......And I will sing a lullaby

 

Bridget and Tinkerbelle

While reading Coming to Terms with Middle Age by one of my favorite authors on AOL, Lisa, I saw where she has a wonderful idea of listing ten good things that happened to her over the past week. She is going to repeat this exercise every Monday. An call it TEN GOOD THINGS WEEKLY.

I think this is a great idea and I am going to join in and do it too!

Most this stuff happened last week. I noticed that I began with the most current stuff and worked backwards. So I rearranged it from the last week end through this past one. I'll play more fair this Monday!!

1)  I got to finally meet Tinkerbelle! The grand baby. She is beautiful and I have fallen in love immediately!

2) I got to see my baby Bridget and spend time with Mom and Dad and most of the rest of the family.

3) I sent the pictures of the St. Paddy Parade in Louisville to my sis and her husband, who neglected to bring a camera. My B-I-L left a message on my cell phone that said, "I wouldn't trade two brother in laws for one you."  It really touched me. So sweet.

4) I was im-ing with my long lost gal pal K. for hours one evening! Catching up on people and girl stuff.

5) I got that wonderful Nikon Digital SLR camera I have wanted for a long time!!

6) My boss D. is a great guy. I am realizing how good he is...for me. He does not let SH** run downhill. He does not call you into the office and close the door when you have screwed up. It is a real change from the Lex. office.

7) University of Kentucky almost beat U-Conn Sunday. There were moments that I thought it just might happen! That it was going to happen! My brackets are ruined! I should know better than to ever count out the SEC teams! Never doubt they will make it past the first round!  I shot myself in the foot.

8) The week-end in Cleveland and the Saw Doctor concert.

9) My fabulous sister Omega. For a birthday present to me she burnt several Irish CD's and I am having the best time listening to all this new music.

10)  Joe....the other night he was channel surfing and called tome, "The Buena Vista Social Club" is on Sundance. I had no idea that a documentary had been made describing the men and the music behind the Grammy winning album.

It was absolutely wonderful to see the faces of the men who made this music that I love so much and play all the time. And I do mean all the time!

The music is so sweet and so old school. I love them all, but Ibrahim Ferrer has stolen my heart. He is referred to as the Nat King Cole of Cuba. His voice is like silk.

As I looked over at Joe....he was out like a light.

That type of music is like a lullaby to him. He had to start watching Lost in Translation at least three times before he stopped falling asleep to the dreamy music.

This is a wonderful exercise to focus on the good things in your life. The tiny things (and at times not so tiny) that make up the sum of a life.

So Not the end...

BANG A GONG GET IT ON

The lights were turned up. The roadies  took the stage now.

We were left with  HAY  HAY  HAY ringing in our ears.

Magic hung in the air.

We called our limo ride. He informed us he would be there at 1130. We retired to the bar to wait. We ordered two more gigantic 32 ounce beers to split between the four of us.

We were talking of non-important things and suddenly Linda stands straight up, points and announces. "THERE IS LEO!!!" (guitar player and cutie-extraordinaire.)

By golly he had entered the bar to talk and meet the fans. How cool is that? I mean really, how cool is that??

Linda and I go running over there and she asks if she can take his picture with me! He immediately puts his arm around me and she snaps this occasion with my cell phone!

Then I begin to babble. "Leo, our cousin in Galway is the God-father to your child." He looks terribly confused and frowns. "You don't have any children, do you?" He shakes his head no.

Damn.

I go back to the table. I tell Omega what I have done. "You big dummy! It's not Leo! It one of the original band members who is no longer with the band. It's not our cousin, but the brother of the man she married." She shook her head in sympathy of my Larry David-ness.

"Do you think I should go apologize to him. Tell him I was confused, it was Bono and not him?"

Then, she asked if she needed to save the picture. I stupidly told her it saved automatically.........

It's gone.

But the magic lives on.

And I found out they are head lining at the Irish Festival in Dublin Ohio this August.

I'll set things straight with Leo then.

MAY I PRESENT.........

THE SAW DOCTORS

There was not a soul anywhere! Only a guy outside standing on the street yelling "Tickets! Tickets!"

Are we at the right place!!? Where is everyone! Les was gone. The streets were deserted. It was pitch black, except for the Agora sign. The "O" was burnt out.

With some trepidation we went in. Down a dimly lit hallway and one turn to the left...there it was, the double glass doors to enter the Agora.

As soon as the doors opened, the heat, the smell, the noise engulfed us and sucked us in.

I heard them! They were already on stage. I ran into the ballroom blindly without looking back. I ran right into the back of the theatre into a thickly packed crowd. "How long have they been on stage?" I screamed, because he could not hear me any other way over the crowd, "About 20 minutes.", he relied.

Oh hell.

They were great. They were marvelous. They were wonderful. They sang and sang. N-17 was performed very early. We all sang along. As we did to most the songs. New ones were intertwined with all the classics.

I wanted to call Joe and let him listen to SHARE THE DARKNESS, one of the songs he likes....

Why don't we share the darkness tonight
Ah life's too short for wasting
For ifs and might have been's
Life's too short for wondering if
You could have lived your dreams
And its way too short for loneliness
We don't have to be
Now that we trust each other
Why don't you stay with me?
Why don't we share the darkness tonight
Make it warm and burning bright
I'll not say nothing
I'll be polite
Why don't we share the darkness tonight

........but I knew all he would hear would be people around me singing along with the dreamy lyrics.

So I enjoyed it meself, with a 32 ounce beer in one hand and waving my other arm in tune with the music and in a brotherhood with the others in the room.

They left the stage and naturally we coaxed them back on chanting/singing the soccer anthem that is a major part of the show, provided by the concert goers.

And they returned!! And did about six more songs.

Things get a little blurry here. And loud and sentimental. A big delightful surprise was their performance of  BANG A GONG....!!

And they finished with HAY WRAP.

Then, they left the stage and the magic lingered.

Photo's courtsey of Saw Doctor's web site

LUCK OF THE IRISH

I handed over the concert tickets to Omega, knowing she would never misplace nor lose them. I breathed a gigantic sigh of relief with the passing of the tickets. That type of pressure is a real Buzz Kill.

We went to dinner at a marvelous restaurant down around the corner called John Q's. We had thick juicy wonderful steaks. We knew that it was imperative that we have a large substantial meal in our stomachs before heading to the Angora Ballroom for the concert.

We had called ahead to check on the number of bands to determine our departure time. The time on the tickets was 8pm, but Omega thought that they would take the stage a lot later if there was an opening act. There was, so we were going to take our time and not get there too early.

No front row for us. Omega has been there before and assured me I did not want the front, because a trip to the bathroom would be almost impossible, if not life threatening.

We arrived at the hotel lobby and they immediately asked for taxi service. The doorman  went to action jumping out into the street and whistling! Omega handed over the tickets to everyone. I had my ticket clutched tightly in my hand. My money was in my right pocket, my cell phone in the left. I was not going to take the camera. Boo-hoo.

No taxi's were available. It was a grand night for the taxi cab business and none were near!

Suddenly, there appeared our savior! Les! We were going to take a limo to the Angola!!! Since there were no taxi's at large, the doorman asked Les, who was a regular operator at the hotel, to take us!

It really wasn't a limo, but it was a beautiful ride in a brand new Towncar.

"Where are you going?"

"To the Agora!!"

"What!! I thought they closed the Agora! Only homeless are there now!"

We arrived in style and asked Les if he could pick us up after the concert. He wanted to go drink a few soda pops too...but he was picking up customers from the Airport, he might maybe could retrieve us. He handed over his card.

"How much?" we asked.

"Hell, I don't know." he replied.

I love this guy.

Omega took care of him, and into the Agora we went.

It was pretty scary looking.

DELIGHTFUL DISPENSATION

If the Bishop says so.......

It was so bitter cold! So cold that I watched the end of the parade from inside the building sheltered from the elements.

It is little fun when you are not part of the crowd, so I made my way to the bar and began to watch the NCAA tournament games and ordered an Irish Coffee.

Because.......of dispensation. The Catholic Bishop announced from the alter last Sunday that God understood about St. Paddy Day. (I have given up alcohol for Lent).

The bar became totally crazy in time. Omega called me asking how to find the hotel...at least that is what it sounded like she was asking. It was difficult to hear her over the roar of the masses huddled together bellied up to the bar.

I met her in the room a little while later.

"Where is your luggage?" she asked as I sat on one of the beds with a Sam Adams in one hand, and the tickets to the Saw Doctors in the other.

"In the car!"

"And the car is.........????"

"I'm not sure. I left it with someone at the front of the hotel."

"You mean you just handed over your car over to someone????!!!!!!"

"Yes......gosh, I sure do hope he works with the hotel!!!"

Not to fear. He did.

 

Third Largest St. Paddy Parade in the World!

Going into Cleveland I knew that the St. Paddy Parade was starting around 1pm in the downtown area. By the luck of the Irish, it was going to be ending right in the vicinity of the Marriott hotel, where we were staying.

That was the good news.

The bad news is that the weather was beautiful, through a trifle frigid, and close to a quarter million people were expected to converge to the downtown area.

I was trying to time my arrival to avoid being re-routed by the parade, thus ruining my Map Quest instructions and throwing everything into a flux. I was successful and rolled into the Public Square area a little before noon. Yet, too early to check into the hotel!

I did have to drive around downtown and circle the area to find the hotel! I was on the verge of rolling down a window and asking help from one of the many police officers (now they are my friend) positioning around the parade route area. As I located the nearest office, lo and behold, he was standing underneath the (suble) Marriott signage. I had to circle the block one more time, looking for a parking structure. There was none to be found, so I entered the front of the hotel and was immediately pounced upon by a guy with a clip board. He opened the car door for me, asked if I was staying at the hotel, informed me that it was crazy (duh) and too early to check in, the lot was full but they would park my car, return it when I wanted to retrieve my luggage, I could charge valet parking to my room (which I still did not have), here is your ticket.....have a nice day.

I grabbed my camera, the wonder hat and my make up bag. Silently offering up a prayer to God that I had pulled the rollers out of my hair moments after exiting the Expressway.

If you ever see a woman driving down Expressway with a ton of rollers in her hair, looking like a space alien, it is more than likely me.

I hit the streets and began to mill with the crowd forming to watch the parade.

It was bitter cold, and I was in awe of all the highschool age kids who are immune to sub-zero temperatures. There were literally thousands and thousands of them running about with nothing more that green t-shirts over another long sleeved t-shirt, walking huddled forward, laughing and yelling at each other and blowing those large green plastic horns that are inevitable at these venues. And the teenage girls with short mini skirts and knee high green socks!! Arms crossed over their chests for warmth.

Oh to be young!

To describe the crowd and do it justice is beyond my capabilities. It was like a living breathing thing, constantly changing and growing...and crossing the streets.

As the crowd reached critical mass, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to see the parade unless I climbed up on something, like the shoulders of a six foot ten strong (very strong) super man. Not going to happen.

So I wandered back to the hotel area knowing that the parade was going to make a turn after marching down Superior and end at the Public Square, directly by the Hotel.

It was there I got some nice photo's with my new camera.

Every single Pipe and Drum band in the Ohio area was in the parade. It was fantastic!

WAY TO GO OHIO

Since moving to Indiana I have put in a considerable amount of windshield time. Either we are traveling back to Our Old Kentucky Home or heading to some new, always exotic location. It is some sort of phenomenon that so many major cities are only two to three hours away from Ft. Wayne!!

I traveled alone to meet my Sister, Omega, and her friends in Cleveland on Friday St. Patricks Day. We had  MAJOR  plans. The first of which, for me, was to get there.

Thank God that on the eighth day He created Map Quest. Map Quest has yet to fail me. I marvel each time I land at the correct destination in one piece. The trip to Cleveland was no different.

I started driving about an hour later than I wanted to leave, but all was cool. The sun was shining and I was stoked and excited. I had the tickets to the show we were seeing that night in the zipped pocket of my purse. I knew this for a certain fact. For two days I had worried that I was going to leave the tickets behind...or lose them. One of the various neuroses that I harbor in my otherwise perfect self.

One of the other neuroses (or maybe one and the same) is my obsessive compulsion to read the directions over and over until I have them memorized, then I fear I have memorized the wrong thing, so I look at them over and over again.

The Map Quest mile by mile instructions were laying on the passenger seat, under my magnifying glasses for quick reference.

And so I traveled from Indiana down Route 24 to meet up with I80/I90 East in Akron and then a straight shot into Cleveland.

Once I hit the Ohio Turnpike, I wanted to put the pedal to the metal. Anyone who has traveled Route 24 will understand. It is a connection from Ft. Wayne to the pathways of America. And it is a two laner. A miserable excruciating ride when you are behind semi trucks and too chicken to pass because your eyesight ain't what it use to be and God knows where you put your long distance glasses since the move last June!!!

Everyone that has ever traveled through Ohio knows this...there are cops everywhere on the Expressways and they mean business.

I was speeding along at a pleasant 75 passing everyone and knowing that I acting irresponsible and tempting the Speeding Ticket god's to zap me down. I was relieved that half way through the trip a SUV came speeding past me!!! Hurray!! I was just waiting for someone to do just that so I could catch a ride on their tail!

And so I did. I was reluctant to keep up with him at the 80mph clip he was zoned into. I just kept him in sight the entire last leg of the trip.

As I drew closer to Cleveland I had the incredible urge to re-read the Map Quest instructions again. Exit 141, I'm certain it has to be exit 141, but I will check just the same.

On go the glasses, I place the instructions on the center of the steering wheel and run my thumb down the side to find the line I am searching for....and then I see them! Two State cops sitting on the center mediums each pointed in an opposite direction. My stomach fell, my adrenaline began pumping and I quickly glanced at my speedometer.

Thank God my obsessive-compulsive behavior had caused me to slow down to under 70. I was safe!!!

But not the lead SUV. The police pulled out moments after I passed by and headed around me and in short time had the SUV pulled over.

I did feel bad for him. A ticket on St. Patrick's Day. Bad Luck. He must not be Irish.

But I am.

I obeyed the speed limits as I cruised into downtown Cleveland. Map Quest came through for me once again, and landed me right where I needed to be.

In the midst of the St. Patrick Day Parade in Cleveland.