On Our Way To Crazy

I almost had a heart attack the other day. And Ticketmaster is to blame.

I got word that Flight of the Conchords had a show coming up at the Ryman. Flight of the Conchords! At the Ryman! Could anything be more perfect? Ever? No. It could not.

I started digging around. I got the presale password. I was online at 9:50 before the tickets went on sale at 10:00. Everything was ready to go.

Then! I got tickets! In the balcony! I took them, clicked purchase, and was on my way.

That’s when things got ugly. Apparently the card I usually use on Ticketmaster had expired and I needed to update my info. No problem, right?

WRONG. There was nowhere to update my card, and then my time ran out. Boo.

But hope was not lost. That was just the presale, right? I could totally still get tickets when they went on sale to the general public.

I updated all my card info and was ready to go. I knew I had to be on top of my ticket-buying-internet-wielding-card-charging game. I knew I had to take whatever tickets they gave me. There would be no second chances. My ticket selling brother-in-law had informed me that this was the hottest ticket in the country. (He, of course, did not see that coming and could not help me out.)

10:00. I am in. I have seats. They are terrible, but I am buying them. I click purchase. I check my purchase info. Everything is good. I confirm.

And then. THEN. Ticketmaster asked me to re-enter my personal info. Which I did. Then it asked me to do it again. So I did it again. And again. And again. I am confirming my name and address over and over and over and over… and then my five minutes ran out. My tickets were gone. The show was sold out.

I don’t know what Ticketmaster has against me. I have been a faithful customer for ages, paying exorbitant services fees for tickets to shows all over the country. So why, for this one FREAKING AMAZING show, did it turn on me? Why did it decide to break my sweet little heart? Why don’t I get to hang out at the Ryman with my friends Bret and Jemaine? I know they would like me. We need to be friends. I know all the words to Hippopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous!

I wish I could quit you, Ticketmaster. But you know I’ll be back. Ben Folds is coming in April. You have won the battle, but you will not win the war!

So we went to Dallas. And some stuff happened.

• I shopped at mecca with my sister where we tried on very expensive dresses that we loved so much that we literally almost cried when we had to leave them in the store.
• We had delicious, delicious burgers and spicy pickles with old friends and band guys and then got to go to another restaurant and sample a delicious, delicious s’mores and chipotle chocolate dessert thing that was AMAZING.
• Our parents and friends finally got to see the band play. The best part was watching my mom wince when they jumped off stuff.
• We got news that the band was nominated for three Dove awards. (Best New Artist, Best Rock Album, and Best Video.) We realize that this is fairly lame, but it’s also kind of exciting. Now I need to buy one of those dresses.
• I had excellent margaritas and veggie enchiladas with eight (!) of my friends from high school. I really feel lucky to have had such a big group of friends back then, and to be able to call them friends today. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. I hate being so far away.
• We stayed up way too late eating fajitas and playing dominos and drinking electric blue slushies with my grandpa.
• We celebrated our niece’s first birthday! I’m sure you know some cute babies, but she is the cutest baby.

I am posting this for the following reasons: I love surveys, I love talking about myself, I have been facing the posting white screen of death for days with nothing notable to say, Dooce told me to, and I am hesitant to post stuff like this on facebook. Because the kids I went to junior high with and the kids who are in junior high now are probably not interested.

I’m supposed to answer these questions about Aaron, that guy I married and get to hang out with every day. So here you go.

What are your middle names?
Aaron’s middle name is Kyle. My middle name is An. With one ‘n’. Which is totally awesome and not at all confusing. Hi mom!

How long have you been together?
We have been married for six and a half years, and together for nine. Nine!

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met in December of 1998 and went on our first date on January 2, 2000, about two hours after I realized I liked and wanted to date him. So that was good timing.

Who asked whom out?
He asked me out, I guess. We’d been hanging out a lot, and had plans to go to the movies. He paid and drove and held my hand. I didn’t really know it was a date until then or that I wouldn’t be holding anyone else’s hand again after that night.

How old are each of you?
I’m 28 and Aaron is 30.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Mine, I guess, but we don’t see any of them very often. My sister lives in Dallas, where our parents are, so we always see her when we’re in town. Aaron’s brothers both live in the Austin area, so it takes a little more planning and organizing to get together with them.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Work, I think, just in general. We both have jobs that we love, but that require a lot of time and personal involvement and emotional attachment. Those things take their toll on us, both individually and collectively. It’s a hard thing to figure out how to take care of each other when you both take care of other people all day every day. But we’re figuring it out.

Did you go to the same school?
Nope. I graduated from UMHB with a journalism degree, and Aaron has a music business degree from Belmont. He uses his every day. I have used mine zero days.

Are you from the same home town?
Technically, no. We’re both from the Dallas area, but different suburbs. I grew up in Mesquite and Aaron grew up in Garland, but our houses were about five minutes apart. We never knew each other when we lived that close, though, choosing instead to start dating four days before he moved 800 miles away.

Who is smarter?
Hmmm. I think I am more book smart… I always did well in school and am good with the bookish things. Aaron has the common sense and problem-solving skills that I lack, though, which is a much more practical way to live. My extensive editing skills don’t help us out nearly as often.

Who is the most sensitive?
Oh my holy moly, I am.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
The best restaurant in Nashville is a little Greek place called Kalamata’s. They recently opened one near our house, and we eat there so often that when we walk in they start making our food. I love it with my whole heart.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Cancun? We haven’t done much traveling. We’ve worn out the road between Nashville and Dallas, though.

Who has the craziest exes?
Hee. This is an excellent question. I think we are probably pretty even on this one, but Aaron definitely has better stories. That I am not going to tell you.

Who has the worst temper?
You know those people who can let things just roll right off their backs? Who don’t get worked up and are always trying to find middle ground and solve the issues? Who always want the good of the relationship over winning the fight? One of us is that kind of person. And that one? Is not me.

Who does the cooking?
I do most of the cooking, which is kind of a new thing for us. Aaron is totally competent in the kitchen. But I am the one who finds new recipes and plans the meals and does the shopping and puts most of the food together. It works for us, and no one has been poisoned. Yet.

Who is the neat-freak?
Aaron believes really strongly that everything has a place. I tend to think, if it made inside the house, we’re doing pretty good.

Who is more stubborn?
If our stubbornness were put on both sides of a teeter-totter, it would be the most perfectly balanced teeter-totter of all time.

Who hogs the bed?
MILES.

Who wakes up earlier?
We are not morning people. At all. So the person who wakes up earlier is the one who has somewhere to be first. And the other one gloats and goes back to sleep.

Where was your first date?
We had dinner at El Fenix and saw Fantasia 2000 at the IMAX in Dallas.

Who is more jealous?
I am jealous that he can wear the same black and grey clothes every day and no one notices. He is jealous that I can get away with wearing tank tops in public.

How long did it take to get serious?
It got serious pretty quickly. We dated long distance for two and a half years, and it sucked. I wouldn’t have been up for that at all with anyone else.

Who eats more?
Definitely Aaron. He’s the guy who eats a PB&J twenty minutes after dinner.

Who’s better with the computer?
If it can be fixed by turning it off and back on, I’ve got it covered. Anything else is all Aaron.

Who drives when you are together?
Aaron. I am not a great driver, but I am an excellent navigator and controller of the ipod.

Who does the laundry?
We have separate closets in separate rooms with separate hampers, and we pretty much each do our own laundry. Actually, I say it’s because of the separation of clothes, but it’s really because we both think the other one does it wrong. (I’m just saying. They’re called dryer sheets. Maybe you should look into them.)

So there you go! Way more information about us than you were ever interested in. Now go answer the questions about yourselves so I can be nosy.

THREE THINGS THAT HAPPENED WHILE I WAS WATCHING TV THIS AFTERNOON WHILE UPDATING STUDENT INFORMATION AND EATING MY FORTIETH CLEMENTINE OF THE DAY

1. For ages, I’ve had this scene in my head where and old lady goes to a house and walks quickly through all the rooms while the family follows her around hoping she will approve. I have never figured out what it was from. I thought it was some kind of Jane Austen-y big old house and ball gowns kind of scenario, but I just couldn’t place it.

But then! Today! I caught the last 15 minutes of the episode of Gilmore Girls where Rory goes to the carnival with Jess and they end up hanging out with Dean and his annoying little sister. Right before she leaves for the carnival? Her great-grandmother comes over to inspect her and Lorelai’s house. She walks quickly through all the rooms and they follow her around hoping she will approve. THANK YOU BABY JESUS AND THE GODS OF DAYTIME TELEVISION.

2. During the course of one episode of 90210 – which, yes, I am still watching, and yes, it is the worst show ever produced and put on for people to put in their brains – the following things happened to the characters: accusation of statutory rape, admission of murder and incest, a hook up in a freezer in an abandoned house, the aiding and abetting of a kidnapper, a drunk hit-and-run accident and, oh yeah, the mysterious return of Dylan McKay. It was very intense.

3. I lowered myself to the level of watching an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. A few minutes in, I realized something horrifying – I HAVE ALREADY SEEN THIS EPISODE.

Andy Osenga came first. Well, the Normals did, anyway. I was a freshman at North Texas and a friend of mine would not shut up about this band she’d found on a Forefront sampler. A couple of years and a couple of albums later and they were one of my favorite bands. I saw them play several times, including their last show as a band when they opened for Caedmon’s at A&M. A Place Where You Belong is one of my favorite records of all time.

Andy Peterson came next. I’d driven up to Waco to see Bebo play. He had two openers – Justin McRoberts and Andy Peterson. By the time Andy Peterson was done I had completely forgotten about Bebo. I was enthralled with this guy and his voice and his storytelling. I immediately went out and bought everything he’d ever done, and I’ll buy everything else he ever puts out.

The last of the Andys to enter my life was Gullahorn. Again, a Caedmon’s opener, this time on the UMHB campus with his wife, Jill Phillips. I remember it clearly because I thought he looked like Aaron. (He doesn’t, really.) He writes those songs that make you laugh, then make you cry, then make you laugh through your tears.

So when last week, thanks to a random facebook comment that showed up in my news feed, I saw that they would be doing a (free!) show together as Andy and the Andys, I was all over it.

They, of course, did not disappoint. Apparently there are actual Andy and the Andys songs, not just their individual music. It’s right up my alley – kind of folksy, three-part harmony, lots of acoustic guitars and clever lyrics. They also did an in-the-round portion that led to me sitting ten feet from Andrew Peterson while he sang “The Silence of God” and trying not to freak out or sing along or do anything stalkerish. That is an incredible song.

A lot of times we miss out on big tours here in Nashville – as a ‘music town’ we have a (generally deserved) reputation as being a tough crowd. No one can just enjoy a show. They have to watch critically and silently judge and think about how their band should be up there instead. But there is a definite upside to living in the same city as a lot of your favorite musicians – they play around town. A lot. For cheap. And every now and then, you find youself at a show that seems custom made for you.

Jan 1 – I watched so many bad movies while recovering from New Year’s.
Jan 2 – I got my Blackberry activated! The world just got awesome!
Jan 3 – One of the kids drove me around in her brand new car with her brand new license and we both survived.
Jan 4 – Miles ate a ton of candy and his throw up was fruit-scented.
Jan 5 – My sister waited on Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson at work.
Jan 6 – My first day back in the real world went fairly well.
Jan 7 – First youth group of the year went smoothly.
Jan 8 – We made fake chicken fried rice and it was magically delicious.
Jan 9 – A kid who’s been dealing with some crazy stuff finally opened up to us.
Jan 10 – I saw the Twilight movie by myself and loved every minute of it.
Jan 11 – Delicious delicious lunch.
Jan 12 – I helped a kid finally register for school and buy her books. Baby steps.
Jan 13 – I think I got our summer camp plans nailed down.
Jan 14 – Great discussion about friendships in youth group.
Jan 15 – I figured out how to make the Friday Night Lights theme song my ringtone.
Jan 16 – I saw Titanic! The Musical and cried. A lot.
Jan 17 – Breakfast with some senior girls from our old church who were in my 7th grade small group. So much fun, and so much feeling like an old lady!
Jan 18 – We had a lot of new folks at care group and it was really fun.
Jan 19 – Made some concert plans with my new music BFF.
Jan 20 – Made good inroads with a fringe-y kid over soup that burned my tongue.
Jan 21 – We made some artwork for the new youth building.
Jan 22 – Nashville voted NO on English-only! Nice work, Nashville.
Jan 23 – Four sweaters for $20 at the Gap outlet!
Jan 24 – Lots of great deals at the library book sale!
Jan 25 – I ate fried chicken for the first time since the new year and it was fantastic.
Jan 26 – We nailed down plans to go home in February.
Jan 27 – Chris Thile began the process of falling in love with me.
Jan 28 – The kids had a snow day so we turned youth into a giant game night.
Jan 29 – Delicious, delicious stuffed salmon at Kalamata’s.
Jan 30 – We went to an art auction followed by a FREE Andy and the Andys show.
Jan 31 – An amazing and long overdue lazy afternoon with Aaron – reading, movies, awesome.