two stormy nights... and then some

monday, march 2, 2009:
i was not feeling so well. i think i was coming down with a cold - the boss kept looking at me and telling me to go home and go to bed. i didn't want to give in to that evil virus, so i fought it off as best as i could.

tuesday, march 3, 2009:
yup, had a cold - and it kinda won. didn't drive to the fort for a half-day of work like i thought i would. instead, slept and drank fluids as my voice started to trickle away. i think i had a fever, but was afraid to confirm, so i didn't bust out the thermometer.

i was on a quest. i was going to see not only my little sister, mother, one of the adopted sisters and some of my friends at home, but also one of the most awesome bands. ever. i was headed to see Gaelic Storm. that's right. two nights in a row.

i left the frigid north and ventured down to meet up for supper at little italy's, first making a stop in h2otown for the thing that saved my life: tylenol severe cold and sore throat blue liquid miracle drug. after i finally got out of walmart and took a swig, i felt almost 100% human again, and continued the drive. i met up with kaia and aethelflaed in sf and continued home. we picked up my mom & dad, went to town for dinner (the chicken fettuchini alfredo was delicious!) with doom and hagan. doom gave me the hat she made for me: it's awesome!

after dinner, we dropped dad back at home and headed to akron for the first concert. it was at the old opera house, and i had a blast! this was my first GS concert, and i can't even tell you how excited i was. the band was awesome - they put on a really good show, and really get the crowd involved (though i think the opera house crowd was a bit different from their usual - more sitters than dancers etc..). i know i had a great time, and i'm glad that my mom got to come along. here's a photo of two of us crazy fan girls, my mom, and some random passers-by in front of ye olde opera house:

wednesday, march 4, 2009:
after spending the night at mom & dad's we headed into town and visited with doom, hagan and doris at the u before we had lunch with tom at whimp's. two hours of lunch and chat with tom, we headed to omaha; the scene of the next concert.

we got there in time to meet dyetara at knitting night at whole foods, so we got in some good fiber craft time. i started a scarf, and i think i may have helped aethelflaed start her fingerless mittens. we all grabbed some whole foods supper, and then headed to drop the kids with the sitter and then to find the venue for the concert.

this one was at a 'music cafe' *read: bar* as much fun as the first one was, this was even more so! they had a local bluegrass band open for them, and that was ok, but i think that maybe kaia was not so fond of them. they all sang and played into one mic, and when you could hear them in balance they were fairly decent, but i think if they'd have each had their own mic (or at least not all 5 of them on one) it would have been way better. anyway, after a few sets from them, Gaelic Storm took the stage.

they played most of the songs they had done in akron, plus some, with no intermission. the crowd was very excited, and there was all kinds of dancing and shouting and clapping. it was awesome! i had made sure to take some of my magic blue tylenol liquid stuff, so i was feeling pretty good as far as my throat and coughing went, and i think i may have embarrassed kaia with my enthusiasm. we were in the front, right up by the stage again, and i think it was aethelflaed who said 'i could touch gaelic storm!' :) anyway, after a couple of hours of singing along to every song and dancing and clapping (and seeing a friend from high school), the show was over (2 encore songs as well). and then, we did get to touch gaelic storm.

we decided to get our shirts signed, and after kaia, aethelflaed and dyetara had their signed by pat, i said somthing like, 'i'll just have to shake your hand because i chose the black shirt,' and shook his hand. to which he said something like, 'there's a perfect spot to sign!' and i guess there was. the screen print of the snail worked perfectly. most of them even signed on it. (twigger had some issues with it, but that's ok). when ryan signed it he said 'you're making me work really hard on this one!'

then we became even more fan-girl-esque and got our pictures taken with the band.

Steve Twigger:

Patrick Murphy:

Peter Purvis:

Jessie Burns:

Ryan Lacey:

(we decided that he reminds us of 'animal' from the muppets when he's drumming. it's fascinating, really)

before we left, we took the time to attempt to squeeze the four of us into a photo booth, but i don't have the pictures from that - i think kaia does. it was an adventure. those things are not made for four women.

on the way back, we stopped in at dyetara's new house and saw how it is coming along. it's turning out really well, and i can't wait to see the finished product. we spent the night in the old house, and the next day, did some hanging out around the old market:

the weather was so nice that there were people just hanging out on the street corner with hula hoops, and ava joined in, as did kaia. we even stopped for ice cream before we headed back north.

sorry for the lengthyness of this post, but i could have gone on much longer about all of it. there are more photos on my flickr page, if you want to see them.