As I if needed another reason to love him...

The recent changes and additions are the results of my quest to learn how to "pimp my blog" a bit more competently. During my quest, I mentioned to my darling husband that I needed to break down and learn how to really use Photoshop.

He then asked me what I was trying to do. I explain. He laughed at the simple nature of my requests. He then made my new banner in less than fifteen minutes. He was bored. It is beautiful.

I still need to learn to do it myself, but Neil is the King of Photoshop. I am the lesser-known, yet still valuable, Marchioness of Moviemaker.

His is cooler.

Thanks Neil!

The Back Story

For those of you who do not know, Neil herniated two discs in his back early this year. He was recovering from shoulder surgery and tried to change a flat tire. While over compansating for the shoulder, he hurt the back. The day before Mother's Day, he fell. Made it so much worse. The surgery to fix it was yesterday.

I am blogging from his bedside right now. The surgery went well. He has relief already, and it will hopefully get even better as his body heals from the surgery trauma. Didn't want to keep you in suspense. He is sleeping off the pain meds right now. I am hoping the doctors are correct and he can go home this afternoon.

Now for the funny stuff. Neil's grandmother (Babba) sent him a stuffed animal- a puppy dog. God bless her. I laughed for a hour.

We slept so late since Neil didn't have to head to the hospital until noon. Neil parents came with us because they were in Atlanta to board a plane to Europe, and we all moseyed over together.

Once Neil was called into pre-op, I was given a restaurant style pager to get updates on his progress. About 30 minutes after he went back, they paged me to join him. And then it began...

We waited for over 6 hours in pre-op. No shit. Have you ever seen an ADD girl wait in a hospital environment that long and not hurt herself? I was cracking Neil up.

1. There was Big Momma beside us. She was having a valve replacement and the anesthesiologists were using her case to train residents. She was too funny. Kept telling everyone they were on her "team." The heart monitor would beep on rhythm and then suddenly pause or jitter. I would freak out every time.

2. Old guy on the other side of us that didn't have anyone with him and needed to make a phone call :(. Turns out he was a bit confused in general. Couldn't remember when he had that lung surgery. Or which lung. Or his phone number.

3. We went through 5 nurse changes before we went back. By far the best was Nick, a large black guy with braids, who talked loudly and made jokes. He sang Michael Jackson's Black or White. His cell phone keep ringing- the ringtone? Soulja Boy. Yup.

Eventually, Neil went back and everything was fine. I met him in his room around 10:30 PM and we had a good night. I'll update more later. Thanks for all your well wishes...

Bonnaroovin'

For those of you who do not live in the world of jam bands, Bonnaroo is a huge music festival held in Manchester, TN- just 60 miles away from Nashville. Neil and I attended the first ever Bonnaroo when we were dating way back in 2002, and he could not resist popping down the road one night to see Phish. So, off we went on Friday afternoon.

Another FYI- Phish is a band. An awesome band that went on a long hiatus. We had not seen them in about five years. Neil was excited. Like a schoolboy, actually.

You see, he was able to score "guest passes" for us through Coke connections. We arrived at the local Holiday Inn Express to discover that the people there CLEARLY thought we were a big deal. We got the armbands and a personal van showed up to take us in "the back way". Score, no waiting in line for hours to enter the gates.

We were taken to the "Super VIP tent" where we were offered the use of an RV for the night, shown into a Carousel Bar with free booze and food, and given a special map because this site wasn't on the "regular" maps. Neil looked at me with wide eyes which I read as "go with it." A gold cart with a driver took us to the guest viewing deck to see the end of Al Green's set.

Now we had a problem. We did not "acclimate" to the general population and experienced the shock of entering the guest area filled with people passed out on any surface imaginable- including inch-deep mud. Yuck. Now, we were in our element.

We had a hard time getting on the viewing deck because the area was small compared to the demand for good seats. Eventually, we were able to see the end of the Beastie Boys' set and all of Phish. It was awesome.

Now, to tease Neil a little. With surgery imminent, I think he felt the need to really enjoy himself. Heck, he wasn't driving. This desire equated to his normal pain pills (which are heavy freakin' duty) and about six beers. Neil was Drunky McDrunkerson. It would have been funnier if I wasn't worried every second that he would fall in the mud or trip on the stairs, which he did TWICE, and I'd have to ask the EMTs to evac. my hubs. It all ended well, however. Neil did fine, and around 3 am, after a great "greatest hits" set by Phish, I drove us back to Nashville and the CMAs. Excellent.

The rest of the CMA Festival was pretty on-par. We had a Saturday Vault party at a local bar, a good night of music (compared to Bruce Springsteen at Bonnaroo that night, I was bummed), and a great time with friends. We decided to drive home on Sunday and miss the last night, but be sure that Neil had an easy day before the surgery.

I cleary forgot my jorts...

Oh my! Nashville is full of jorts and boots. FULL. It is scary.

For those of you who do not know the term, jorts are jean shorts. Note: not denim shorts, but shorts made from slicing up a pair of Levis. For me, the look evokes bad early 90s fashion. I fear the jort. Pair it with a boot, and now the world is full of cankles. I'm dying. And, Neil is laughing at me for taking pictures of people in jorts for the blog.

So on Thursday, I got to sleep in while Neil went to check on the venues and locations. At lunch, he showed up with more members of the team, we had lunch at the yummy Sports Grille in the hotel.

After a short rest for Neil, we all headed over to LP field for the big show. I was excited to see Reba (crossing my fingers for Fancy). Well, no dice. We got up to the suite- yes, Neil is a pimp that gets awesome perks- and enjoyed the open bar for a bit. Brooks and Dunn did their set.

Reba made it out for about two songs before they stopped her and announced that the CMA folks were clearing the stadium for major storms in the area. Surprisingly, people moved. And waited. And waited. And waited.

Good thing the bar was open. We waited for hours for the rain to no avail. When it finally showed, it was some serious rain and wind but hardly any lightening. They started the show back up after midnight. The show ended at 1:50- luckily, we had hit the road before then.

Slideshow of CMA pictures

See Rock City

Where is Rock City, and why the hell do all the birdhouses and barns want me to go there?

I turned to Neil about half way to Nashville last Wednesday and asked this question. Seriously, I have seen the birdhouses for ages, but never knew what they had to do with anything real. Apparently, Rock City is the South of the Border of TN. A hokey tourist trap of a dive off the interstate that needs miles and miles of signage to get people to stop. Perhaps a bit more to see at Rock City, though.

The trip up to Nashville was fine for me, but hard on Neil's back and legs. I drove the whole way, a rarity for us but necessary. We spent the evening together settling into the hotel and eating a The Palm- I love a good steak!

Best Interview Ever

I couldn't get over this today. Love it.

I'm so excited...I'm so excited... I'm so ....SCARED!

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

I puffypinkheart Bill Maher.

Seriously. His show is brilliant. I admire a man willing to support healthy debate, invite people of opposing beliefs to the panel, and talk about important issues intelligently. I want to copy his reading list.

Watching last week's show, I was amazed by the debate, intelligence and TOPICS he selected for the panel and special guests. Though he is admittedly liberal, he is not kind to stupidity. If a public figure, no matter the party to which he or she shows allegiance, does or says something stupid, whoa buddy. No free lunches here.

Jon Stewart is amazing, and I love the satire on The Daily Show. However, sometimes the message gets lost in the funny. Not of Real Time. Probably partially due to HBO versus Comedy Central... Dream come true: let Jon Stewart sit on the panel on Real Time. I'd go see it live!

Just sayin'