Ok… I admit it. I was stupid to think I could do 3 shows in 3 months and still live my normal life. No I cannot. Last night, as I lay awake for most of the night, I came to the realization that I was actually looking forward to going to North Carolina this weekend because I just need to relax a little…
Don’t get me wrong – I love doing these shows – I love the shows and the folks with whom I’m working. I love my job and the folks there. I love my family. I’m just tired of thinking, thinking, thinking.
My poor shower curtain almost reached out and grabbed me this morning. I have three loads of laundry to fold. The dishwasher needs to be unloaded so the clean dishes can go in it. I need to pack to go away.
And speaking of going away, we’ll be staying in a nice hotel and we’ll be touring the county including the town where my husband will be working. Let me tell you about this town.
Apparently, the highlight of the year is the Collard Green Festival. Let me list some entries I found on the town’s website regarding last year’s event:
Mayor XYZ is calling the 32nd annual TOWN Collard Festival "A great success with record attendance." Crowds from various counties flocked TOWN streets near Town Hall for music, arts and crafts, cotton candy and funnel cakes, a Ferris wheel, parade, and sporting events from collard cooking and eating contests to horseshoes and a 5k road race. (ok a 5k road race – I’m totally down with that!)
Here’s another entry:
Due to lack of interest in the Womanless Beauty Pageant (Ms. Collard Blossom) this year, we had to cancel the event. The event was scheduled for Tuesday, 9/5 at 7:00 p.m. in the TOWN Arts and Recreation Center. Keep an eye out next year to see if Ms. Collard Blossom happens to 'pop' again! Have a great "Collard Festival" Week!!!! WHATTTTTT??????
And these folks are SERIOUS about collards:
Collard Eating/ Cooking Contest
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006
1:00 PM ON MAIN STAGE/ West Avenue
(For Collard Cooking Contest, you must have your collards with you and ready to be judged on stage (West Avenue Main Stage) at 1 p.m.

Don't miss the 32nd annual Collard Eating contest. Come to the stage about 1 p.m. to sign up and eat a mess of Collards. We have 2 categories each year. One for the Males and one for the Females so there will be 2 winners. The only rule is you must eat each pound of Collards completely and you can add anything to it while eating them. Eat as much as you can for the 30 minute time period and you just have to keep them down long enough to get your prize and plaque.

We can only have a total of 16 contestants...So come early if you want some collards!!!

Oh there’s live music too – a band called TrainWreck” and one called “Super Grit Cowboy Band”. ‘nough said! And yet, I am looking forward to this trip…

Happy 55th Birthday to me!
I got up this morning, fully intending to go to the gym. I haven’t gone for 2 weeks mainly because I’ve had a stupid sinus thing and also because I’ve really been tired because someone has been snoring a lot. So I fall back to sleep instead of getting up.
Today, I didn’t fall back to sleep. I got up and checked my email and noticed I had a voice message on my cell phone. Apparently, one of the night shift supervisors called because someone was locked out of their computer. I guess it got resolved because I checked this morning and the person wasn’t locked out anymore.
I checked my work email and realized that the woman I was helping last night still had some printing issues. I can’t for the life of me figure out wtf they are doing over there! She’s a really nice lady so I’ll probably try to get over to her building today and actually watch, in person, what they’re doing.
When Shel left for work this morning, he said “Why don’t you come straight to Neal and Denise’s tonight instead of stopping here when you come home form work? And bring the camera.” Well I’ve been walking around with the camera in my pocket for a couple of weeks now, so that was a no brainer. Then I remembered it needed to be charged so I spent some time looking for the charger but, because I didn’t have my contacts in and I’ve lost my glasses, I couldn’t find it readily. I started cursing and realized I’d have to take a shower and get my lenses in… and since we’re having “Important visitors” today at work, I decided to find something that fits and looks more professional than jeans.
At this point I had procrastinated enough that it was impossible to go to the gym and get to work on time. So, I showered, got my yogurt together, found the charger, packed up and walked out the door.
Oh, I forgot to mention that it started pouring last night – I’m not sure what time, but I realized when I was doing my crossword puzzle in bed last night that it was lulling me to sleep, slowly but surely, which is why I never heard my cell phone ring at 10:30 last night.
So it’s kind of dismal today and it’s also trash day. As I walked out to my car, I noticed that the trash can lid was lying in the street and the trash can was empty, yet turned on it side awaiting a blast to blow it down the street towards Sue’s house. I picked up the trash can and lid and deposited them in the little corral that Shelden built, picked up the newspaper and ran back into the house to wash my hands. By the time I got in my car, my pant legs were soaked, front and back. Then I had to stop at the bank and since my bank is presently housed in a trailer, I was bathed again in rain.
At this point, I’m dried off and smiling still. In retrospect, it’s been a great week , what with Gianni’s birth, a nice snow storm, Dooner’s return from LA and a small gathering of family tonight at Neal and Denise’s. Oh and the wonderful birthday greetings I received by email and regular mail. And also the great song mix being played on LaunchCast this morning – Your Smiling Face, Dixie Chicken, Lawyers, Guns and Money, You’ve Got A Friend, Welcome to the Jungle, Tommy Can You Hear Me, Shake It Up, Free Bird, even some Sousa!
So we’ll see how the rest of the day goes. Maybe lunch with co-workers. And have you seen those photos of Saturn???