A Perfect Weekend

I had such a great weekend! Early Friday morning, I left Madison, Ohio and drove to Fort Wayne, joined up with Emily and we drove to Milwaukee. We endured some miserable traffic. We think Chicago should go away. Or 1/2 the people there should move away. It was really fun to drive with Emily and I'm glad I only had 4 hours to drive alone. That evening we met up with Amy, Patty and Katie and drove to Madison, Wisconsin to......you guessed it......see The Lucas Cates Band! They released a new CD last month so we just had to plan a weekend so we could see each other and get the new album. It was SO fun. I have to tell you that we are a bunch of crazy ladies. When we got to the gig we saw the band standing at the end of the parking lot. I yelled, "Is that the Lucas Cates Band?!" and we went over to say hi. We got our first round of hugs. The gig was at a sports bar named Pooley's. The stage was set up in a separate room--basically a big gym. There was a retirement party going on--so it was a tame, family-friendly environment, although I'm sure we were the only ones over 21 drinking soda and water. It was so fun to hear them live again. It had been 9 loooooong months. Mark and Kenny played some awesome solos during the song Chump. When we congratulated Mark, he told us that it was one of their best jam sessions ever. He said he'd thought to himself that he was glad we got to hear it since we had come so far. He also told us how much he loves his new water bottle. We all got our CDs signed--they autographed their foreheads. We stayed for all 3 sets--well past midnight. We took pictures with the band as usual. I only had my camera phone and the lighting was terrible so the pictures didn't turn out very well. There was a guy there nicknamed Mouse that had a nice camera and said he'd email us the group pictures of us with the band. Still waiting...hopefully Mouse comes through, but with a name like that who knows. He played a mean harmonica though. Look at this sweet shirt Emily got me at The Children's Place to wear. Yes, apparently I (barely) fit into the largest size at TCP.
We stayed in a hotel in Madison that night so we wouldn't have the long drive back to Milwaukee. But instead of sleeping, we stayed up until 4am talking. Then our phones started ringing at 8am. So it was a short night. We had lunch at Noodles & Company (slept through breakfast), walked around the Farmer's Market by the Capitol (I got gourds, a wreath and jam), looked at the shops on State Street, saw one of Amy's college apartments and baked in the 90 degree weather. 90 in October--what's up with that? But it fit right in with me walking around cities in really hot temps (Boston twice, and DC). Other than being hot and tired, it was a lot of fun. I really love these girls. I feel blessed to be friends with them and that even though I moved away, it's still feasible to get together and create more fun memories. And in the meantime we have email, facebook, blogs, and cell phones.

After we got back from Madison, Amy, Emily and I went to see a movie--Life As We Know It. Then we responsibly went to bed at 9:30pm and I slept soundly until 7am. I was glad for the good night's sleep because I was a little nervous about my solo 4 hour leg from Fort Wayne to home. We went to church and got to say hi to lots of people. I still miss it but it doesn't feel like home anymore--I guess that's a good thing? Emily and I had a fun drive back to Fort Wayne. No traffic this time! We did see a skydiver appear to plunge to the ground. That was kind of freaky but I haven't found anything online about it so I'm hoping that means he was fine. We listened to the CD 5 times straight.

Before heading home, I stopped by my old neighborhood in Huntertown and had dinner and conversation with the Snowbergers. They were such fun neighbors and I really miss living by them. I hadn't seen them for 2 years. With Emily in Fort Wayne and Christian and Robyn moving there, I'm excited I'll be able to see Stephanie and her family more often. It was really great to see them. Kiana is all grown up--she used to play with Natalie and Megan. Stephanie's "baby" Vivenne is 4 and she has a new baby boy Quinlan who is just to die for. He's so cute and chubby and gave the best smiles. The last leg home was uneventful. I listened to some Conference talks and John Mayer and managed to stay awake. I got home at 10:45pm.

I am grateful for this weekend. It makes me feel like a real person to go out and be crazy and laugh and have fun. Patty, Amy, Emily and Katie--you guys are the best. Thanks for being groupies (and cougars) with me. And thank you to our husbands who support us maintaining our friendship. Until next time...