I've been to a lot of concerts in my life. Bands, choirs, orchestras, large groups, small groups, individuals, comedians - just about every kind of concert you can imagine. I've seen Christian groups that only 12 people have heard of and I've seen the never-ending Cher farewell tour and the Rolling Stones. I've seen people just starting their careers (Mark Lowry back in the day) and those wrapping things up (the aforementioned Cher and the older-than-dirt-but-still-rocking Stones). Some were once-in-a-lifetime experiences (a frigid night in a tent with Rich Mullins and 20 other people singing "Awesome God" acapella after the power went out one December) and some were more run-of-the-mill - at least to our family (13+ Carman concerts, 4 Amy Grant concerts, several Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman concerts). I grew up on old-school Southern Gospel music (much to my mother's horror and disgust) , learned to play classical masterpieces on my violin, can sing in a number of languages and got an 'A' in the history of Jazz in college. I'm musically well rounded to say the least. My iPod looks like a record store. One thing I have never - EVER - done is see a concert by a country artist.

Well, I won't be able to say that for long. Tomorrow night, I will be among the sold out crowd at the Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson tour. I am very excited about it - my first country concert! All right, many people would argue that Reba isn't exactly old-school country - I say that she's country enough to qualify as far as I'm concerned. The reviews have been outstanding, so I am very much looking forward to seeing what Reba and Kelly have to offer - unfortunately, the weather is threatening to run my country hoe-down experience - possibly 5 inches of snow with strong winds. It could get ugly, but as long as the concert is on, I'm there. I may not make it home, but Mom and Dad only live a few miles from the venue, so I'll be playing it by ear.

Oh, and happy belated Kansas Day!!

I've lost track of the number of times I thought "I really need to blog today." Obviously, I waited until today for a reason - I just noticed that it is my 1st anniversary with Spark People! I have to give the credit to Shane. He made a blog posting about joining Spark People and taking off some excess weight and my competitive instincts kicked into high gear! Every year I used to think it was finally time to lose some weight - then I'd have another piece of cake. Not this year. Thanks to Shane this actually WAS the year. I don't know exactly how much I weighed last January 7th (Mom and Dad had faulty scales at the time), but I know that it was between 250-260 pounds. Currently, even after adding a couple of Christmas/Birthday pounds, I weigh 170. Yes, I just posted my weight on the Internet for all to see (what am I thinking???). Those 80 pounds haven't exactly been easy, but they have been much easier than I thought that they'd be (only 20 more to go!!). Most surprisingly, I have spent very little time exercising - at least in the traditional sense. I changed my eating habits - no more McDonald's every evening - learned portion control and started moving around more than I used to. I don't go to the gym - I go to the mall. It's much more interesting than the gym & you don't sweat nearly as much. I still eat chocolate cake - in fact, I have some sitting in front of me right now, and, yes, I do still eat McDonald's on occasion (more like once a month now) - I just get a cheeseburger instead of a Big 'N Tasty with supersize fries.

Yesterday, I went shopping. I love to shop, but I HATE to try on clothes - these days, I have no choice because I have no idea what size I wear. I tried on several pairs of size 14 pants, but none of them fit - they were all too big and there were no 12s on sale. The last time I had to look for a size 12, I had not yet turned 12 (seriously).

Well, enough about that. . . here is a look back at 2007 from my point-of-view:

January - February - March
The first quarter of 2007 was consumed with helping care for Grandma Becky. It was an experience that I will never forget, I wish we never had to have, and I wouldn't trade for anything. It's amazing the things that you notice when you are under extreme stress. The night that Grandma died, the television was on in her bedroom - though you could hardly hear it over the oxygen machine, Grandma's labored breathing and the comforting words that we were uttering - but I'll never forget what was on that TV as Grandma took her last breath - an infomercial for the Carol Burnett Show on DVD. Somehow, I don't think she would have minded - she loved comedies (along with Elvis, Gone with the Wind, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and ER).

April - May - June
Our clerk retired and moved to Jakarta, Indonesia to assist in combating corruption in their judicial system, so much of this time was spent preparing farewell parties, in his honor. A very rainy Memorial Day was spent at Kaw Lake attempting to play badminton with my 15 year old cousin Daulton against Dad and 8 year old cousin Andrew. The game ended when the birdie landed in the poison ivy. It was ok - I'm pretty sure that Daulton and I were losing anyway. The end of June brought the 100th birthday of our most beloved judge - there was rhubarb pie for everyone!

July - August - September
Shane went to visit Rich in Kentucky in July while I worked every single day of the entire summer (with a couple of hours off here-and-there for doctors appointments). Finally, in September, I headed out on vacation (yes, alone) and spent a fantastic week in Key West, Florida. The highlight was definitely the day trip that I took to Dry Tortugas National Park. I rounded out the vacation by getting stuck in the mother of all traffic jams in Miami while police searched the canal under the bridge I was on for a man who had just shot several police. Then my flight was delayed and I almost got stranded in Atlanta. An interesting vacation, to say the least. September also brought our introduction to NASCAR. Everyone should try it - it's not as redneck as you think. Besides - rednecks are entertaining.

October - November - December
Candy's sister was married in October in a beautiful service in Springfield, Missouri - I'd never been there before and it was a lovely place (and the childhood home of Brad Pitt). The highlight for me was when I walked into the church in my skirt and blouse that actually fit (instead of the old 'fat clothes' that I usually wore) and my own brother didn't recognize me. That was interesting. Springfield also provided a wonderful new nativity set (one if 5 I got this year) and the chance to have people throw food at me. Arkalalah was fantastic, as always. November brought the retirement of my manager after 40 years of government service. Once again, parties were had and there was cake for everyone! December brought Rich back to Kansas (yay!), a new member to our family - welcome, Levi! - and, as always - a really great Christmas.

That about wraps it up . . . of course, Grandma Helen was hospitalized a few times, as was Grandpa Rowe. Plus, Shane got lung blisters and deathly ill at various times during the year and Sugar and I had our own health crises to deal with, so 2007 was an interesting year, but not al bad! Here's looking forward to 2008!