Finally

I finally got caught up enough with work (and blogs, goodness all the blogs) to spend a few minutes blogging myself!

I managed to get the car completely packed while waiting for W to get home from the doc. Never did it myself before, always let him handle it, but I did a great job. We left around seven or so and we stopped for dinner on the way because I surely wasn't cooking. Bubba fell asleep around 10:30 after watching Cars and then talking NONSTOP for thirty minutes...I'm not kidding, he just kept babbling and babbling.

W drove the whole way up, I stayed awake, which I have decided NEVER to do again. If he isn't going to let me help drive, I'm just going to sleep. I was sooo miserable on Tuesday, as there was no real opportunity for me to nap. Well, I did try, but like babies who get overtired and you have to fight to get them to sleep, I simply could not get to sleep so I gave up. W and Bubba napped, of course.

Wednesday was the big day! We went and got Grammy's party all set up, it was a cloudy day, and storms were rolling in. I was worried. I didn't want to get drenched or have the day be rained out. W's back was not up for the game, knowing the little metal seats wouldn't be that comfortable, so my wonderful sister-in-law, Mitch, agreed to come to the game/concert with me. We had time to talk to all the guests as they arrived, scarf down some yummy grilled burgers and potato salad and such, before I changed, then we zipped to her house and she changed and we were off. It was going to be a great girls day out!

Had some rain drops on the way, and the clouds look bad. After circling around trying to find a parking spot, we ended up right in the ballpark's lot, and I paid way too much to park, but we all felt that was best so we wouldn't be traipsing around downtown Pittsburgh afterwards. We were a little late, due to the parking issue, but we only missed the first inning, and the top of the second. We were down 3-1 at that point. The park is absolutely gorgeous, and we quickly got swept up in the ballgame atmosphere, cheering for our boys, jeering for the other team. Still no rain. We were seated down first base side, on the first level but back under the second level so if it did rain we'd stay dry! After some homers and great defense work, we WON!!! Oh, yeah, the whole fricking park is NON-SMOKING!!! It's an open-air field, but you couldn't even go out onto the balcony areas all open around you and smoke. Ugh, that was rough.

Anyway, we took a pee break, tried to sneak into better seats, because they were setting the stage up across second base and I wanted to see a little more, get closer, but that didn't work. Eventually, the opening act came out, and finally it was time. Out came my musical hereos. I, no shit, had chills, and was bouncing up and down as they were announced. I knew these boys put on a great live show, and they did NOT disappoint. Words just fail me, but I screamed, and sang, and danced and hooted and hollered, and was thoroughly entertained. I have GOT to find a way to go see them again. Seriously. I NEED to see them again, and hopefully be closer and be able to get up to the stage or something. They didn't let anyone on the field, so there was all this empty space in front and it looked so strange from what I'm used to at concerts.

I didn't want the show to ever end, but they played for a little over an hour, all their big hits, and a bunch of stuff off their new album, which I adore. We took an interesting little tour of downtown trying to get back to the ramp to get on the road we needed to get home. It was a blast from the past, man, I hadn't been in that area of town since I moved down here. I've flown over downtown on a flight in, and driven past on the way to W's sister's house, but we were smack in the middle of all the hubbub of Fourth of July at the Point. (the area where the three rivers of Pittsburgh meet up, it's called the Point, and yes I still remember the names of the three.) Anyway, the football stadium was right there, and they had all kinds of activities going on, plus the city was gearing up for the fireworks. Watching the fireworks on the bank of the river is an absolutely amazing experience. I did it years and years ago. We decided to skip it, tho, and just go home.

Oh and the rain? Apparantly, my prayers were answered, and even though it didn't look good, right before showtime the storm system kinda split in two and moved around us and we were left with clear skies, no rain, and SUNSHINE by the end of the concert. It was amazing, and even the one singer had to comment that it only proves that God is a country music fan. Many thanks were sent upwards lemme tell ya.

Hmmm.....rest of the trip pales in comparison to the concert. We spent Friday with W's big brother, doing lunch, playing miniature golf, eating ice cream. Bubba won putt-putt, go figure. I lost, go figure. Bubba managed to catch some kind of bug from his cousins at Grammy's party. He was miserable. He kinda skipped his nap, and every time we tried to get him to rest, he'd sit up, cough and hack and spit up lots of phlegmy stuff. NICE! We medicated him, and then he crashed on the way home from putt-putt. He slept for a while, woke up, and spit up again. This was troublesome because he was supposed to go with everyone camping for the weekend, while W and I went to his aunt and uncle's for fishing and fireworks before leaving on Sunday. Their house is like an hour into the trip heading south, so we like to go there before we actually leave, and then have an hour less of driving once we go, supposedly.

Bubba insisted he was going camping, even tho he felt horrible, and Grammy agreed that if he got worse, they'd come home. By the time they got to camp he was feeling better, and the only lingering effect of the bug is a bit of a cough. His runny nose stopped completely by Saturday morning. I felt bad leaving him when he was sick, but was so relieved he was feeling better.

So W and I headed to the farm (where his aunt and uncle are, it's not quite a farm, but they have cows and a horse.) We got in late, crashed and then got up in the morning and went fishing. They have two ponds, right by the house. We were after bass, but the fuckers were persnickety and weren't too interested in any of the lures we were using. W finally figured out something and we started catching some. By then it was time to head up the road for the huge dinner/fireworks party they had planned at a neighbors. I ate so much incredible food, I don't know how I didn't gain ten pounds. We zipped back to the farm for a few more tries at the bass, and I finally got a picture of the last one I caught. Then it was dark enough to go set up the fireworks. W and I did the show, we're quite a team when it comes to fireworks. We had brought some good stuff up from home. You can't buy them in PA, because they are illegal! You can only get the little stuff, sparklers, bottle rockets, lame stuff. We had Bootleg fireworks! Mortars, Fountains, gigantic rockets. Everyone loved them, and we didn't get hurt, but had some close calls. We always do.

We got up, late, the next morning and spent the next twelve hours in the car. I drove about four hours at the start, and W finished. We stopped for some shopping at an outlet place, but didn't buy anything important.

Once I get a chance, I'll throw up some pictures from the show, and my fish. Sadly, I didn't bother taking pictures at Grammy's party and I wasn't there when they did presents. This got really long, but I'm caught up now. Hope you all had a great holiday and weekend.