What I am doing when I should be sleeping and things in between

It's been a long couple of weeks. I think my life's theme revolves around the quote "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.." I think I started to read that book once upon a time, but I never finished it. IT's on my "to do" list which has grown rather astronomical lately. Things have been like that a lot lately for me.

On October 7, I was called back to work. Rumor has it that they want us all gone before Veteran's day on the 11th, so they called more people back this week. Hurry up and so all the work so we can send you back home again. ;) Actually I didn't expect to be called back to work until at least the 14th, so I was a bit surprised. Of course, I had plans for the 13th-19th and the 21st, but I didn't have any problems getting the time off since I had things that were prepaid, and I had sufficient leave. I did offer to work 4 hours day shift on the 19th before I took off for the evening. Then I questioned my sanity.

On the 13th, Ed and I left bright and early for Las Vegas, although not nearly as early as I had hoped. My alarm didn't sound and I woke up about 3 hours later than I had intended. Ed decided I must have changed my mind about when I wanted to leave. Sigh... but it all worked out. It's my pattern - I panic, things inevitably work out, I wonder why I panicked. LOL I had reservations at the Mandalay Bay hotel, and tickets to see Mute Math at House of Blues that night. I was pretty excited having the VIP package (which I erroneously thought included a meet and greet, not just early entry - must have been wishful thinking on my part) and
I had promises of a photo pass which I was pretty jazzed about. Ed wasn't excited about having to rush down, but I told him we could take our time on the way back. When we arrived at Mandalay Bay, we passed by the buses and it looked like they were just starting to load in. We found a place to park, and headed for the hotel. It's been a few days, so the order is a bit fuzzy, but we eventually checked into our room and then checked the line at HOB. I picked up my will call ticket, and Ed and I had lunch at the HOB restaurant. The food wasn't super cheap, but not too bad considering the location, although it was tough to find anything even remotely low fat. LOL The service wasn't quite as good as the last time I ate there which was some time ago. The food was decent, though. At any rate, I checked back at the HOB a few times and was even able to get my photo pass early. The MM team does a wonderful job of putting things together. At some point Ed and I went out and walked around and I found the buses. I gave the security guy at the bus some throat coat tea for Paul, and some hershey's kisses for Darren (long story). Anyway, to keep this at a reasonable length, I went back to HOB and was first in line. The second person was another guy with a photo pass that drove down after seeing MM in Phoenix the night before. We chatted, some more VIP folks arrived and we met Levi who was awesome. He managed to get all of the MM VIP ticket holders permission to shoot photos for the whole show. I was able to even be behind the barricade for MM's entire set!!!


After the show, I hung around hoping to see the guys, but I only talked to Paul's wife and Levi. I'm sure they thought I was a pest. I did go next door to Starbucks. I found out that Starbucks has a drink I can have, but I'd already purchased water and a fruit cup. I wanted to wait a bit before going back to the hotel so my husband could sleep before I woke him up, so I killed some time there. LOL I actually came back around to HOB a few times, and said good-bye a second time and I was pretty silly being very over-tired. I'm sure they thought I was being kinda stalkerish, but the last time I just got lost trying to find the elevator and was going in circles. I kept ending up back at the HOB. By the time I got back I was ready to just sleep on the floor in the casino. Wouldn't that have been a sight!
I finally did find the elevators. I made it back to my room, and got ready for some much needed sleep. I slept in as long as my body let me the next morning and showered. I kind of wanted to take a bath, though, since there was a tv in the bathroom, and I thought it would be funny to bathe and watch tv. LOL Ed and I loved the room, except for the lack of a coffee pot. He went downstairs to find coffee while I got dressed. I took some pics from the hotel window before we left.


After checkout, I had a Vanilla Rooibos Latte from Starbucks (with soy instead of dairy) which was delicious.

We took our time getting back home, which was kind of nice. We stopped and took photos by the river.



At one point we stopped at a gas station with a huge rocking chair, so Ed took my pic in it, and I reciprocated. After all, turn about is fair play. :)


It was a long trip, but a good one overall.

After I arrived home, I did a bit of laundry, and did some final packing for my trip to Denver to see Relient K, Copeland and Barcelona with my sister.

That will have to be part two of the saga, however. Stay tuned...

I won't Forget and Not Slow Down

This will be the truncated version. I've decided that truncated is my word of the day.

I am currently sitting in the Angel Room of my sister's place near Denver, CO. IT's a pretty cool room, actually. I'm pretty sure I'm not angel, though. LOL

On Friday I was in Denver at the Ogden Theater to see Relient K, Copeland and Barcelona. All three bands were outstanding. I had a chance to chat a bit with some of the RK guys, took Ethan a birthday cake, met Brittany, April, Meagan & Co. Walked a mile to Starbucks and back, or at least I think it was a mile. I'm curious now. LOL Got a photo pass, and was so close to Thiessen that I'm sure my pics are rather shooting up his nose most of the night. Kept my sister's husband up past his bedtime (at the show, my sister and her husband were there.) Chatted with Aaron of Copeland, said hello's to Steven & Jon, meet the beautiful and sweet Sarah Warne, and generally had a really good time.

Yesterday (as of 20 mins. ago) I went to Fort Collins with my sister and her husband, and my mom and her husband to visit with some of my dad's family. We had a very nice lunch at Black Eyed Peas.

There is much more to say, including a trip to Vegas to see Mute Math, and tons of pics to follow... but right now, I should finish up playing around online and catch some sleep. I leave for home at 1 pm.

Stay tuned for the full version to follow soon!!

Not fooled THIS time...

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." --Abraham Lincoln

I received a call from LLM SVCS just a little bit ago. The number was 801-820-4210 I was informed in very bad and broken English that I had won a $500 shopping spree from Wal Mart as part of their customer appreciation.

I asked what the catch was and was assured that there was no catch. And (lucky me) I was also informed that I would get a restaurant discount card good for any restaurant. I figured that was the catch - a trial membership in a discount card. I never accept those because I never remember to cancel them and it's more trouble than it's worth. After another minute of the woman attempting to explain things to me, and my continued skepticism, and I was informed that the only charge was a shipping fee of $4 (which was later mentioned as $4.40.) I politely informed "Karen" that I would not give personal information over the phone to someone who called me. She rather glossed over it by saying I could use a debt card and I didn't have to use a credit card? (That makes a difference? LOL) And she proceeded to spell her name one letter at a time, K-A-R-E-N A-N-D-E-R-S-O-N. Then she gave me Wal Mart's corporate address. I got a really big chuckle out of the corporate address since anyone could look it up online. She completely mangled the pronunciation of Arkansas (It came out closer to R can Sass.) While I was on the phone, I did look up Wal Mart's site.

Still not convincing me, she gave me the package ID # as VKO125, and finally her employee ID # as 10051005KA. It didn't work.

Finally, she said her goodbyes to me, and I called Wal Mart Corporate offices. I was transferred to someone who confirmed my suspicions. IT was indeed a scam. He referred me to the FTC and the number for the FTC is 1-877-4357 for future reference. :)

Finally, I went to caller ID and looked up the call from LLM SVCS.
It came up with a site called, "Who Calls Me" and there were a number of posts, but one of the posts in the thread said this:
"LLM Services is a fake name using a fake caller ID number. They use Skype (untraceable internet phone service) to call you wanting personal info. They use cons like they are the IRS and you have a refund yet they want your name, address, SSN number, etc. They also use cons like offering to refinance your home but again they want personal info (name, address, SSN). They are not a legitimate business anywhere you can trace. Not the LLM Services (plumbing) in Miami, not the LLM Services in Oregon, etc. You can't complain to the do not call list (they're overseas), you can't complain to the BBB, and you can't find them on the web. Just plain old overseas con artists wanting personal info to fleece you. Hang up on them or give them false info is about all you can do or get number blocking. Warn all your family members about them. You'll never track them down since they use Skype to avoid any tracing. They could be anywhere on the planet."

So now you are armed with just a little more information. Phishing isn't just for the internet. Be careful out there! :)

Life is a Blur.

The last week has been a haze. That happens when I'm working followed by a lack of sleep. October 7, I was called back to work. My job is seasonal, and I am far enough up on the list that I am sometimes called back in for the "mini peaks" about this time of year. Still, I didn't expect to be called back until at least the 19th, and since I am usually called back on a Wednesday and not usually before a holiday, I thought it could be later. With that in mind I scheduled a few events for the next week. Things are not about to be simpler. It's amazing how that happens, and I have to say that some of it is my own doing. It's not all bad, and in fact, it should be a great week, but I will need a vacation from my little mini-vacation known as next week.

I've also watched Avalyn a few days this week, and she is finally starting to grow and respond a lot more. She's started to get big already.


On Tuesday, I am leaving bright and early for Las Vegas. My husband has graciously agreed to drive me there. I have a room overnight and a VIP ticket to see Mute Math. I have to say that I really love those guys: not just as musicians, incredible performers but also as nice people. They haven't toured in a while, and I really do miss them. They probably don't miss me nearly as much. ;)

Wednesday, the plan is to drive home and take our time. Hopefully I can be a little leisurely for one day. On Thursday morning, I fly to Denver. My sister lives in Denver, and Relient K will be in Denver on the 16th. How can I pass that up? My sister and her husband are planning to see Relient K's show as well. It should be fun. :) My mom was supposed to be there today, but not sure if it happened. I know she was concerned about snow, and it did snow in Denver this week. I will be in Denver until the 18th when I will fly home. It's not an overly long visit, but I think it will be a good one. :)

On the 19th, I will be seeing Eisley at In the Venue with Say Anything. Eisely hasn't toured in a bit, either, so I am definitely looking forward to it. I did say I would work half a day shift so I'd only have to take off 4 hrs. that day. So, it will be a long one, but I hope a good one, and I'm quite sure it will be worth it!

The 20th, I will be back to work for one day, and then off again on the 21st. On the 21st, I am supposed to work at the show for Fireflight and Remedy Drive with Abandon. I saw Remedy Drive at Creation Northwest and they were sooooooo good. But I will not be able to stay for the show, as I have tickets to see MAE and have had them for a while. I am trying to pull together "Project Touch" (see my last post) so it will most likely be a very long day. I will go back to work on the 22nd, and on Sunday the 25th, I will be working at Todd Agnew's concert. I love Todd and am looking forward to seeing him again.

Fortunately, I have some leave saved up. I am trying to be organized and have started packing and putting things together for upcoming events way in advance, which has made finding things to wear quite a challenge. LOL I just have to finish up on copying and emptying compact flash cards and packing my camera.

That is looking forward towards the future... looking back has been interesting as well.

On Saturday, I went to see Snow Patrol and Plain White T's. I arrived at 11 a.m. since the show was general admission. I met some VERY interesting people. Initially the venue was to be set up with the floor being standing, but a decision was made to
put in general admission chairs on the floor. This actually worked out well for me as we were so close to the barricades and were able to stand there without being squished ito obliviou! :) Kinda nice. Tom with PWT's was ill and almost cancelled his set entirely, but he came out and they played three acoustic songs, "1234"; "Sunlight" and "Hey Delilah." He sounded really good, especially thinking about him being sick. Afterwards, I was able to get their 3 song setlist. :) I really thought I should take Tom some Throat Coat Tea, and felt bad because I didn't listen to that "little" voice. Later I saw the drummer and mentioned it to him wasn't too sure he would have drank it. WE both thought he needed to take care of his voice.

Snow Patrol put on a good show and was a lot of fun. Gary forgot the words a few times, but it was kind of funny. The crowd seemed pretty lively, especially for a seating on the floor type of set up. Most of the time the vocals were really good, although a few times at the outset of a song, he would be off a little, usually a note or two. Afterwards I was pretty excited to get another set list. I let three girls take photos of it. Then I headed up to the merch table and bought a cd. I wanted to buy a PWT's tee that was cute, but didn't quite have enough, so I went to use the ATM. I think I left the set list there when I went. That is when I talked to the drummer for PWT's, and then bought the tee. I started to head out the door, and realized that I didn't have the set list anymore. It wasn't at the merch table and she hadn't seen it. I went back into the arena, and had someone look. I threw someone's drink out for them and I checked the trash. (So, I was desperate! LOL) But I know I had it upstairs and at the merch table, which I had later confirmed by two different people at different times. So the only conclusion I could come to is that when I had it at the merch table, someone took it. It was kind of a downer to an otherwise great day. But I'll get over it. Secretly, (or Not so secretly) I still want it back.



The drive home was very long due to construction and freeway closures, but I made it.
I uploaded pics and fell asleep at the desk. I ate dinner, and uploaded more pics, and again fell asleep at my desk. I got wise and went to bed. This morning I got up early and made it to church being actually on time.



That will be my next blog... See ya soon - very soon indeed.

If you read this, bless you!! :)

Project Touch

You can click on "Project Touch" to go to the event page on facebook.



Please pray for me and for this event and get the word out! :)

Sleeping beauty

As of Thursday, October 1, Avalyn has finally, finally gained a pound over her birthweight. This is a major milestone of enormous proportions. As of 2 days ago, Avalyn weighed a whopping 6 lbs. 10 ozs. She will be 6 weeks old on Monday. She is almost the size of an average newborn now. :) She is a sweet pea, and when she sleeps, a sleeping beauty.

Today mom was back at work, and Avalyn, was here. So, of course I had to take some photos. I wasn't up to getting out all of the camera gear, so I just grabbed my point and shoot and took a few snaps. I think for flash pics, I almost like the point and shoot better. Some day I will get a good flash for the 50D.


There were other events to mark this day in history. I did a load of dishes, cleaned a toilet, put in a load of laundry (better put it in the dryer soon!) and
made a flyer for Mae's Project Touch on October. 21. I changed one outfit, 2 dirty diapers, and fed Avalyn three times. I took a friend some grapes, and went shopping at Walmart. Mostly I bought groceries, but I did find this bargain for $3 (Sorry, but you'll have to turn your head sideways. For some reason it rotated when I uploaded it. Perhaps I'll fix it later if I'm so inclined. LOL):


And I bought two pair or pants that hopefully not be on the verge of falling off, and a new top (exactly $25 for all three):


And now I am quite tired. I just have to motivate myself to take care of the dogs so I can catch some sleep.

Sweet dreams...