Weird Al and Happy Father's Day

Not much to write about this week other than the weekend goings on.  I was able to get three lifts, a pull work out, an upper body workout, and a lower body work out with one run AND one walk.  It's been hot or stormy, or we've been busy post work with lessons.  That's all very boring so let's skip to the good part.  

Andrew's first concert!

Weird Al at the new Morton's Amphitheater.

Andrew is a huge Weird Al fan and when he saw he was coming to KC, he begged for tickets.   Since we didn't' know what to get him for his promotion to high school, tickets ended up being the easy answer.  Since this is a newly built venue, we had no clue where to sit, but there honestly were no bad seats in this whole place. 

Of course you have to have merch for your first concert.  An official Weird Al Hawaiian shirt is a must.  Having a merch tent in the parking lot is brilliant.  You can make your purchases and take them right back to your car, so you don't have to lug them around.  

Got there a little early so had to wait in line to get into the venue.  It was okay the boys passed the time playing quarters.

Was able to get in quickly, get our tickets scanned and get food.  I was starving and immediately got my 20-buck chicken strip basket.  Can't beat expensive food that tastes like cardboard along with beer flavored water.   I kid but really I don't.  

Was able to find a table in the little lounge area.  Love the turf seating area for eating and lounging and don't forget people watching.  

Gates for the seating area opened at 7 and we found our seats fairly quickly.  

When facing the stage we were to the right side.  Of course, a super tall guy came and sat in front of me, but I had a great view of the big screens.  

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect at this concert.  I'm not a huge fan of Weird Al but I did grow up on his music, so I know a lot of it.  

The opening act was Puddles Pity Party. When I saw a man dressed as a clown I thought, great, this is going to be stupid.  Let me tell you, I was so wrong.  This man can SING!!!!  His act was funny, heartwarming, and he showcased his set of pipes.  I was pleasantly surprised.  When I posted about him on Facebook, several people told me about him and his rise to fame, and I am currently going down a rabbit hole watching his videos with modern jukebox.

Weird AL also blew me away.  He has an amazing voice and is funny and his sets were big and fun.  Andrew LOVED seeing him in person and wants to go again to another venue.  Pretty sure Andrew wants an accordion now.   He played all his hits and then some and did one encore.  His set changes and outfits were perfect and his whole band is SO talented and fun to watch.  It's obvious to see when people love their jobs and love performing.  

We had read about how miserable it was to get out so we hung out, visited the merch tent again, and helped the cleaning crew pick up cans.  

By the time we got back to our car, the wait was minimal and we were able to get on the road pretty quickly.  We want to go back and see another band soon as we loved everything about this venue.  

We got rained out for racing yet again (big surprise), so we headed over to check out a local DJ named Papa Dom whom we had met at another concert.  He was playing at Aggieville Brewing and despite it being dark and rainy looking, we were able to get a full set in. 

We love listening to live music there and you can't beat the food and beer.  We had our entire ticket paid for, which was so very nice.  A local company that we buy baked goods from our farm stand bought our dinner.  We love supporting small businesses in our community just as those support us.  

It was a very kind gesture, and we will pay it forward for sure!

Have a great week y'all!  Happy Father's Day to all of those fathers out there!  Here is one of the very first photos of me and my biological dad.

Slinging dirt successfully

This is all about Andrew and racing and a tiny bit of running and working out.  Three lifts, upper body, lower body, and all things pull and two runs.  This summer is about to get super busy, and I am going to be content getting what I get when I get it.   

First of all, my baby turned 14 on Friday.  We took the day to go to KC and spend time with one of his good friends for his day.  We took in a place called the Main Event (think Dave and Busters), Bass Pro Shop, and a little brewery for drinks and pizza.  We accidently stumbled onto a huge world cup party and had so much fun cheering on team USA!

We had our second ever dirt race this weekend and it was so much fun!  At first, we had storms pop up and didn't think we would get to race period.  We hung out in the parking lot for a little bit before going in, just in case.  We got lucky and the storms all went around us for once.  

Yes, it was cold enough to wear sweats.  Yes, by the end of the night we all had blankets.  Our goals this weekend were to finish a race and to keep his foot in the gas and not lift in the corners.  He drew P2 next to another rookie.  We told him to just GO when he passed the gas up line as she wouldn't and we were right.  Unfortunately, he panicked even though he was leading and let off causing him to spin three times which meant he was out.  The previous car owner came over and worked on his car and gave him a pep talk along with several of the Jay husker members.  Jay husker is the series we are doing this year and most of the people don't know us at all.  Anyway, their words of encouragement worked as he finished his FIRST feature race and got all 20 laps done.  We had hoped he could stay on the lead lap, and he did get lapped BUT he stayed in the gas in the corners and never spun and every lap he pushed his car a little bit more.  In true ginger racer style, this is going to take a little bit for him to get used to dirt, but the race craft and sense are there, just got to give him the amount of time he needs to bring it out.  It was so special, we had parked on the back of the pit side stands and the entire stands emptied out, and they were all standing in our pits giving him a standing ovation.  He literally smiled the rest of the night.  I seriously can't thank them all enough for their encouragement, their little talks, their fist bumps and high fives, and their support.  It meant so much to him.  Also, the professional photographer was there so I paid him (gulp) to get some shots and videos.  I seriously love all of them.

I can't love these enough.  We have been so blessed to have amazing photographers over the years of Andrew racing.  Check out Andrew's Facebook page Andrew Coleman Racing for more!

Have a great week y'all!  We hope to race and we hope mother nature will let up on the weekend rain but it's not looking good at this time.  We are back at the same track, and Andrew is ready to push a little more.  

I just suck....but there may be a reason

 It occurred to me the other day that part of my loss of passion for both writing and running and a lot of things lately could be due to the SRI that I am taking for my anxiety.  It's not a bad thing as it has helped me immensely to sleep, to function at work, and to just function in life.  It for sure hasn't lessened my love for either of those things but I think that "need" that I use to feel is deadened.  I feel like that is why writing has become a chore and not something I want to do as badly.  I'm still doing vlogs on my FB page for Running with Reds but it's not the same.  Since I am two weeks behind here are some pictures from the last two weeks.  We've gotten rained out for two race weekends, so we filled it with music and concerts and friends.  

First of all, Happy Birthday Tony!  It's that magical time he and I are the same age for a few months.  He picked out the cake, and it was a very delicious ice cream cake.  Sorry I only had one candle!  

We took a trip down to Aggieville now that the students have all gone home for the summer.  We had dinner at So Long Saloon and had some famous raspberry bean dip.  They now have corrals outside that you can stay in and have a drink while you wait, and we had a couple of their famous Nancy beers while waiting.  If you've ever been, the place is tiny and eclectic, and we love going but not so much the wait.  

Three runs and two lifts the first week, one run and 3 lifts the second week.  The summer heat and humidity have finally hit and it's time to focus on strength for me.   Pray for Ollie.  She would run herself into the ground in the heat if we let her.  She would like to be running now and if I had an all-shaded trail or something with lots of water like out at Clinton, we could probably still run, but we don't have that.  

Also trying to spend more time out with Boom Boom.  Tony takes him to work a few times a week, and I am trying to take him on walks and hikes when it isn't one million degrees.  Mount Mitchell is perfect for shorter hikes but it's full sun, no shade which isn't ideal.  

The library mural is done and I just love it!  

Another weekend and more concerts.  Synth band at Switch Wicked and a country/rock band at Aggieville Brewing.  Why does my kid look like a grown man lately?

I'll end on this.  Work has been a little crazy lately.  I've been back from QC into my original RD lab and things have been a little rocky.  When I can share more, I will but know for now that I hope what is best will happen for all involved.  

Have a great week y'all!