Wow! Joe Bonnamasa put on a GREAT show last night! Allen, Lisa & I went to the Rogue Theater in Grants Pass too see him. My brother has been telling me about this guy for at least a year, but I really had no idea. There's just nothing like a live show. The music was awesome & we had a lot of fun. After the show, we tried to get on Joe's tour bus or at least to sign some CD covers, but the bouncer & his drummer said that he wasn't feeling well & after a while we decided togive it up & went to an all-night diner & hung out eating breakfast & Mexican food and entertaining the entire restaurant, along with the waitress. A couple of guys sitting next to us had just been at the show, too. When we left, the waitress literally hugged me & begged us to come back & see her again! I guess we make an impression, lol! Next week, we go see Foreigner at the new Lithia Ampitheater in Central Point out by the fairgrounds. I can't wait for that, too. I'm sure Joe has them beat hands-down as a musician, but it's always fun to go see a show where you know all of the songs.

Tyson had his second Cross Country race last week & once again placed first out of all the 6th graders competing & came home with a medal! Gooooooooooooooo, Bulldogs!

My silly dad - he thinks that I didn't know that he moved his ex-lover back in & is worried about telling me because I told him I think she's a psycho & he should've been happy when she up & married someone the same week she left him with only a note & that it was a narrow escape as far as I was concerned. (Wow - what a sentence!)

Dad, first of all, I've known for about a week. Second, hey, if you can deal with the mistakes I've made in my love life & still love & respect me, I think I can do the same. I just don't want to see you get hurt or have a love affair with somebody for the wrong reasons. Just lookin' out for my old man! I'd love to see you happy & if Polly does it for you, then so be it. But she'd better not pull that crap or anything else like it on my watch...Anyhoo...thought I should address that. I tried to talk Lisa into saying something like, "Oh, yes, Polly, I've heard about you from Mandi" and leave that open to interpretation. I guess she's just not the passive agressive hoochie mama I can be sometimes.

In other exciting news, the Season Premiere of Prison Break starts tonight (at 8 pm on Fox) & I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! I haven't watched any TV for a long time, but all of my shows are coming back for the fall lineup, so I'll have to work my transcription around that. Unlike my spoiled rotten big sis, I don't have Tivo. I do plan to miss one Prison Break a month when I go to my Booster Club meetings for Tyson's school & I'll just have to watch the episode online, which is so cool that I can do that! BTW, the last Booster Club meeting went well & I got my foot in the door by volunteering to "spearhead" the box-tops & Campbell's soup labels project. I figure, why not? I've been saving this stuff for years!

Trying to stay on top of everything in my life, this blog included. I don't know why it feels like a constant juggling act. Actually, I do - I have a very full life & I'm always going in many different directions at once. As crazy as it sometimes makes me feel, I do believe it suits me!

I have removed one thing from my life (hopefully for good) & that is the unrequited love that I've been carrying around with me for my whole life, but especially in the years since my divorce. I thought it was reciprocal & that someday circumstances would change & we'd live happily ever after, but I really have to face the facts & move on with my life. I've been in limbo for way too long & I know that I deserve more than that.

I am pleased to report that Lisa & Allen are still going strong. They went down to Eureka this weekend to settle some things & bring some stuff back so that Allen can move in. I was really hoping they wouldn't move in together right away because this will be the first time since Anthony was 6 years old that Lisa & her son have had a place of their own & they really only have 3 more years left until he's out of the house. But Anthony seems gung-ho & really digs my brother, so who am I to interrupt the flow of wherever this will lead? I do wish them all the best. Great people deserve other great people!

In other news, I've managed to stay caught up on all my transcription throughout the last week, even with the new dosc from the surgery center & the money will be rolling in soon! Thank goodness, since I've been spending more than I have these days, between all these unexpected expenses with Tyson's school & sports & my own binge-shopping!

And on the topic of finances, as some of you may know, I'm flying to San Diego in November for my friend, Maya's, wedding. I purchased the ticket a little over a month ago & then, unbeknownst to me, she changed the date of the actual ceremony to the day that my flight leaves first thing in the morning! Now I'm having a heck of a time, because apparently, it costs $50 to change the dates with the airline & another $50 with Cheap Tickets, where I bought the ticket online, not to mention any extra charge that the new flight difference will be (I'm hoping I'm wrong, but when I plugged in a search, it told me it would be an "additional $321")! My tickets are non-refundable, so I can't just cancel (although that's another $100) & purchase new ones. So I'm freaking out a little bit, since I already couldn't really afford to pay all this $ for the original ticket, but I do try to make it down there once a year to see them, so I justified it that way. So, we'll see...

September 21, Allen & Lisa & I are going to see Joe Bonamassa play in Grants Pass. This is the blues guitar legend that my brother has been raving about for so long, so I decided to investigate further! And then, on the 27th, Lisa & I are going to see Foreigner at the KBOY 40th anniversary bash (I bought her tix for her birthday).

Anyway, that's what's been going on in my world...off to do one last tape of transcription, then maybe to clean my room...?

I just picked Tyson up from his first Cross Country meet. He placed 18th out of 140 kids from 15 different schools in the 3000 meter (1.86 miles of up & down hills & across creeks & through trees, etc.) & was the first place out of all the 6th grade runners, so he gets a blue ribbon! He said that motivation was all around him because there were all these tall, skinny runners whose jaws dropped each time he passed them. At one point in the race, they were running through the woods & he said that one of the people ahead of him totally biffed it in the creek. This is pretty hard core stuff! I thought it would be running laps on a track, not like this! Anyway, just wanted to brag on my boy a little. Toodles...

Busy, busy, busy!! But I called in sick from work today, so I figured I should take the time to post, since I never know when I'll get the chance again! The visit in Eureka was awesome - it's always so great to see everyone & it really lifted my spirits. The first night, we went straight to my brother, Allen's house & picked up my oldest brother, Deland. Our other brother came over with his son, Joey & we surprised them by bringing Heather (Joe's daughter) down with us. Allen bought pizza & beer & we all just hung out & did some karaoke, including Lisa, who usually won't sing, but I think she got warmed up by all the air-rocking that we did in the car on the way down. We didn't get over to Dad's house until 2:30 a.m. The next morning, we got up & I went to get Allen & Joe & Joey to bring them over so we could all have coffee & chit-chat. Mom had dialysis that day (Saturday), so we just visited until it was time to pick her up, then we all went to the park for a picnic/BBQ & to walk through the zoo (an old family tradition). Afterward, my niece, Mary, & her boyfriend, Matt, met us in Old Town Eureka for an Art Walk they do there. We wandered through the galleries & listened to musicians on almost every corner! It was pretty cool. Also a nice way to introduce Lisa to Eureka, since she'd never been. From there, everyone went their separate ways & we headed back to Dad's for some much needed sleep. On Sunday morning, we hung out some more at Dad's over some rice & chocolate gravy (my dad's specialty!) & waited until Mom got home from church, then headed over to Fortuna to pick up Heather, who had stayed the night with Mary, & go see Mom. Deland, Allen, Lisa, Heather, & I made a detour by the restaurant where Mary is waitressing. (Joey & Tyson stayed at Dad's & played Deland's video games & watched movies.) After visiting with Mom, we all headed back to Eureka for the final night of our stay. After much begging, Dad reluctantly pulled out his guitar & serenaded us with some of the old favorites, including "Amanda" & "No Use Pretending", two of my personal faves. We headed back Monday around 1 p.m. & didn't get home until 5 or so. The next day, Tyson had a half day at the middle school, his first day as a 6th grader! He really likes most of his teachers so far & thinks middle school is pretty cool. They have lockers, they have PE uniforms, there are all kinds of clubs to join & I guess the lunches are better than some restaurants as far as selections go. On Tuesday night, they had an open house for new students & 6th graders & their parents, so we went & I got to see Ty's locker & meet his teachers. He is signed up for Leadership, a club that sends the kids into the community to help elderly & disabled people, which meets every Wednesday morning before school, Lifers, a drug-free club, which meets once a month during lunch period, & Cross Country. His first meet will be this Wednesday & practices will be every day after school following that. We went in to talk to the Chess Club advisor (Tyson loves chess!) & it turns out that he's also the basketball coach. (I'm incredibly grateful that there's a big, buff sports guy teaching chess so that Tyson won't feel the stigma of "only nerds play chess" & sees that he can be smart & athletic!) Since only 7th & 8th graders are allowed to play for the school, the coach suggested that Tyson could be his manager & travel to all their away games with them & maybe even practice running drills with the 7th & 8th graders if he shows that he's good enough to hang with them. That won't start until November or so, right around the same time as the Chess Club. Tyson has chosen Band as his elective this year & we found a trumpet at a yard sale with a case, the cleaning equipment & the book that they need, all for $75, so he'll be playing trumpet. Tonight is the first meeting of the Booster Club, which I'm planning to join so I can get involved in Tyson's school & fundraising efforts & also meet some of the other parents. Thank goodness we live so close to the school! I don't know if I mentioned previously, but I picked up more transcription work for the docs at the Surgery Center, so that's been a challenge, but I know that it will get a lot easier as I get more comfortable with formatting & terminology for these docs. This last weekend, Lisa & I drove to Crescent City to meet Dad & Allen & to bring Allen back to Medford with us to help Lisa & Anthony move into their own place! (This will be the first time in over 9 years that they've lived together without anyone else & I'm SO happy for them!) On Saturday, we got all their stuff from storage & made some progress on getting the townhouse set up. Allen & Lisa have really hit it off & I'm praying this will be a good thing for both of them. They both deserve so much happiness & have settled in the past. My own love life is still non-existent but I just hope that, if I stay busy enough with Tyson & work, I eventually won't notice. Here's the link to the pics from the Eureka trip: (Thanks for the suggestion, Kathy!) http://picasaweb.google.com/amanda32876/VisitToEurekaLaborDay2007