Archives for August 2008

OK, now here is the fun part.  We were sent to a section for holding where we waited at least 30 minutes.  We were taken to a room in the back.  It was just a big, concrete wall large room.  Nothing special. Looked like it might have been a room used for catering.  When we got there, only Jason, Chikezie and Michael were there.

We made sure to meet Michael first as we heard he had a lot of guests last night and might not stay long.   He was funny as the girl in front of me wanted him to sign her shirt and she said you can sign the front or back.  He said, well, there’s what I want to do (and pointed to the front) and what I NEED to do and started signing the back of her shirt.  When he got done he told her “Well played.”  I thought it was cute.  I got to him and told him I was from MJO and I was friends with Allison (the owner) and he said Cool and asked me my name.  We went to take a picture and Heather had issues so I grabbed him at the waist and said, “I’ll just hold you until she’s ready.” He just laughed and said something like yeah, that sounds good or something.   Heather then did her thing.  We moved on because there were a lot of people waiting on him.

Next we went to Chikezie because Jason had a line and I heard Chikezie might not stay long.  I was sure to tell him my friend Jaynee thought he did great  :).  I told him he did a really great job and we got autographs and pictures.  He seemed really into the side-hug picture thing and you could tell he was just one of those cozy, teddy bear hug types 🙂

Next was Jason.  We just did the auto/pic thing and I told him I really enjoyed his set.

While waiting, Kristy came in.  She had little jeans on and t-shirt..same thing as she was wearing that afternoon.  She was so amazingly pretty.  I just can’t describe how perfect her little body is.  She was really nice and loved our books.  She thought they were a great idea.  She said something earlier that afternoon about it as well.

You can see in one of the videos that we were standing there after that and in walks Brooke.  She was talking to Mr. Archuleta and very animated about something.  She seemed upset about something but maybe just deeply discussing some issue.  She was super, super nice when we talked to her.  We saw her tear up at the girl in front of us.  She had glassy eyes for her picture.  Aw. She’s such a sweetie.  And tiny!  Her hair takes up most of her! Her hair is gorgeous.  She is shorter and tinier than I thought she was though.  I also heard her talking about the fact that she doesn’t try to sugar coat the show, that it is a really hard thing to do.  She says she tries to be as honest as she can with people about how it is.

Syesha came in next.  Her sharpie was not working and she seemed quite concerned about that so she seemed a little distracted while talking to us.  She didn’t really seem thrilled about pictures. She wasn’t a “side hug” picture taker like most of them were.  But she obliged. She didn’t stay long in the room at all either.  Seemed like she was in and out.

Carly came next but she was really busy with some of the people backstage.  She said a lot of her husband’s family is from the area so we let her have her space.

Ramiele came in next and ya’ll, she is TINY.  I’d like to know what her height is because I’d bet she’s like 4’10”.  She was really nice with the autograph, stopping to ask our name to put it on the page.  She really liked our books as well.  And she had an iPhone so that scored points with me haha.

So next was David Archuleta.  Ya’ll, he is as humble and on the embarrassed side as ever.  I don’t think I heard him say “Gosh” but there was a lot of nervous laughter.  No side-hug from him either but he was very nice about doing whatever autograph or picture that was asked of him.

We finally got an opening with Carly. I complimented her on her shirt from the show and she told me the designer but I honestly can not remember it.  I wish I had.  And I think if you add about 10 lbs of makeup to me, we might could have passed for sisters in one lifetime or another.  She was absolutely gorgeous (not saying I am, just sayin) and really, really nice.  Out of everyone, she seemed to the most interested in individual fans that where there for her and was super sweet to them.

At this point, I think everyone had left but Ramiele, Brooke and Michael.  I think Michael stayed overall the longest.  He was roaming and talking to just about anyone that wanted to chat. I would say he was the most open and available.

Ramiele was the last one out.  She was just sitting on a table and chatting with a few girls.  I got some of that on film.  She was really really down to earth.  They asked a few questions..she said they have to be right backstage during the performance before theirs and at other times, they just get on the computer or phone while waiting. She said she’s very boring.  She crochets :).    She talked about people from school coming out of the woodwork to be her friend and she is not into that.  She’s like, no, you made me cry at school, you’re not my friend.  She seemed really cool and I actually liked her more backstage than on stage actually.

So at this point David Cook had not shown up. Heather and I were super bummed.  We were literally the last people out of the room and then we still asked someone if he was coming and they said no. I think we just had to hear it from someone.  Since we had gotten his autograph that afternoon I felt better that my autograph book was complete but had I known he wasn’t going to be there last night I would have hurt some people at the autograph session just to get a picture with him.  He’s the only one I’m missing!  I really wanted to tell him how much we enjoyed the show.  Anyway, overall it was a fantabulous experience.  It was amazing getting to tell them how much I enjoyed the show and I loved, loved, loved being able to get pictures with them to remember it.

We also went to the buses after this and watched most of them get on there.  There were like 100 yards away though and we still didn’t see Cookey.  But Jason and Michael both were waving out of the bus windows so that was cool.  Anyway, it was an awesome night!!

Again, here all my pictures and videos which include the backstage photos.

Wow, there is so much to type up, I’m a little overwhelmed right now.  I’m really glad I wrote up our autograph session before the concert so that is done.  I do want to say that it turns out that Michael Johns DID show up at the autograph session yesterday.  I’m bummed about it but since we went to the meet and greet, I was fine.  (There are SO many names for that thing…the passes say After-Show, the AI guy called it meet and greet and then of course we just called it backstage).

OK, let me get straight to the concert.  I tried to type up the set list as they were singing but there were a few I didn’t know the songs. I didn’t read up on what they were going to sing beforehand so I’m sure these song names are out there.  Also, our seats were in the back halfway up.  They weren’t great.

Chikezie some Stevie song, Caught up and So high walking on Cloud 9 (?).  I was really impressed with Chikezie.  He has a great soulful voice.  He seemed sincere and I think he will make a great recording artist.  In the last song, he had some great falsetto notes.  I really enjoyed him.

Ramiele – Want u back, Love will lead u back, Maroon 5 song.  Out of all of them, I felt Ramiele was least comfortable on the stage.  It’s not that she has a bad voice, I just felt her confidence level at times was really low.  At others, she was a great performer and had a cute little spunk to her.  I would just say, go with it, girl!

Michael Johns We are the champions, It’s all wrong but it’s alright, Dream on.  Michael Johns was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.  Seriously.  Heather and I kept looking at each other and like, wow, he’s good.   Dream on to me was the best.  He had several notes in there that were like, wow he’s goood.  He was the only one I videoed all three entire songs so you can go hear them.  Michael had so much fun on stage.  He completely owned it while he was up there, he knew how to work the crowd and he was just so much fun during group numbers.  I can not wait until he is on his own.  I will not miss a show.  I went in there loving Michael Johns but now I lurve Michael Johns.

Kristy Lee Cook Squeezin the love out of you ?, God bless the USA, Cowgirls.  Hmm.  Kristy is pretty.  In fact, I was pretty blown away about how skinny and gorgeous she was in person.  But her set?  Brutal honesty?  It was a little boring.  But Heather and I said she would have been perfect for the Coyote Ugly movie.  Good, entertaining but not great.  But she is oh so pretty!

Carly Smithson Bring Me To Life, Crazy on you, I drove all night.  Carly is an amazing talent.  She is absolutely gorgeous. I loved her outfit.  She completely commanded the stage.  Her set blew us away.  Particularly the first song.  I was incredibly impressed with her.  And can I say the woman has great boobs?  Seriously.  Heather and I were both thinking it at the same time and Heather says would it be weird to tell her her boobs look good?  I started laughing and said I was JUST thinking that.

Brooke White Let it be, 1234, Yellow.  Gone was the nervous girl from the show.  She was completely sincere, beautiful, comfortable and just all around a sweetie on stage.

Group Number – In the name of love.  Nice.  Nothing really stood out to recall.  Break was here.

Jason Castro Somewhere over the rainbow, Crazy, Daydream.  Jason mumbled.  A lot.  I had heard you couldn’t understand anything he says and you really can’t.  I heard him say I’m having a great time, are ya’ll?  But his singing was fabulous. He was one of my favorites so I really enjoyed his set.  Simon had said he was like a guy playing on a beach and I agree with what Paula said, I’d want to be there.  Seriously, I could listen to him all day. He was great live.

Syesha Umbrella, If I ain’t got you, My own.  Ok no one can argue that Syesha can blow, as Randy would say.  Her voice filled up that place to the very rim until you thought the roof would blow.  She had a really good performance but honestly?  I felt that’s all we got from her.  A performance. I don’t feel like we got to know the real Syesha.  But the girl can blow.

David Archuleta Loving angels, Apologize,  Stand by me with a mix of Beautiful girls, When u say u love me.  These are the words I wrote when he was singing his first song “pure spiritual connected”.  When Syesha left and David came up through the stage with the piano and sang, it was like his very soul was singing.  I don’t know if I can explain it other than that.  It was such a pure, unforced singing that I did not hear from any other person last night.  He is a true natural talent.  I particularly like Apologize.  I loved that it was a current song out and he did great.  Stand by me was a little boring although he dedicated it to the audience and when he sang Beautiful Girls, he pointed out the all the girls in the crowd and made us all giggle.  The last was a nice song and sweet but as Simon would say, a little forgettable.  The first two were definitely my favorites.

David Cook–  ? Missed what it was we were screaming so much, Hello,  Time of my life,  Miss you, For his brother Alan Hero, and then he came back out for Billie Jean.  David Cook ROCKED last night.  Heather and I kept looking at each other and alternated between saying He is awesome, He is hot and He’s really good.  We screamed until we could not scream anymore almost.  David was totally in his element.  He knew EXACTLY what to do when.  He had a confidence on that stage that has rivaled well almost no one else I’ve seen on stage.  He was sexy and he knew it.  I knew it.  Every single person there knew it.  He paused at times in the songs just so we could all scream for him.  His voice was amazing. I particularly liked Billie Jean.  OMG, I really don’t know how I can say how much we enjoyed him.  I really hate to say but he is up there in my love for Chris Daughtry.  And seriously, that is huge for me.  What I think David was good at is knowing what he is good at and interacting with the crowd.  I’ve seen Daughtry three times and he didn’t work the crowd nearly as much as he could have.  But anyway, this is about David.  He was awesome, I can’t say it enough.

Group number – Please don’t stop the music.  This was so much fun.  As all the reports are saying, Mavid did an umbrella number.  It was really cute.  We were all dancing and it was a GREAT way to end the show.

One other point, my husband was making fun of me for “going to hang out with the teenagers” but let me tell you, I bet the average age was up in the 20s somewhere.  There were A LOT of older women there.  In fact one point I was in the restroom and I was in there with 5 other women probably over 55.  No lie.  Now, there were plenty of screaming teenagers but I would say I was right in the middle.  In fact, the women next to us were probably early 60s and had driven down from Pennsylvania just to see the show.

This was much, much better than the other show we saw two years ago.  It was organized much better and the talent this year was amazing.

OK, now I just have to write up backstage!!

And here all my pictures and videos.  I’m going to work on labeling things better.

Ok, so we’re home on a break.  You know you’re getting old when you feel like you need a nap before attending a concert.  We got up to the arena about 1:30 and I think they showed up about 2?  We had no luck seeing them at the buses but they had a section at the side of the arena blocked off for autographs and a few pictures.  We were able to get autographs of all the people out there…David Cook, David Archuleta, Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Smithson. And Kristy got my photo book we made and said “Cool book!”

There was no time for introductions and we didn’t do picture since A, we weren’t close enough and B, we will spend the time doing that tonight backstage.  We took almost 250 pictures but only came out with 30.  I’ve also got about 10 minutes worth of video where Heather and I turn into fangirls where at one point we were actually sprinting. I know, it got bad.  So don’t make fun of us!

(I’m missing one of Jason but don’t have time to upload)

That’s basically my day today.  I lazily slept in until 10 because, remember next week I’ll have to be up with the sun!  I cleaned until the girls got home when we left for Wal-Mart to do some shopping.  After that Emma and I hit the mall for some more shopping.  This evening was spent at a picnic with Scott’s work folk.  We had a good time.  It was WAAYY out in the country. The kids spent time on John Deere tractor toys, kicking soccer balls and we even went to the neighbor’s pond to feed some fish.  The kids had a great time and since my camera died on me, I did capture some video while we were headed to the pond.

This string of emails was too funny for me not to share.  Ransom Note Typography must be rubbing off on me.

Carol’s comment (first time commenter): Well you can’t doubt what you should be teaching after all those hints eh?

(the rest is in email)

Me: Thanks for the comment..I visited your site and added it to me reader 🙂

Me (in another email): Sorry, I’m not a pirate.  I meant to say MY reader 😉

Carol: Too funny about the pirate thing. I’m glad you clarified, I wouldn’t wanna be under the misconception that you are a pirate.

I have a rude awakening (literally) coming in just five days when Emma starts school. Right now, I’m lucky to get out of bed at 8:30, get the kids some breakfast, exercise (just in the past week) and log into work by 9. During school last year, we got up about 8, got ready for school at 9. I was back home just a few minutes after 9 to start work.  During school, I would take my lunch break to go get them and then I’d be done for the day at 4.

Emma has to be at school by 7:45 AM on Wednesday.

This is going to be quite the adjustment.  Since the summer, the kids have been waiting until 10 to go to bed.  Just in the past week or two, I moved it to 9 which really turns out to 9:30.  I have been going to bed earlier as I had been waiting until midnight most of the summer.  I’ve been trying to warn them they are going to have an earlier bedtime, probably 8:30 next week.

And between the two girls going to school at two totally different times, it messes with my work schedule a bit. I’m going to have to take Emma to school, and if I choose to do early stay for Lexi, go straight to drop Lexi off at 8 in the next town, pick Lexi up at lunchtime and then Emma at 2:45.  So the days Scott has to work are going to be FUN.

I talked to my manager today and had a really good conversation about my schedule. I was trying to warn her I’d be offline a few times a week in the afternoon to get Emma and my hours were probably going to shift earlier since I’ll be back at home by 8:15.  She was really, really good about it and said that’s the whole reason I’m part-time and they don’t expect me to be at their beck and call at all business hours.  I felt a lot better about that as that has even worried me before.  She did ask that I come up with “Amy hours” so they would know good times to schedule meetings that I need to be included.  I feel kind of bad that people have to schedule things around me but thankfully I don’t have to attend nearly as many meetings as others.

Not sure how it will shake out but I’m looking for some big adjustments (and a big gas bill) starting next week for sure.

OK, I know. You’re already tired of the videos. But this one cracked me up. This kind of turned into something I didn’t expect.
First, I was going to show you my house..what it looks like when you start out with a clean house in the morning and then let your kids play all day without cleaning up after them all day. Remember. I have Mr. OCD as a husband so when he’s home, he follows after them making them clean up. When I’m home, I don’t have time for that. This part of the video is kinda long. But if you haven’t seen pictures of my house it’s a little bit of a tour.
I took 15 minutes after work to clean up before Scott got home and showed the “after”. You know, Flylady, hey, look what you can do in 15 minutes!
Then I got this stupid idea to hide the camcorder and put it on record and see if I could catch Scott said anything about the house. Because, yes, that’s usually most important to him. Well, that and what I’m wearing for the day. Anyway, I was actually successful in getting a comment from him. You’ll see I’m in the living room playing the Wii when he tells me the house looks excellent. At that point, he hasn’t seen the camera at all. Then you hear him when he sees the camera standing on the microwave recording. I found the rest pretty funny. Enjoy.

(I’ll save you the time, no, I’m not pregnant)

(sorry for sitting in front of a brightly lit window and wearing a homemade wrinkled t-shirt)

Here is the Jason Date Night video I mentioned. I think he also uses a Flip Video!