Thinking we still would get in the middle of the opener, we were just happy to know we wouldnt be missing the main reason we came to Richmond. Once we got there, there were a lot of people coming in at the same time as us. Did we read the ticket wrong? We walked in and the opener wasnt even on stage. The concert had been pushed back half an hour and we were delighted. What we were delighted about was that it was a standing show. Jason is a foot taller than me, and Im short – finding a place where both of us could see was a hard task. We walked around, stopped, got pushed around, moved again, got pushed some more and I told Jason we have to go up stairs, this was just not okay. Upstairs was a large balcony, good for a short gal like myself. We found this spot that was center stage and so I went to get us some drinks. When I came back with the New Castle and Coke (I’ll let you guess who got what) there was a girl in my spot. I give Jason a look in which he says “Shes new.” Yeah shes new and in my spot! What the heck! She was my height in heels and the guy with her was Jason’s height. I was a bit annoyed so when he left to get them drinks, I snuck into his spot. Problemed solved! When he came back though, he tried to get back to his spot. No way buddy, this is mine! The gal, who I have named “Jane”, said to me “How about you and I stand next to each other and the guys stand behind us. Can we all see that way?” I could of not been more surprised or thrilled with Jane; she was a gift from God. After I said “Why cant every concert goer by like you!” We exchanged pleasantries as we waited for Glen and Marketa to come on. Once they did, was just so surreal. Just couldnt believe they were actually on the stage in front of me singing these songs I adore. Apparently the couple to the left of me felt the same and sang the song they just sung between the talking and story telling. That is one of my favorite parts of a concert, hearing the stories behind a song I have grown to love. So, when this dude keep singing the song once it was done I was really annoyed. Why cant every concert goer be as awesome as Jane and “David” (thats what I call her guy). I can tell you all about the worries the couple to the left of me were having about his parents being there and not liking the show and what should they do, because they talked about it ALL NIGHT. You do not go to concerts to talk the whole come, you come to listen. Do you know what else you dont do at concerts? Pay good money then drink so much that you are a loud drunk that even Glen wants you to shut up! And when he does ask you to shut up, really, you are going to give him the middle finger? Wow. Thanks for that to stick with them about Americans.

Besides the horrible concert goers, which I could get on a real soap box about, the concert was so wonderful. Marketa had a cold, so she wasnt on the stage the whole night. At the start of the show they gave each other a kiss that was so sweet to see. Jason said it well, we waited and wanted durning the movie for them to kiss, so was almost seeing the happy ending we had really wished for. They played all but one song that I hope they would play. “Fallen from the Sky” is a bit too electronic for the softer sound they were playing. Glen even played “Hoover Sucker Guy” as a request from the crowd, after he said “Its the two second song that gets requested instead of the ones that were labored over for years.” He talked about their night winning an Academy Award, how unreal it is even now all that has happened. He told the stories behind them and Marketa played a new song. At one point Glen was wondering if the bar served Guinness since he hadnt had one in the states yet. An Irish voice shouted from the crowd “Dont do it!” Besides the drunk fans, the crowd was pretty great, singing along to the songs when Glen asked us too. It was sad to see the night end, but it was worth even the late drive home that got us back into town at 3am.

Friday, I took the day off from both jobs to take a day trip up to Virginia with Jason. The Swell Season, which is of course is, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who where in a great little Irish filmed called Once. I will keep my love for this movie and these two people to as minimal as possible. But I did drive to another state to see them live after-all, so maybe my love has already been shown. Yes, they did have a show in North Carolina but those tickets were sold out before I even knew of their US tour. After we decided to make the trip, Jason and I figured, why not make a day of driving all that way? Since the show wasn’t till night we wanted to go visit one of our favorite places: IKEA. We both love IKEA a lot, though our love is different in Jason has always had these big ideas and dream of IKEA from a catalog and never been to one till he visited me in California. Where I have two with in an hour of me. I, the girl who moved around a lot growing up, has memories of playing the kid center at IKEA and enjoying Swedish meatballs with my family, sort of love for IKEA. Last time we went to IKEA it was in the way of DC, this time we traveled through the city of Richmond,Va (where we later travel back to for the show). As we drove through part of me wanted to skip IKEA and explore Richmond.

We arrived at IKEA and got rock-star parking then went straight to get some Swedish meatballs. Jason has never really eaten at IKEA like I did growing up, he just enjoyed greatly their cheap frozen yogurt when we were in DC last. I hadnt had the Swedish meatballs in years and years so it was a fun treat to share with him. Maybe one day we will be close enough to IKEA to get the 99 cent breakfast that they offer. Last time we were in IKEA is was on a Sunday and it was packed full of people. How great it was to go on a Friday, no crowds at all! We took our time looking at the fake rooms and wishing we could take them back to North Carolina in Gwen’s small frame. The plan was to get me a new bookcase since I have out grown my current tall one. That was a success along with some bigger pots for my little herbs that are growing and odds and ends that we just couldn’t live without. Jason’s good friend Graham came by to see us for a bit while we were in his neck of the woods. We sat in couches near the exit just chatting and eating frozen yogurt with out charts beside us. It was a lovely, but quick time with Graham who warned us of the 95′s rush hour traffic so we left sooner than planned to make it to the show on time.

Along side of the 95 (yes, I refuse to give up the southern Californian in me that says “the 95″ instead of “I-95″) runs highway one, Graham told us as a tip in case the world stops moving because of traffic. We figured we could get in the car pool lane (which our here its called HOV lane. I find that amusing.) and be fine. We never could figure out how to get onto the HOV lane and it ended shortly after we entered the parking lot of a highway. We went 5 miles in about 30 minutes. Realizing we were going to be late to the show if something didnt happen we deiced to try highway 1. Again, I wish we didnt have other plans because I wanted to explore the little towns that we drove though. Yall, we drove by the birth place of Robert E. Lee! And dont even get me started on how many 7-11s that we pasted even though I really was wanting a slurppe. Slushys at Target are just not the same as a real 7-11 slurpee and for some reason North Carolina and 7-11 dont get along because there are none here. We were worried at one point we were going to be really late for the show and miss the first part. We were relived to discover that there was an opener and that when we ventured back over the 95 it was normal speeds.

Next you’ll discover that we did have time to stop for a slurpee…

Im a horrible sick person.

One of my friend said she wants her husband to sit and stare at her like her mom use to do. Just sit there and rub her face and just sit there with her. I am not that way. I want you to bring me drugs to make my head not feel like a bowling ball and go away. Yes, thank you, you are very kind for bringing me these things, now go away.

I started to feel bad Thursday night, but I thought it was lack of sleep from all the storm watching. Friday morning, even after sleeping in I felt tired and a nasty sore throat. I had a full day planned, so I ignored my sore throat all day long. Saturday, a day off to hang out with Jason. I felt in a fog for the morning but keep pushing on, all the while being very moody at Jason. We went to his house where I just crashed as my laundry washed. This morning I wanted to get up and go to church but I couldn’t believe how tired I was, so I stayed home. Or as Carla once told me attend “Bedside Baptist”. Jason called to see if I felt up to going out to lunch with friends from church. First thing that came to my mind? I didnt go to church so I wasnt “allowed” do anything else. You know, like when I was a kid if I didnt go to school because I was sick, I wasnt allowed to do anything in the evening. I know I could of gone out to lunch, its just funny what popped into my head from childhood.

After sleeping a couple more hours I got up to keep moving on my spring cleaning piles. I almost fell over from my head hurting and being sleepy. So I went back into my bed and spent the day in and out of sleeping this cold off. This is where Im a really bad sick person – Im home so I want do things while Im home. I dont want to waste the day away just being sick. Being in my bed all day having lists rolling around in my head of things I could be doing things instead. I think my body fought my mind well enough by making me extra sleepy despite the 10 hours of sleep I got last night.

I have a super busy week ahead of me, lets hope Day and NyQuil do their job and well.

I have an amazing church community. When I say that, I dont mean it in a we have the best church ever or we have it all together sorta way. I say it in a, these people are family to me. Tonight after a leadership meeting my friend Jimmy, who is also my pastor, gave me a hug. He always gives hugs, hes what you call a hugger. Im not so much of a hugger, but I find myself giving more hugs the more soaked in this community I am. A lot of the men in the church are huggers, which I think is great. This hug that Jimmy gave me was bittersweet. It was one of those, they hug you but you dont hug them back kind. I wanted to hug him back, but I was holding back tears I didnt want to spill in the mist of the group. This hug was long, as if he was waiting for a hug back but also knew that I couldnt. In that moment all the pushed a side feelings of missing my family came flooding in. The hug reminded me of my dad, who Im not sure when Id get to see next. Im not trying to be a sob story here, I know there are bigger things in the world than me missing my family so part of me feels silly. At the same time, the little girl inside of me just doesnt care about those bigger things – I miss my family. I love my youth job, but it only being part time I have to get benefits elsewhere so I work the other half of my week at Starbucks for those. In order to keep my benefits I have to work 20 hours a week. So in order for me to go on a youth trip for a week in June, I have to use my vacation time at Starbucks. Which means no trip to California to see my family. Jason asked me after Christmas this past year if we could spend next Christmas in North Carolina since the last two we spent in California. It was a very fair request and we both missed being apart of our church’s first Christmas and being home for Christmas. The tears that I bottled up came later in the privacy of my car ride home. I dont know what to do with those tears, other than maybe tell my family that I miss them more or remind them that I visited last and Carolina is gorgeous in the fall. God has richly given me this church family I can hold on tightly to durning the days when being away from my family is hard, and I am so thankful for that.

I just cant help myself! I love hippos!