The Great Umbrella Heist: Happenings and Thoughts

Rich and I went to see the Goo Goo Dolls perform in a radio station holiday show last week in Worcester. When this show popped up back in September, I was excited that my favorite band was playing so close to home but underwhelmed with the radio station bit. In my experience, radio station shows are hit or miss. Bands sometimes don't like playing them. Their set lists are cut short and the venue is crowded with all the other performers, crew and equipment. I did some research and it looked like it could be decent (tiny hall and not many acts) so I told Rich if I could get good seats then we would go. I was logged on and ready for action the minute tickets went on sale and was pleasantly surprised when 8th row appeared on my screen. Thank you very much.

I first saw this band live 19 years ago and instantly, I was addicted. I was right up front and there was so much energy radiating from the stage. I chased that high traveling to show after show after show. I quickly made new friends and engaged in new experiences. Gah, that was such a long time ago. Last week, it felt like I had come full circle with my love for this band. John was extremely animated and in a great mood, and the music, what we're ultimately there for, was fantastic. They played an "almost" acoustic set, which at times was too big for the hall, and reminded me of earlier years.

Our 8th row seats were the closest Rich has ever been to the stage. We did move up to about the 3rd row near the end due to lack of security. Actually, the security situation was interesting to observe. In less than 30 seconds, anyone from the audience could have easily been on that stage. My mind traveled back to memories from 15+ years ago when the crowd surged forward during every show. I was expecting to witness that rush to the stage, but, apparently, we've all grown too old and compliant, and the band's fan base has changed.

I've told Rich that the show is different depending on where you are in relation to the stage. I've sat in the front, I've sat in the back, and everywhere in between. Now, after being close, he agrees. A friend of mine who used to work for the GGD once asked me and my friend why we liked to be up front. We responded with, "To see and to be seen." (insert laughing/crying emoji) The "to be seen" part doesn't really apply any longer.

With everything going on, I didn't really give much thought to what I was going to wear to the show until the day before. Because my typical day consists of picking the girls up from school, running errands and hanging out at the dance studio, I usually wear jeans, sneakers/comfy boots and a t-shirt with a fleece. Allie calls my style comfy/cozy. Who am I trying to impress? For the girls' parent/teacher conferences, I dressed in a business casual with jeans outfit. When Allie saw me, she exclaimed, "Wow! You must be trying to impress our teachers." (insert laughing/crying emoji again) (Speaking of parent/teacher conferences, I had easy ones once again. All three had great report cards for this term!)

I started overthinking my concert outfit choices after the last two casino shows Rich and I attended. I noticed a fair amount of women my age (plus or minus 5 years) were mostly dressed in the same kind of outfit: tight jeans, a black top and black outdated shoes. Whenever I overthink my outfit selection, I always remember these words of wisdom from my high school friend when a group of us went to see NKOTB several years ago. "It doesn't matter. No one is going to see you." I had been out of control busy at work leading up to that NKOTB weekend, which also happened to be the girls' dance recital weekend, and had about 20 minutes to change clothes and get ready before a friend picked me up. So while the "no one is going to see you" wasn't entirely true this time around as we were seeing a friend of mine, her advice does hold up. As long as you don't look like a slob, you're comfortable and feel cute, it doesn't matter.

I'm bummed that I haven't been able to run for more than two weeks now. After the post-Thanksgiving 5k road race, I was really pumped to get back into it and increase my speed work (slowly, of course.) A few hours after the race, I began coughing. I could feel something in my lungs and thought it was from running in the cold in a t-shirt. Nope, it was that virus/cold going around. I ran through the last cold I had because it was mainly sinus congestion, but this one had a nasty cough so no running. I'm slowly getting better and the cough is gone but it's still lingering. I'm going to have to jump on the treadmill this week though because three weeks is just too long.

At the girls' request, we picked out our tree early this year. One of my favorite things about this time of year is the smell of Christmas trees.

Shot from the hip.

Have your kids had to dissect owl pellets at school? When I was in the fourth grade, I dissected a cow's eye. So I have no owl pellet experience. Owl pellets are what's undigested and coughed up by the owl. Think animal fur and bones. Yeah, so that didn't bother me too much. When we pulled off the baseboards at our antique home, I found plenty of mouse skeletons and I wasn't overly grossed out. Allie and Emily had the pleasure of dissecting owl pellets last week. I think one of them was more grossed out than the other. They told me all about it on the way home and then Emily says, "When we were done, I had fur all over my shirt." WHAT?!?! I made them both change clothes. Now I was grossed out. Apparently, everyone had fur on their clothes. All I could think of were diseases carried by animals but, supposedly, these things are sterilized before the kids touch them. I don't know how. But, yeah, that's my gross story of the day.

But, look. Cute animals.