Lady A and Tim

Last night my mom dragged me to Summerfest in Milwaukee to see

Lady Antebellum

and Tim McGraw

You'll have to settle for these pics I took of the big screen.  I didn't even want to try risking taking my camera so I took my daughter's point and shoot.  I was hoping we'd be close enough to get something decent but we were a bit farther back than I thought.

I'm usually not much for country music, but it was a good show.  I may even consider putting a song or two on the ipod. 

Shhh.......don't tell my mom!

Oh, my poor blog

I know I'm not spending much quality time with you. It's not that I don't want to. It's that there just aren't enough hours in the day! I miss you and all your bloggy friends! I think about you all the time, but there are just so many other things going on and things I want to do that I can't always get here everyday! Not to mention the fact that I suck at time management and sometimes just get plain lazy too.



Things like celebrating birthdays, kids activities and band concerts. I had my daughter off of school because of a possible swine flu threat so spent some time with her. We spent a day shopping and doing lunch. I've of course been working a bunch, trying to spend as much time with hubby whenever we happen to have time off together. Trying to clean and get caught up with some stuff around the house....which isn't going quite like I'd like. I've been trying to read more and get caught up on a couple tv shows I have on tivo. Which reminds me.......my Netflix cue is getting longer by the second. There are just more movies I want to see than time to see them.



Oh, and I went to see Rick Springfield again this past Friday. Check out my new favorite photo.....




Don't we look like the happy couple? lol It was a fun night and I love this photo! I can't stop looking at it! My friend from work came with me. Remember the one who dragged me to see the New Kids On The Block? Well, she paid up on her end of the bargain and came to see Rick with me. She even got to meet him and get a photo too. I so think she made out better on the whole deal.......Rick thought so too! :)

So blog, I just want you to know that I still love you and will visit as often as I can! Oh, and can you wish all the moms that stop by a

Very Happy Mother's Day!!!

Cruising: Days 3 and 4

Saturday our first event didn't start until 11:30 so we slept in a bit. This was the day for the Q & A session with the stars. Rick, Doug, Jackie and Jay sat on stage and answered questions from the crowd. The questions actually went more smoothly than the day before at the acoustic show. They started lines for people to come up to the mic which worked much better than someone walking around with a mic as they did the day before. I think this was one of my favorite parts of the cruise. Rick and Doug were having fun and are hilarious together.

The beach party in Cozumel was scheduled for the afternoon. Unfortunately I have to say this was one of my least favorite parts of the cruise. I had such big expectations for it and it did not live up them at all. They seemed to be unorganized. They didn't start setting up his stage area until our group was there and trying to eat. Then they tell us we need to move the tables we're at so they can set up for him. We then had to clear the area for the second group to have room to eat. So of course they ended up with the prime spots for the concert. We couldn't see a darn thing the entire performance and I have no pictures from this one. The stage was not elevated at all so unless you were right up front you missed out. Then our group had to leave pretty much right after the show to catch the bus back so we also missed out on seeing Rick and the guys during down time on the beach after the show. We did enjoy our time sitting and walking along the beach before the show started, but the entire thing was not worth the extra cost. :(

Sunday we woke up to choppy seas and that did not agree with me at all. I ended up spending a big portion of the late morning and afternoon in bed. I ended up missing our photo session time with the stars. You have no idea how bummed I was (and still am) about that!! Hubby was awesome during the whole thing. He went to get John Waite's autograph for me and tried everything he could to get me a second with Rick for a picture. It finally paid off after dinner this night when I was able to get a quick photo.

I finally started feeling better toward the end of the afternoon so I was able to go to the farewell fan appreciation show. The Squirts performed for about 30 minutes and then Rick took the stage. Another great show and he did some songs he's never played live before or hasn't since the 80s. Like my favorite "What Kind Of Fool Am I"!

For the most part it was a wonderful trip and I'm so glad I went. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. They plan to make it an annual event but the possibility of us doing it again (or being able to afford it again) is pretty slim!

A couple pictures

The pictures I promised in the last post!

Me and Hubby at dinner

Me and Derek after the Lido Deck concert.

FB Friday (sorta): The Kids are all Grown Up!

As seen by:

• Their bodies (they've all aged matured quite nicely,)
• Their voices and singing
• Their songs and lyrics
• Their gyrating and "Dirty Dancing"
• The multiple crotch grabs throughout the night!

Picture this: All five guys in dark suits and hats, lined up at the front of the stage. A synchronized pelvic thrust and crotch grab during the song "Grown Man"!

"I'm a give you some Grown Man!"

Yeah, hot!

So here is my flashback part of the post. The Right Stuff video from, I think 1988:

Here's the video I took of them Wednesday night singing it:



Not too bad for row SSS

I had asked my friend A what her favorite song was so I could record it. It was this one and "I'll be Loving You Forever". OK. Got it. And I was supposed to take a little video while they were on the revolving stage too. Well, she had to nudge me each time because I, of course, didn't recognize them as fast as she did. Then I never did get anything from the other stage. I think I got caught up in the OMG they're right there moment!

Our seats were maybe half way back on the floor and there was an enclosed area right near us with something covered and some security guards inside it. She went over before the show and asked if it was a stage and they said yes. So we knew they'd be coming out there at some point. There were people with wrist bands who were allowed to come right down to the stage so when they appeared she left our seats and went up there too. I stayed where I was so I could get some pics and not be squished. For some reason I was having issues with the flash not going off. Then some B**** came from who knows where and stood up on a chair right it front of me and the girls next to me. She was asked a couple times but would not get down. I hate when people do that!

Anyway, A got to touch Jordan and Jon while up there. They were leaning over and grabbing hands. She also got a point and nod from Donnie, she thought it was cuz he liked here tattoo. She has a big one on her right upper arm with skulls and swirls and stuff.

I admit I wasn't sure about going. I was a little "old" for them at the time they were popular. Meaning I was a senior in High School! lol Even though they are all about my age. But I did know of them and their songs. My cousin was a big fan and I remember her watching and dancing to their videos. But, I did have a great time. It really was a great show. I even bought their new CD on the way out. Yup, they sucked me in! They did quite a few of them from the new one during the show and I liked them. We listened to it on the way home but I have yet to have a chance to listen again. I don't even have it in my possession right now. She bought the greatest hits and took them both home because we planned to "share" and I haven't seen her since. I should have just came home and bought it on itunes!

NKOTB Sneak Peek

I know I have a few people waiting to hear how the New Kids on the Block concert went last night. I'm super tired and have some errands to run today, so I'm not able to do a whole post on the show yet so I thought I'd at least share these for now! These are about the best I got so don't get your hopes up for the rest of them to be any good! lol Most of them are super grainy because of using the digital zoom and a high ISO on my daughter's camera. I did filter a couple of these to reduce the grainy-ness but I won't have time to do them all. I will be putting them up on photobucket soon.

It was a fun night!

In a digital world

On Sunday hubby decided to tackle Tiger's bedroom. She is one messy kid and every couple of months or so we have to go in there and attack her entire room and clean it up. It was so nice of him to do it while I was at work. I get so frustrated with her with the stuff she keeps in there!

Anyway, she had one of my old cheap point and shoot FILM cameras in there that I had let her have. They had taken it out and put on the kitchen counter. I saw it when I got home but never really thought much of it. Just figured she didn't want it anymore.

So this morning he picks it up and says to me that Tiger said it didn't work anymore and that is why it was there. So I asked what was wrong with it. He had no clue. So when Tiger came out of the bathroom I asked her.

Tiger: It doesn't work anymore.
Me: But what is wrong with it?
Tiger: I don't know, it doesn't take pictures.
Me: You know this is a FILM camera right? You need to have film in it for it to work?
Tiger: Huh?
Me: You put a roll of film in it and take pics. Then you have to take it out and get it developed.
Tiger: Oh. (Still a confused look on her face)

I still don't think she really got what I was talking about. She is so used to my digital cameras and being able to see the pics right away and download them to the computer. I guess it's all what you grow up with. My kids still can't believe that I didn't have a computer or video games while growing up. Didn't get our Atari until I was in Middle or High school I think!!

Tomorrow is my New Kids on the Block concert. I'm going with a friend who was a big fan. Aren't I so sweet? lol Unlike my BFF from college who wouldn't go with me to see Rick when I heard he was touring again because she couldn't justify spending the money on someone she hadn't followed the career of. (Maybe I'm just a tad bitter) But that's another story. I'm looking forward to it actually. Even though I don't even know all their names! I will let you know how it goes.

Jo Bros concert rocked!

Oh man, I am so tired after last night's Jonas Brothers concert! It was a long afternoon walking around Summerfest and then waiting and waiting for them to let us in the amphitheater. We didn't get home until almost 12:30, then I had to work at 8am. And it was soooooo crowded!!


They do know how to put on a good show. Lots of running and dancing around, Joe and Nick did some flips. At one point they asked if everyone was ready and they all grabbed some type of squirt gun and sprayed the crowd. We thought it was water, but later found out from my friend who was closer that is was some kind of white foam. Shaving cream, maybe? We all enjoyed it the show. Even though we were miles from the stage! lol I even managed to get some half way decent photos. Here's the link:



http://s351.photobucket.com/albums/q465/skowt15/2008%2007%2006%20Jonas%20Brothers/



Before the guys came out their dad came on stage and said they had been on myspace that morning and read a message from a girl who got tickets for the show for her sweet 16 and they wanted to find her and upgrade her seats! How sweet! He also said they heard how many fans had waited for hours to get on the lawn seats so they sent some guys up to pick 2 fans to come down front.

One of the coolest things of the night was when we were walking back to the parking lot. There were a bunch of people walking in the road just outside the festival. We heard sirens and security started shooing people out of the way back on to the sidewalk. Then a couple motorcycle cops drove by. We thought there was something going on up ahead and were expecting an ambulance to follow. Well, we turned around to look and here comes their tour bus with the lights on inside and all 3 guys standing up in front near the driver looking out and waving to people. You could hear screams travel down the road as the bus drove ahead.

It was a fun night!

Hangin' Tough

So, the New Kids On The Block are back this year for a reunion tour. A co-worker friend of mine was a big fan back in the day. They will be coming to Milwaukee in October so she asked if I'd go with her. Sure, if you come see Rick with me, I told her! Well, her hubby got our tickets yesterday. Are you jealous? Let's see if and when she makes it to a show with me! My cousin loved them too, had all the dance moves down. Wonder if she is going?

I almost forgot about giving an update on hubby's MRI. We got a call a couple days after saying that he had a "Small disk" whatever that means. Basically they said it was herniated and that it isn't that bad and more physical therapy should help. A different routine this time because now they know for sure what the problem is. Hubby isn't too happy with the whole situation. He just doesn't get why they have to go through so many steps to figure out what the problem is and how something in his neck could be affecting his arm too. It's all connected!

Pictures, friends and concerts

I love taking pictures, but sometimes I miss what's right in front of me. I'm so intent on getting the perfect concert shot, landscape or closeup that I forget about everything else.

Like this past week during the Rick Springfield shows........I had my camera with me at all times, met up with friends and met some new people and not once did I think to get pictures with them! Having fun with friends is a big part of the RS concert experience for me and one of the many reasons I keep going back for more. Those are some times you want to capture and remember for a lifetime and I missed them.

I will share a few of what I did get........some of the not so "normal" concert shots.

His hands........I love watching them at work on the guitar.



His boots............I had a dream about these boots so naturally I had to photograph them.

His Aaa.......wait a minute..........How did that one get in there? LOL

Weekend Recap

Friday Night Concert

Friday night I got together with some friends to go see the Nelson Brothers perform. They did a tribute to their father Ricky Nelson and mixed in a few of their own tunes. I had a nice time. I'd love to share a bunch of pics but I only got this not so good one from my cell phone.

I decided I would just take my small digital that fits in my purse. Well, I didn't plan ahead at all. I haven't used it in a while so I picked it up when the show started, composed the shot and ..........oops, dead battery. So then I dig around in the pouch and..........oops, no extras. Some photographer I am!

They hang around after the show so anyone interest can say hi, get something signed and get a pic with them, so we got in line for that. I bought their CD and got that signed and a friend took the picture. I have to wait for her to send a print otherwise I'd share that too........well, if I look halfway decent.

Tennis anyone?

My kids participated in a tennis Rapid Rally tennis competition on Saturday morning. It's a skills competition where they hit the ball against the wall as many times as they can in 30 seconds. I'm proud to say that Tiger got 3rd place in her age group. WooHoo!

Skowt scored 1st in her age group and will advance to the regional competition in June! She was just beaming. I think she has found something she really enjoys. She had a lesson later that morning and then we had to go practice again in the afternoon.

Sad news

Tiger was bumming this weekend. Her Beta fish died sometime overnight on Friday. I think that affected her performance in the tennis competition, she didn't hit the ball nearly as many times as she had in the past. Not only that but we also lost her hermit crab on Sunday. Hubby noticed on Sunday morning he was out of his shell, which is not a good sign. By the afternoon he was dead. She wasn't as upset about that though. Now she is asking for everything under the sun as far as pets go. Unfortunately, she won't be getting anything. Hubby and I are just not pet people and I know whatever we got we'd end up having to take care of.

Concerts

Today I'll list concerts I've been to. I'll see if I can get them in some kind of order.

• Kenny Rodgers and Dolly Parton (1981)- Not my choice for 1st concert. My parents dragged me to see them at the WI State Fair when we first moved here.
• Rick Springfield - The first time I saw him was August 1982 I've seen him multiple times since, I won't list them all!
• Corey Hart (1984) - technically he was an opening act for one of the RS concerts I referenced above
• Bon Jovi - not sure the first time I saw them but it was in the 80s and I've also seen them multiple times since
• Skid Row - opened for BJ in late 80s
• Extreme - opened for BJ in early 90s
• The Monkees - a reunion tour in the 80s
• Loverboy - 80s
• Huey Lewis and the News - 1987
• Billy Ray Cyrus/Ken Mellons - early 90s
• Nickelback/3 Days Grace/Trapt - Nov. 2003
• Metallica/Godsmack - Aug. 2004
• GooGoo Dolls - Aug. 2005
• Joan Jett - partial show at a county fair in 2005 or 2006, not sure of date
• Tim McGraw and Faith Hill - 2006? not sure of the year, mom dragged me again and I try to block it out. lol Kidding! They weren't too bad, I'm just not usually a fan of country music.
• Nelson - Aug. 2006
• The Police - July 2007
• Arrival - July 2007 - An ABBA tribute band I took my mom to.

Other nablopomo participants

All about Rick

Rick Springfield that is. Well, as I mentioned before, my hubby and I went to see RS this past Saturday. What a nice bday present that was!
We left around 1pm to head down to Illinois. Can someone explain to me why I still use mapquest? It sucks. For some reason, unknown to either of us, it took us in a random 10 mile circle. We didn't realize until we were actually driving it that it took us off the highway we knew around in a circle and right back on the the same highway we had just been on. Argh! Other than that it was a nice drive, saw lots of farms along the way and went through some interesting little towns.

We got into town just after 3pm and checked out the venue area, then found our hotel, checked in and called the friends we were meeting for dinner. We went to a local family owned restaurant, it was nice but a little "fancier" and of course pricier that we're used to or feel comfortable in. The hostess was kind of snobby too, so that didn't sit well with me the whole time.

The show was wonderful of course. It was held in the Arcada Theater in St. Charles, IL. Very nice older theater. Only problem was that it was lacking in the restroom dept. lol We had great seats, 3rd row on the aisle on the right side of the stage. The show was scheduled for 8pm, but Rick didn't come out until about 9:10. The Squirts opened for him, then the owner of the entertainment company spoke for a while and they had one of employees sing at Rick's request. A little more stalling and then some technical difficulties and we were finally underway with the video montage just after 9pm. This was the first time I had seen the video and loved it, would like to see that show up on a DVD sometime. Though maybe with a little more detail.

As soon as Rick come out there was a bit of a stage rush from some fans behind us. I ended up with the this huge dude in front of me. I was not happy about that, but with the looks and the size of this guy I wasn't about to say anything!! lol Luckily a couple songs in the owner and some security came down the aisle and made people return to their seats. There wasn't a problem after that. Just a few people here and there coming down for a closer pic or two. That I can handle, but I just hate the stage rushing!!

The show lasted for close to two hours. Rick seemed in a very good mood and was having fun. So were the rest of the guys. Matt and George were wireless and were wandering all over the place! It was hilarious at times. I'd been fighting a cold for a few days prior and by the end of the night I could barely speak. Well worth it though.

Here's a pic from when Rick was out in the crowd just across the aisle from us. Love the pics where he's looking right at you!



We also got treated to hearing "Christmas with You" live! I have the CD and had caught the video a time or two before the show but loved hearing it live. Here's that video..

You can find out more about the CD on http://www.rickspringfield.com/, the proceeds are going to help the families of fallen soldiers. You can also hear any or all of the songs at many clear channel radio stations (Christmas with you list). A few songs from his "Live in Rockford" DVD are also available for viewing (Live in Rockford list).

And that brings us to the end of my Rick rant........for now!

Concert 3 of 3 ABBA, THE TOUR

Milwaukee 7-8-07

Now, this concert was kind of the opposite of the Police concert as far as knowing the songs. I recognized most all of them. Blame it on my mom who played their music all the time when I was a kid! She saw this concert was coming up at Potawatomi in MKE and I decided to get tickets to for her for mother's day. Who's her favorite child now?

This of course was not the original ABBA but the tribute band Arrival from Sweden. I must admit they did a great job. From what I remember of the songs they sounded quite a bit like the originals. They also had the 70s outfits to go with it. I know my mom really enjoyed the show and it seemed like everyone else did too. There were just a handful of dates in the US but for anyone who likes the music of ABBA and who was never able to see the original band live, this is the next best thing I guess.

So now I can't get their songs out of my head. I keep waking up singing
Try once more
Like you did before
Sing a new song
Chiquitita

You happy now mom?? :-)

Concert 2 of 3 RICK SPRINGFIELD

Arlington Heights, IL 7-7-07

This is the one out of the three this weekend that I was most anticipating. Not that I didn't want to attend the other two, but because Rick Springfield has been my favorite since I was a pre-teen!!

I originally planned to attend with my family but at the last minute my husband got scheduled to work overtime on Saturday and had to get back home. I was able to hook up with a friend that let me stay at her place Saturday after the show and came home Sunday.

It was a free show that was held at a local festival. People came early, set up their blankets and/or chairs to claim their spot. We got there early afternoon, found a spot and hung around the grounds until the show. It was freakin HOT that day! Went through a ton of water and luckily found some shady areas to hang out in.

As show time got closer people started to trickle in. It was getting crowded. Once the opening music started everyone started inching closer and toward the center. But it wasn't bad, no pushing or shoving just lots of people crammed together. I did get beer spilled on my foot though!

He started with 'Who Killed Rock n Roll', the new one that should be on his next album (showing my age!). I love that song! It really rocks. Then he did most of the usual stuff from the 80s, got some fans and one of the grounds volunteers to sing 'Don't Talk to Strangers' and had some fun with a couple songs in the crowd. Couldn't even see him for most of that because it was just too crowded and there was really no place for him to get up and stand on anything. He played some slide guitar with someone's cell phone and then made a call to one of her contacts saying we'd all be over for beer and pizza later! He was back on stage for a couple songs, left to change and came back for a one song encore.......shirtless I must add! Very nice :-)

The show seemed to go very quickly (don't they all?). It was over around 9:30. All that waiting around in the hot sun and it's over before you know it. Well worth it though!! I had a blast!

Who wants to go with me next time?

Here's Rodger and George (with Matt and Derek in the background).

Concert 1 of 3 THE POLICE

Wrigley Field, 7-6-07

First off, I need to brush up on some Police music. I guess I should have done that before the show! I didn't realize how many songs I didn't know. They started with 'Message in a Bottle' then 'Synchronicity' (I think) and then quite a few I didn't recognize. I felt quite strange because it seemed like everyone else did and were singing along! I'm such a dork. Luckily the second half was much better and I felt a little more in touch.

When we first arrived our seats didn't seem half bad. Then they came out. If it wasn't for the 2 big screens on either side of the stage and the 3 right above their heads in the middle alternating shots of each of them, I wouldn't have been able to tell you that was Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland up there!! The stage was set up out over the center field bleachers. There were seats set up on the field but ours were in the stands about 8-10 rows back on the 1st base side. The place was PACKED!! Even some bleachers on building surrounding the stadium were full.

Of course I was lost without my camera! So here's me trying to get some kind of picture on my camera phone to remember the night. Took a few of the view before the show and one of hubby and I. Here's one I took during 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic'. They had a red lighting pattern going on......

Here it just looks like Wrigley Field is on Fire!! lol I can take good photos, really I can. Seriously, it was a great concert. They still Rock! Though for some reason they were a little slow on the tempo of 'Don't Stand So Close to Me', but other than that it was awesome. Sting still looks great, has a couple nice guns and still has quite a set of lungs. I'm so glad we got the chance to go!

3 concerts in 3 days

I hope so anyway!!

I'm headed out in about 4 hours or so to see the Police in Chicago with hubby.
I'm hoping to see Rick Springfield tomorrow night. I'm scrambling here at the last minute to find a ride home! Ahh!
Then on Sunday I'm going with my mom to see an ABBA tribute band.

I'll post all about them when the weekend is over. That is if I survive!

Later :)