SYNCING

My thoughts

Sunday February 27, 2005

Song: "I tried too hard......let down my guard again...." By I heart John Frank
Mood: Happy
Time: 9:11PM
Weather: I'm cold...brrr

Oh dear. Today has been so funny. I will get to that though...time for to go back a bit. Whatever happened to those days that I blogged every night so I wouldn't leave anything out? Oh well. Times are a'changin.

Going back to Friday night. Was gonna stay home and get some rest, but was heavily convinced to take Cali and Tony to their first ever Matt Mackelcan show. He was playing at Ballards again in Winter Park so Amy J and I decided it was a great time to go again. We saw John Frank (oh how I heart him!), Luke, BJ and Kris Nichols, of course. It was a great night of laughing and chatting. I love being around those kids. They make my heart smile. Good fun!

I started to feel better by Saturday and was good to go for pretty much anything. I was at work for the morning to have a refresh training for one of our cast members and the morning flew by. I spent my lunch phone conferencing with the CC for our meeting. It was a very productive hour and we got a lot of ideas flowing. I cannot wait. That's all I can say.

Started doing a project for Kneebone which took me the rest of my shift to complete. It was fun though cause my "1on1" got involved and there was more laughing than work getting done. This bullentin board had Carolyn written all over it. Stars all over the place along with yellow and blue colors. It was so great! Good times. Felt extremely satisfied with the work day, went home and changed just in time to meet up with Tony and Cali for a Saturday night movie. We went to see "Hitch" and it was pleasantly funny and interesting. I enjoyed it.

Made plans to meet up with Amy J soon after the movie and we headed to Margaritaville. It had been too long. So pathetic Carolyn, who doesn't carry around cash EVER, only had $5 in the form of a couple dollar bills, mostly quarters, and a few nickels to make up the fee to get into Margartiaville. The girl at the door was quite rude and said "Just keep it and go in, we don't take coins" and then said to Amy J "But I will take your money" and I was kinda put back by it. I kinda wanted to just leave it on her register and make her take it. Geez. I am *not* a pity party. Money is money.

Went to sit at the *other* bar, the one we hardly ever go to for a change, and it was awesome. Got the hottie bartender who winked and flirted. Such a nice guy. Got the classic pick up by the foreign conventioner who was also older. Figures. This is not the first time this has occurred. The last one was an Austrailian. This one was Irish. Geez. No more accented men please. This guy was very nice. Insisted on buying me a drink even after I declined many times. Hung on us during Blue Stone Circle's preformance. Would not stop talking to us. Okay fella. His name was Derklin. He was nice though. Just funny that those are the guys I attract. He kept on about how we should go back to his resort's hot tub "just for laughs". Yea...it'd be funny alright.

We had the bartender hold our spot for us when we heard "Tommy Hey-ya" singing "Hey Ya" and we ran down to the front row floor and "Tommy Hey Ya" saw me and smiled and grabbed my hand. He rocks! We sang and danced and was about to leave the dance floor right after the song until we heard the chords and AJ's wonderful voice starting out for "Let's Get It On" and we turned right back around. *sigh* I adore that kid's voice. Last time I saw him was hanging out with him at The Social and I was a bit intoxicated while telling him how much his voice makes me happy during this song in particular and he looked over at me during the song and smiled. Apparently he remembered that conversation as well. I am sure I turned red at some point, oh but I love it!

We eventually headed back to our seats where the bartender shooed out the temporary occupants of our chairs and we con't our meal. I also got to hear "The Joker" and "I want you to want me", both which made me very happy. It was a good night with Blue Stone Circle. Like old times. Great cover band!

Got home and crashed, which leads me onto today's activities. I got to work around 2pm, already having a great day because I got to sleep in, saw JHey and caught up with him, got two voicemails from K that cracked me up and was smiling while walking in the rain all the way to the help desk. I was greeted by smiles and laughs of some of my favorite cast members. It was a great start of my shift. Coop annoyed me by displacing all the desk items and drove me insane. Funny kid, funny. Anne and I just laughed about everything for awhile. That girl cracks me up. We listened to great music on her Ipod and talked about life. It was a great day.

Talked to K about this weekend and plans are being made, which I am excited about. I was very productive today in getting my show schedule up and running. If you are at all interested in my show schedule, please stop by and let me know if you have anything to add to my ever growing schedule. My Calendar of Shows and Events. CHACHOS!

It looks like work is gonna take up most of my time this week and then some fun times inbetween. I will be back soon to update again I am sure, but for now life is good. Always changing and rearranging, but for good in most ways.

Only thing I don't get is how I can be *so* good one moment and then it just takes one thought, one lyric line, one song, one moment to bring me back to confused. Funny I just have to stop thinking about it, make myself busy again, consider the good things in my life and then it stops again....for that moment. Hate it when that happens. It's like a bad dream.

posted by Carolyn Ohme

Friday February 25, 2005

Song: "This is your life, are you who you wanna be?" By Switchfoot
Mood: "Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired"
Time: 4:01PM
Weather: Kinda chilly

I feel like crap. Yet, I feel so much better today than I have in the three days before. Strange.

Let's review. Friday was the first day of my tour with the Mason family. What a wonderful family. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were no children in the party. The youngest were fourteen and they were totally fun! What a wonderful tour. We did Magic Kingdom flawlessly on Friday despite the crowds. It was like a tour guide reunion though with all of the plaid in the parks. Crazy. After work, Amy J and I hooked up to see Saint Cecilia's Tears, a band that my co-worker Sharon told me about. Her son is friends with them and he thought I might like them and did I ever. It was an FYC clone band though in many ways. Amy J and I giggled at the comparisons and had a great night. One free drink started the evening and Amy J was soon falling off her chair (literally). Good times.

We left the AKA Lounge after their preformance and tried to make it to the end of Matt Mackelcan's set, but arrived just in time to see two cars left on the street. I rolled my window down to ask "the bongo guy" if we had missed the set and he informed us of such so we headed to Steak and Shake instead. It was the fastest service I had ever received at Steak and Shake and at two in the morning even. It was amazing! When we were pulling out there was a guy just standing in the parking lot waiting for someone and he waved to us randomly. It was nice to see random acts of kindness at such a late hour. Good times.

Saturday I had the second and last day of my tour at Disney-MGM Studios with the best tour family ever. They were so fun and the day went pretty smoothly. It was so busy at the park, but the family was so gracious and in great spirits. I enjoyed them so much. Left them after an eleven hour overtime day and went home to rest my feet. Got a call from K asking me to come visit so I packed up some stuff and headed to Gville.

This was the first trip up there when K wasn't sick so it was a good time to hang out. We met up at the TGIFridays in the city and started our evening there. Graham Colton was playing in the restaurant. YAY. We were treated as celebrities with our "Gold card" which was hilarious. Had some good "pool talk" and then headed downtown towards Market Street Pub. It was karaoke night, which was so entertaining in itself. The trenchcoat guy was even there and K and I made friends with others while giggling at his karaoking. It was good times. K successfully got me toasted and I was well on my way to happy-ville by the time we got in the car to head back to his house.

All I remember when we arrived was the fact that I had to use the bathroom so bad so I grabbed K's key (apparently yelled at the dog-sorry Happy) and jumped the doggy fence to make it. After that I found my way to my bed and crashed very quickly. I do remember K introducing me to his friend and then I just crashed hardcore. Good times.

The next morning, I was the first to awake and Robin found me on the couch watching tv. We settled in the kitchen and had some "pool talk" of our own. It was good to chat and have that time. I heart Robin. K and his friend finally awoke about one or so and Robin make us breakfast. Yum. Hung out for a bit and practically froze. This is when I begin to feel not so 100%. Everyone else wasn't as cold, but I was freezing for some reason and when I got in the hot shower I got too hot and almost passed out. So not good. Got ready and we all headed out for a tour of Gville, K style.

I got to see where K works, which was great so I can actually picture where he is when he is talking to me most of the time. It was much larger than I had anticipated. Met one of his friends there and learned some important information for the evenings activities. Very productive day.

Got to UF earlier than everyone else and got a small tour of the campus. Very cool area. Ran into Guy shortly after and then found the lawn where they would be playing. Small and tilted stage, but cool lawn area at least. I began to feel worse as time went on, but I was drinking a lot of water assuming that was helping and just taking it easy. The three bands that went on prior to FYC were not very impressive. In fact, they were on a totally different playing field, but it was a good moment to realize how incredible the bands that I go see are in comparison. It's amazing the difference.

After hanging by myself for quite some time, Amy J, Nick, Robin, Mark (of Big Sky), Berg, etc began to arrive and good times were to be had, even if for a short period of time. It was good to see them. Mark, Nick and I played a few rounds of Texas Holdem with Guy being my "yes/no" guy. He was good to have around. I was doing pretty well for myself (and Guy). I love Mark's leaving line though "Next time we are playing strip" when I responded "You will be naked" he stated "and you will be butt naked". Nice. Good times to be had.

FYC went on and they rocked as usual. They had a pretty big crowd and was impressed by where all the people came from. They just sort of appeared. I love it how Nick played "stage hand" and tried to be the roadie. He's so cute. "I carried a watermelon" *grin* Amy J and I enjoyed that.

Berg had me laughing through the entire set. He was cracking me up. Not only that, but he provided excellent backup vocals to my horrible singing while we were singing along with J and Guy. I enjoy his singing and drowning me out. Makes me sound that much better.

As soon as the show was done I headed out, tired and feeling a bit more crappy. Got home in good time and headed to bed hoping to sleep off whatever I thought I was coming down with.

The next morning I woke up feeling like crap. Worst I have felt in quite awhile. My parents were in town and only for two days so this was not good timing. They came to pick me up and I hated to even admit that I was feeling sick, but it was obvious anyways so we went to Perkins for food and then Walgreens for medicine. I was with them through MK and DAK before I couldn't go any further and I just needed to sleep and try and get the sickness out of me. I felt so horrible. I left them around 5 so they could discover Epcot and I could sleep. I took medicine and passed out from 5pm until 11am the next morning. Still felt like crap, but tried to meet up with them again for lunch.

We went to Philly Connection and saw David Shannon. I had almost no appetite by this point so I didn't even finish my sandwich, which is hard to believe because usually it's gone as quick as I received it. Got done there and headed over to the Grand Floridian for high tea for my momma. It was really good and I think it helped me feel a bit better. It was jasmine tea and it cleared me up a bit. I didn't want to leave actually, but the time came to move on.

We stopped by the Wilderness Lodge and visited there for a bit before heading over to put our name on the Disney's Spirit of Aloha waiting list. After a bit of waiting, we got an excellent seat near the front center of the small theater and enjoyed a meal and show. My momma really liked it so it was good times. I was glad she did.

My "guest" experience with my parents made me realize a few things. I think Disney has jaded me for good on how people should act. I saw two families complain, complain, complain about their tables and how they weren't "the best" and they waitied for about five minutes and then were brought to the front two tables of the theater. I realize that we are able to do that for guests, but I don't understand why the complainers get it all. Why can't we pull the people in the two farthest tables away and randomly place them in the front for fun and not give anything to the complainers. I just don't understand why we reward those who are always complaining and only looking out for themselves. I hate that. I just don't understand why they are always the winners.

Said goodbye to my parents. I felt so bad for being sick while they were in town, but I know it couldn't be helped. I had just wished that they had stayed longer to where I could be well or something for at least one of my days off. It just sucked and I know they didn't have a good time because of me, but there is nothing that I can do about it now.

Went up to Gville a bit later to see Ashton Allen and FYC play at the Purple "Turtle" as Cali likes to call it along with Gianina, Katrina, Valerie, Anna, K, Berg, Steve from Time and others. It was good times. Ashton is adorable "nice bag watching, you slacking" *grin* Gotta give me a fair warning buddy. Guy and J did acoustic and it sounded really good. A couple of songs made me sad, but whatcha gonna do. It wasn't a good moment for me to hear "Bring down the stars" or "Leaving Atlanta" especially one right after the other, but I deal...everyday I deal. They even tried to pull out Bruises, but no one could think of the second verse at the moment. Here ya go. Late, but still here. "When she hit him with the expected news, she might as well have pushed him out the door. Pissed and bleeding from that October meeting if she tried she couldn't hurt him anymore" It was a nice effort to say the least.

April 9th people. April 9th. Honestly with Time at Common Grounds. How excited am I?

Had a nice evening with friends and then headed home yet again. I was gonna stay with K that night, but was feeling worse that I thought so I just headed back home to sleep in my own bed with my new quilt that my momma had made for me. It's full of stars so as my daddo says "I am sleeping with the stars every night" and that is very true.

Woke up feeling amazingly better and refreshed. I think sometimes a musical experience and friends does amazing things for the soul. Since I was feeling so much better I went ahead and finished some of my errands and then headed onto work. I still had no appetite whatsoever and was feeling weak though. By the time I got to work I was feeling crappy again. Not sure what happened inbetween that time of waking up and feeling better to getting to work and feeling like crap again, but I did.

Cooper made me feel better by bringing me chocolate to cheer me up, but nothing was helping. I was beginning to snap and I thought I just needed some food in my body, but that didn't help much either. By 11pm I was done. I pretty much gave them the heads up that I wasn't gonna be able to come to work the next day and I called in once I got home so I could just nyquil the night and day away.

Got up around 10ish the next morning, took a shower, felt crappy so I went back to bed until 5pm. Got up and slowly started moving around, but kept feeling light headed and needing to lay down. Tried to get food in me again, but with no appetite I wasn't eating well at all. Had lots of thoughts and felt so sick in my head that I felt sick everywhere else. Maybe I was making myself sicker that way. I'm not sure, but either way I was not feeling better.

Tye got home and we caught up a bit, since I hadn't seen him in days because of our schedules. Cali met up with me to go to the grocery store with me so I didn't pass out on my own. We got some much needed water and such and then met up with Amy J and Nick at my apartment.

Headed downtown to see Big 10-4, which probably wasn't the best idea ever considering my current sicknesss status, but I figured I needed to cure my soul so it might help a little and I was right. I began feeling better when we saw Matt Mackelcan. That kid cracks me up. He had me laughing all evening. I was so glad that he was there. Dirty Shannon was opening and sounded really good. Their image left something to be desired, but I kinda dug them for that. As crazy as it sounds.

We met up with Julie, 867, Gianina and Katrina. We saw Matt and John Frank and then tons of our Big 10-4 buddies. They are too cute! It was a big night for Big 10-4 and they rocked it out with a sold out crowd. It was a great release and I think I am better today for it. Not only did they play all the songs that I adore, but they also played "The Smell of Familiar" which I was so happy about in the encore. Yay! "It's the idea that I can feel brand new again" Good times...and just what I needed.

Dan was saying hello to all of us and Matt was jumping up and down and freaking out over Dan and John Frank came up behind me and did the same. It was great. I was surrounded by Matt, John Frank and Dan. How happy was I? *grin* Hugs! Good times.

I didn't get any sleep last night. I decided to *try* Tylenol for Severe Cold at Night and it did not do Nyquil any justice. I was highly disappointed and will never do that again. Nyquil it is forever.

Been thinking a lot about things in my life. What is important to me and what is not. It's hard to admit to myself that I do not mean the same thing to others as they mean to me and that I may not be worth anything at all, but then I take a look at my friends and family and realize that I don't need to have those type of people in my life if that is the case. I only need the people who also want me as a friend. I don't need to waste my time trying to convince someone of why they need me as a friend. It's certainly not a good use of my time and it's pointless in the end. I am extremely thankful for those in my life who appreciate me and enjoy my company as much as I enjoy theirs. Just makes me happy thinking like that.

I think I had the longest birthday celebration that I have ever had in my 25 years of living. After slightly recovering from my birthday evening, JHey and I hung out for awhile and decided to go support our work areas at Mickey's Retreat who were participating in Guest Relations Dodge Ball. It was a pretty good turnout overall and very fun to watch them nail the heck out of each other. *giggle* K finally woke up and met up with us there after his marathon evening. *grin* It was the first time for all of us to be at Mickey's Retreat. Amazing how I live in walking distance of it and just now have gone. So sad. K got to meet some of my work mates and then the game ended and we headed out to get some food.

Ended up heading over to TGIFridays on a whim and as we were being seated I heard my name being yelled. Tianna and Lauren were hanging out by the bar so we sat with them and caught up since I hadn't seen or talked to them in what feels like forever. They are funny kids. They hooked us up with some awesome deals! Thanks yo! *grin* Soon lots of GR people started showing up and then randomly Nick and his friends came too. It was like Cheers *grin* Totally the hang out and I never knew it apparently. Good times. We started our evenings activities there. Good fun! Ran into Dave Reberio, whom I adore. He's my "favorite scheduler ever" and it was cool to see him randomly. I love TGIFridays...now my favorite place. *grin*

Left there to pick up Carla and we headed up to Gainesville. Met up with Valerie and then we all headed to the Purple "Turtle" to find a room full of people, most of who I knew. Good times. Gianina had made it there right before us, K was already at the bar, JOHN FRANK (whom I felt up immediately when I got there-love him), Mikey, Philly, Chris, Randy, Berg and his crew. It was great to see everyone again. I am really loving our music crew and the more people we meet everytime a new show comes up. It's great! So we all mingle while I get toasted and inbetween bar drinks from Carla (thanks girl), K and I escape to his car for more refreshments and "pool talk". Oh how I cherish those times.

Came back in time for John Frank and I was so gone by then that I just kept on about how I heart him and yelled several things inbetween his songs. I got responses from him for the majority of the time, it was like having a conversation with him only with him on stage with a mic in front of a packed house. Good fun. At one point I said something along the lines of "I HEART YOU JOHN FRANK!" and the guy next to me said the same thing mocking me and I turned to him and noticed it was Chris, but not. Chris has a twin. Did I know this? Nope...and surprised was I. Same sense of humor, same face, same manerisms, same everything but one is in a band with long hair and one is a "business type" SO funny. I was in love. He also reminded me so much of Chris of *NSYNC. His name was Bruce and was titled by Chris ("the rich version of me") I love him. Had a long drunk talk with him and enjoyed his company heavily cause I was laughing so hard it almost hurt.

The Curve came on shortly after that and Mikey had promised me "Birthday" and he came through. Valerie and I were front row with Gianina and Carla right next to us. We were heavily into the show and sang every single word. I think we were the only two that did, but we sang it loud and proud. I adore those kids. I think everyone thought we were nuts, but oh well. We even got "down on my knees, I'm begging ya please please tell me what to do, oh tell me what to do, I'm down on my knees still begging so please ride" and my knees are swollen still after three days, but totally worth it. "It's your birthday, it's her birthday, yeah!" Thanks Mikey, you rock! So after The Curve, we all made plans for the after party at Berg's. So funny, I think John Frank asked me twenty times if I was going to Berg's. Yes John Frank, I'm going. *grin*

Carla and I start to head out to the car when we run into the boys of the first band. Young southern boys who look like they wanted to be corrupted, so I helped. They took photos while Jake, one of their members, hugged all over me and I threw him over the hood of their car. It was hilarious. "Are you going to Berg's?" YES Jake. These kids were so funny.

We all started to head out. Valerie led, then Carla and myself (she's driving of course) and Gianina (my coaster) in tote behind us. We were the Taco Bellers for the evening. Berg gave us a $20 to get as many tacos as possible with it. The drive through lady hated us. Valerie was first and we all told her "CHACHOS" and I was gonna die from lack of breathing when Carla did it. She screamed "Thanks...CHACHOS!" and I about hurt myself laughing at her. Valerie called asking what was so funny and I couldn't even get words to come out at all. Gianina told her to have a chachos evening and she said she would try. I was gonna pee in my pants.

Finally got to Berg's and found everyone there. "Carolyn!" So funny, I just saw these people. Chachos times. Berg had The Curve playing in the background which might have been a bad idea seeing as though Valerie and I were both there. We rocked out and put on our own little show and banged my knees up again...oh dear. We all hung out until about 5am and we started to crash. Mikey looked like he was gonna pass out, the poor guy. Randy started taking off his clothes and that was our queue to leave *grin* so we headed out and got back to Valerie's and crashed. Chachos times.

Carla and I woke up around 9am and headed back to Orlando cause I had a lunch date with Leslie and then had to close the help desk. Met up with Leslie when we got back and we headed to Chilis. Sooo good and it was such a beautiful day. The sun was shining in the restaurant from where we were sitting and I so didn't want to have to be inside that day. It was a great start of the day though. It was so good to hang out and catch up with Leslie. I missed her. It's so strange when old roommates are no longer your current roommates and you went from being together all the time to hardly ever because of schedules. Same with Becca, Amy J and others. So strange.

Finally I am at Valentine's Day. This was the one year anniversary of the Around The World at Epcot Tour (Segway experience) that I was fortunate enough to be the GR guide for the very first one a year ago and again on the actual anniversary. How cool was that? It was a pretty great group and it was fun. Much different from the very first one, but a nice memory. Worked in DRC the rest of the day and then got home, ran some errands, crashed for about an hour and then headed over to Cali's.

At the last Blue Martini Vic, Peanut and myself (Shore) were all asked if we were lesbians by three different parties that evening, no clue why...but either way we are all single and so ready to mingle therefore we decided to make our Valentine dates that evening. My date was Gianina so she brought me flowers and I brought her wine and strawberries. We are too cute. Cali was Valerie's date for the event, but we did double date and share a bit throughout the evening, all in good fun.

Chachos ride there. So funny! Learned about *snapping* and taught it to the girls. *snap snap snap snap snap* So funny! We played games with conversational hearts (well one round at least), sang *NSYNC songs, chatted and had a great time. The ride went by pretty fast. Got to Blue Martini and met up with Valerie in the parking lot. Downed some refreshments in the car and headed in to see the boys. Chachos. Soon familiar people were everywhere. So fun! Nick and his girlfriend Amy, Mark and Angie from Ft Lauderdale (who we met at PI a few times before) and new friends Charlotte and Greg who totally bought t-shirts. I loved them from the beginning. Adam and Mike came by shortly and I love Mike's first comment "I am moving to Orlando on Monday" YAY!

Chachos times were had....we partied like Valentine rock stars. Conversational hearts told us to do things, but really the only one we actually listened to was the kiss one (so we all pretty much did) I think everyone kissed everyone at our table...some more than once *giggle*. I heart my girls...they crack me up. It was too fun showing people "the pole" and running like we always do. We danced and when we wanted to take a "break" we literally did. "BREAK" *grin* Good fun. I think there were times where we might have scared Adam and Mike but they kept positioning themselves so they could see us and the band at the same time stating that most of the time we were more entertaining. *grin* By the end of the evening, they were completely facing us and had their backs to the band. I love those kids. They cracked me up. Good to hang out with, up for anything, laughs with us and not embarrassed by us (or at least I hope not) and they didn't immediately run away so that has to be a good thing, right?

Apparently my birthday was a lasting impression because I was still getting drinks bought for me in celebration (thanks Nick and Valerie) and I was getting hugs and birthday wishes all over the place (thanks Guy and Fish specifically). That was sweet, but really I think I was overloaded with birthday celebration and I was about done with it. I had a GREAT birthday and the best I have ever had because of everything that had occurred and the company I had, but really I didn't want anymore celebration...I am fortunate enough to have the friends that I do and that is all I need. Regardless, I did enjoy hearing "24" and singing with Gianina hugging me, Cali singing everyword along with me, Valerie making sure that "I am the second wo-man" was being heard along with me screaming it. So thanks for that. K surprising me by coming down off the stage to hug me and bite on my ear and tell me that Fish likes my rack was awesome. Nice. I already knew that.

Overall it was just an incredible night and a great Valentine's Day. I really don't think I have ever called a Valentine's Day great so that is a huge accomplishment. I heart my girls! Wouldn't wanted to have spent it with anyone else. My date rocked. My coaster....chachos times. My "other" date rocked as well especially in the car. *giggle* "I am the F****** CHACHOS King of the World" out the window at 70 miles an hour. Her hair was attacked. Funny stuff.

Thanks for the call Guy "You all still alive?" Yes sir..you see the front of the van yet? You've been Chachos tagged...watch out, they may attack YOU too!

It was a very easy ride home, I think we made excellent time and I wasn't too tired. I was too busy thinking. Cali passed out in the front seat and Gianina looked like she was doing some thought examining in the back seat as well. The music was soothing and it promoted introspective thoughts. A nice moment.

Crashed pretty late just to wake up again for work today. At Gateway enjoying the solace and usual ticket activity going on. Good times. Will go home around fiveish and crash. Cannot wait, but until then I will catch ya on the flipside.

"Since you've been gone, I can breathe for the first time, I'm so moving on, yeah, thanks to you, now I get what I want, since you've been gone" -Kelly Clarkson (my theme song of the moment)

25. Dear goodness...I am a quarter of a century old today. Geez. 25. I kept thinking yesterday that Jon Foreman of Switchfoot wrote the song "24" a day before his 25th birthday and I kept singing it in my head.

So yesterday I slept in for the first time in days and it felt so good. Amy J and K called one after the other and soon they were over at my place. We went and grabbed some lunch at Philly Connection. Got to see Dave Shannon, whom I adore. He's such a nice guy. And the girl there remembered me as well. It's great to have a "family" oriented type restaurant where they know who you are. Good times. I think Amy J and K's first time there was well taken.

Went to do some shopping and failed at being productive but it was fun. Remind me never to take K shopping again for clothes. *grin* Love ya kid.

Got home and pre-partied prior to heading to HOB for the Sugarcult show. Met up with Julie, Nikki, Kim, 867 and J. Got K's ticket and headed in. Did my once around with K to see if Chris Kirkpatrick was attending that show as well. We reminised about the last encounter I had had with him. Good times..I know, I'm a big dork.

It was the Take Action Tour with five bands, which a couple I did enjoy like The Early November for one. K had a protege that he was trying to teach of "how to pick up girls". We were all laughing at him for a bit thinking that he had an admirer. Until he obviously switched places with the guy for him to be closer to me and that's when I had had enough. I escaped for a bit and then engrossed myself in conversation with 867 and others. She saved me for quite awhile (thanks friend) until I couldn't get away anymore. He happened to be my co-worker's roommate, which was cool. I started not feeling well and really needed to get out of the situation and I just wanted to listen to the band, no offense to the guy whatsoever. Just a strange thing.

Sugarcult came on and I was rocking out. They put on a great show. I was a bit disappointed with the shortness of the show, but they played all my favorite songs. "Memory" was the one I was looking forward to, but the backup vocals were so much stronger than the lead's that I was not too impressed with that part, but I still rocked out to it regardless. My favorite was "All I want to do is lie in bed with you..." Such a good band. Good times were had. I am so thankful that K was there with me. Such a good friend.

Headed out shortly after the show ended and we somehow lost the other part of our party. I was ready to go home and crash (so tired and annoyed at the uncomfortable situation I had been in earlier) but K was persistent in not letting me go home a couple hours before my midnight celebration of my birthday so he insisted we head over to PI, which I am so glad he did. He saved my night.

We went over to PI where Nick met us there in less than twenty minutes from a call from K. Thanks friend! Started at Rock and Roll Beach Club where I asked the manager who was hanging out in the front of which band was playing and he said "Kabang?" and I went in to check and was surprised to see the 80s ALL STARS, whom I adore! YAY!

So we start enjoying our evening and K begins the goal of getting me toasted and boy does he succeed. We ran into Edward, Lon and everyone that K knows at the place. And he told everyone that it was my birthday. I was getting random hugs, kisses and drinks everywhere. We met the 80s All Stars, Daniel and Robert and they, of course, had heard about FYC and LOVED them. Saw them do "Breakdown" by Tom Petty once and had commented that they loved it! They gave FYC shoutouts multiple times and gave me a few birthday shout outs. They rocked! The DJ played my Wheatus "Teenage Dirtbag" song and I was in heaven. I was dancing with everyone in the place. These two girls were so sweet and just dancing away with me. The guy, Gary (Bob) would not stop dancing with me the entire time as well. He was cool though "I always see you here" and amazingly enough it wasn't a pick up line, I had always seen him there too. Funny stuff.

Wanted to step into Motions for a bit so we headed over there to close it out and K and I danced the night away. It was good fun with booty music and a nice change of pace from the Beach Club although I could have listened to the 80s All Stars all night long. They are great! Too bad they aren't there as much as I would love seeing as though they come all the way from California. They are just too much fun!

We headed to Taco Bell (where I told the drive through lady "Have a CHACHOS night" and then to McDonald's for K. Good times.

The next day (today: my birthday) K and I awoke to many many pages and phone call messages, text messages and IMs wishing me a Happy Birthday. Thank you ALL! I have the best friends in the world. You guys made my day. Already by noon I was having the best birthday that I have ever had.

Was making plans to do lunch with Leslie, but she had a later lunch time than we had anticipated since K had to "go to work" (and we will discuss that later) and leave around 2. So Carla called and offered to take us out to lunch and meet us just in a few minutes so we got ready and met her at Chilis for some grub. K still had the mentality to tell *everyone* that it was my birthday including the wait staff (oh dear goodness), but thankfully even after our meal there was no singing or clapping (yay) but there was desert, which was yummy.

K was already "running late for work" because it was about 2:45pm by the time we finished yet he didn't seem too concerned. He did sound concerned though when I told him that I wanted to go to Best Buy with Carla and he smashed that idea real quick. Hmm...something shady is going on here.

K "left" and Carla and I went to get her oil changed and car washed. Came back to my apartment to await JHey and Amy J's arrivals. We had some good talks and it was very fun to just chill out. Hung out for a bit until it was time to get ready to go to Cali's.

I had gone with K and Amy J to Papaya the day before specifically to find a shirt to wear for the evening's activities, but with no luck. Amy J had called and found me a shirt to wear. YAY! So she brought it over and it fit perfectly and was PERFECT for the evening! *grin* Thank you my friend!

We headed over to Cali's and found Nick, Valerie and Cali who all greeted us at the door with birthday hugs and kisses. Yay. Immediately I was instructed to put some beer bottles in the recycling bin and of course without question I obliged the hostess. I thought something was up so I was careful when opening the door (especially since Neo was sniffing the door with aggression) and I see K laughing at me saying "what are *you* doing here?" Little snot. *grin* So apparently the whole "I thought Carolyn's birthday was on the 10th" joke was planned for weeks and it was a whole surprise. How cute are my friends?

So happy that K was there. Apparently he had been hanging out at Cali's and playing Texas Holdem for a couple of hours before I came over. The peices all fit together now, but everyone could tell you that I had my suspicions, but I just didn't want to get my hopes up.

So K had bought the beer and made a game out of it. He put a note on every single beer bottle stating "In order to drink this beer you must..." I immediately got the one stating I had to stand on top of the coffee table and scream "I'm the king of the world", Valerie had to kiss the person of the same sex closest to her, which was Cali, and kiss Kevin and flash Kevin. She had all the crazy ones. Nick had to scream "CHACHOS" before drinking and give the closest person 50 cents (which was me) and then I had the final crazy one. "In order to drink this beer, you must drink it in it's entirey under 90 seconds" I did it in 70. Whew. That hurt. Good times.

I had said no gifts, but yea soon came present time. Now realize that I had already received several Best Buy gift certificates and I was beginning to see a trend so I wasn't entirely surprised when I kept getting more Best Buy gift certificates. Wow my friends know me so well. *grin* It was funny though to keep seeing them over and over again with a hint of K's bigger plan, but with still no real truth of what that goal was.

We had a "butt crack cake" that was sooo yummy. My favorite..Cali knows me well. It was good...and even 25 candles and yellow icing with little stars on the ends. Good fun.

We did a few shots with mom and pops and then were out the door to party. Big 10-4 got us some information a bit late in the game of it being an outside venue and a $20 charge. I called the work peeps and told them that it was too expensive and we shall celebrate another time cause I was told originally that it was free. Felt so bad, but I couldn't do much about it.

We got to Church Street Station and Cali and I got dropped off so we could go get the tickets and use the restroom, while the others found parking spots. We had just gotten out of the car and was walking toward the outdoor location when Joey Fatone himself walked right by us. I could not speak, Cali said "There's Joey Fatone" like it was just anyone and I stopped, stared and then after he passed, I squatted down and couldn't move. YAY Joey Fatone sighting ON my birthday, how perfect was that? Carla hadn't arrived yet, but if she was there I could have gotten an introduction...ah well I would have definitely thrown up at that point (70 second beer remember?).

Found Dan and the boys. Got the tickets-THANKS SO MUCH! Found all our crew and started dancing to try and keep warm. It was Amy J, K, Valerie, Cali, Tony, Gianina, Katrina (she got off early for my b-day YAY), Courtney and her friend Robin, and many Big 10-4 friends and fans. It was so cold that night. We were all freezing so we just danced the entire time to try to get warm. Needless to say, I couldn't show off my fun birthday shirt (ah well) until later that is *giggle*

The hosts of the outdoor event were hosting beer bongs and had two guys do it perfectly first off and then wanted the "birthday girl" to try. Oh dear. So not good. So glad that all of Big 10-4 stopped what they were doing to watch. I had never done one before and I can honestly say that I would rather not do one again. I was wearing most of it by the time it was done. The hose was SO big. It was cold...ah well. I still got hugs for trying. *shrug*

Big 10-4 came on stage and Dan immediately questions the audience "Anyone drinking tonight? Any birthdays today?" and smiles at me. Aww thanks friend. Big 10-4 rocked it out per usual and we were all having a great time and almost forgetting how freaking cold it was outside. Such a great show! It was Tony's first time seeing them and he really enjoyed them. Yay!

Decided we did not want to stay out in the cold any longer and we wanted to be inside somewhere. The Curve was still slated to play at Austin's so we met up with Carla, Daniela and Cecile and headed over to Austin's Coffee and Tea. Saw Berg immediately and a packed house. Good times. I plant myself and friends on the floor right in front of the stage since there was no other place to go. Tons of fun from that view. Chris, Mikey and Philly were a regular comedy act and cracked us up while providing some awesome acoustic music per usual.

Berg got up on stage to do some backup vocals and then called me out on my birthday. I love you Berg. Such a thoughtful guy! Mikey kept on it after that and even pulled it into a part of the song "It's Carolyn's birthday" *grin* Funny times. Thanks boys...sorry I actually missed "Birthday" cause we were hanging with "Big 10-4" which he mentioned several times during the set. *giggle*

It was Katrina, Gianina, Carla, Daniela, and Cecile's first time seeing The Curve and they were all "in love" by the end. Yay. Good times. We hung around a bit after the set and caught up with everyone. I love it that we aren't immediately shuffled out of that place like PI or anywhere else. We said our goodbyes and headed home after an exhausting and wonderful evening.

What an awesome birthday. I can't thank everyone enough who participated in some form or another. Thank you to all my friends and family for their sweet comments and such. I love you all and so fortunate to have you all in my life. I am not sure that I deserve it, but thank you for still sticking around.

Today I am gonna be going to Gainesville to hang out with buds again and to watch some good acoustic...can't wait!

Going all the way back to a week ago. Geez, it's been forever since I have updated, but I must catch myself up before I bust.

Tuesday: Went up to Gainesville. I needed to get out of this town for a little bit. Escape. I found solace and relaxation at K's. He wasn't feeling too hot so we hung out and laid low for the most part. It was much needed. Got to hear some incredible tunes. Just sat and listened to music for a bit. So glad we share the same passion...just in a different way. I was told to "bang on the drums" and at the time I hesitated, but I sat down in front of them and just waited while holding the sticks in my hands. I listened to the music that was blasting all around me and tried to "catch" the beat I was suppose to be imitating. I finally got the courage to hit the circular items in front of me and at first it was just noise, but after a bit of instruction, I really enjoyed listening to my "banging". I am not sure K or Robin would agree with me on that, but I was hooked. Good times. Thanks for the "lesson" K. Had some "pool time" and it was much needed on my end. Thanks my friend.

Robin took us out to the local diner and we met up with Kelly there. It was so fun to be in the "small town" with them. They knew quite a few people in the diner. "That's the local lawyer over there..." or "My husband works with her dad" It was too cute. "I was born in a small town..." *grin* Good food and good talks. Just reinforced how wonderful Robin is and what a wonderful mother she is. Just incredible. I adore that family!

Fell asleep watching the White Castle movie and then "The Borne Supremecy" (yes, Matt Damon was hot, but not hot enough to keep me awake) I was exhausted. Had an argument with K about sleeping arrangements, but I won...or at least I like to think I did. And sleep was good.

Wednesday: Got up kinda earlier on my end. K was still feeling crappy so he slept in a bit later. I got yelled at later for not waking him up, but I just couldn't do it. I kept myself occupied though. I watched the U2 DVD again and reminised about the times I kept it on repeat before during the hurricane era when K let me "borrow" it. Good times. Read some of a book he had lying around. It was raining and the noise it made on the tin roof they have in their kitchen made me so happy. "Rain falls angry on the tin roof as we lie awake in my bed" I laid on the bed and just listened to the rain against the window and melted into my thoughts. K woke up about this time and the first thing out of his mouth was "hey, what are you doing?" My response? "Thinking" and his question "thinking about what?" My response? "Nothing" *grin* Just thinking...

Waited till Robin got home and then we headed over to yet another "small town" restaurant. One that Robin is a local at and knows everyone. Too cute. It was *so* yummy! I rolled out of that place. It was K's Uncle's birthday so we went to celebrate with him and his family. I met his uncle and wife along with his cousin. They were so fun and we immediately hit it off. I love his family! I have now officially met all of his uncles. That was one of my goals. *grin* Had great convos about David Copperfield, family history and music. Some of my favorite topics. Good times. It was fun to be so included. K and I survived the whole "why are you guys together" talk again several times within the two days. They are all too cute. *grin*

Came back to his house and watched "Colateral" whew...what a film, but the ending wasn't as impressive as we had hoped for. As soon as it was over, I headed south again. It was a good drive. Got home at a decent hour and slept the night away.

Thursday: Began the first day of my three day tour with a family from NJ. Started at MK and the kids were very cool. They were up for anything and everything. I enjoyed them from the beginning. MK went really well. It was a reasonably good day on timing and I was able to get a lot done for the family within that time period. Got home and had enough time to get things together and head over to The Social to meet with Amy J, Kurt, Julie and 867 for The Matt Mackelcan Band as promised when I met Matt with Dan a few weeks before and got his demo. How much do I love The Matt Mackelcan Band. Good guys. Matt rocks. As a person and as a preformer. One of my new favorite people. We met up with John Frank, Dan and Matt from Big 10-4 and Carla (who came a bit later). Such good times. One of my favorite parts was just talking with John Frank about random crap and him just cracking me up. Found out that Matt just randomly walks away in mid conversation. Figured out that it wasn't intentionally rude, just what he does. So funny. I love that kid. Dan and Matt make me smile. It's so much fun to "randomly" run into them at shows, usually at The Social (which is quickly becoming my typical hangout) and just joking around with them all night. Good fun....I want that randomness to continue.

Got to know Julie's hot bartender a bit better. "What's the hot bartender's name again?" is what I asked Julie, but the "hot bartender" was the one to respond "Wes" Oops. *grin* He's totally fun though!

Went over and met up with Nick and Brooke at I-bar (next door) and got a first-time tour of the place. Pretty cool, really smoky, but definitely "emo fun" and fun-looking crowd. Katrina got there soon after that and we headed back to The Social to visit again. I was not the biggest fan of the group that was playing after Matt, but I dealt with the pain in my ears and suffered through it to be with the buds. I headed up to the bar and I felt someone tugging on my purse behind me. I turned around expecting it to be one of the people I had already been hanging out with only to be surprised by seeing AJ! YAY!

AJ had driven from Jacksonville that night after a pre-superbowl show he played at. He is too cute. Hung out with him a bit before I noticed "Tommy Hey Ya 3000" over by the bar. "You brought Tommy Hey Ya with you?" Huh? *grin* I love AJ...I ran over to Tommy and attacked him. Kisses everywhere! He's good fun. I love those kids. Hung out with them for a bit and caught up with both of them. They are so huggable. I am pretty sure that I spilled the beans to AJ of how erotic I think his voice is and how excited I get when he sings "Let's get it on" yea....that was fun to hear the response to. *giggle* I love me some AJ. Good kid.

Said my goodbyes to get some rest before day two of my tour. Headed home and crashed.

Friday: Met the tour family at DAK and it was a COLD day. Colder than anyone thought so we spent a good part of the morning shopping for warmer clothes for my guests. They weren't too excited about the weather, but to be honest, neither was I. Regardless, it was an okay day. Literally ran into Tarzan Rocks! Billy and I love him. "Oops Sorry" He's so hot! *grin* Made my day. My guests weren't too excited about doing much, but we did all I could persuade them to do before going to lunch at Rainforest Cafe. I got them set up and headed over to Epcot to prepare for their arrival so we could get some attractions completed over there. It was a nice break from the family and I got to catch up on fast passes. Good times.

Finished up at Epcot and got home, again, at a reasonable time. I was exhausted so I took a small nap before Amy J came over and we headed over to find the venue in Winter Park that Matt was playing at. With JHey's help, we finally found the rows of small stores and the loft in which we were looking for. You could hear the music from the sidewalk, which was an affective way of finding a venue. Got there in time for soundcheck with Matt and enjoyed the environment from which we were experiencing for the first time. Very cool, trendy and tiny loft with christmas type lights lighting the venue, long bar on the side and small "stage" area near the windows.

Matt is adorable. He immediately comes over to say hello and then randomly walks away again. I think I love him most for that. Just so funny. Met BJ (the saxaphonist and bassist) and had some good convos with him. Nice guy. Got "introduced" from across the room to "The Woj", who had given us this demo the night before at The Social and to Kris Nichols. How excited was I to hear that Kris Nichols was playing. I had picked up his cd, randomly of course, at Park Ave CDs one time and really *loved* his songs. How random was it that he was playing that night with Matt? Fun.

It became really packed with upper class Rollins students and parents. They were wine drinkers and the type of kids that wear the collars up, smoke small and trendy cigars and were most likely born with more money than Amy J's parents and I make in a year. We discussed at that point how we are poverty level faking middle class status. I definitely didn't feel out of place, despite what you might think, because I felt more comfortable hanging out with that night's talent and feeling perfectly even with them. It didn't matter what the other part of the crowd was like and it didn't matter if we "didn't fit in" because I enjoyed every moment just watching the preformers do what they love.

Loved Kris Nichols even more live. He was incredible. The Woj was awesome as well. Matt, BJ and Luke (who I will meet the following night *grin*) were awesome. They had a guy play the bongos as well that night, didn't catch his name, but he was incredible as well. It was a night full of acoustic guitar, memories, lyrical genius and good company. Amy J and I got to catch up and spend some quality time together and it was fun again. Matt rocks...

Saturday: Met my tour at Disney-MGM Studios and it was a busy park filled with cheerleaders (you would have been in Heaven K!) for a competition. We got a lot done and things were a bit more intense with the family. The kids were great as usual. Intense conversations and requests, but we got through them and we ended the day around 6ish. Enough time for me to head home and get ready for my third day in a row with Matt Mackelcan. Could not wait.

I had been so lucky as to have received free tickets to The Dave Matthews Tribute Band show at The Social (not to be confused with The Dave Matthews Cover band, apparently two different bands, believe it or not) and Matt just happened to have gotten the call a day before asking for him to open. YAY. I needed to run some errands prior to heading out so I called Nick and Amy J and let them know that I was going to Publix and would be home soon after that so I would call them and let them know. JHey and I headed to Publix to do some minimal shopping and I see Nick walking down the aisle toward us. A few aisles down, Amy J is walking up towards us. Great meeting spot. At the Publix. Good times. "Fancy meeting you here..."

They came over for pre-party activities and all I remember from that was laughing. It was great times. Just hanging out, eating some dinner and enjoying some refreshments. It's been awhile since I have done that. That tradition needs to be reinstated in my evening activities.

We headed downtown and immediately run into Matt and the crew. Got introduced to Luke and chatted with them for a bit. Carla met us there and the fun was beginning. We watched a bit of the first act, who happened to be on tour with The Dave Matthews Tribute Band specifically and ooh it was painful. The music wasn't half bad, but the lyrics were killing me. Lyrics are extremely important to me personally. I am one that actually pays attention to them and needs to relate in some way, shape or form to fall in love with them. This guy's lyrics were so bad that Amy J and I were convinced he was making them up on the spot. "We were sitting over there, eatin some food, drinkin some beer..." oh please stop. He was a nice enough guy and seemed very positive, but I could not get into it.

Was front row for Matt and band. Right before they preformed, Matt looked down at Amy J and I and waved and the girl standing on the other side of me was so interested in finding out some information immediately. "Do you know them?" Yep, as of two days ago (which I thought was funny seeing as though it felt like I have known them forever). "Are they like the real thing?" She thought they were The DMTB, so I explained they weren't and she still asked again if they are like the real thing thinking that I was saying it wasn't "The Dave Matthews Band" oh dear this poor girl. She was too cute though. I tried to explain again that it was The Matt Mackelcan Band and I think it finally sank through. Too cute. She really loved them so I sold her a CD for Matt...he was so funny in response to her. I adore that kid. "Melbourne? Australia?" Gotta love him.

Decided that Denny's would be way more exciting than The DMTB since we would clearly enjoy listening to the DMB CD a bit more and it would be more authentic. So we all headed out and ate some good eggs and such at Denny's. Nice. The kids at the table behind us were gonna send me up the wall with annoyance. I was about to crawl over the table and scold them on being stupid, rude and immature to the waitress. Grr...Nick held me back. Good boy.

Sunday: I, finally, got to sleep in and rested up from the lack of sleep I had been getting prior. I closed the help desk and had a pretty productive day. It went by quickly and it wasn't too bad of a day at all. This day was showless though, which made me a bit sad, but it was a break I guess I needed.

Monday: Not too eventful of a day. It was a great Segway tour, maybe one of my most recent favorites, which I needed to have. I worked on my town hall project with Octavio and got the majority of it done. Good times. Came home and napped for the most part to try and catch up on some missing sleep. But remember, there is no sleeping in Florida...only naps apparently. *grin* Woke up in perfect timing to shower and get ready. Cali came over shortly after and we headed to The Social.

Let me briefly explain what this day was. This was the official Graham Colton day. Graham Colton was at The Social with our friends opening, The Woj and John Frank. This has been planned and anticipated for quite awhile. Cali and I get there before any of the other peeps do and we find out that 1) Victor failed to keep his promise and 2) Graham Colton cancelled. John Frank broke the news to us and I thought he was joking. My mouth would not close. Sooo not cool Graham Colton. Apparently one of the guitarist (not sure if it was Turtle, Graham himself, or Steve Vahn's lookalike) broke their hand. Yes, bad news and obviously would affect their playing, but geez. How depressed was I? Called Amy J and broke the horrible news to her and she decided to stay at home. Julie and 867 showed up and they drowned in their sorrows at the bar. When I went up to join them, I got a comment from Wes stating "You were really drunk the other night" Was I? *grin* Glad he remembered....good times. Shannon and her friend Mya came regardless, Katrina was the last to show. We had a great time regardless with The Woj and John Frank and would have come anyway because of them, but my heart ached for Graham Colton. Grr.

Matt walked through the door and saw us. Immediately came over and hung out with us for a bit. Luke was there as well. It was good to see them again (one day lapse and I was already going through withdrawal...funny stuff). Dan and Matt showed up with Jimmy this time, shortly after and came to say hello as we were sitting on the stage. Good times. I love those nights...they just keep getting better. I was sitting on the stage with Jimmy chatting away when Wes, the hot bartender, walked by while picking up empty glasses. I mentioned to him that I wasn't drunk yet that evening (in response to his earlier comment) in which he replied "You wanna do a shot with me, my treat?" umm yea.

Wes rocks my world. "Girls night out", his speciality, was mighty good. Getting there buddy...getting there. Good times. Spent the entire evening hanging out with the guys while listening and enjoying the tunes of John Frank. How much do I adore that kid? He makes me laugh.

Left in good time to still stop by the usual after-party Denny's stop. *grin* Good food with good chats...I adore my life sometimes, the drama free moments anyways.

Tuesday: My momma's birthday! Happy Birthday mom! I love you! Got to work at the break of dawn to complete Octavio and I's project. We did our first presentation out of two for the day. It went well and we proceeded to opening the park. I worked the window that day and to be honest it wasn't the best day...for any of us. Started out okay, but just ended horribly. Everyone was having issues and moments of forgetting. It was good to escape to my second meeting of the day. That presentation went good as well and was a bit more fun. Beads were all over the place in honor of Fat Tuesday, but no one wanted them so I inherited them for the evenings activities.

Got home and again take a nap because there's no sleeping in Florida. Cali came over and we headed out to Pointe Orlando to celebrate Fat Tuesday with all the crazy drunks and watch Big 10-4 rock out. We soon met up with Julie and 867. How much do I love Big 10-4 shows? The people that we have met through them are awesome. Very welcoming and fun! I determined last night that it was a family, a true musical family. All finding solace and friendship from this band and their music. They adopted us and brought us in so quickly without any hesitation and I love them for it. They are all friendly and amazing people, with a touch of drunkness, but still huggable and genuiunely converstational (if that is a word).

Ran into Babe, who is one of my favorite Big 10-4 peeps. He was my *first* and I was his...*giggle* He was the one who started my boob signing phenomenon from the Gainesville shows, which by the way I think it's hilarious that they all thought we drove down from Gainesville since that is where we met all of them, including Roy *grin*. Babe was sporting a shirt titled "...One of Them" which is his favorite song and on the back "BTF Security" cause he is...and he's awesome! My Verizon guy was there, Rob...nice guy. So funny I run into him EVERYWHERE. Our group felt him up and he hung out for a bit. Cool guy.

Rick and Miguel ("It's the management team!") showed up and cracked me up the entire night! Saw Ed, Kelly, Getto, and several familar faces that I have yet to be formally introduced to. Partied down with them until Big 10-4 took the stage. The band (Hindu Cowboys) that was playing prior to Big 10-4 was not making me happy. Cali and I kept edging towards the back so we could hear as less as possible. Sad to say, but just wasn't feeling it. Although the lead singer did give me his big beads....happy about that. Reached my goal. YAY!

Cali stripped Jimmy of all his Fat Tuesday gear and we danced to the booty DJ music as Big 10-4 began to take the stage. Good times. Headed to front row, which was directly in front of Dan's face and I swore that I was gonna get nailed by Matt's guitar. Stage too close. Good times. The band, or Getto that is, are getting better at hiding the set list, but still not experts. I caught a glimpse and got excited. It had been too long.

I love the fact that everyone sings every word of every song on their EP. I love it how most of the fans know every word to every other song that the band plays. I love it that I concentrate so hard on trying to figure out the lyrics to those other songs. Not just so I can sing along with them, but so that I can feel what they are saying or trying to portray in the song. I want to know what they are singing about. I already *feel* the passion in the musical part, but I know that message in the song is meaningful to the band and I yearn to hear and learn what they are stating. "I'll state for the record.." I can't wait...

One of my favorite parts of the night? During "Sleepless" all of the guitar sound went out. No sound whatsoever. The mics and drums (plus bongos) were the only things that still had power. Dan continued to sing along with us and it was amazing. It was us, Dan and the back beat of the percussion rocking away to "It's gonna be a LONG NIGHT TONIGHT!" and it was beautiful. Amazing and a once in a lifetime experience at their show. So happy to be apart of it and so happy it occurred during a song that everyone knew. I think it impressed more than the band and more than us, but those watching for the first time. It was awesome!

Another favorite part? Dan on stage, one working electric guitar (thanks to power) and the lyrics to "Oxygen" flowing out of his mouth. "I love to watch you sleep, roll over steal the sheets, and your body beckons me, sleep tightly in your dreams..." I can't wait until I find the person that I can think that about....hasn't happened yet unfortunately. Extremely amazing moment. Love it that John Frank was next to me holding on of his ears "My ears are so bad" *grin* Too cute and I understand my friend...

I think my voice is shot. Period. I have lost it way too many times over just one night of a bit of screaming. Yes I am a screamer, not a singer. Not good. I can't reach notes that I was able to previously...not cool. Is it worth it? I just can't stop myself from "screaming". Impossible.

Headed out shortly after their set (thanks for the set list my friend) because I had to be up at the break of dawn (literally) for work and I was done for the evening. Lots of activity. Good times!

I love this life. This life of shows almost every night. It makes me happy. This is my passion. This is my love. This is my happiness. "I'm happy..."

Wednesday (Today): Yay, I am almost caught up. Today I woke up around 5am to meet up with the new DSA guides and teach them a bit about Epcot Future World. It was fun to meet all the new guides and they all rock! Very fun and attentative. Glorimar and Rob are doing the class and they crack me up. So fun and comfortable. I had only an hour to squish in as much of a four hour tour that I could plus procedures for their tours. It was fun, but really quick. My mouth hurt afterwards. I tried to get as much info in as I could for their benefit, but when my time was up, it was up. Handed them off to Glen Lewis, whom I love and got another kiss from *giggle* and headed on my way.

Spent the rest of the day at DSA doing comments and getting back into the tour groove. It was good to be back in the office. I missed it. It was finally time for me to head home and when I got here, I crashed hardcore.

Woke up a few hours later feeling so much better and have been typing this post ever since. I can't believe that I have waited this long to post...sorry for the novel, but I feel better now. Yay!

Upcoming plans are having the next three days off, a birthday weekend with good friends and Big 10-4 (YAY!) and a trip to Gainesville (yet again). I cannot wait...until then!