Dear Concert Goers,

I attended an awesome concert with my 10 year old son Saturday night. Vital Signz and Core opened for the co-headliners Great White and Quiet Riot.

We were stoked! We arrived at the field at 4:15 for the gates to open at 5:00 and the concert to start at 6:00. We were second in line!

We get in, grab some water and head to the stage, where we plant ourselves, leaving only in shifts for potty breaks and to get more water. We made friends with the other people at the stage... Which helped the time to pass... Considering we had an hour and a half to talk and B.S. with them.

The concert started late...but rocked right from the start. Vital Signz, a local band, started us off with some 80's music, and then Core with some Hard Rock. Definitely set the mood. Not too many people crowding the stage, which I thought was strange but it worked...if the rest of the night went so well it would be great. 

 

Vital Signz

Core

Darin got a guitar pick from the lead singer of Core - and we got it signed.

I think he now has an official collection of something started!

As Great White took the stage (did I mention we were center stage, front row) the crowd moved in.

He was pointing right at us!

Great White

Here is where my problem starts... We have been standing in this spot, by this time for 3.5 hours, and shortly after  Great White starts, the drunken idiots move in...or should I say shove their way in, acting like they deserve to be in my spot. Like I stood there to to hold the spot for them...yeah...no!

So drunken idiot woman who thought she needed to grab the microphone out of Great Whites hands...Bitch...you should have been kicked out of the concert.

This set was great..although not long enough... Short on time, having started late and still another band to go. Apparently age brings early bedtimes. Haha!

Quiet Riot comes out and we are again bombarded by drunken idiots. I was a little leary of the people behind me smoking so close to my aqua net covered hair...but we survived.

Quiet Riot

Darin wound up with two guitar picks!

Core and Quiet Riot

Other than sharing our experience - I do have a message... Shorter than me people, don't come begging me to let you have my spot... I have no sympathy...you could have stood in one spot, like my son and I did for 5 hours to get the best "seat" in the house. I'm not sorry you couldn't see over my 5'3"... Next time get there early and save your own damn spot!

And to the guy who thought he was a battering ram... I hope you enjoy the elbow imprint and bruise I left in your back... Have some freaking manners and don't mess with my kid - and I don't accept your apology, but thanks for offering one!

So to those of you that were at the Bash from the Past in Aberdeen... I hope you enjoyed yourselves...we sure as hell did in our awesome "seats" and we are ready to do it again, but remember I'm not there to hold a  spot for you while you get your drink on or to let you in...

Yours Truly,
An 80's Rocker (sick of the people who think they should get everything they want, without the work)

Mom

I smelled you today. Is that weird? It seemed weird at the time... even now its weird to think about, but its all I have been able to think about since it happened. It was so amazing - so many feelings went through me at once, overwhelmed, disturbed, shocked, surprised, happy, sad and all I could think about was for you to never leave again. I know you were there. It made me stop for a minute and catch my breath. Your perfume is something I will never forget - it reminds me of you, I usually am in a public place when I smell it and can find the woman wearing it, but to be hit with the smell so strong and no one else to be around threw me off. I kept sniffing trying to find you again, but you were only here for a fleeting moment, almost a reminder, but I don't need a reminder to think of you, you are never far from my thoughts.

I felt crazy thinking it was you, I looked around just to make sure no one else was around that I could have been smelling their perfume, but I was in an empty parking lot where only men work. There was no one else there. I sat in my car for a few minutes crying and wished I could have stayed there forever if it meant keeping you with me. I will never quite understand how you were picked. I know it is a great honor to be an Angel and to have the ability to watch over all of your babies at once, but I was not ready to let you go.

I've seen you in the store too, and I get so excited to run up to you and hug you and tell you everything I've had to hold in. Only to get to you and be so sadly disappointed when someone else turns around and wonders who the weirdo is standing there. 

I have so desperately wanted you to visit me in the last 6 years. I thought maybe you had forgotten me, but today proved to me you are still here with me. 

I hope you will come and see me again - please don't wait six more years. I don't think I can take it if you do! You gave a small glimpse of how it feels and I want it again! I smelled you today and I miss it already!
I love you and I miss you!
Dana

Flat Stanley - AKA Dude

The summer of 2012 made 20 years since I should have graduated from High School. I say should have because I didn't graduate or walk with my class in 1992, but I did get my GED in 1991. Many of the people that I went to school with were more than happy to have me at the reunion. So I packed up my car, dragged my son along with me and made us a flat Stanley to accompany us on our 2500 mile trek.

Darin was not impressed with
1. The amount of time we would be spending in the car.
2. Flat Stanley - and that we started calling him Dude before we got out of town.
3. The amount of time we would be spending in the car.

So we were off - 6AM!
Day one - Aberdeen, SD to Denver Co

Somewhere in SD

Dude wanted to drive

Somewhere in Nebraska

Scenic Overlook - AKA Bathroom break

Dude fell in the bag trying to get a french fry

Made it to Denver - Dude picked his bed
(Darin was not happy that they were sharing beds)

Casa Bonita - Denver, CO

Hanging out behind the waterfall at Casa Bonita

A horseback ride

Day two: Denver, CO to Bloomfield, NM

Leaving Denver

Somewhere in Colorado

Havilland Lake, CO

We stopped at a DQ in Durango - they must have seen Dude in the car 

because they gave Darin a Dude sized drink

Pinkerton Hot Springs

One of me - I think Dude or Darin had the camera

Dude hanging out with the guys - a couple of my old classmates!

Dude - getting an education!

Day three - Bloomfield, NM - Dude stayed behind - I think he had too much fun Friday night and decided not to go to the reunion on Saturday!

We changed 'B' hill to a 92 -Class of 92 ROCKS! (get the pun - haha)

Darin found out that NM is hot is in the summer, when we visited the Salmon Ruins in the middle of the day!

                                                         My old High school - redid

Day four - Bloomfield, NM to Amarillo, TX - Darin hates riding in the car and he now hates Dude too!

Leaving Bloomfield

We decided to take a break and took a detour to Fort Sumner, NM.

I used to get to stop here with my dad every year and thought Darin should too!

We stopped at The Billy The Kid Museum - Dude thought it was pretty cool!

He photo bombed me here - I thought about leaving him

But he looked so sad behind bars!

We finally made it to Amarillo to spend some time with my daughter and my dad!

Day Five - Canyon and Amarillo, TX

Palo Duro Canyon, TX

my beautiful daughter and Dude

Dude found out cactuses are not friendly

 Lisa and Darin

Need Paint

Cadillac Ranch - Route 66, Amarillo, TX

Giant legs in a field!

Dude's 1st trip to Sonic - we don't have one in SD!

Saying bye!

Day six - Amarillo, TX to Hesston, KS

Welcome to KS

Stuck at road construction!

Day Eight - Hesston, KS

Last day before heading home - Dude and Darin with Uncle Elijah and Uncle Jarrod

Carrots, Eggs and Coffee

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same

adversity: boiling water.

Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?

Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.