Luke Bryan shakes it for us

Shauna & I headed up to Klipsch Music Center this past Saturday to see Luke Bryan in concert.  I love stalking following celebrities on Twitter & Instagram...

We got there about an hour after the opening acts started.  YES normally this would send me to into an anxiety ridden panic attack but I didn't care about either of the openers so I was chill.

 By the time we got in & stood in line for drinks we got to our seats as the second opening act was finishing.  Apparently it's a thing now to have 2 openers rather than just one.

 It was suggested by Brian that maybe we go to Klipsch just for the drinks??

Maybe he's right.

 We know we're getting old(er) because we both chose comfort over cuteness.  B-rad asked me, 'Are you gonna wear those stupid shoes that give you blisters & then you're whining the whole night {in his best whining Jaime Mac impression} "I can't walk.  My feet HUUUUUURT."?'

I said, "NO.  I'm wearing comfy flip flops!"

 Luke Bryan played 2 nights at Klipsch & we were there on the second night.  The lawn was PACKED.

He sat down at the piano to sing a Maroon Five cover ('Sugar' - perhaps you've heard of it?) & he got his phone out & was talking about all the social media he does.  

Who doesn't love that?

 He also sang some other covers (John Mellencamp, Garth Brooks & Journey.)   He even belted out a bit of Taylor Swift. All the cell phone lights in the packed lawn were so pretty against the night sky.

Of course when you drink - ya gotta pee.  I couldn't hold it anymore so we had to wait in line FOREVER for a port a potty.  A little 'waiting in line to pee selfie' for ya.

You're welcome.

 He came back out for his encore to sing his hit, 'Country Girl Shake It For Me'.  Anytime anyone would ask who we were going to see I said, "Luke Bryan - he's gonna be shaking it for US!"

 This dude can DANCE ya'll.... but here's what totally pissed me off - anytime he would start shaking is a** the camera would cut away & show the crowd or his band. Who DOES that?  I don't give a crap about the crowd OR his band...I wanna see him SHAKE HIS A**.  Shauna got this GREAT video of him shaking it for us.

(Note what happens in the big screens when he starts shaking.)

I do not believe in getting in your car & leaving when traffic is like this.  There's no reason for it...

Shauna had a blanket in her car & I said, "Get your blanket out & lets just sit here & hang out until the traffic thins out!"

OK-so we're friendly gals & we were kind of chit chatting w/ the people in the vehicle next to us.  A few minutes later a young girl comes up to us asking if she can use one of our phones.  She had lost her phone, her friends & she's wearing no shoes.  (She was a little intoxicated...)

She tried to call a couple of people & we started asking her where she lived, how old she was, etc.  She lived in Franklin (about an hour south of where we were), her name was Marcy & she was 21.  Shauna told her we'd be happy to take her home & she freaked out a little.  Of course we tried to convince her we weren't serial killers (but I'm sure that's totally what REAL serial killers DO-try to convince you they're not) & the girl next to me was like, 'you need to be glad you found 2 nice girls to help you & not some men who might take advantage of you!' & I said, "Oh-do you know her?"  She said, 'no - I'm w/ those people right there.'  She was with the car next to us that we'd been chatting with - she just came over & sat with us.  I like that.

So LONG story-but Marcy couldn't get hold of anyone.  (It was about 11:45pm when all this went down.)  The girl's boyfriend from the car next to us went to the next lot over to help her look for her friends but she couldn't find them.  At one point she said, 'I guess I'll just call my parents.'  I said, "oh NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOO.  That's not a good idea!"  We will take you home.  She gave us her address & she was out for the trip.  We got to her apartment about an hour later.  She asked, 'How did you guys know where I live?'

LORDY.

After we made sure she was inside we continued to head south.  Shauna had the good idea to call the numbers that Marcy had called on her phone to leave them messages that she was home & ok.  The next day Shauna got a call back from her brother thanking her for taking her home & said he explained to Marcy how this could have turned out very, VERY badly.  He was even taking her back to Noblesville that morning because someone had found her cell phone & called.  (How LUCKY was she?) Shauna told him, 'Yea she wanted to call your parents but my friend & I didn't think that was a good idea.'  He agreed.  

It was about 1:00am & we were hungry so we stopped at Steak & Shake.

I mean - who doesn't love it when something you saw or somewhere you were is on social media?

We sat on the lawn inside the ampitheatre right after the concert w/ a family to wait for the crowd to thin out.  As we chatted the girl asked, 'Are you guys on Facebook?  I wanna look you up.'  THEN the other girl we sat w/ while we waited for traffic did the same thing.  Is this a thing now? 

Another great concert in the books w/ the bestie... next week is Tim McGraw & 2 weeks from that is Jason Aldean....

Current events

First & most importantly I GOT MY CAR BACK!  

Oh, happy day.

No, B-rad is not allowed to drive it, touch it or breath in its general direction...

As soon as I got in it I took a picture of the odometer so we would know how many miles the car has on it versus how many miles the ENGINE has on it.   

Car = 32,997.  Engine = 0.

That will be fun explaining when we sell the car...

 A couple of my Facebook 'friends' commented on my parking job from the pic I posted.  Well - there's a story (there's ALWAYS a story...)  

When they called to tell me it was finished I asked how much our portion was exactly ($602.31) so I could have the money transferred from our savings account & the check written when I got there.  (YES, I liked to be prepared...)  My mom took me to get it on my lunch break & she sat in the lot waiting for me just to be sure everything was ok.  (She's a good mommy....)  As I waited for the cashier to figure my total, the clock was running on my lunch hour....  
She said, 'Ok that will be $800.63.'

UHM.

I said, (not in a nasty tone...) "No, it's supposed to be $602.31.  When Becky called me on Saturday I asked her how much it would be so I could have a check ready.  I wrote it down on a piece of paper & wrote the check directly from that.  The insurance had also told us our portion would be around $600." 
(Like I said - I was PREPARED...)

As I waited & waited for the cashier to figure out the difference I finally asked her, "Can I just go ahead & give you this check & get my car & go?  I'm on my lunch break & I don't want to be late.  You guys can figure out if I owe more money - which I shouldn't because 2 people told me $600.  I know Tyson (he was our salesman & now he's the GM of the facility.  She saw him stand there & chat w/ me while I was waiting for her to get her figures straight.)  I come here all the time for you guys to service my car - I'm not gonna skip town on you."

SO-I zipped around very quickly to the front of the building (again - my lunch hour was ticking away!) to let mom know we were ready to go...I really didn't give a crap about how I parked because all I did was jump out of the car to talk to mom, jump back in & off we went.  SO THERE.

I'm sure you guys are DYING to know how much the total was...I was dying to know.  I had to sign the insurance check so I flipped it over to read the amount... it was like $6600.00....  THEN the cashier lady gave me an itemized print out which gave the real total - $7480.56.   It also told what all they did to it - apparently the 'intercooler' (aka the Turbo) was filled w/ water.  That's why when B-rad was trying to get the water out that morning & the water kept coming & kept coming (which prompted him to say, 'WHERE is all this water coming from?')  
Apparently it was coming from the intercooler...

I was pleasantly surprised that they had cleaned it up for me.  It hasn't looked this good since the day we bought it.

They even cleaned the plastic mats I have on top of the carpet.  They look brand new.  That little black piece next to the grey is what I have to step over to get into the car.  It's always dirty & I can't ever get it this clean!

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I got my nails done this week & THIS was my inspiration from Pinterest:

We changed up the colors & VOILA.  
I like the blue...it's light & airy...

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B-rad & Brian FINALLY got the tractor free from its muddy prison.  It was in so deep it was sitting on the frame so they DID have to go out w/ another tractor to pull it out.  It was still too wet in the field for B-rad to finish up side dressing.  He's hoping he can finish this weekend.

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I recently told you guys about B-rad's 'Wild Kingdom'.  It's amusing to me that as you come up the hill if you look to the left THIS is what you see...

I laugh so I don't cry...

***

The weather was so pretty yesterday I decided to walk down the road rather than on the treadmill.  ( I LOATHE the treadmill...)  The beans at our house look SO good.  It's like a fluffy, green carpet...

They're probably 3' tall right now & deep, DEEP green.  A lot of beans around this area are yellow in places due to too much water AND lack of sunlight.  I didn't see any yellow beans in our field.

The pods are starting to form & hopefully they will fill w/ big 'ole beans.

Yea, yea it's a beautiful view... but it doesn't make up for not having high speed internet, people.  I could Google views like this all day & night at warp speed if I had high speed...

Helping friends spend their money

Remember my friends, Rose & Debbie, who have helped me w/ creative projects--the fabric wall....my quilt?  Both of them are big time quilters but part of the 'process' is having the thing quilted once it's all put together.  That's the part where you put the back on, batting in the middle & sew it all together w/ various designs.  That has to be done on a special machine & they are pretty pricey.  Currently Rose & Debbie (& me for my one quilt) take their quilts to a 'quilter' who has the pretty pricey machine & they pay them to have it done.  

Rose has been thinking really hard about buying her own pretty pricey quilter.  There is a store in Louisville that lets you rent them for the day to quilt & after Rose & Debbie went over one day & used the machine Rose was really hooked....

The store also sells the quilters & they had a class on Saturday to go over all the details of the machines & essentially try to sell them.  Rose asked me to go to help her listen to all the info.  I said, "UHM Rose - I don't know anything about this stuff!"  She said, 'that makes you the perfect person to go because you're gonna think of questions to ask PLUS you're super techy & these machines are techy'.

I was in.

We went over to the shop & the "Lennie" was the original quilter she had thought about...but after she rented one of the bigger machines Lennie was old news.

 The studio has 5 quilters set up & eventually we would be able to try them out.  (Not everyone had been there before to 'rent' the machines.')

 It's so funny when you go in a room & most of the people are sitting towards the back.  There were 2 seats right up front so I said, "lets sit up front - we'll be the teachers pets."  A few people chuckled...

I was a good suck up little student & had my note pad all ready for notes.  

 So I'm sure none of you know anything about quilting, but this lady is a big deal in the AQPS quilting world.  (That's the brand of quilter.)  She does their YouTube videos, she travels all over the world showing people how to use them AND she's writing a book.  She was seriously knowledgable about the machines.  After she explained how they worked, how much they cost (& I know you're all dying to know...lets just say they range from $8900 (for Lennie) all the way up to the price of a small,  cheaper brand new car.  UH HUH. Think 20 grand...)

Rose knows I'm gonna tell her what I think - good or bad & I will look at things in a logical way - you know - weigh out the pros & cons.  I think it is a great idea for her to buy one so my job was also to convince Rose why.  (Of course she WANTS it - but sometimes it's easier to make the leap when you have someone cheering you on.  (2,4,6,8 who do we appreciate???!!) 

 "You can make money doing this, Rose."  

"People will bring their quilts to YOU & pay YOU to quilt them.   THAT money can go towards your payment!"

  "Think of all the money & time you will save by doing your quilts yourself!"

 "Think of the sense of accomplishment you will feel to do a quilt from the first stitch to the last!"  

Yes, I'm a good friend like that...

So there's also a computer option you can add for a mere $9500.00.  Ya'll know I love me some computer stuff & this thing was seriously cool, but Rose has decided she doesn't need a computer right now & I agree...part of the 'fun' is doing it yourself.  I told Rose she could always add it later (after she pays the machine off) if she wants to.  

 I wrote down all the things the lady said that seemed like important quilting things.  Thread types, batting types...I took 4 pages of notes...

Then it was time for us to play with the machines...

So the machines that Rose narrowed it down to (after she dropped Lennie like a hot potato) were Freddie or Millie.  The price difference on the 2 is $1000.  I told her that when you're spending that kind of money, $1000 isn't really that much in the scheme of things & you might as well spend the extra cash to get the few added benefits it gets you.  

So Millie it is...

You can quilt free hand from the front...meaning you can move the machine around & make your own shapes or diagonal lines, etc.   

I mean -what's NOT to love about a little electronic screen?

 On the back of the machine you can put down a 'pattern' & there's a laser light on the back & all you do is follow the lines & VOILA.

Rose said, 'Jaime - even YOU can do this!'

I told her I will move straight from official ironer for the group to official quilter!

Rose played around w/ the free hand section.

 

 She wrote our names in thread!

 We got all the pricing info & the 'special' is good through August 14th so Rose has some more time to think & convince her hubby it's a good idea decide.  As we were leaving we passed a Brinks truck... it was a SIGN!  I mean-we only needed a fraction of what they were carrying!  Come on!!

After the meeting we still wanted to hang out, but I told Rose we better not shop because she shouldn't be spending any extra money!  She suggested we get our toes done & off we went to my nail place!

I got purple.  Show of hands - who's surprised?

We had a great day catching up because she lives so far away I don't get to see her often!  If any of you need help spending your money - let me know...I'm here for you....

Current events

I got my nails done a couple of weeks ago.  My nail guy does nothing to dissuade my obsession w/ purple.  He's an enabler, people...this color was HIS choice.  When I show him what I want he says, 'Wha color?'  I say, "Uhm, oh - I don't know."  He says 'Puh-ple!'  

Ok, ok...if you INSIST.  

***

I saved up money to buy my MacBook but I am going to sell my iMac to help recover those funds.  It won't make up the difference totally (only really about half...) so I decided to sell some of my purses on Ebay to help make it back up as well. (That will also not recover it totally but I figure every little bit helps!)  I've sold my old purses on Ebay before & had success at it so I figured I'd try it again.  The bags are just in my closet in a basket & I'm such a brat not gonna carry them anymore.  It's what I DO, people...  They're not making me any money in the closet so anything I get for them is extra in my pocket.  It is kind of a pain in the ass to take pics, measure everything, do the listing, waiting & answering questions...then ya gotta box them up to ship them - it's a whole thing.  I had 5 bags listed & one sold less than 10 min after I posted it.

(Look who learned how to take screen shots on her MacBook....)

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Car update - the dealership determined that the only damage to my car was in the engine.  They are putting in a brand new engine, but we have to pay $600... $100 for our deductible & $500 for the depreciation of my engine that had 32k on it.  DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY BAGS I COULD BUY FOR $500?  (ok - it's only like 2 {3 on a sale day} but STILL.)  I'd rather buy 2 purses than pay $600 for a stupid engine...

***

I broke down & got my hair colored yesterday.  Its been a long while since I did it (maybe almost a year?)  It's one of those things I hate to pay for - don't ask me why.  Plus my hair is so fine I don't want to fry it by doing it too much.  (I'd rather spend $200 on a bag than pay $75 to have my hair colored... I know, I KNOW {priorities, people!})

  Like I always say - you find money to do the things you WANT to do & I want bags more than I want highlights...

I told you the story about my car to tell you this:  When I was waiting for the color to set in, there was another guy there getting his hair cut.  He had on like a work uniform but I didn't pay much attention to where it was from.  She started asking him how he liked it at John Jones. (That's the car dealership where MY car is...) He said he liked it & they had just moved into their new facility.  (I knew the new place opened in Salem & that's the one where MY car is!)  I said, "Hey-do you work at the one in Salem?"  He said, 'Yes'.  I said, "OH - MY car is there - maybe you've seen it?  A Chevy Cruze getting a new engine because my husband drove it through water??"

He said, 'UHM, I'M working on your car.'

OH HAPPY DAY.

He was a very nice guy & said it should be done Wed or Thurs.  I asked him if it would be 'ok' after they put the engine in it (because all anyone does is tell me horror stories about cars w/ water damage...sigh...) & he was like, 'Oh yea - it will be good' just like I was crazy for asking.

(Disclaimer - it was 'in' the water for less than 30 seconds.  B-rad got out & pushed it so fast it didn't have time to get up in all the electrical gizmos or interior - it just got sucked up in the engine.  Easy, breezy huh?)

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B-rad's had a LOT of bad luck lately... first & most importantly my car, then he & Brady were taking the grain table to the farm (they've been running wheat & they had to work on the head) & when Brady was hauling it to the barn it fell off the trailer.  Sigh... It's upside down here, people...the long, black pointy thing goes against the ground...

Then when I got home yesterday I noticed the tire on his truck was flat.  He bought an older, small Toyota truck to drive back & forth to work because his diesel truck uses a ton of fuel & diesel (is usually) more expensive than gas.  The tires are dry-rotted & now we need to buy 4 new tires for that truck.  (Again- NOT fun things to spend money on!  Hmph!)

***

Farming has gone on...& on...& on this season.  Normally he's 'done' this time of year w/ planting & side dressing.  We've had a lot of rain (but we NEVER curse the rain) so that put him behind, plus we had wheat out this year.  You harvest the wheat in the summer & then you can go back & plant another 'short season' seed behind it.  That's called a 'double crop'.  

Side dressing was behind so running wheat got behind... then the head fell off the trailer.  We had talked about seeing the new Terminator movie a couple of weekends ago but it never worked out because he had other things to do.  (Story of my LIFE.) This past weekend I worked Saturday & B-rad was working on the wrecked grain table but he texted me & said that when he was done we would go in town....

Fast forward to 6:15 - he comes home & I think, "ok-we're going to the movies!" but he starts to fill up his water jug instead of getting cleaned up... I said, "What are you doing?"  He explained (in a not so nice tone {not towards me, just because of the situation}) that 'Brian wants me to go side dress because it's supposed to rain tomorrow.'  

SIGH.  

No movie for me...

But I made it up to myself...

Chocolate & peanut butter help heal hurt feelings...

 

***

When B-rad went out Sat night to side dress he wasn't home by 11:00 when I went to bed.  He called me at 11:20 & said he had gotten the tractor 'stuck'.  I'm like, "What do you mean 'stuck'?"  

(It's a 260 horse-power tractor, people.)

He was in a new-to-us field & there was a lower area w/ a ditch that was holding water.  When he took the tractor through it he didn't realize how deep it was & the tractor sank.  The weight of the applicator & the nitrogen in the tank made it too heavy for the tractor to pull itself (& the full tank) out.  B-rad had to walk a hella far way back to the truck that night in the dark.  

(Are we noticing a theme w/ B-rad & water here?)

He thought by last night the ground might be dry enough to pull the tractor out.  There was a strong little storm that went through right before he got there & sadly - it got wet again & the tractor is still stuck.  Now the plan is to wait until the weekend for the ground to dry a bit... if that doesn't work they will have to take another tractor to pull it out.   That's bad because that means they will run over a lot of crop doing that (there are no 'roads' to the field...you just gotta drive through it & over the corn...)

I told him, "Well-you wouldn't have gotten stuck if you had taken me to the movies...)