On tour

When I was in high school I loved music.  I still do, but not to the extreme that I loved it then. I saw, Metallica when I was 16, for my first concert.  Shortly after, all my spare time and money went to see a bunch of others: Smashing Pumpkins (twice), The Lollapalooza 1994 tour, Soul Asylum, Goo Goo Dolls when they were just a garage band, Tori Amos, Pearl Jam, Grateful Dead, Sponge, and several others.  There was one that I missed seeing and that was Skid Row.

I remember the day when 95X in Syracuse, NY announced that they were coming to the Carrier Dome.  Ben and I were so excited.  I still remember the sound of his feet pounding down the stairs from his bedroom to tell me he just heard the announcement while I was unloading the dishwasher. We bought our tickets, saved the date, replayed our old cassettes until they about wore out in preparation for the day...we weren't going to be one of those fans who only knew the words to the songs overplayed on the radio; we were going to know everything ever written.

And then they cancelled.  Sebastian Bach got bronchitis in Toronto (or Buffalo or wherever else they were before landing in the Dome) and they were supposed to reschedule (I rememeber Ben's wails of despair over that announcement as well).

They never did.  Come to think of it, I hope I got my money back.

I bring this up since much like my bands of yesteryear, I too was on tour.   From June 22-July 5 I was in Utah and from July 5-21 I was in Wyoming.  JaDee joined me from July 2-14 and so for a majority it was me and the kids and a smattering of relatives.

I know I didn't see a lot of you. I didn't even tell most of my dear friends and extended family that I was in town.  I didn't want to be like Skid Row and make promises I couldn't keep. See when it is just me, sans kiddos, I can run the Wasatch front from Spanish Fork to Logan like it is my own neighborhood and go to lunch everyday and see EVERYONE...but with 3 rugrats in tow and grandmothers to placate, I had to keep my visiting outside of family to a minimum.  Its not that I don't love you, because I do and rumor has it that I will be making a trip by myself in Spring 2012. But don't buy tickets yet...because just like Skid Row, I may have to cancel due to illness:)

When I woke my kids up EARLY one morning to hike Y mountain in Provo, my brother Jared said, "Geez, this is your vacation?!?" I said, "Are you kidding! you should see my life!"

Our tour was packed with a new baby cousin, a baby blessing, my dying aunt and subsequently her funeral; a family reunion to Martin's Cove for 3 days of Pioneer Trekking, a brother moving to Maine (Ben), a sister moving to Minnesota (EmRee), cousins coming in from Tennessee that we hadn't seen in years, my dad and Carol coming up from Arkansas to squeeze a quick visit in, 3 trips across I-80 and 8 different beds to rest my head.

In the words of my kids, "It was epic."

Stay tuned.