What a week --

WOW -- what a week we had last week -- Starting with Great Big Sea -- a date! Jason and I headed to ATL around 6pm (SIL watched the kids for us) ... and we got there with plenty of time to get in (we were worried at first because we did not have tickets at the Will Call window -- where they were supposed to be) .. but since we ordered tickets from the group website -- we were actually just on "the list" at the door. Jason felt so important .. as did I! :) So, we go in -- and try and find some seats (as it's general admission) ... we did not get there soon enough to get REALLY good front row seats or anything like that ... but we got seats on the side that were not too bad. We were hoping to be able to get up closer once the show started .. but we had to stay at "our seats" ... a little different than usual -- but that is ok! We had awesome view and the show was amazing (as always) ... there were about 500 prople (maybe a little more -- can't really tell that well in the venue) ...

After the show was done (I bought a shirt) -- we thought we would hang out by the tour bus in hopes of seeing one (or all of the guys) .. maybe get some pics or autographs -- but no such luck -- they were already on the bus and were not coming out. We hung out with 3 other people out there. Finally one of the guys (that helps the group) came out and asked if we were looking for autographs and we said that we would love it -- so he took some things on the bus for us -- for the guys to sign (I sent in my shirt) ... so that was really cool. We got home quite late -- only got to bed it was probably around 1am! Thankfully Jason did not have to work the next day (but he did get up to get Stephanie and Joseph off to school) ... Jenna and Samuel decided that they were not going to sleep in .. oh well -- early morning!

Wednesday -- woke up knowing that I would see New Kids On The Block that night -- and was VERY excited. Had no clue what I was going to wear -- had no clue who I was going to hang out with for the day -- but after a while I started getting ready ... Jason drove me over to Duluth (we were meeting other fans at the Loafing Leprechaun for lunch at 1pm) .. I got there early but found some girls to hang around with -- which was cool. Off to the LL for lunch -- and met lots of fans that I had been chatting with online (www.nkotbfans.com and www.nkotb.com) .. and also girls I had been texting with that morning! :) We hung out there for a while -- and then I went to the hotel with 2 friends for them to get ready (they had 5* and had to be back by 4:30pn for the Meet & Greet). We met up with some other fans and I found a few others to hang out with until it got close to show time. We hung out at the Convention Center in hopes of getting a glimpse of the guys. We did hear some of the soundcheck from outside -- which was cool! :) We also got to see Robo (the fans will know who this is) ... and that was cool -- through him it was confirmed that there would be a SUMMER TOUR!? WOOHOO!! Exciting news. Saving now -- I *WILL* be looking at getting 5* ... I so need to have some facetime with Donnie! LOL

Back at the venue, I finally met up with my friend Heather, and we went in to find our seats. They were awesome -- even though we were not that close to the stage! Then we waited on the show to start. Started off with Natasha Beddingfield ... and Lady GaGa. Both were very entertaining ... but we wanted NKOTB! LOL ...

Finally the boys were on stage -- and tears -- well, very close to tears -- and excitement -- and elation ... WOW! There are just NO WORDS that can describe how it was -- ok, so a friend on the boards summed it up -- and I will add her words to this blog -- cause I don't think I could put it any better than she did (I asked if I could quote her and she said that I could)!

----- Alabama Girl -- How I Became 13 Again: New Kids Rock Atlanta, GA

For once, I was 13 again. I had read accounts of other thirty-something women who had attended other NKOTB concerts at earlier stops on the tour. Several had mentioned this inexplicable phenomenon of age regression, stopping short of calling it time travel, but coming close. All the same, as I counted down the days from the 140’s to 1, I couldn’t help but wonder – what effect was this event going to have on me? After all, I’m a grown, married mother of 2 who drives a minivan. Would I feel obligated to act my age – subdued and reserved, excited only on the inside but not showing it? Or would I become a blubbering fool?
I stood there in the Arena at Gwinnett Center, in my great seats, just before the boys hit the stage while the drama mounted. Instead of my sweet dad by my side, as had been the case 18 years before, it was only fitting that my husband was with me now, gallantly stepping in to be my escort to an NKOTB show. To his credit, his only complaint the entire night, other than having to watch Donnie Wahlberg grab himself, was trying to find a men’s restroom, since they had all been converted to accommodate the disproportionate number of women. The lights went down, and the frenzied crowd of 13,000 women reached a fevered pitch. “Fifteen years ago – they walked away,” it said on the giant screens, while epic-sounding music played. “Now, they’re back. Are you ready? IT’S TIME.” All of a sudden, pyrotechnics and a hydraulic lift give me my boys back, in the flesh, right in front of me, and Joey McIntyre belts out the first line of “Single.”
I jumped up and down. I screamed. I danced. I shared some “Oh my gosh!” looks with the girls around me. I even wet my pants a little, as a reality check that I have, in fact, had two kids. But other than that, there was an absolute unbroken continuity between the girl I was in 1990 and the woman I have become.
The guys gave us everything we had hoped for – old favorites like “Please Don’t Go Girl,” “I’ll Be Loving You Forever,” “My Favorite Girl,” and “The Right Stuff” (complete with the entire arena screeching out the oh oh oh’s), and plenty of brand new ones too. Jordan Knight and Joey McIntyre had never sounded better. And as proof of their often -discussed commitment to the fans, they even had a small revolving “B-stage” set up toward the rear of the arena to give those folks some close-up time too.
The end came all too soon, and in the darkness, the crowd began chanting the classic “oh oh oh oh oh’s” of “Hangin’ Tough” – to which the guys responded with an explosive double encore of “Step by Step” and “Hangin’ Tough”, wearing personalized Boston Celtics jerseys. Watching them form a huddle at the end of that song, grasping shoulders and going round and round like kids – or brothers – I teared up. I realized that I had come full circle, in a way. I was hit with a truth at that moment – people don’t really change. I’ve done a lot of living in 18 years, but I’m still me. And those guys I was watching – my first crushes, the ones I chattered endlessly to my girlfriends about, the one whose posters covered my walls and who I gazed at while I tried to do Algebra homework, the ones who occupied most of my waking thoughts and dreams at night – they were still the same five boys, who have come around once again to create the magic. It’s the magic of the feeling – pure elation – and just when I thought those days were long gone, the magic came back once more.

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I just can't help but smile as I remember the experiences of the day. The new friends that I've made -- and the anticipation of a new tour next summer (if we got the right words from Robo that afternoon) ....

Oh how I could kick myself for not going to the right Waffle House on the way home from the show -- or else we would have met Donnie (cooking at the Waffle House at the Pleasant Hill exit at 2 in the morning) ... sigh -- no facetime -- but MAYBE ... just MAYBE ... there will be facetime at the next tour! :) 5* ... I HOPE! I'm sure there is more that I could write about -- and share -- but my mind is blank right now .. I will just have to write more when I remember more. Took loads of pictures and videos. All pics are up on Facebook and I have a few videos on youtube :)

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Thursday evening -- Cheetah Girls -- Stephanie's first concert! OH WOW! What a fun time that was .. to experience that with her!! :) From the moment the lights went out -- until the end of the show -- it was such a joy to see how excited she was and to think that we could bring that to her! She loved every moment of it -- especially when she was just inches away from the girls when they walked down the aisle where we were sitting (just a few seats away from the aisle) ... The music was wonderful, the seats were amazing, the dancers - WOW! What an awesome time!!! Took lots of pictures and videos -- pics are up on Facebook!

Then it was time for Halloween! We met up with Christi and her family (Allie and Roo) .. and took them TorT'n in Paula's subdivision -- they hauled (of course) ... and we had a fun time. Even Samuel and Jenna were getting into it. Stephanie was a Monster Bride, Joseph was a TMNT, Samuel and Jenna were both Elmo! :) Did not get very many pictures. I will have to see what I have ... MIL got a few as well I think!

-- And then it was the weekend -- and now November has begun ... and it's hopefully going to be a slow week!!! :)