Busy blogger.

What a busy couple of weeks it has been! Last Friday I headed up north for a much anticipated (and much blogged about) DLO reunion, country fest edition. You can read some fantastic and hilarious deets in Emily's blog, and even more on Lindsey's. A million wonderful things happened during the visit (obviously), one highlight being the purchase of a VERY elusive tee, and a plan to beg redemption from Dick's Sporting Goods for letting me down in a severe way.

Every time I go to visit Em and Linds, we cram what seems to be too much into about 52 hours. This time was no exception, but I think we all held up surprisingly well (special props to Em and Casey for tag-teaming the 1 am trip home from Indy). Friday night was Toby Keith, which was just really fun in general. We did a lot of slippery-slope careful dance moves in our boots while we wondered how many fifths of Jack TKeith had put down before the show. I won't go into the scary specific lyrics that were altered, but the number of references to sex, drugs, and nudity rivaled any episode of Springer I've ever seen. After the concert, the after party was held at Animations, a bar with a wood floor and a juke box (which was all I ever needed). There was lots of country music playing, draft beer drinking, and cowgirl stomping, followed by my demands for a closing time Skyline drop-in. All in all, a great kickoff to another great reunion.

Saturday morning was a little on the rough side. Not only am I not used to excess beer drinking and dancing for hours on end, I am *not* used to 2 am food binges. Lindsey was the champ of the morning, dragging my sorry ass to Target to purchase some matching homemade tanks for that night's main event: Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney at Lucas Oil. I managed to eek out some less-than-extraordinary pink tanks, and we started our trek to Indy. As always, my spirits were raised (difficult, since they were already sky-high) as we passed the state line and corn field after basketball hoop. We tailgated for a bit before the concert in what was basically a wind tunnel. Lindsey and I obviously couldn't pass up the chance for some Top Model practice:

The concert was un-be-lieveable. No doubt the greatest show I have *ever* seen. Gary Allan and LeAnn Rimes opened (Em and I screamed along to "Can't Fight the Moonlight" while Linds and Casey downed 24 oz. Coronas), then the stage was set for Kenny and Keith. At some point, the retractable roof and bay window in Lucas Oil was opened, and I was equally excited about that. A lot of pictures happened as I gallivanted around the stadium when we first got in, getting as excited about Honey Mustard and Ranch being offered at condiment stations as I was about recycling cans with horseshoes on them. Like a kid in a candy store, I was wide-eyed and filled with joy at everything I laid eyes on. Here is a highlight of an amazing wall advertisement for Sony HD:

The concert started at 4, and we left close to midnight. A not-so-quick stop at the Pro Shop (thank you to the staff there for staying open, and to my friends for staying with me!) and we were on our way back to Cinci.

Sunday morning we hit the Bengals game with plenty of time for t-gating, despite a 2 1/2 hour delay from original planned time (it was necessary). The windstorm that ensued there was insane, and I certainly felt I was to blame for bringing hurricane weather along with me. The storm resulted in a ton of power outages, and our resourcefulness as a group shone through when we found that Hooters in Kentucky was open (too bad we forgot to ask if their DirecTV was working). After dinner, we hit up Yagoot (I now want to own a franchise) and chilled out for the rest of the night, before I headed home on Monday morning.

I spent the remainder of Monday in a coma-like lack of sleep/lack of DLO haze, and returned to work on Tuesday. Then, at 5 am Wednesday morning, I headed down to South Florida for 3 days of work-related meetings. This year's Store Manager Meeting's theme was "The Future's So Bright, We Gotta Wear Shades", and the "festivities" were equally cheesy and none-too-inspiring. We learned about the new products for holiday (lame), the current state of the economy (yup, still horrible) and our plans to make more money this fiscal year (no bonus for this lady). The days started early and lasted long, and I was so happy to return home around 9:30 Friday night.

Saturday was spent doing laundry (9 loads, a new record) and catching up on sleep and around the house. Today I knit and watched close-but-ultimately-disappointing football game (a converted Bengals fan, I was sad to see that they couldn't pull it out) after close-but-ultimately-disappointing football game (I hate teal).

I am happy to report I have 12 pattern rows and 12 border rows left on Anakin's Linus blankie, and it should be bound off by the end of next weekend! Lindsey's "WhoDey" scarf is 10 blocks deep and looking fab, and I have some patterns ready for potential Christmas presents to start next. Tomorrow starts a new work week where I get to slap on a happy face and go and share my newly inspired business ideas with the rest of my staff. This week is shaping up to be equally as exhausting as last!