Hot for Van Halen!

Last night, I went to the Van Halen Concert at the American Airlines Center. What an incredible time!!!

Van Halen rocked!! Eddie and the boys looked good and rocked hard. They played for over 2 hours and did a couple of encores. As many of you know, I'm enamored with Nancy Wilson and her "Heart Kick." But Diamond Dave (at age 53 no less) can still do those high kicks and roundhouse kicks like he did back in the Jump and Panama videos. That was hot!!

But let me digress.... I should have known this would be a fabulous evening when we went to eat and I got a front row parking spot. And when we easily found the AAC and got a great park there too. We walked in the front door and were at our section and easily found our seats. I mean, good karma was on our side. It was great!!

So Jenice and I make it to our seats and we people watch. To our right, Tony Soprano. He's got the Italian mobster hair, clothes, requisite patch of chest hair with a chain. He's got his lovely wife, Ms. Jersey Mall Hair, sitting right next to him. He loved to throw his hands in the air to the music.

Behind us and to the left, George Lopez. This rather hefty, happy, high on drink, drugs or both guy was talking, laughing and carrying on. George peaked in between This is Ryan Shaw and Van Halen. Most of the concert he sat in a stupor. Or was he asleep? I think he frightened our other friends, Date Night, sitting right behind us. Date Night look like they might not have even been born when David Lee Roth was with Van Halen. George Lopez scared the tar out of Ms. Date Night. Mr. Date Night politely smiled and spoke with him. Date Night did a lot of standing and sitting, not much singing and dancing.

Directly behind us - Cool Concert Goer and his grandpa. He liked to shout out "Mother F*****" after each song - I'm still not sure why he does that. Tourette's? His uncle/father/grandfather/whatever pretty much sat the entire concert with a bored look on his face.

And in front of us, The Mid Life Crisis Twins, Greg and Mr. Gay. These two were there for Mr. Gay's 40th b-day. Mr. Gay kept talking about gay people, but told us about his wife and kid. His mannerisms were very effeminate... Deja vu!!

The opening act was This Is Ryan Shaw. Or is that his album? It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Though he did do a mean cover of Janis.

The concert was great! I wanted to hear Panama, I'll Wait, and Hot for Teacher.... and I got my wish. Apparently DLR does not do the Hagar Van Halen, so if you were younger than 35, you might not know all of the music.

A couple of shoutouts:

1. To Valerie Bertinelli - thanks for writing the book that made Eddie "need a break."
2. To Eddie Van Halen - thanks for needing a break and cancelling your March show - I hope you are feeling better!
3. To Danyielle and Eddie - thanks for the tickets - this would not have happened without you!!
4. To our new best friends from Section 111 - thanks for a great night of entertainment - y'all rock!!
5. Eddie, Alex, David and Wolfie - thanks for an awesome night! My Van Halen mix CD will continue to get a lot of play time!
6. Jenice - thanks for going with me on our "Most Karmic Adventure"!!!!

The Wedding Singer

Okay, so because I'm single - should I not be able to go out and do the things I want to do?

I love musicals!! I wanted season tickets to the Dallas Summer Musicals and I asked several people if they wanted to go in with me. None wanted the full season, several were interested in specific shows, but not the whole season.

Well, I decided to get season tickets for just me! When I called to order my tickets, the reincarnation of Paul Lynne asked how many tickets I wanted and when I told him I just needed one, he said, "You go girl!"

So tonight was the first night of the musical season. The first show was "The Wedding Singer" and I was really excited to go!! My friend Cathy decided to go to this show, so we grabbed dinner and headed down to Fair Park.

We got there very easily and everyone was very nice. I find my seat and it's pretty great! It's the bottom row of a section and an end seat. We have extra foot room and it's pretty spacious for seating. I discover I'm sitting next to Roland and Sylvia (I can't remember her name, so for now, she will be called Sylvia). They have had the seats next to me for over 10 years and they are a trip!! Sylvia used to teach school but now works for First Baptist Church in downtown Dallas. (I was a little worried for her with the profanity in the show!) There are several other people in my area that have had tickets for years and become friends by going to the musicals. And I was worried about going alone - how silly!!

The show was great!! It was so much fun and had a ton of laughs! The clip above is from the Tony Awards - it's the opening number!

I had a lot of fun - my next musical is "Rain: The Beatles Experience" on May 6. I'm looking forward to a fun season with Sylvia and Roland!!

Only 43 more days........

I can't wait!! It's going to be so awesome!!

The Tax Monkey is Off My Back!!

Today I mailed my return and my $648 check to the government. My wallet is a bit lighter, but at least I made the deadline.

Insurance enrollment is complete, taxes are done. I guess now I need to clean my house. Or finish my DC scrapbook. Or catch up on my reading. Or clear out my Tivo.

There's just not enough time!

It's Health Insurance Open Enrollment Time!!

So this is the time of year where we update our insurance for the upcoming year......

Medical insurance.... check!
Dental insurance..... check!
Vision insurance..... check!
Long term disability insurance..... check!
Cancer insurance.... check!

(Ed's note: I hate the words "benefits" and "cafeteria plan" when talking about insurance. I throw up a bit in my mouth each time I hear them during our insurance meetings.)

I decide now that I'm getting close to 40, I should consider short term disability insurance - I'm not getting any younger and I've been known to do some stupid things lately (example: breaking my heel and having no idea how I did it).

So to get it, I have to fill out all these forms and turn them in. And wait to get approved. Which takes me back to my teenage years........

Am I good enough for short term? Will my family history of allergies and hay fever exclude me? Will the fact that I haven't been treated for alcoholism (yet!) or mental illness (yet!) work in my favor? I have to sit here and wait and see if I'm good enough... it's just too much stress!! I think I need to do some karate!!



Wooo hooo - look at my muscles!! Woooo, it's grown now!! It's really grown now!!

Ladies Night from a 30-something perspective!!

So last night was Ladies Night!! Well, sorta......

My friend Lori, who has moved to Houston, came to town with her baby, so we all went to dinner to see the baby, give her some gifts, and then have some yummy eats and drinks. Since this is my blog, I'm gonna rant for a minute. Kristen does call ahead seating for 6:30 and we do not get seated until 7:40 - we had to wait over an hour and they told us it wouldn't be more than 30 minutes. Why do call ahead seating? Anyways..... sorry.... back to the story........

It was all going well until they decide to start passing the baby. For those of you that know, I'm almost 38 and I don't really have a maternal bone in my body. Babies scare the hell out of me. As a matter of fact, until about a year ago, I could count the number of babies I've held on one finger!!

So here comes Kai..... Danyielle holds him, he's quiet, fusses a little, no worries....... then Brenda, no problem....... next is Kim, who is sitting next to me, I start to worry a bit....... now it's my turn...... my heart is pounding as I take him (he's so little, about two weeks old) and at first he's fine..... then he starts stretching and making noises, then he starts crying..... I'm so embarrassed, I know Kai can tell that I haven't a clue what I'm doing and I'm nervous - he just called me out like that in front of everyone!! I almost toss him over to Kristen, mom of 3.... he starts to calm down a bit and then I feel like a total loser, but then he cries again and I feel better - it wasn't just me!! Woo hoo!!

So dinner is over and Lori is leaving and we all hug and say goodbye. We admire the minivan that she bought that morning that made her an hour late driving from Houston to get here (it really is nice!)

So the four of us decide to go get a drink. There is a new bar that has opened and we are gonna go there. Now the bar is in a strip shopping center. And they have valet parking. For $5. (I know I'm old when I think I'd rather use that $5 for a beer than a park!) So we get stuck behind a young lady and her BMW using the valet. She gets out of the car, and he gives her a ticket. He parks the car in a spot by the front door. She has to walk farther to get to the bar than the car has to be driven to be parked. The car is front row joe!!

So my question is: When she leaves the bar.... she walks the front door and will literally walk into her car, what does she do? Call over the valet guy and say, "Hey this is my car!" and the valet guy will back the car out of the spot and hand her the keys? She paid $5 for that? I just don't get it!

The bar is having its grand opening and it's crowded, so we go to Cantina Laredo for a quick drink and chat. We get there about 9:30 and they kick us out the door at 11:30. So we are all safely home by midnight. Just like when we were in high school. Except that was 20 years ago.

Bottom line is - you can't beat a great evening with good friends!! Love you guys!!

This is why I'll never own a cat!!

I'm not a cat person - never have been. Now my friend John, he's a cat person. He has 5 cats. Last time I touched a cat, I ended up with a severe allergic reaction. Yuck!

He sent me this.... the first time I watched it, it wasn't funny. But after like the 10th time, I can't stop laughing. Pinky has some personal issues that he needs to work through. The sound of the guy screaming reduces me to giggles - what kind of horrible person am I? And what is up with the lady with the box? Does she really think she's providing some valuable service?

Adopt Pinky - he's pet of the week and a very loving cat!!

Ed.'s note: Nobody puts Pinky in the corner... or in the box!!

The 1980's are calling... and they want their music back!

Okay.... Heart rocks!! Those two sisters are something else!! First you have Ann, who can sing the sh*t out of a song!! People talk about how she's gotten fat and at least she has a pretty face - who cares? The way that sister belts out "Crazy for You" - I could care less what she looks like!!

And sister Nancy - omigod, she's my idol!! The way that she can play the guitar is absolutely amazing!! I would want to be Nancy, but I'm way more Ann than Nancy, I'm sad to report. (Ed.'s note: This is probably as close to a girl crush that I will come.)

But what is most awesome about Nancy is what I have termed the "Heart Kick". She is dolled up in skin tight pants, high heel thigh high boots, and a mane of teased blonde hair. She is jamming on the guitar and then she just kicks up that leg without losing a beat!! It's awesome! It takes me a couple of shots of tequila to attempt that same move and frankly, it just doesn't look as good as when I do it. I remember doing it at a work holiday party and I haven't quite lived it down yet! (FYI: Heart Kicks are in the video above at 2:11, 2:21, 2:39, 2:52. Heart half-kicks are at 0:47, 2:29, and 3:16.)

I will see them again this July, along with Journey and Cheap Trick. So I'm laughing as I realize this...... and I review my last several concerts that I've attended in the past couple of years: INXS, Heart, The Police, Van Halen (coming up in a few weeks) and then this summer. Not to mention that I wanted to see Duran Duran and Bell Biv DeVoe when they were in town. When I go to the Ticketmaster site, I get more excited about the Doobie Brothers rather than the Jonas Brothers......

Too bad I can't fit into some parachute pants and Vans.... or maybe some Espirit?