The Simple Woman's Daybook for November 16

 Well, i haven't posted anything in quite a while, and since my sister doesn't want to see Bon Jovi anymore ;), I figured i would do my Monday Simple Woman's day book post. For those of you who have been waiting with baited breath for some new posts from me, I've just been uber busy and distracted, but i'll get back to it soon. Have a good week



FOR TODAY
November 16th, 2009

Outside my window...Pitch black, as it is almost midnight, but during the day it has been warm and sunny for a couple of days, which is great cause it rained forever. I do like it to be a bit cooler, though

I am thinking...I really need to go to sleep, i have a lot to do tomorrow.

I am thankful for...The Holiday season, it's my favorite time of year

From the learning rooms...Oh, boy, i could be doing so much better. Rachel is doing well in math and grammar, but is struggling in science and writing. After this semester, i plan on doing better in this area of my life, since her education is in my hands right now, and I know that i'm not doing as much as i should be. For my learning, Tape 2 has been turned it for my interviewing and counseling class. Again, i think i sounded dumb and fake and i hated every minute of it, but it is necessary and i am learning a lot, i just have performance anxiety and i need to get over it :-)

From the kitchen...I think Steve is making pot roast tomorrow. Tonight we had cereal, since Steve was working, Steve cooked dinner last night, and before that, i made a roast beef for the first time in years, and overcooked it (now you know why steve does the cooking when he has a day off--not one of my finer homemaking skills)

I am wearing...Blue jeans, t-shirt, slippers and bathrobe

I am creating...An agenda for Wednesday's TUA meeting, A study guide for Chapter 11 in Rachel's science book, A 5 page paper for my ethics class, and a Treatment Plan for my Counseling class.

I am going...To school tomorrow, a meeting for TUA and school wednesday, an all clubs meeting thursday, maybe bible study on Thursday night if i got the date right, if not it will be next thursday and i'll go to ANOTHER meeting for PTK instead this thursday, and hopefully, i'll get to go to church on Sunday (with Erin, since she is off)

I am reading...Motivational Interviewing (for school), and Night by Elie Weisel

I am hoping...To get my paper and homework done on time, that Rachel will do well on her Science test this week, that Matt will make the basketball team this week, that Steve's bonus will come in before it's too late to use it for Christmas shopping, in which case it will be a very lean christmas, that my doctors appointment coming up on Dec. 7th will be a good report, That Erin's school will be able to fix the car's door handle, which no longer opens from the outside, that the dog will just wake up one morning and STOP scratching himself. That's about it for now, lol

I am hearing...The t.v. on the history channel, recording a show about WWII for NEXT year's history lesson (that's me, always thinking ahead, he-he)

Around the house...Still looking clean from this weekends cleaning spree, yay!

One of my favorite things...Sitting here at night, while all of the kids are asleep as i get some quiet time to myself

A few plans for the rest of the week: Do everything with a smile on my face and hope in my heart, make some memories with the kids, do better with home school, stay positive and seek the silver lining :-]

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...











Sorry, i just spend almost 20 minutes trying to upload a picture and it's not working. So, if you need a picture, scroll down to my last post, cause i was only gonna repost a jovi picture, just to get on Kathy's nerves, lol.


So, if you want to blog about your day, go to http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ and join the hostess. Until i post again, Have a great day!

Bon Jovi!!!

Rachel and Steve waiting on line to see Bon Jovi

Me and Rachel waiting on line to see Bon Jovi:

Me and Steve waiting on line to see Bon Jovi:

Well, for those of you who don't know, I won tickets to a "private" mini-concert to see see Bon Jovi outside the New Giant Stadium. The stadium has not been built yet, so the concert was to be held outside, in the parking lot. I had found out from the Bon Jovi fan club that tickets to this mini- concert were being given away for free, one just had to enter the contest via e-mail and wait to see if your name was picked. So i entered, of course, and waited. I went to school on Tuesday night, not able to pay attention much because all i could think about was, Lord, please let me win these tickets. For those of you who don't know, Bon Jovi is a passion of mine, has been since i was 15. I would do just about anything to be able to see them, so you can imagine my excitement when i had a chance to see the boys for free. So i waited and waited and waited with baited breath, and then had to go to school, even though i knew the winners would be announced while i was at school. So, I had Rachel watching my e-mail for me with strict instructions to call me if she found out i had one of the "winning" e-mails. I kept checking my phone all throughout class! As i was leaving class for the night, Steven called and told me i had won!!! Yay!!! So, he printed out our tickets. Steven was supposed to work the day of the concert, but he wanted to go, so he switched shifts with someone  just so he could go with me. The concert was Thursday afternoon, so Steven worked the overnight Wednesday shift. Rachel also wanted to go and was so excited when i told her she would be going with us. So, Steve worked over night on Wednesday night to early Thursday morning, and Rachel and I woke up at 4 am on Thursday morning so that we could meet Steve at his store at 6, have some breakfast, and drive to New Jersey. Rachel and i had slept maybe 3 hours and Steve did not sleep at all, cause he was working, but we were all just happy to be able to go. We drove for about 2 hours and got to the stadium about 9 am. And then we waited on line. For 3 hours. Some people had been on line since midnight the night before, and it sounds bad, but i don't blame them. I would definitely stand on line all night if it meant i could get front row seats. But, by the time we got on the line, there were probably like 3 or 4 hundred people in front of us. Which wasn't really that bad, since the concert was for like 5000 people. Once they opened the gate, we found that the closest we could get was about 8 rows of people behind the front. Which is not that bad. Rachel was introduced to the "wonderful" facts of General Admission---standing on line for 3 hours and getting squooshed when everybody tries to get as close as possible to the stage. Thank God Steve was there, he is such a big guy, I had no fear whatsoever that we would get squooshed. But, my back was killing me. When the guys finally took the stage, it was an overwhelming feeling for me. I have been to Bon Jovi concerts before, but this was the first time i was so close with my hubby with me and i also never was able to share the Jovi experience with any of my kids. I was so filled with emotion, i cried for two straight songs. Not like sobbing, but i definitely had to keep wiping my eyes!! I just love this band so much, I can't really explain it. Their music is inspiring and their voices bring me to new levels of appreciation for the band. They only sang 6 songs, but that was enough for me!!

This is a picture of the workers who are building the new stadium and how they stopped working to listen to the band:

 This is Richie Sambora. He is the guitar player and shares vocals with Jon. When he harmonizes with jon, it sounds like magic.He has two solo albums out, and we are all waiting for another one, his voice is full of soul and beauty. He looked so great, so happy to be there. His life had started to spiral out of control during the last album and tour ( for the Lost Highway album), but he is now doing better than ever and i could not take my eyes of of him. He just looked happier than i had ever seen him:

 This is the key board player, David Bryan. He always has a smile for the crowd. He is so talented, he has written a musical that is now on Broadway called Memphis, which has gotten very good reviews. He has a great voice and is brilliant on the keys. Just incredible:

 

Another one of Richie giving us his all. He sounded great:

Of course, this is Jon. He sounded great, he looked great. Need i say more:

The drummer behind Richie is Tico, and he is the best. His arms never stop moving. He is the calm voice of reason and the oldest of the band members. He is an Artist who has some paintings in the art museums of New York and is an avid golfer. The last picture is just to give an idea of how many people were in front of us. To bad i didn't turn around to take a picture. There were thousands behind us. If you want to see some of the concert, you can go to www.bonjovi.com and click on media. It was great!!
I would have loved for them to sing for the usual two and a half hours, but we knew that it would only last for about 45 minutes, and that's ok, i love this band so much i probably would have gone if they only sang two songs. Their next album is coming out Nov. 10th and i can't wait. Tonight on showtime, they are releasing the brand new documentary about the band and i'm looking forward to watching it. The band starts touring next Feb. and will be in my area in March and in May they are opening the new Giants stadium. Tickets are on sale starting Monday, and my birthday is coming up ;). Feel free to add to my Jovi fund, he-he. They say that Disney World is the happiest place on earth. Not for me, for me, the happiest place is a Jovi concert!! This year, the fan club is offering great seats and VIP packages and trips. Unfortunately they are extremely pricey, but one day i WILL get front row seats,  I just know it. Looking forward to what the band has in store for us fans!!!
Today i am thankful for:
1. My husband, who lost a whole night of sleep, just so he can see me enjoy myself
2. Getting Free tickets to see my favorite band
3. Being able to share my passion with my family

My Mind Says Go, My Body Says No

Well, my busy week is over, and has been for a couple of days, except now i have been in bed for 2 days with a headache, body aches, sore chest, cough and fatigue!! How rotten! Plus, Matt has been sick since Thursday. Erin and I went to the Gala on Saturday night to volunteer and it was going good for a while. We got there around 4:30 and got acclimated to what we would need to be doing. It was all very fancy!! The room was set up like a reception for 500 rich people, except all around the borders of the room were like 20 different restaurant "booths" in which the guests could go around to from 6-9 and get food from each one. Our job was to seat the guests from 5:30 to 7 and then roam around the 50 tables to make sure that all the empty plates and cups were cleared off the tables in order to make room for more. Most of the guests were very nice and chipper (open bar), but some were cranky and felt that we were bugging them by removing their plates. Anyway, after about 2 hours, my body started getting really tired and my back and ankle started to burn and feel just really bad. My mind was ready to go, but my body was screaming at me to stop. We took a little break and then went back to work. By 9:30, I just did not think that i could stand up another hour and a half, so Erin and I left. Even though there were plenty of volunteers, i still felt really bad leaving before the event was over, especially because the head of the Gala was beginning to see me as the "leader" of the other volunteers in my section and was counting on me. But, i just could NOT go on. So, we went home and went to bed. The next morning, Sunday, i woke up achy and coughing and just all around exhausted, so i laid on the couch all day. Thank God the TAU yard sale was called off due to rain, because i would have had to go, even feeling awful as i did. But, i laid around and slept most of the day and thought i would feel better today, but my joints are hurting and my chest is hurting and i'm tired. Thankfully, neither Matt nor I have a fever, maybe a low grade one, but not a high one. I called the doctor to get Matt in for an Appointment, but they said that unless he has a fever, it is probably just a cold/flu and just to rest, fluids, etc. Hopefully he will go to school tomorrow and so will I.

I just found out that me and Erin got our picture in the paper for that night, so here it is:






In other news, my friend Debbie called me to tell me that their van had been totaled this morning by a high-speed chase that ended with the stolen car flying into her yard, knocking out her fence, and smashing the stolen car into her van, which then smashed into the side of her house!! So, now they have no car for who knows how long and will have to pay the deductible because the other car was stolen so that car's insurance won't cover it. It feels bad when one's very close friend is hurting and there is nothing i can do to help. Please pray for Deb and her family. If Court can't get to work, everything will get all messed up!
Oh, my friend Jon is now home from the hospital, still lost his memory, but physically he is doing better.

Today i am thankful for:
1. The ability to sit in bed when i feel crappy
2. The fact that Erin has her license and can do the grocery shopping when i feel crappy
3. The fact that my hubby never expects the house to be perfect so that i can lay here and feel crappy, but not feel guilty ;)

Jon's Status and an Overview of my Week

Just a quick update. We found out that the bleeding in jon's brain is not a new thing or anything to worry about. The nurse who told us about it was wrong. Thank God. But, Jon still does not remember anything past 2007 and will be getting an EEG and another MRI on his back because the Dr. thinks he may have suffered nerve damage due to his last surgery.
So today I am doing a little school with Rachel, going to the hospital for a bit, then going to school early to sell Flower bulbs, than class tonight. Tomorrow, I have a TUA meeting, will take Rachel to visit Jon, then will go to school at night. Thursday i have a PTK meeting and a lot of catch up to do, then Friday and Saturday, Rachel and i will be baking for the TUA yard/bake sale. Saturday night, me and Erin are volunteering at the school from 5-10 for the Gourmet Gala, then Sunday morning is the yard/bake sale. Busy week!! Wish me luck.