be a learned dance in that generation. How to describe it…swaying, head bobbing, arms and hands flapping almost in a chicken dance type movement and all completely lacking in any rhythm. I wouldn’t even call it dancing, except they ALL do it. My apologies if I’ve insulted any blog readers in that generation who love to dance. You probably dance WAY better than all those people, I’m sure you do, because I only have the coolest of readers here. And you know, if you do dance like that, there’s no shame.
- The bleach blond 40 something woman with high waisted pants and crop top, waving her hands in the air, eyes closed, no doubt remembering her first time. It was rather touching. And I’ll add she was the only one standing during that song. In the whole arena.

- The guy behind us (who was a fount of very useful information about Boston and all members past and present, much of which I discovered after searching on Wikipedia, was incorrect) who, when cheering for Lou Gramm (Foreigner’s front man) sounded like a cow. He had a very low voice and kept bellowing what I actually first thought was “Boooooooo” and I’m thinking, “What a jerk to come to a concert and boo at them after every song. Then I realized he was yelling “Looooooouuuuuuuu” but it sounded a lot like “mooooooooo.” I burst into fits of hysterics more than a few times.

And this, people, was only during the opening act.

Boston followed with a very good show and I was enjoying the music too much to really take note of too many crazy things. The new lead singer was “rescued from a cubicle at Home Depot” when he posted some of his Boston cover tunes online and was discovered by Tom Sholtz (Boston’s one remaining original member). How crazy would that be? Living your 9-5 life, goofing around with your music and then the band actually thinks your good enough to sing for them? Maybe if I post some of my Singstar awesomeness I’ll get discovered and really become a superstar! Yeah!

Anyway, I LOVE their tunes. It was a total flashback for me as I spent many, many evening sitting in on my dad’s band’s jam sessions as they played Boston songs…”Amanda” (Erin bellowing at the top of her lungs waving her pretend lighter in the air, “I’m gonna say it like a man and make you understand AMANDAAAA, I LUUUUUV YOUUUUU” good times! Hey it was dark in there, and there’s no way I looked any dumber than half the crowd in there, so yeah.). I tried to post the Youtube video for this song so I could share the goodness with all of you, but it’s not letting me, so you can click here and go watch it if you wish. It’s such a great song, sigh. Other goodies include “Cool the Engines,” “More Than a Feeling,” and “To Be a Man.” I think I listened mostly to their “Third Stage” album back in the day, at least it’s the songs from that album that sticks in my mind probably because I was just getting really interested in music at that time. Scary how 20 years later, I still know all the words and guitar riffs and key changes. And it still makes me happy.

All in all, good times. I know my dad really enjoyed the concert (he was there too with his brother and a friend of theirs). It was a good old fashioned rock concert. No flashy stage set. No choreographed dancers. Just them and their instruments and the music. And it was good.

Yup, I cut my hair.  It had grown about an inch and a half in 7 or 8 weeks.  With all the hair she cut and “thinned” off my head I could have made a wig and I still have lots of hair to go around.  I even got a little braver and got my bangs cut shorter than last time.  I’m loving it.

And I can’t seem to smile when I take a picture of myself because I’m so self conscious about posing for a self-portrait.  Weird.

Anyway, happy weekend to you all.  We’re off to the Boston concert this evening (that was Jer’s birthday gift from me).  Should be good.  Ciao.

There’s an explanation in the comment section if you feel like you need one : )

Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone.

To join into the Wordless Wednesday fun go here and here.

So if you read my post below you’ll know that I’m on a mission.  Somehow, someway we gotta get Ellen Degeneres to be our friend : )  We (Louise, Shelley and I) decided that we would be great friends and we want to watch the Bachelorette season finale with Ellen.  I talked about how I want to try and get a letter, email or video to her about this.  Shelley reads my blog and goes straight to Ellen’s website and emails her.  She EMAILED ELLEN!  She told her about how we get together to watch the Bachelorette every week, how we love watching her show, how I make a “hell of a chocolate martini,” lol and that we want her to come here or we could come there.  Isn’t that hilarious?  She then told her to come over here and read my blog.  Like THAT would ever happen, but hey, it’s worth a shot.  We’re thinking of making some Ellen boxers or something and doing a video to send to her.  We’re crazy that way : )  Cross your fingers for us.

You know what would be fun?  Hanging out with Ellen.  I LOVE watching Ellen.  She is hilarious.  Freakin’ funny, I tell ya.  I sit and giggle…by myself, and it’s okay because it’s a bright spot in my day.  Her humor is totally my style.  The way she loves to dance (again, my style).  Seriously, people, I think we could be BFF’s.  Just sayin’.

Yesterday I was watching ‘The Bachelorette’ with a couple of my peeps (Louise and Shelley, who also happen to be Ellen fans) and Ellen was on last night’s episode.  We agreed amongst ourselves that it would just rock our worlds to watch the season finale WITH Ellen.  You know, sit and drink chocolate martinis (of which mine kick arse…or they will kick your arse, since they are pretty um, potent) and stuff our faces with all the unnecessary food we seem to produce (cream puffs, chips, strawberry shortcake, banana bread…that was just yesterday’s fare), analyze the show and make our predictions (and since Ellen’s predictions alway seem to be right it would be great to have her there), yell at the tv when things don’t go the way we think, cry (yes, I cried yesterday), giggle and just generally have fun.  TONS of fun.  And Ellen would make it even funner (is that a word?)!!

We would be totally okay if she wanted to come hang out with us in one of our humble homes in our small town.  It would also be fine by us if she wanted us to come to her, since I think we all could use a vacation.  Either way it would be a partay!

We thought maybe we could write her a letter and send a picture of the three of us, begging and pleading for her to indulge us.  I thought perhaps a video would be fun, but I get kind of shy when a camera is stuck in my face.  And besides, what would I say about why I think I deserve this?  I haven’t done anything that would warrant any special attention (other than stay in my p.j.’s all day and start my cleanse over today…for the 6th day in a row, but I’m really going do it this time).  I haven’t done anything for mankind that sets me apart from anyone else.

Then I thought maybe we should try and get tickets to go see a show.  Yeah!  Great idea.  So I go to her website and there are no tickets available right now because apparently she’s moving to a new studio and they are having a contest where you can win tickets to be at the first taping in said studio (deep breath), but you have to have an American address to enter the contest and I haven’t found a way around that yet even though there just HAS to be a way for a Canadian girl to enter.  I will find a way.

And maybe, just maybe in this crazy cyber world where things speed around the internet in seconds and what with six degrees of separation that seems to happen in this world someone will read this post, who will tell someone, who will know someone, who knows someone, who knows Ellen and will take pity on this poor, bored housewife and her friends and then I can find a way.  If you’re out there, help a girl out, a’ight?  Until then, I’ll continue to watch Ellen on t.v. and giggle by myself.  And with or without her, our Bachelorette season finale party will be fab.  Unless of course someone dumb wins, then we’ll have to run for cover so that we don’t get hit by flying debris when Louise starts throwing things (you should have seen the fallout when Shane won on The Bachelor…it was messy, lol).