Whee! I had a great week with Ken and my friend Sara,
running to and fro—literally. We picked up Sara last Wednesday at the airport,
grabbed Thai food—because of my cold, I was really grateful for the spicy
soup—and headed to Anaheim for the first of several Styx shows. Before the show
we hung out in a coffee shop for a bit, catching up on our various electronic
devices, before our friends Fran and Thom and Tani met up with us. At the
venue, it was a glorious reunion; the first show after a break is a wonderful
homecoming with friends: Sheri and Nanci and Lisa and Naoko and the twins and
their mom and Maria. Ack, I’m sure I’m forgetting someone! Hugs all ‘round, and
then into the show, which was of course awesome. We had dinner afterwards with
Tani and then drove home and fell over, exhausted.
The next morning we slept in for a little bit, and then Sara
and I fluffed and buffed and headed up to Solvang. After purchasing a yummy
cheese at the wine and cheese shop, we went over to the casino to see if we
could get tickets for the show that night (we hadn't been able to get any
decent tickets when they first went on sale). We weren't lucky, but we had an
amusing time wandering around the casino and briefly hanging out with the
assistant tour manager. We spent that evening eating cheese and crackers and
watching videos.
Friday saw the three of us battling traffic to get to
Temecula for the show there. The band again kicked ass (Dragon Dictate insists
that last word should be “pass.” I can't wait until I start dictating an
erotica story!) and a friend was kind enough to offer me a backstage pass for a
brief meeting with Tommy Shaw. Of course, then we all headed out to the buses
and got to see Tommy again, along with Todd and Lawrence. :-)
We stayed in Orange County that night because Geoff Tate of
Queensryche was doing a signing at the wine shop; he's partnered with the
winery and created a red and the white. Then we hopped back in the car and
headed north to San Luis Obispo because Geoff was playing a show there that
night. Yes, that's a lot of driving! You should have seen Geoff’s tour
schedule! It was all over the map.
On Sunday we rejoiced at not having to put on makeup and
being able to stay in our pajamas most of the day. The only time we went out
was to pick up groceries—Sara and I made a vat of vegetable soup for dinner.
Sadly, I had to take her back to the airport on Monday
afternoon and wave a mournful farewell. Then I came home and mostly collapsed.
Actually, that's not entirely true: I paid bills and cleaned off my desk and
answered a ton of e-mails. That said, I'm still fighting off this cold and
goodness knows bouncing up and down at concerts doesn't exactly constitute
“taking it easy.” I spent most of yesterday working, and today Ken and I ran
some errands.
I was supposed to have had my root canal this morning, but
my dentist was sick. I'm rescheduled for tomorrow morning—keep your fingers
crossed. I really want to get this over with while Ken's home and it doesn't
interfere with travel!
February should be a relatively quiet month until the end,
when I head up to Oregon for two workshops. I'm looking forward to getting my health
back, to working out, and to getting lots of work done. I'm still focusing on
the publishing arm of my business along with copyediting, but Dragon Dictate is
helping immensely with e-mails, blog posts, and an upcoming nonfiction
assignment I've just been offered.
Happy Imbolc to you all! We’re halfway to spring and the
light is returning.
