My Year of a Million Dreams!

So, Disney has their "Year of a Million Dreams." Well, this is my year of a million dreams! March is just beginning, and I've already had an awesome year! Last week, I got to see George Strait (as if a last name was required). George was in Richmond, and it was so worth the two hour drive with Steve's coworker and friend in the backseat. And, yes, we did have fried chicken in the parking garage. It was not as bad as I expected. I did participate in the fried chicken feast. My hands got greasy, and I did not die. I know - I'm as shocked as anyone! I still don't like fried chicken. I never will. We also had potato salad and rice pudding. How redneck of us, huh? So, we returned to our dwelling early Friday morning following the concert. George seemed tired, so I didn't stick around for him to touch my "no-no" spot. Maybe next time...if there is one. He's one of my favorite people in the entire world, and he's the type of person that I would invite over for biscuits and gravy.

Friday was spend recovering from Thursday night. I didn't drink because I was the driver, and I don't usually consume beer in small or large amounts. Since beer is the beverage of choice at most concerts, I make a great designated driver. We did do a little shopping on Friday to make sure we had the perfect outfits to wear to the PBR on Saturday night. I had a feeling that I would get to see some hunks in Wrangler jeans, so I had to make sure the husband and I looked our best. I got a black shirt and some turquoise jewelry. The husband got a plaid Chaps shirt, which was quite perfect for the occasion. We packed and got things together for our departure to Baltimore early Saturday morning. Baltimore is about four hours away, so we left about 8am and arrived about noon. Chris (my best pal's husband) drove us the entire way. We made a few stops so I could pee. I don't know why, but I had to go a lot that day! At one point, we stopped at a McDonald's just south of DC to use the restroom. After we were all finished, I met everyone near the counter. The husband was ordering a yogurt parfait. Chris, Laura & I were just standing there waiting for him. Some local man (he was "urban") asked Chris if we were from the area. He replied that we weren't locals, and we were just passing through or something. Then, the man proceeded to tell us that there were some good buffets just a couple of exits up the road. Not once did any of us mention a buffet. So, apparently, we look like buffet people that appreciate food in large quantities. Laura and I were both appalled, but still found much humor in the situation! We laughed all the way up there, even though we were a little tired. We got to Baltimore and met up with Laura's cousin and her husband for lunch. I was really excited to meet them! I had seen him on tv many times, and I had heard a lot about her from Laura, so I was glad to finally meet them! It's sort of strange that I knew who he was before I even met Laura. Anywho, he works for the PBR and hooked us up with some amazing tickets and plenty of opportunities for me to meet my favorite bull riders. I got to meet Chris Shivers, J.W. Hart, Adriano Moraes and Brendon Clark. Yeah, it was awesome! We got to go to a Jack Daniels party before the event and partake in some excessive Jack consumption, which allowed us to giggle even more than usual. When we started walking to our seats, we realized we were in the FRONT freaking row. Yeah, our seats were so good, we almost got dirty! And, after the event is over, all the bull riders walk around the fence and sign autographs and pose for pictures and stuff. We got some good ones, even though we were laughing a little too much for most people to hang around us too long. Laura even asked one of them if her cousin (who she mentioned by name, but I won't) had ever helped him (he's a doctor for the bull riders). He just looked at her like she was crazy, then moved on down the line. The husbands and I just died laughing, and we could hardly be serious enough to take pictures after that. I will post some of them later. After everything was over, we went to the hotel bar for some grub, even more beverages, and crazy picture taking with bull riders and such. That's where we got to see Chris Shivers and J.W. Hart. We got a few pictures taken with them, and they were so nice and cooperative. Two pictures didn't turn out, so we had to go back for a third, which worked out just fine. Later, we tried to give them some of our chicken wings, but they didn't want them. They were our leftovers, so I'm sure few people would actually accept them as a token of our appreciation. We had lots of fun, and headed to our rooms sometime between the hours of midnight and 1am. We don't remember much, really. So, at this point, I had met everyone I wanted to meet except for Brendon Clark, who is such a little hunk. I was okay with that, though. I could have lived my life without meeting him, BUT the next morning, there he was at the restaurant for breakfast. I wasn't going to interrupt him while he was eating. Laura's cousin and her husband kept saying that I WAS going to meet him before I left. He came over to our table and talked to them for a while, but I didn't actually get to meet him. Then, we were getting ready to leave and Laura's cousin was talking to him in the lobby, and we got to meet him and Laura and I even got our picture taken with him with her camera phone. He was adorable and he smelled good and he was nice, contrary to what I had heard. But, we interacted for a total of approximately 47 seconds. Everyone can be on their best behavior for 47 seconds. Honestly, I only need 8 seconds with him.

Sunday morning, we laughed when we weren't sleeping during the drive back to VB. We played the alphabet game, which is a favorite when the four of us are in a car together. If you have never played, it goes a little something like this...
Person 1: A is for alligator
Person 2: A is for alligator, B is for bobblehead
Person 3: A is for alligator, B is for bobblehead, C is for critter
Person 4: A is for alligator, B is for bobblehead, C is for critter, D is for doughboy
Etc, etc.
So, by the time you get to Z, you have to recite all 25 prior letters and words. I must admit, we came up with some doozies this trip!

When I arrived home and checked the mail, I had a brochure from Busch Gardens about getting our season passes for this year AND some special events that are coming to the park this year. The brochure said, "Ever wanted to get up close and personal with a penguin?" As I read it, I was saying, "Uhhh...yeah!" Then, I read on and it said that I could meet Jack Hanna. Live. In person. Yep. Jack freaking Hanna! And, you can purchase tickets to eat breakfast with him. Anyone who knows me is fully aware of my love for penguins and my extreme crush on Jack Hanna. Yeah, guess who has tickets? ME! I bought two tickets. If my best friend, Jenn, isn't too knocked up and miserable when it all goes down, she's going to go with me. If she can't go, then the husband is going to try to get off work to go with me. I called my best pal, Laura, to see if she would go with me if Jenn and Steve couldn't. She said that even though she was honored to be my third option, she didn't know if she was going to get a season pass this year, so she would actually have to pay to get into the park. I don't care who goes with me, but I'm going to meet Jack Hanna! And, I'm going to wear a diaper because I just might shit my pants!

My year of a million dreams is starting out quite well, don't you think?