whirlwind weekend.

wowsa!! what a weekend!!

it all started friday night, on my way home from work, my friends, nicole and marlys called..."we have a ticket for you to vienna teng, be at our place at 630"...our evening began with a drive to an installment of "prarie window something series" put on by miner seymour (this is the new series that replaced the 'old settler's inn') was held at dyck arboreteum (sp?) in beautiful hesston, kansas, miles from where i grew up!

anyhoo, she was phenomenal! i could hear tori amos, only with less angst...it was exactly what i needed the night before the big show...a perfect distraction....seeing a flawless show go off with hitches and glitches that made it even more perfect...

then the big day arrived...finally!!...i felt as though i was getting married, only without a cake...or a preacher, or rings...just a big party with great parting gifts!!

i spent the morning relaxing, writing my thank you notes to the band, signing their Cd's, cleaning my apartment, getting as much done as i could before i had to be at work at 1...right after work, i went straight to abode, to check in...the guys were 30 minutes out with all the sound equipment, i had to point them in the right direction...

everyone at abode was AWESOME!! they let us come in with all our sound equipment (and man, there was A LOT!) helped us with power outlets, told us where to go...josh Jackson is so accommodating, and easy to get along with, it was a smooth start to a smooth night...

mark, dennis, gary and i started to work on building the maze of cords it took to power a killer band (and me) for the evening...i had a few lessons in how it all worked...and a great workout! those speakers are HUGE!!

sound check started a bit early, as steve story rolled in from texas around 330...he is an old friend of gary's and just happens to be a top notch violin player who wanted to run through a few tunes before actually performing them...who could blame him?!?

foley came a bit early as well, so we had enough of the band to run through a few tunes before i needed to head home to 'get ready'...one time through, it's all it took...gary had been telling me that he was amazing, but to hear it with my own ears...he was fan-tastic! and fun-tastic! i can see how he and gary have been friends all these years...he's a hoot! and knows his shiz-nit.

shalen went with me a bit after 6 to 'get ready'...i think she was secretly worried that i would forget to put on mascara or something...i'm not much of a 'style diva'...i rarely wear make-up and my idea of dressing up are anything but chaco's...so she brought her hair straightener and fixed me up right! i remembered my eyeliner and mascara, and i was h.o.t...other than the rumbling in my tummy, i was ready to be a rock star (for a night anyway)

got back to abode, a few minutes after 7 (doors open at 7 mind you) and there were people there already! i couldn't believe it!! and some i didn't recognize, and who didn't seem to recognize me! what the? the rest of the night was a bit of a blur, i have to admit...i started the night with a crown and coke and ended the night with the same drink (severely watered down and in the same place i put it when we started the first set)...it was awesome...the door count was between 250 and 300...and the setting was perfect...designer furniture and people out the wazoo...it was standing room only! i didn't know what to do with myself!

i thought having the boys open for me with a jazz set would be plenty of time for me to sign everyone's cd's and have a chance to talk with everyone, but no...there was a line when barney came to literally pull me away saying, 'you need to tune your guitar, we're ready to roll!'...

the band so very much carried me through this dream of what was the ball...i truly felt like the belle of the ball...it was absolutely incredible...forgetting my notes hardly phased me, i forgot a few things, but probably would have if i had them there anyway?!?

so, the rest of the night was amazing...didn't get to talk to all the people i wanted to talk to...forgot to tell everyone about the afterparty at the hillcrest that laurie worked so hard to put together...ugh! got back there and practically collapsed...i was exhausted! got to bed about 2 and was up every coupla hours giggling to myself remembering a series of perfect moments of the evening...still in shock of what had just occurred...

sunday came and went! after brunching with steve before sending him back to texas and loading and unloading sound equipment, i was in bed by 4 and asleep by 7...it was a whirlwind weekend, but man, if i had it to do over, i'd do it just like it happened...

thank you to all who were there, who helped put it together, who ran the show, who took the door, who sold cds (128!!), who played their hearts out, who sang their hearts out and everyone who couldn't make it, but wanted to...i'm on cloud 9 and i plan to stay here until...well...i think i'll just stay put. ;-)