Chatter Boxes

Hello everyone.

It appears that my wife has decided that my wood chunks were "just the thing" for adding to her fall decor. Now rather than adding their delightful smoky flavor to steaks on my grill, they are adorning our piano nestled around a candle, gathered together by a metal... um... well I don't know. I'm sure there's a name for it. I'll call it a basket I guess.

Anyway, let's continue on around the living room just to prove the point. If you move a mere 3 feet to the left of the metal basket of wood with pine cones and candles, you find this:

Now when I bought this property 8 years ago and found this old wooden thing in the barn, I foolishly assumed it was a ladder. I even used it as a ladder... for several years no less. Anytime there was a spot just over my head where I needed a little boost, I would pull it out and use it.

Imagine my embarrassment now that I am married and it is explained to me that this old wooden structure is actually a magazine rack. Who knew that the early farming inhabitants of this place would need such sturdy structures for their magazines. Perhaps they hung whole Sears and Roebuck Catalogues on them. You know, for when they couldn't find things in the General Store.

I have decided to fight back.

One of my quirks is collecting things. I get it from my mom who has every copy of Reader's Digest dating back to 1962. So the other day I was walking with Tim and Chad at work and I came across a couple of acorns. Not just any acorns, but the big, fuzzy-headed kind. I think it's Chinkapin Oak (Quercus Muelenbergii if I recall my biology class correctly). I think it would be great to have one of those at our place. So I scoop up a couple of acorns and drop them in my pocket thinking someday I will plant them and then, viola, a short 30 years later we have a cool tree or two.

But then, what to do with the acorns until I'm ready to plant? I can't leave them sitting around the house or Kim will scoop them up and throw them in the trash. So I cleverly dropped them in the basket thingy. "Very well hidden." I think to myself. Genius. Pure genius.

But then yesterday Kim spots the acorns. I brace myself. But then she says "Awww... they're perfect! Where did you find them?"

For a few brief moments I congratulate myself on a job well done. I pulled something off rather cleverly.

But then I think about it more and I wonder...

Am I just being brainwashed into decorating the house?

...in an artist - fan sort of way.

So, it's well documented here (and here) that I am a slightly obsessed fan of a certain artist and his band. He was scheduled to be here with Willie Nelson (also a fan - I know its weird). I've driven by the billboard every night on my way home from work with a tinge of sadness because I wasn't going to the show.

With our recent adventures, we're a little cash-strapped and spending $100 on concert tickets just wasn't going to be possible this year.

My friend Susie (also a slighty-obsessed fan and my DMB concert buddy) got an email on Monday from the venue telling her about a chance to win 2 tickets at an area grocery store. We knew it was a long shot but why not try. So Susie registered at her local store and I went to the store by my house. I also called John and asked him to stop by and register. He did.

Here's where its important to note that we live in the country. We have a large grocery store but the number of people who frequent that store is pretty small. The chance that there's even another DMB fan is even smaller.

We were supposed to be notified by email on Tuesday if we won. None of us heard anything.

We thought our chance was gone and we moped around Wednesday talking about how cool it would have been to go. Oh well.

I was searching online for pumpkin muffin recipes. I figured if I wasn't going to the concert then I would cook my sorrows away. John called. "I just got off the phone with a lady who called to tell me I won tickets."

I told him it wasn't a funny joke. He wasn't joking. It was 4:00 the day of the concert.

I was dressed in my most matronly work outfit. Totally unfit to attend a concert. I ran into Susie's office. We screamed and scrambled to finish our work.

I scurried to Wal-mart for an outfit...it was cheaper than driving all the way home (my commute is an hour). I made it to Susie's house with a $12 pair of jeans and a clearance rack sweater. I wasn't gonna win any beauty contests but it would work...in a crowd...in the dark.

John had to drive downtown to personally pick up the tickets at Will Call. Susie and I met him there and off we went. I walked into the arena with a huge smile, a sense of anticipation, and bedazzled butt-pockets.

The concert was amazing! Our seats were up high but centered.

Kudos to John who did two of his least favorite things (driving downtown, and being in traffic). He was sitting at a table outside of a restaurant downtown when we walked up to meet him. He had the same giddy grin on his face that I did. He wasn't going to the concert (Susie and I were going together no matter who won), but he was excited that I got to go. He said later it worked out great because he could say that he got his wife tickets to DMB but it didn't cost him a dime.

What a night!

Here's a horrible picture from my phone but it serves as proof that I was there.