This whole weekend I�ve been plagued by inflamed ribs, which makes it fairly hard to take in deep breathes, which makes it even harder to sing. �But the show must go on!� It not only has to go on, but it has to appear as though everything is normal and I�m feeling no discomfort at all, fat chance of that happening. The ride up to Iron Mountain was a nightmare in itself. Robb, Benny and I rode together in our van, filled to capacity with sound and lighting equipment. Which means no adjusting seats for comfort; and since they�re captain�s chairs there�s no way of sprawling anywhere. So I propped myself up on my pillow against a very large speaker and tried not to move too much. Benny wanted to get there early so he and Robb could shop around try to solve some lighting issues. So we end up going to Home Depot and I�m not allowed to wander around, due to my frequency of �getting lost�. I don�t get lost�people just have trouble finding me is all. Whatever, so Benny has a good grip on my jacket, so that I don�t get away, and I�m forced to listen to them talk about lighting stuff and stare at the same two isles for forty-five minutes. I don�t know if there is any greater torture in the world! I�m in pain, I have to stay and listen to these two and I�m in a freaking tool store looking at lighting!!! I would rather be looking at the pretty shiny tools!!!! I did manage to break away when Benny lost his grip on my jacket. I lunged for a snow scraper on display, and threatened him with it. I slowly backed out of the isle with the scraper held in a classic defensive fencing move and explained to him that I would be in the power tool section.

I ended up falling in love with a portable Ryobe table saw, *sigh* if only I had a garage to put it in. I did find a really cute purple tape measure, and so of course I bought it. How can one resist a purple tape measure? Surely not I!!

We then wandered around Wal-Mart and Benny and Robb managed to get lost. Of course, when I found them, they claimed that they were spending the whole time looking for me. *rolls eyes* It was getting a bit late, and I wasn�t feeling good, so I convinced the guys to go the bar we were going to play at and see if the rest of the band showed up yet. Sure enough BJ was there with his equipment nearly set up.

I watched the guys unload the Van and sat on a very comfy booth for a while. The rest of the band trickled in and everyone started setting up. I was watching people jumping horses over stuff on television and I was thinking to myself, �those are really cute hats that they wear�I wonder if something like that would look good with my plaid pants.� That�s when I totally freaked. �Shit! I forgot my stage clothes.� At that moment Lane had walked by. �Want to go shopping?�

So I dragged Lane and Bill�s girl to Shopko with me. We couldn�t find anything in the women�s section and I was getting desperate. �Why don�t we go look in the little girl�s section, you seem small enough.� Bill�s girl is a genius! I did end up finding a very hip shirt in a size 8-10 that fit me just perfect! I tell you, what little girls wear these days is highly inappropriate, but at that moment I was very grateful.

Wow�this entry is getting long and I�m not even half way done. Let�s see if I can finish the rest off in a single paragraph. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask and I�ll give you a better explanation.

Ok, so we get back to the bar, I set up. We all are hungry and tired, I hurt and Smurf isn�t there yet. I get to try pasties (pass-tees) for dinner, which by the way taste really good with catsup, and take a nap at Lane�s parents before we play. Bill and I crack jokes about pasties (pace-tees) and other pronunciations on the way back to the bar. I try my hardest not to draw attention to myself during the show but nearly pass out with pain on the second to last song to the first set. A doctor in the crowd comes to my aid and suggests ice and I take an Ibuprofen. Second set I�m still in pain but I�m doing better at giving a good show; doctor dude doesn�t buy it. It�s not cool being harassed by a drunk doctor. I then take Vicatin and the third set goes by like a blur and I collapse on a booth and end up at Lane�s parents. I get really sick and pukey and go to bed�The End! I didn�t get to do anything fun and we left first thing this morning without saying goodbye to anyone. A total and complete disaster. Oh well, there�s always next weekend.