Wow!

Wow! Sting just jumped into the #1 spot on my Concerts I Want to Go to Most List.

Because...check!...#1 - U2 got marked off on Tuesday night!

It was fabulous! The Georgia Dome was packed. The Dome seats over 70,000 and I dont' have a clue how many had spaces on the floor. I can't find a count on either of the major networks' sites or on AJC's site but they have amazing pictures. Not quite as amazing as my friend DeDe's pics, though! Her husband is a member of Third Day and they were there promoting The One Campaign along with Brooke Shields and Michael W. Smith just to drop some names.

The band that opened for U2 was MUSE. I had not heard of them until Tuesday. I know, I know. You Twilight fans have heard of them but I haven't read those books or seen the movie and I'm a DAVE FM listener not 99X so cut me some slack! Anyhow,... they were fabulous, too! Brian turned to me at one point and said, "U2 better bring it to keep up with these guys!" Whoever runs the whole thing from this control center/space station/laboratory is brilliant. Watching that show was like witnessing a great master painting his greatest work of art. It was beautiful!

This was my early birthday present from Brian and it will be holding the #1 slot of favorite gifts for a long time. Thank you, sweetheart!

Whatever this fan paid for her ticket was WELL worth it! Some of her friends boosted her up and Bono pulled her onto the bridge with him.

There are not many bands out there that incorporate so much of what they believe in into their shows and they do it with class. They're not afraid of what you think of them. They're going to stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves and they are always bringing some cause into the limelight.

This is what the stage looked like for Bloody Sunday. I thought alot about you, B, during this song. You're over there telling people about hope and about The Only One that true Hope comes from.

And speaking of this hope... The stage was red during Bono's version of Amazing Grace. His banner over me. I am so glad I could sing along and that I knew what those words meant and how they have been applied in my life. I love a reminder of what I was before, what I would be without Him and what He did out of so much love to change me.

a sinner saved by grace.

The Prez's School Address

So this week everyone is all worked up about Obama's address to our school-age children. Me? Not so much.

I'm not a fan of his or anything but I'm just not stressed over my kids potentially watching an hour's worth of health reform propaganda or a Democratic agenda. Hee! Hee! Don't you love how I still stuck in all the Right Wing terminology? Really all it is is a chance for B.O. to hear himself talk. Besides, it opens up an opportunity for good discussion about what our family believes and why. A teaching moment. Public school is chock-full of teaching moments like: Why so 'n so doesn't have a dad at home and how Mommy and Daddy love eachother very much and divorce will absolutely NEVER happen in our home. How to be kind and friendly to children in your class who tend to behave badly without following their example. Keeping our focus on our schoolwork and learning and listening to your teacher and not so concerned with Pokemon, Bakugan and such. These teachable moments are one of the reasons we decided to go ahead and put them in public schools. There are lots of reasons that we did so, not the least of which are: a) that I would make a lousy teacher and b) we don't have a money tree in the back yard to pay for private school. The entire public vs. private vs. homeschool discussion could take up at least a week's worth of posts and would stir up some hot debate, I'm sure. But that's not exactly why I started this here blog and I don't want it to turn into that at all. This should be a fun, happy place to be! ; )

Along those lines I just loved Dr. Petruzielo's letter home today about this whole Presidential address. I like to pretend that there is sarcasm oozing out of every sentence. Part of it went like this: (pretend Dr. Petruzielo is kind of rolling his eyes with the words in italics or saying them with more emphasis; it's more fun that way)
"The President's message is directed to students and is expected to focus on the importance of doing well in school.
As you know, the Cherokee County School District focuses on instruction and teaching the State's new curriculum, the Georgia Performance Standards, so that students can achieve - and exceed - their personal and educational goals. Daily instructional time is a precious resource; therefore, schools are under no obligation to watch the hour long address, either through the Web cast or on C-SPAN.... Although suggested lesson plans have been shared by the U.S. Department of Education, there are no plans or requirements to use them since they are not a part of the required curriculum." (emphasis mine)

See how much fun that was? It's especially fun if you picture Dr. Petruzielo wearing a sombrero or a clown nose.

Can't you tell I wasn't exactly the model student?
I'm still drawing silly faces on teachers' pictures.
"Sorry, Dr. Petruzielo; I couldn't resist."
"Detention?! Again?! Sheesh."

P.S. Wouldn't it be fun to put Dr. Frank's face in a Jib Jab dance?

My Home Town

My Uncle Rick sent me this e-mail the other day:

"Detroit could care less about it's historical structures or it's history. Thanks to our past three mayors our city now looks like the old train station. A once proud city now languishes in utter decay. The beautiful Grand City Hall torn down 50 years ago, Tiger Stadium is a half-demolished hulk, Olympia Stadium wiped out and the grand lady of our Train Station now is nothing more than an abandoned and pillaged hulk of architecture that stands as testimony to our once proud past and now dismal future."


The older pictures were taken in 1973 and the recent pictures are from last year 2008.



This was once my city too.

onlyndetroit.com

President Obama

I was not looking forward to having to tell the boys who was elected President; they were both hoping for McCain and had "voted" for him at school. When they had asked Brian who he was voting for he had told them, "I'm voting for John McCain because he's more of a Christian than Mr. Obama; he believes more of the Bible." When P was told this morning that Obama had won, he cried! Since I nearly cried, myself, last night it was tough to pull it together in front of him. But I will be taking the advice that I gave him - that we need to pray for our new President: that God will show him the right thing to do and that God will protect him, especially since he is a daddy to two sweet little girls. God is who I follow first and foremost and He is in control. I want my children to respect and be proud of their President. And although I would have chosen someone else, I am excited to have our first black President. This is still fun to watch history in the making. So, Mr. President-elect, you have my prayers.