Monday, October 22, 2012

Madonna!!

Recently I was able to knock an item off my bucket list. I saw Madonna in concert. I've always wanted to go to one and even before I really knew the term "bucket list," I said I wanted to see both Michael Jackson and Madonna in concert. Unfortunately, MJ died before I could cross that item off my list (yes, I think even crazy, delusioned Michael Jackson would still have been an amazing performer). When he died, I became even more determined to see Madonna in concert. So when she announced her first performance in Dallas in 15-20 years, I was on the computer waiting for seats the very morning they went on sale. I hesistated before buying and the Saturday show sold out...which wound up being totally lucky for me. A Sunday show was added, and I quickly bought tickets. Months passed, the show approached, and the Saturday night show got cancelled! That totally sucked for all those people, but lucky me for hesistating to buy Saturday tickets!

Anyway, the show...Eric was totally not on board for Madonna and he's been a good sport about going to lots of stuff with me, so I didn't push it. Instead, I got to go with my longtime friend and fellow '80's music lover, Lorraine Garrison. The tickets said the show started at 8 pm, but the concerts I've been to in the past year or so have reminded me that 1) there is always an opening act, and 2) concerts never start on time. I knew it was going to be a late night and that we could be fashionably late, but man! Did she even stop to consider the fact that it was a Sunday night and people had places to be the next day? Her show didn't start until almost 11 pm! We arrived around 9 pm and there was some lame deejay spinning records for the crowd. Okay, considering he was opening for Madonna, he probably wasn't lame, but I just don't get deejays. He seemed mighty proud of his ability to push a button and make someone else's music play. And I totally don't fit in with the ecstasy and glow stick crowd, so I felt like a total stick in the mud during all that.

Finally, finally, as my eyelids were drooping, Madonna came on stage. As you may have heard, she spent the first three or more songs shooting all her dancers with graphic blood splatter in the background. From the rafters, we couldn't really even hear the music, so I have no clue how that was relevant. I imagine plenty of people were offended by it, but it's Madonna. She's provocative and she's not going to back down. The first several songs sounded highly autotuned, which is understandable considering she cancelled the previous night's show due to laryngitis, but I think she did sing much of the music herself. When she sang the songs I knew, it was awesome, but there just wasn't enough of it and those songs were often shortened or remixed to the point that you couldn't really sing along. Thankfully she had the most amazing dancers ever, so even when I didn't know the song, I could totally enjoy watching the dancers.

The best part of the whole concert, for me, was the middle set where everyone was dressed in band/majorette uniforms. She sang more of her hits during that time and it was all capped off by the drum corps that was suspended from the rafters. It. Was. Amazing. With one exception: a 50-year-old woman should never march around with pom poms. Here is a crappy iPhone picture of the scene:

Here is a picture of the whole concert scene:

I'm not going to go through a play-by-play of every song that she sang, but my favorites were "Express Yourself" (with a little "Born This Way" mixed in), "Open Your Heart," and "Like a Prayer." Oh, and I'd be remiss not to mention that over the course of four or five songs, Madonna stripped down from a business suit-type outfit to a bra, thong and fishnets. Oh, and the cameras were zoomed in on her ass...several times throughout the show, actually. It's okay, she has a good ass.

Overall, I'm glad I went because it was Madonna, but I'll admit, I was disappointed. I wanted more old stuff, but thinking back, I may have to go download some of her new stuff. It wasn't bad. As a performer, she's pretty awesome, though I'll admit we'd never get along as BFFs. The crowd was really fun to watch because there were a ton of Madonna lookalikes. It made me wish I had come up with a tulle skirt and lace gloves of my own. Missed opportunity. I should have seen Madonna in concert 15 years ago, but the opportunity wasn't there. So, in closing this rambling post...yay for bucket lists and yay for seeing Madonna in concert!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Back In the Saddle Again...

Yes, I'm blogging again. I've been meaning to for a really long time and I just haven't made it a priority. Pregnancy made me really tired (lazy) and new motherhood has kind of kicked my butt, but no more excuses!!

Here's an update from the past 7-8 months or so...I was pregnant, had a baby, and now I'm learning about life with two girls. Elise Danielle was born July 26 at 7:05 am via C-section, just like her big sister. She weighed 7 pounds and was 20 1/4 inches long (though she was likely shorter than that--you try stretching out an hours-old baby to see how long she is).

We opted for another C-section because it was the safest way to go, but I was kind of bummed about it. As strange as it sounds, I wanted to experience labor pains, if only just a little. The idea of a totally scheduled C-section, which sounds ideal to many women, was a bit disappointing to me. I held out hope that I'd go into labor on my own, then we'd drive to the hospital for the C-section. I sort of got my wish. I did have a few very minor pains in the weeks before Elise was born, but nothing severe or consistent. So bright and early Thursday, July 26 (exactly one week prior to my due date) Eric and I checked in to the hospital. They quickly got me hooked up to all the machines and pumped me full of fluids (just to ensure I looked nice and plump in all our pictures), and lo and behold...we discovered I was in labor. I started feeling a few pretty intense pains during the two hours before our surgery. So as it turned out, I felt a few labor pains and Elise kind of came out on her own time. Maybe a few hours early. Here is our newest precious baby girl:


 

That was ten weeks ago. Here is a more recent picture:


As expected, her big sister just LOVES her. So much so that sometimes I have to make sure she naps in places where Lanna can't reach her. I'm just thankful she isn't jealous. Here they are together:

 

Anyway, she's a sweetie little baby and sleeps like a CHAMP!! I give her one last feeding around 10:30 pm and she sleeps until 6:30 am--and she has been doing this for more than a month now.

Lanna is back in school now as a totally new kid! Her teachers tell me that gone is the quiet, shy little girl from last year, replaced by a cute, outgoing little jokester. Who knew? I love it!

Okay, enough of this. I promise I'll be back to posting normal stuff again, not just kid stuff. It's hard not to mention the major changes in my life since my last post so long ago. Thanks for reading!