Regrets

There's that little game that people play. If you could go back in time in your life and change something, what would you do differently?

For years, my answer was always "Nothing." Every choice I have made in my life - even the bad choices - have taught me something. Everything I've done, good or bad, has shaped who I am.

But I started to realize in the last few years that there is just one thing I would change if I could.

Danny.

I would have been friends with Danny.

When I was growing up, there was a family who lived just down the street from us. They had 2 kids - a son who was a year or two older than me, and a daughter who was a year younger. Danny was the son, and he had Down Syndrome.

Sometimes, Danny would go for walks around the neighborhood and would find me playing in our yard. He wouldn't really talk to me, but he would try to play with me. I was afraid of him because he was different and would go in the house. Leaving him outside alone.

That breaks my heart now.

I never gave him a chance. It wasn't until we were in high school that I realized how amazing he was.

Danny is a trouper. He is always happy, always smiling. He wants to be friends with the whole world! He told me once that he was going to be an actor, and I had no doubt that he would be great at it. I swear, he could do anything he sets his mind to. I'm so happy to know that even though the life span for someone with Down Syndrome is fairly short, Danny is still spreading his wonderful spirit to the people he meets. He's in his mid 30's now, and I hope he sticks around for a long, long time.

I haven't had a lot of opportunity to spend with him since high school. I moved back to our old neighborhood, but he was gone for a long time. I was happy to see him riding in his dad's car a few weeks before we moved away.

So that's my one big regret in life. I should have been Danny's friend. I should have learned at a really young age how amazing he is.

I was thinking about him again today. There is a group of kids with Down Syndrome who work at the gas station near my house. Thanks to Danny, I have an immediate love for anyone who has that magic extra chromosome. I make a point to talk to those wonderful kids when I see them, and I hope I'll have a chance to get to know them individually as time goes on. (Kelle Hampton - who's beautiful baby girl is in the picture I posted above - can teach you a thing or two about how special Down Syndrome children are. If you're not already a fan of her blog, I highly recommend it!)

So to Danny - I'm so sorry I didn't give you a chance when we were kids, but know that I love you and I'm a better person for having known you!

Funny Dog Story

The snow has finally arrived in Northern Middle of Nowhere, ND!

Montana winters are not always pretty - at least not where I'm from. We would get snow. And then it would all melt away. And then it would snow again. And all melt away. Etc. Etc. Etc. It's a frustrating cycle, and quite often leads to a Brown Christmas. Blah.

I have been told that here, when we get snow? It's there. Always - until spring.

But then we got snow in October. That melted. And a light snow again a few weeks ago - that melted before the day was even over. So once we really started to get snow, I've been pretty darn excited about it! It's thick and fluffy and beautiful!

It's also VERY cold.

Which leads to my funny dog story that happened a couple days ago.

Pirate Puppy is an Akita/Aussie/Rottie mix. His fur is thick and warm, and if he really does have enough Akita in him, it's also possibly waterproof. The snow doesn't phase him at all. He loves to charge around it, dig his nose in it, scoop it up in his mouth like a plow. If dogs have favorite seasons, I think winter must be his because he has so much fun playing in the snow.

Pirate Wench Puppy*, on the other hand, has very short fur, so she gets cold very easily. Usually, when I let her outside, she goes right to the end of the porch, does her thing as quickly as possible, and races back inside. But for whatever reason, she decided to take off with Pirate Puppy across the yard the other day. I tried to call her back, knowing what was coming, but she wouldn't listen. She then proceeded to have her own attempt at the World's Longest Pee Competition. (I would swear that Pirate Dog and Pirate Puppy were both competing for some world championship that I don't know about. They would be out there, in one spot, with one leg in the air FOREVER!) As I knew would happen, she came hobbling back to the porch, completely frozen. When she got there, her poor little legs were so cold she couldn't even raise a foot above the first step. So I had to rescue her. As I got to the base of the stairs, Pirate Puppy was racing back and forth in the snow, having a lovely time. I put my hands under Pirate Wench Puppy's belly and helped her get up the stairs (at 60+ pounds, carrying her up the stairs was out of the question in my current condition). She was quite happy to get inside the warm house.

And then I turned around.

Pirate Puppy was sitting in the snow just past the porch. His front left foot was raised in the air like it was injured, completely covered in snow. He had the saddest, most forlorn expression on his face. "Me too, Mom. I need help too." I laughed at him, and went to help him. (He weighs over 90 pounds, so you can imagine how difficult that could be for my big ol' pregnant butt!) As soon as I had my hands under his belly to assist him, he took off like a rocket straight up the stairs into the house! The big stinker!! He was jealous that she got the extra attention and was ACTING so he could get some attention, too! Then he enjoyed his little prank he played on me!

We have a tendancy around here to talk about him being dumb as a post. I think he's a lot smarter than he likes to let on.



* If you've been reading my blog for very long, you might be surprised to hear that Pirate Wench Puppy is back with us. It's a long story, and we're not really sure what needs to happen next. I may devote another posting to it, but then again, I may not. It's all pretty painful. Meanwhile, we're happy to have her home and we're enjoying all the love and snuggles we can get out of our sweet, affectionate girl.

Thanksgiving means.....

PINE CONE TURKEYS!!!!

This little beauty came home from school yesterday.

Seriously. Is there anything cuter than the yearly standard pine cone turkey?? This one is especially precious with it's baby-sized pine cone and funky feathers.

I've heard the project for tomorrow is turkey hats. I can't wait to see what that is going to look like!

You've got to love elementary holiday handicrafts. :)

Noises

The house we moved from in Montana was in my family for three generations. I lived there off and on for about 25 years. I knew where the creaky places were in the hallway. I knew the sound of the furnace right before it turned on. I knew which door in the house had just been closed from anywhere else in the house. I knew all the noises. I didn't have to question where what sounds came from.

And then I moved.

To a house built in 1903.

Let me tell you, this house has a lot of noises.

There's a ticking that seems to be coming from the living room wall at night. Is it really coming from the wall, or is it echoing off the wall from somewhere else? Is there a bomb in my wall?

I keep finding new creaky spaces on the floor in different rooms. One of them, I'm happy to report is directly under the rocking chair in the nursery. That's a really good thing because my dad refinished my rocking chair for me several months ago, and in the process, it lost the lovely creak it had that was so good at soothing babies that didn't want to go to sleep.

The furnace always startles me if it kicks on when I'm in the upstairs bathroom. It just sounds so weird up there.

I heard a door slam this afternoon and it took me almost an hour to figure out where the sound came from. I had been trying to figure out whether we had a bad draft somewhere, or if maybe Captain Kitty had managed to shut a door. (After a long day at work, I was exhausted and those 16 stairs to the upper floor are really daunting at times! Most of the doors in the house are upstairs.) I finally realized that it was the screen door right on the other side of the wall where I was sitting. It hadn't been shut fully and was blowing back and forth in the wind. I felt pretty silly when I figured that one out.

And the stairs! They're pretty darn creaky when you're on them, but they're NOTHING compared to how loud they sound when you're in the kitchen and someone is coming down them!

This morning, I heard a really strange sound (while I was in the upstairs bathroom), and I was trying to figure out why the furnace was being extra noisy. Turns out, my neighbor had just started his snow blower! I'm so not used to my house's noises that I can't even recognize a sound coming from outside!

We plan on being in this house forever. This little town is our home from now on, and this house will be a part of us as long as we can (we're hoping our kids will keep it in the family after we're gone). I know I'll eventually get used to the sounds here, and they'll be second nature just like in my old house. But for now, they sure can be a mystery when I'm the only one awake in the house!

Tuna Sandwiches, Water and Furry Beasties

My stomach was growling. Baby Pirate and I were apparently hungry. But it just so happened that I had some tuna already made up in the fridge.

Sandwich time!

It was yummy.

And not at all surprising, Captain Kitty had to come investigate the good fishy smell.

So he was curled up on my lap and we were having a lovely time snuggling while I read my blogs and tried to decide if I should go back to bed yet.

As usual, I am accompanied by my constant companion - my water bottle.

As I took a drink out of it, it was apparently the most fascinating thing on the planet to Captain Kitty! His eyes went super-wide as he watched me pick up the bottle, put it to my mouth, take a big drink and put it back on the computer desk.

Huh. I never thought water was that interesting.

But then again, I'm not a cat.

Pandora is Letting Me Down

In general, I love Pandora radio. It's very nice to be able to either find or set up my very own station with the kinds of music I want to listen to at any given time. I have a couple of stations that I truly, truly enjoy.

But then there's my Love Song station. I set it up one day when I was feeling all romantic about my upcoming wedding. I wanted to be surrounded all day at work by the mushy lovey-dovey stuff I was feeling at home.

It started out well. I gave Pandora THIRTY-THREE song seeds! I'm not kidding! Thirty three! From there, I thumbed-up fifty two songs that played on there. (Yes, I really just went in there and counted all of them.) Should be pretty simple, right?

Love songs. Easy. Just play the little things that couples who are sickeningly in love want to slow dance to.

Except Pandora is completely lost tonight apparently.

It's 4:00 in the morning. I went to bed WAY too early tonight, and was wide awake by 1:30. So I decided to come downstairs, catch up on some blogs and listen to music (mostly because I had a really annoying country song in my head that wouldn't die - and no, I won't say what it was because it will weasel its annoying self back in there). But this is not the time of night that I want loud dance music. I wanted soft, soothing love songs.

Tonight, Pandora thinks I want to listen to a million Beatles, George Michael and Air Supply songs. Okay, yeah. So some of their songs are romantic and mushy, but not all of them.

And don't even get me STARTED on "Take It On the Run" by REO Speedwagon! I HATE that song with a passion!!! The guy hears through the rumor mill that his girl is cheating on him. Then he goes on and on about how he knows rumors are crap and he doesn't believe it. But then he turns back around and says that he knows she's lying and she's on her way out. Huh?? Make up your mind, dude! That's the kind of mind-game garbage that makes me want to punch people! AAAAAARRRRGHHH!!

Ahem...

Sorry. Little ex-husband flashback there.

Anyway.

Pandora. I love you. Now figure out what you're doing so I don't have to hurt you. Killing Me Softly is a nice try, but the word "killing" in the title doesn't exactly scream mushy love song.

There's Somebody in There!

First of all, I have to show off my favorite t-shirt. It came from the same website the Rock Baby shirt came from. Surfer Pirate and I both love tools and working with our hands, so the first time I saw this shirt over a year ago, I knew I had to have it!


Anyway

We're in the 7th month now.

It's hard to believe that I've been pregnant for well over half a year! It's certainly been an adventure. I haven't enjoyed it as much as I always thought I would. The hormonal issues are driving me insane. My pelvis has been separated for weeks now, and it's quite painful. I've had pretty much non-stop heartburn for about 4 months now.

Pregnancy is definitely not a picnic.

But the one thing I wouldn't trade for anything in the world is getting to feel this little baby moving around in there.

I don't think this kid has STOPPED moving all day today! Rolling, kicking, punching. I've got little elbows and knees and feet roaming around all over in there! Quite often, I'll get a good solid lump on one side or the other of my stomach and I'll have to announce to the family "Baby Butt!!" Up until the last few days, this little one and I have had a little game going. The Little Pirate likes to kick my hand! If I move my hand away to watch the rolling and kicking, everything stops. I put my hand back on the belly... kick, kick, kick. But I guess we're getting to the point now where things are pretty crowded in there because the last couple days, I've had the chance to watch quite a bit of movement. It's really fun!

It's my newest source of entertainment.

Dear, Sweet Technology

I went to church today. In my living room. While wearing my slippers.

That is the blessing of technology.

Periodically, throughout the year, we have different conferences where our smaller congregations get together in one bigger congregation. We call it conference. In my case, it would be a 3 hour drive to get there. Since it starts at 10am, that means I would have to be out the door no later than 7am. Which means, to get myself and Pirate Munchkin ready for church, we would have to be up by 5-5:30am.

That's really early.

Not to mention all the gas it would take to get there and back.

And I'm now 7 months pregnant and road trips are getting harder to do.

But thanks to the wonderful internet, they've started running live-streaming video of our conferences for those of us who can't make it. Aside from a moment about halfway through when the live feed froze, it went just fine.


However.

There was another issue.


Apparently they either didn't give the "When you sit directly behind the speaker, sit very still because you are on camera" speech, or one particular teenage boy in the choir didn't take that advice seriously.

So those of us got to watch his lovely antics during the conference. He yawned and stretched, scratched his head, fidgeted, rubbed his face and talked to himself. But that had nothing on the multiple times he picked his nose while sitting up there. On camera. For half a state to see.

He wiped it on his pants.

His poor mother.

Wow! Another Food Post!!

I have already mentioned my food issues lately.

So when I come across a food that makes me blissfully happy, I try to make sure I keep it on hand.

(Peanut butter, how I love thee!!)


Okay, seriously?? Has anyone else tried these pies??? As my sister would say, they are THE YUM!!

I picked these little babies up on a sale at my local grocery store for a dollar apiece. 4 minutes in the microwave for perfect peachy pie-ness. They come out gold and flaky and wonderful!! I have to eat them with a spoon so I make sure not to miss any of the sauce.

Maybe one day I'll get around to trying them with ice cream. But for now, when I pull one of these bundles of deliciousness out of the microwave I can't be bothered by things like getting the ice cream out of the freezer and grabbing the ice cream scoop. The peachiness calls to me!

Thankfully, I've discovered the regular price is only $1.09 at my little store.


So okay, Banquet people? You're more than welcome to pay me for this lovely commercial I've written for you. And I would totally be okay with you paying me in pie!

Ow

I have a headache.

It hurts, and it feels yucky.

It's caused by florescent lighting and staring at bad handwriting for 5 hours.


Because I have a job.


It was all pretty quick. Two days ago, Surfer Pirate told me his boss wants to hire me. They have paperwork overtaking their office, and they need some help. Since I have lots of office work experience, they need me.

The best part is since they need ME, not the other way around, I get to make my own hours!

That's kind of cool.

So I'm working 20 hours a week, and the plan at this point is I'll do this for about 2 months.

Today, I got the exciting job of trying to decipher various people's handwriting. Not fun.

But I accomplished something today while still sitting in basically one spot. That was nice since I don't have much energy these days. I spend big chunks of time sitting in one spot while accomplishing nothing, so today was an improvement.

Pirate Dog

This is my sweet Pirate Dog.

He left this life on Wednesday.

The best way to tribute my sweet dog is to tell his story.


The story actually starts with a different dog. When the ex and I were married, we had a German Shepherd. He was a wonderful dog, and by the time we split up, he was old and sick. He always insisted on sleeping next to my bed, between the bedroom door and me - as my protector. When he died, I really missed feeling the safety of a big dog in the house.

But I also had 4 cats at the time. That's a lot to deal with when you're a single mom.

Along came Surfer Pirate.

He's a big animal lover - doesn't matter what kind of animal. He loved my cats, but deep down, he's really a dog person. Since he knew right from the start that we were going to be together forever, and I had my own home with a big yard, he wanted to get a dog. I still figured at that point that our relationship was temporary, and did I really want to get another dog to add to my already fur-filled house? But I did always feel safer with that big guard dog in my house, so I let Surfer Pirate talk me into a dog.

I went to the pound to see what dogs they had there. There were a couple of neat dogs, but I fell hard for a tiny German Shepherd puppy. She was so sweet and helpless. She was being treated for mange, so I wouldn't be able to take her home that day. I went home to wait it out.

I told Surfer Pirate about the puppy, and he had the sense to talk me out of getting her. With me working full-time, it was not a good idea to try to train a new puppy - especially one that already had health problems. We decided to go together - Surfer Pirate, Pirate Munchkin and me - to look for a dog.

As much as it killed me to do it, I passed by the little shepherd puppy and led the way to the other kennels where the two other dogs I had liked were. The one was a nice dog, but Surfer Pirate didn't seem too interested. Then, we went to the kennel where I had seen the adult yellow lab. Surfer Pirate looked at the dog, seemed to like him, then pointed at him and said "Sit." The dog sat. He turned to me, grinned and said "That's the one!"

So, we took him home.

He was a really fun dog, right from the start. He loved hugs! I had always wanted to have a big dog that liked hugs! (My other dog was a little skittish about hugging.) He had boundless energy, loved to play fetch, was loyal and loving, and was very gentle with my daughter.

He also was an escape artist.

We'd only had him a couple of weeks when he dug under the fence and went for a run. I was at work when I got the phone call from the animal shelter. Animal Control had picked up my dog and I needed to come get him. So, after work, I went down to the pound to bail him out of jail. They sent me back to the kennels (same kennels where I first saw him) to make sure he was back there. I had been instructed to find him, get the clipboard off his kennel and bring it back to the front office. I would pay his fine and then they would bring him up to me. When I got back to the kennels, I saw him before he saw me. He looked so sad and downtrodden! Poor guy. When he saw me, he got so excited that he started bounding around the kennel and barking! "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom's here to get me! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" I talked to him, grabbed the clipboard and went back up front. He couldn't figure out why I was leaving him, and he started to cry and whine and carry on. I felt so bad, but at the same time, it was pretty funny. I paid his $35 bail and they brought him out to me. He practically pulled over the girl in his excitement to get to me! "I'm free! I'm free! I'm free!"

He dug his way out a few more times, but thankfully, he was always found by one neighbor or another who would call me so I could come get him. We found out about a year and a half later that there was a woman down the street who had 2 female labs. He kept going to visit her dogs.

The pound had estimated his age to between 4-6 years old. The vet thought it was more like 6-7 years. Based on the last year of his life and how fast he wore down, we think he was actually closer to 8 when we got him.

The pound also didn't know much about his background. They told us he was left with them because the owner was moving and couldn't take him. Based on how he reacted to me the first few months, I suspected his previous owner had been a woman - I was the one he listened to the most. (Although when Surfer Pirate broke his back and was home for 2 months, they really bonded in that time. I never had the full command after that.) It was obvious that he'd always been allowed to ride in the bed of a pickup because any time we would ask him if he wanted to go for a ride, he would go straight for the tailgate. (I didn't allow that in our city in Montana - too much traffic and crazy drivers. Since we've been in North Dakota, I have no problem with the dogs riding in the back around here. The pace is so much slower that it's much safer. I'm sure he enjoyed getting his pickup bed back for the last few months of his life!) One day, Surfer Pirate took him outside and there were ducks flying overhead. He told Pirate Dog "get the ducks!" That dog took off across the lawn chasing those ducks! We were quite surprised to discover that he must have been a duck hunting dog with his previous owner!

The poor guy was lonely when everyone was gone during the day. Knowing he was an older dog and one day we would be losing him, we didn't want to just have an empty home. The decision was made to get a puppy to be a companion for him as well as a comfort for us for one day when Pirate Dog would be gone. That's when we got Pirate Puppy. He really enjoyed having a new little buddy to play with, and that slowed down his escape attempts a little. A few months later, we ended up with Pirate Wench Puppy as well. Pirate Dog couldn't quite keep up with these two crazy young pups, so he settled into his roll as a father figure to them. He would play with them at times, other times, he would lay quietly and watch them. But he was always quick to bark at them if they got out of hand.

His barking was actually a nice feature about him. I was never a fan of dogs barking in the house, but his barks served a great purpose. He would bark when he wanted to go outside, and he would bark when he was ready to eat. He was also quite prone to "talking" for other various reasons. It was always fun to communicate back and forth with him with his barks and other interesting grumbles and growls.

He was a good guard dog. He watched out for danger, and I had no doubt that if he ever had to protect us, he would do it fearlessly. But much like Marley from the Marley & Me book, Pirate Dog was TERRIFIED of thunderstorms! (Thankfully, that's pretty much the only way he and Marley compared - aside from their breed.) Thunderstorms would start an interesting routine of quivering, whining and the previously mentioned talking. If we were home, he would usually insist on being held. The dog who rarely ever got on the furniture would come diving into any lap he could find! The main trouble was when we weren't home during a thunderstorm. He would lose control of himself and have accidents in the house. The week we were in North Dakota getting Surfer Pirate settled in to his new job here, there was a tornado in our town in Montana. I came home to a DISASTER in the house!

He's been pretty clingy in the last few weeks - always having to be right next to someone. More than once, he's been squished by the recliner or stepped on because he got too close. I've suspected for a while that he wouldn't be with us much longer. But he started having trouble controlling his bodily functions inside the house. We would take him outside and he would just wander around the yard. Then he would come inside and relieve himself. He just wasn't feeling like himself anymore. His eyesight was going, and he seemed confused most of the time. Tuesday was an especially bad day, and the decision was made that it was time to let him go. He'd been spoiled and loved, got to feel the wind in his face driving down the road, and was pretty much the king of the universe in our home. He'd had a good life. So, Wednesday, Surfer Pirate took the day off work and we drove to the vet an hour away (no vet in our little town). Saying goodbye was especially hard on my loving husband. He adored that dog. We gave him our love and let him go. The vet office was nice enough to let us take a box of tissue with us - which we used as we cried together in the truck.

We had thought long and hard how to break the news to Pirate Munchkin. When she got home from school that day, I sat her down on my lap and told her that because Pirate Dog was old and sick and wasn't feeling like himself, he wasn't happy. So, we took him to the vet where they gave him a little shot that would make him go to sleep. When he woke up, he would be in heaven and would be able to play with our old German Shepherd and our cat who we'd also had to put to sleep a couple years ago. She was happy to hear that part and took the news very well - not a single tear shed.

We got less than 3 years with our wonderful Pirate Dog, but he will always be remembered. I couldn't have asked for a better dog.

Food: My Enemy, My Friend

I have such a mixed relationship with food these days.

I'm always the hungriest around 10 or 11 in the morning. At that time of day, I could practically eat ANYTHING!

And by the time supper-time arrives, I can't handle much of anything. When I can think of something that sounds good, I usually don't eat much. Most of the time, I make something quick for Pirate Munchkin and then sit around for a while trying to figure out what I could stomach. (Thank goodness Surfer Pirate usually eats at the farm so I don't have to figure out a meal for him as well!)

But then there are the cravings.

The horrible cravings!

And they always hit either late at night when the grocery store is closed (we only have one here), so I can't take care of the craving, or I crave something I can't even get here.

Tonight, it was seafood - specifically lobster.

I haven't had lobster in at least 3 years. Pirate Munchkin and I were watching a Man vs. Food marathon tonight. The different burgers and things they were showing mostly made me want to gag. But then he went someplace for lobster. It was so beautiful and so tempting I wanted to cry! I even went so far as to look online and see where I could order lobster to have shipped to me! Let me tell you, the prices are HORRIFYING!!

This is one of those days where I miss being in a city. I could get in the car and drive to the grocery store, and I could usually find at least lobster tails at the meat counter. Not cheap, but certainly cheaper than ordering online! And then there's Red Lobster and their lobster pizza!


Maybe we should have moved to Maine.

Thoughts on Scooby-Doo

I have so much to do today. But I have to get this thought out of my head.

I loved Scooby-Doo as a kid. I watched it all the time. I can still hear the background music in my head. (While I can appreciate that they've made more and updated stories, I wish they'd kept the music.)

Pirate Munchkin has decided she really likes the show. I don't have a problem with the cartoons, but have you seen the live-action made-for-tv movies they're making now? Soooooooo incredibly bad! I've banned those being watched if I'm in the house.

I've decided I want to be a Scooby-Doo villain. I want to dress in a really cool costume and come up with some elaborate scheme to scare people. And when I'm caught, I want to confess the whole thing and get to say the famous line "And I would have gotten away with it, too! If it weren't for you meddling kids!"


But you've got to wonder.

After all these years, don't you think eventually they would figure out that there aren't any ghosts or evil trolls or headless horsemen to be afraid of? Every. single. time. they come across one of these scary creatures, it always turns out to be someone in costume. And every. single. time. they (or at least Shaggy and Scooby) are terrified and holding each other. How many more people do they need to unmask before they finally figure out maybe they need to stop being scared all the time?


It's like all the people on Murder She Wrote. You'd think eventually people would figure out inviting Jessica Fletcher to their dinner party is a bad idea. I can't decide if she's a serial murderer who's just really clever and good at brainwashing people, or if she's the Angel of Death. Everywhere she goes, someone dies! Either way, if I knew her, I would keep her away from all my loved ones.

Phooey

I don't feel good. I got a bad case of motion sickness last weekend, and either it's still sticking around, or I have a stomach bug that comes and goes. I felt icky at the beginning of the week, felt a little better in the middle, and now I feel icky again this morning. Blah.

So I was sitting in the recliner, catching up on a blog that I'm trying to read from the beginning (2005! I'm up to 2007 now), just basically ignoring the rest of the world. Surfer Pirate is at work, Pirate Munchkin is off to school and Pirate Baby is happily kicking away inside of me. It was peaceful, and I could pretty much spend the rest of the day doing the same thing.

Except the dogs were whining.

I hadn't taken them out yet for the day.

I very politely asked them if they could go live somewhere else today so I wouldn't have to take them out at all today. They not only IGNORED this very reasonable request, but insisted that I take them outside.

Not fair. It's cold out there this morning.

But now that they've been out, I'm happy to report they are quietly resting and I can pretend they aren't here.

A Concert Review

Surfer Pirate and I are going to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary in 9 days. Shortly before we moved to North Dakota, we heard about a great concert that was going to be happening this month. It was eventually decided that since the concert was only 2 weeks before our anniversary, we would make that our gift to each other. It was also going to be our first chance to get away - just the two of us - since we've moved.

So, Sunday, we got in the truck and drove for a few hours to get to the concert venue. We picked up our tickets in Will-Call and went to check into our motel room. I changed into my concert attire: jeans, a long sleeved black t-shirt with the t-shirt shown here over the top. We went back to the venue, paid for parking, and were trying to find a good parking spot when I realized I had left the tickets in my purse - back in the motel. Thankfully, they gave us a ticket for the parking lot, so we were able to leave and come back without having to pay for parking again. But I felt pretty dumb.

There were technically two concerts going on. One was during the afternoon outside. Then the rest would be inside. We missed most of the outdoor part, but we did catch a group from Texas called Hell Yeah. Surfer Pirate and I were both pretty impressed with them. We'll have to pick up some of their music.

The first group is one that Surfer Pirate and I were both really familiar with (although he was very familiar with all the groups). Halestorm, as led by the very talented Lzzy Hale (and yes, that is how her name is spelled). I was really looking forward to seeing them live, but I was in no way prepared for how amazing that would be! Before she even stepped out on stage, Lzzy let loose with the longest notes I think I've ever heard! I knew she could sing, but holy cow! She is AMAZING!! The whole group is really good, but her brother (Arejay) is about as good as his sister. He's a very impressive drummer. I have to admit I have a little crush on him now. If you get the chance to see them perform live, I highly recommend it.

Next up was Stone Sour. I haven't really listened to them before, so I didn't know any of their songs. They were good, but I wouldn't say I'm going to be a fan of theirs anytime soon. Surfer Pirate really enjoyed them.

Avenged Sevenfold was third in line. There was quite a bit of set-up with the curtain down before they came on. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait!! They had a backdrop of an old assylum (although I thought it was a haunted house at first). There was an old Gothic looking fence with fire coming out of the pillars. To start off the drama, a guy hung himself off the scaffolding at the top of the stage (he had a safety harness on, but I was a little concerned when he jumped off because the scaffolding fell a little - he was fine). He hung there through the whole first song, which was about 5 minutes long. To start the first song, the lead singer started by playing a very creepy organ. It all made the Halloween-lover in me VERY happy! Their music was really good, the theatrics kept going, and they did a very touching tribute to their late drummer Jim Sullivan, who died last December. I would definitely see them again if I got the chance.

Last, but definitely not least was one of my very favorites - Disturbed. If you're not familiar with them, the lead singer David Draiman has one of the most interesting singing voices I've ever heard. It's very choppy, and I was really looking forward to seeing him do that in person. Their show wasn't nearly as theatric as Avenged, but it was just as interesting. They had screens up behind them, and had all kinds of different things going on with the screens. They started with a clip from one of their videos (at least I think I've seen it before in a video), and there was fire and interesting swirled graphic designs, and all kinds of things. Sadly, after a very long tour schedule (we saw the 2nd to last night), David was coming close to losing his voice. The cool sound effects and screams that he does all worked just fine, but there were a couple places where he even had to change pitch in order to get through the song when he was harmonizing. But all in all, they were amazing, and I loved every minute of it.

Surfer Pirate and I both left the concert without much of a voice from singing along to our favorite songs.

The sound system at the venue was really impressive. We were seated facing the stage straight on, in the 4th row. We made sure to be in the seating area, away from where everyone was standing (anywhere else, there probably would have been a big mosh pit, but apparently it's not a big thing to do here in ND). The sound system was so good that the seats vibrated and rattled with the music. So the question you may be wondering is how did the baby deal with the music? Apparently the baby loved it because it was ALL OVER the place! Bouncing around and kicking. It was like the baby was slam dancing, or having its own little mosh pit inside of me. It was pretty fun.

All in all, we had a wonderful time, and it was a very good choice for our anniversary celebration.