There's a First Time for Everything

    Today has been a very laid-back, enjoyable day.  I took the day off from work under the assumption that I'd be exhausted from the Gulfport Music Festival we attended this weekend.  That hypothesis was proved correct.  I got up long enough to get Monkey ready for daycare, and after she and her daddy left for daycare and work I passed out again.  I woke up some time later to a man standing over my bed, staring down at me.  Thank God it was just my husband, because apparently he had been there for some time before I even stirred.  Creeper!  Since then I've been busy getting things taken care of around the house.  Friday will be my last day at work.  The company I work for is shutting down their branch here and moving back to Mobile, so I'll be a stay-at-home mommy again for a bit.  I'm looking forward to it, and I almost jump started it a little early by keeping Monkey home with me today, but her favorite teacher at the daycare is already pouting every time I pick Monkey up, begging me to let her stay.  I think she might come after me if she's not allowed her last bit of time with my bitty girl.

   As I mentioned, I was out at the Music Festival this past weekend, and I had a ton of fun.  Thursday my sister, brother-in-law and godson came out and stayed the night.  My sister and brother-in-law joined us at the Festival Friday night for the country section.  We got to see Sunny Sweeney, Josh Thompson, Justin Moore, and Gary Allen.  I also decided to attempt drinking for the first time in my life.  I shot through my first three Mike's Hard Lemonades like they were nothing, but I slowed down on that fourth one since I was already buzzed. I eventually had to quit because that happy feeling didn't last quite long enough.  Needless to say, I think I'm a bad drunk so I'm going to go ahead and throw in the towel now.  My sister thought it was funny to make me look down while tipsy.  I don't think I've ever felt so tall and so afraid of heights in my life.  Regardless of my failed drinking attempt, I did enjoy the bands immensely.

Louisiana Saturday Night, only in Mississippi...on a Friday.

   Saturday my sister and her family had to return to their home, so my "baby bump" friend and I went together to see Vanilla Ice, Hinder, and Nelly.  My husband was gallant enough to watch not only our Monkey, but my friend's two girls as well, since her husband is overseas.  I think it was a good break for both of us, and we had a lot of fun.  Vanilla Ice was really good, especially considering I only knew two of his songs going into it.  Hinder was even better, sounding like a young Steven Tyler.  Our ears were numb by the time he finished, and my friend's baby bump was vibrating lol.

My friend and I during Hinder.

   As we were waiting for Nelly, it was getting later, so people were getting drunker, and that's when things got interesting.  At one point my friend noticed that the same guy had passed by three times and was staring at us in a way that was making her uncomfortable.  I was oblivious until she whispered, "Here he comes again," and I looked up in time to see these two big, country-looking men headed directly to us.  One looked a bit like Larry the Cable Guy, but taller and less chubby.  The other made such a small impression on me that all I can say is that he was a big as his friend and had brown hair. Larry the Cable Guy leaned in, pointed to where we were standing and asked if this was a good spot to hang out.  I shrugged and said, "If you can see", and turned back to the stage to see if Nelly was coming out soon.  Unfortunately we were about 15 minutes from any saving grace, so I was forced to turn back and respond when the other guy began to introduce himself.

"I'm Jeremiah, and this here's Larry."  he said in the most country drawl I had ever heard, and I'm a Louisiana-native living in Mississippi, so that's saying something.

I just nodded and pretended to be occupied with the stage, but my poor friend was a lot nicer than I was, so she introduced herself, and nudged me to do the same.  I finally did, and Jeremiah began to drawl out his intent.

"So are y'all here with y'all's boyfriends?"

"Nope," I responded, and I could see the hope welling up in Jeremiah's eyes, so I had to squash it.  "We're married, and our husbands are at home with the babies."

"Oh..."  He turned and relayed the message to his friends, and that's when my friend piped up, "Yep, there's a baby in the belly."

Larry pointed at her stomach and said, "It's not mine; I swear."  That made us all laugh, and relieved a bit of the awkwardness as the sauntered off.

   I guess I should interject that this was the first time I've ever been hit on like that.  I'm not very good at it, so I think it's a good thing I got married too young to really be a part of that crowd.

   Nelly came on stage not too long after that, and we enjoyed remembering all the old songs we knew in middle and high school.  He put on a really great show, and was pretty funny.  As he was wrapping up his show more and more people were leaving, and a group of about five guys that had been in front of us started to head out.  I had seen these guys glance our way a couple of times throughout the night, but really didn't think anything of it.  The first three guys walked past with a few glances and smiles, but the fourth, a man in his early forties, judging by the salt & pepper look he had going on, stopped dead in front of me, grabbed my hand and said something I couldn't make out in all the noise.

"W-what?" I stuttered out.

"You're mighty fine," the random man said, as he kissed my hand.

Caught off guard, embarrassed, and flattered I could only come up with one this to say, and that was a quick, "I'm married."

He just grinned, dropped my hand, and said, "You can be fine and be married," before moving on.  His buddy laughed and said, "We're all married," and left with a wink.

   Nothing had better ever happen to J, because I am really, really bad at being hit on.

   Shortly after that my friend and I headed home, only to be freaked out by some random guy who stopped next to my friend's car as we were getting into it.  Keep in mind that we were parked on the corner of a street in an area of town that wasn't too upscale, and the man didn't say anything that I could hear, but just stared until my friend and I got in the car and closed and locked the doors.  Yup, never going to a concert again without J.

   Sunday J and I went to see Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, and Maroon 5.  By this point we were both running on fumes, but we were not disappointed.  Maroon 5 sounds just as good, if not better, in concert as they do on their albums.

I was way more excited about checking out Adam Levine than J was.

      Now, since y'all have been troopers and read through this big long post (If you skimmed it just to get to the recipe, it's okay I forgive you.), and because I feel badly about not sharing a recipe with y'all last time, I can't leave without one this time.  So here's a quick recipe that I make all the time:

Paula Deen's Chocolate Banana Bread
From the September/October 2010 issue of her magazine

You'll need:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups ripe, mashed bananas (about 4)
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x5" baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  In another large bowl, combine butter, eggs, bananas, yogurt, and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.  Fold flour mixture into butter mixture.  Stir in chocolate.  Bake 50 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil, and bake about 10 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center  comes out clean.  Enjoy!