Donna's blog

21 years in the making...

2008-10-24T18:52:00.001-07:00

I have loved the New Kids on the Block since I was 8 years old. Before 10/13/08, I had never seen them in concert or gotten to meet any of them. I left work Monday at 11:00am so I could get ready and head to Glendale. I got to Glendale (the Jobing.com Arena) just before 2pm and met up with Sandy, Aden, and Suzie. We went to Margaritaville to eat and have a drink. When we got in there, we found out that Joey McIntyre had been in there 30 minutes before us. The waitress also said he goes "commando..." After we were done, we walked around and Sandy got to take pics on Kiss FM's red carpet. She and her leg are quite the celebrity :) People kept coming up and wanting to take pics of her leg and asking if the tats were real...lol...(She has her whole leg tattoed with pics of the NKOTB, song lyrics, etc.) We got in line to go backstage at about 4:00 as we were told to be there at 4:30 sharp. It wasn't until after 5 when they finally opened up the doors. We checked in our cameras (they weren't allowed in the meet & greet) and got our concert tickets, as well as our gift bags. Next, they led us upstairs to the VIP lounge. We could hear the guys doing their sound check. We got to have crowd-free shopping for merchandise. I got a track jacket. Shortly after getting into the lounge, Robo (one of their security guards) went over the rules (Do NOT ask for an autograph or you will be escorted out...blah, blah, blah). We were then lined up to meet the NKOTB. We got to go in groups of 10. I was in the 2nd group. Before the pics began, the guys came out to the crowd to get everyone hyped up. Danny squeezed my hand as he walked by . When it was our turn to go in, I was a bit star-struck! I hugged Joey first, then Danny, then Jonathan, then Jordan, then Donnie, then back to Jordan for the pictures. Click, click...time to go! It was so surreal and seemed to go by way too fast. After they were done taking pictures with everyone, they came back out to get us hyped up for the concert. I was in the 2nd row!! I wish I was sitting where Sandy & Aden were! (FRONT AND CENTER>>>LUCKY GIRLS!!!) The concert was amazing! The first act was Tammy Chin, some lady from Jamaica. Next was Natasha Bedingfield, who actually was standing by me watching Tammy perform, before she went on. Then it was the guys. After the concert, we went and found the tour buses. My crazy ass stayed until 2:30 am!! Joey talked to us a little bit and we got to meet his wife and cute little dog. He left shortly thereafter. Jordan went to his bus and never came back out. Jonathan spent a lot of time sitting outside the bus, smoking (like a chimney!) and texting on his cell. He waved to us, but then ignored us after that. Danny was out there for about a minute or so, but nothing exciting. Then, everyone started chanting for Donnie...lol...he finally came out and put on a show. He mooned us (got it on video!) and talked to us. A couple girls threw their bras at him. I didn't get home until 4:15 am and then had to change clothes and go to work!! I am still on cloud nine! I had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it again in Utah on November 15!

2008-06-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

I AM GOING TO MEET THESE BOYS (okay, MEN) (NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK)in October. I know what you're thinking. You are incredibly jealous. I fully understand. I would be, too! hahaha Anyways...I finally got a 5 star VIP ticket to see them. This includes :
A ticket in the first 10 rows!
» 5 Star souvenir laminate
» Meet and greet - photo op!
» Pre-show party!
» Exclusive New Kids on the Block gift bag!
» Parking
» Crowd-free merchandise shopping!
» Discount coupon to the New Kids on the Block online store

I won't even tell you how much it cost or admit that I am going alone, as that would be embarrassing....

I did not get to see them in concert when I was a kid, so I am making up for it now. I LOVED them sooooooooooo much way back when. I had my room covered in their posters. I had NKOTB barbie dolls, scrap books, pajamas, tour jacket (still have that!), pillow case, etc. Ridiculous. And now---I must wait 4 months. I am sooo excited. Now, if I could just meet Kid Rock........

I'm baacccckkkk

2008-06-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Sad to say...but we have returned. It's so hard to come back here. Well....we started off our vacation by staying at the Viscount Suites in Tucson for the first 4 nights, so that we could attend my nephew's graduation and graduation party. My sister went all out! I felt like I was at a wedding reception instead! Side note---the ASU Sundevils baseball team stayed at the Suites when we were there, too. My lovely sister pointed out how much older I am than those boys. Gee, thanks. Guess it's official that I'm old now...While in Tucson, we also went to the Biosphere 2. It's pretty neat!

On Sunday, we headed to California. My aunt went with us, however ended up being sick the whole time. (turns out she has pneumonia) On Monday, my step-brother and his family came to our condo and we barbecued and played on the beach all day. On Tuesday, we went to Catalina Island. Nice boat ride, but cold!!! On Wednesday, we just drove around Orange County after taking my aunt to the airport in San Diego. I'm ready to move to Laguna Beach once I win the Million Dollar Raffle on June 11! On Thursday, we went to Disney Land and California Adventures. So, so, so much fun! I LOVE the Hollywood Tower of Terror!!! On Friday, we went to Jeremy's sister-in-law's graduation party. On Saturday, we played on the beach all day...went boogie boarding. We have sunburns to show for it! We left early Sunday morning to return home. I'm ready to go back.......

The Kissing Disease

2008-05-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ashley has been sleeping a lot for the past couple months. I took her to her pediatrician 2 weeks ago and expressed my concerns. I suggested labs get drawn and so, with my insistence, they drew some labs and told me she was fine. Well, she's not fine. The sleeping continues and now we have a slew of new symptoms. I tried to get her into the pediatrician again yesterday, but was told they were booked. I have decided to fire her pediatrician and switch her over to my doctor, but she can't see her until June 3. Figures. So...I took her to Urgent Care last night. They did a mono spot (to test for mononucleosis) which was positive. Her urine was positive for blood and sugar. This doctor suspects she may have diabetes. WHAT?!?!! I wasn't expecting that as a potential diagnosis! He also thinks she may have pyelonephritis, which she has been hospitalized with in the past. He and his staff were in a hurry to close up and go home as it was almost 8pm and they close at 6pm. He gave me a script for antibiotics and stated we need to follow up with her pediatrician first thing in the morning. (This would be the same pediatrician who said she was "fine"!) I have a call into the pediatrician....let's see if I have to harrass them today to get some lab orders out of them. Ugghh...

But wait, it gets better!

When we first pulled into Urgent Care yesterday, there was a commotion in the parking lot. Some crazy lady repeatedly, intentionally, rammed her car into somebody's van, almost hitting the couple outside the van and then she sped off. So while we were waiting in the lobby, we got to fill out a police report (witness statements) and be interviewed by the police.

We are leaving for our vacation on Wednesday (if all goes well with the kid). My nephew graduates high school on Wednesday in Tucson. We will be there for 4 days and then head to California on Sunday for a week. I am sooo excited. I hope we can get Ashley's situation under control quickly. I PRAY she doesn't have diabetes. I can't even begin to dwell on that right now.

Blogspot won't let me change my picture, so it's going to be Christmas year-round in my blog!

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T17:23:00.001-08:00

I tried changing my photo, but blogspot must have a glitch because it will not let me!

Anyhow...thought I would let you know how MY New Year's went. I went to bed at 9:00p.m. as I had to be up by 4:00 a.m. to get ready for work. At 10:00, my phone rings. It's Ashley telling me that Kid Rock is going to be on MTV. While I love Kid Rock, I need my sleep....At 11:45, my friend Donna calls me from Vegas to tell me she's won $2250. She's loud and has obviously been drinking. While I'm very happy for her, I think I could've waited until morning to hear about it...Finally, I fall back to sleep. 1:00 am: BEEP BEEP BEEP...(you get the picture) My smoke detectors/fire alarms all start going off. Neill manages to get them to stop. I now dread my alarm clock as I know I have not gotten enough sleep. 3:00 am: BEEP BEEP BEEP. The damn alarms are going off again. They continue to do so every 10-15minutes for the next hour and a half. I give up on ever sleeping, and get ready for work. I am happy to go to work because I won't have to listen to fire alarms there! Before leaving, I tell Neill, "I'd say 'Happy New Year' but I'd be lying...."

We are going to Vegas at the end of this month for 3 nights for a tile convention. We'll be staying at the Luxor. I really want to stay at the Venetian, but it is out of Neill's budget...Oh, well. Ashley is going to stay here with a friend so she won't miss any school. I am sooooooo excited! If I run into Carrot Top or Criss Angel, I will try to take a pic for you....haha

Hannah Montana

2007-12-15T16:20:00.001-08:00

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus has added more dates to her tour and is returning to Jobing.com Arena on January 22 at 7:00 p.m. Yes, on a school night. Well, I decided that if I could purchase tickets from Ticketmaster, I would take Ashley. Of course I succeeded, although we're in the nosebleeds. It wasn't too long ago I took her to a concert on a school night and thought, "I'll never do that again." I am such a sucker! I bought 3 tickets so that she could bring a friend this time. I really am a cool mom....I mean a sucker! Merry Christmas, child!

On to other news....Congratulations Auntie Poppins! Jojo is going to be such a big helper! She'll carry the diaper bag(s) for you! I bet she'll even play dress-up with the baby! Wink, wink

Welcome to my office...

2007-12-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a week since I've posted anything, so I thought I'd ramble a little tonight. I have a night off from the kid (again!) and thought Neill and I would at least go out to dinner, but alas, it was not meant to be. I entered the living room earlier to find him eating leftovers. Ramen noodles it is, then!

Oh wait---it gets even better!!! (As if you thought it weren't possible!!) I have been informed that for tonight's viewing pleasure, he will be watching/paying for boxing on PPV! (hence why I am posting a blog...)

Ever heard of/tried Entrees Made Easy?
Well, we have one opening here in February and I am just a little excited. You see, I hate to cook. Which is why I like to go out to eat. You get a double bonus at a restaurant: No cooking. No cleaning. Sorry, I veered off topic already. Anyways, I'm hoping they will be a helpful (and healthy) solution to our dinner dilemmas.

Now, for my favorite subject (not really!): WORK

Welcome to my office....My boss has decided that my current desk location (the nurse's station) is too congested. Her idea? Move me to the phone booth. The maintenance men have put in a long shelf and, believe it or not, blinds. The caveat? If someone needs to use the phone, I have to leave and take all my stuff with me. If I have to leave the booth for any reason, I have to bring all my stuff with my (i.e. patients' charts). I have refused to go in there, just on principle. Not sure what's going to happen. Some people are quite amused by it. I am not one of them.

We opened Neill's store yesterday. We're still putting the showroom together, but thought we could try to make a sale.
Lots of labeling tile. We only got one customer in the door. No sale. We spent 7 hours there today....no customers! Yikes! I do realize that it is really cold and snowy outside. It's also holiday season, so we will have to wait and see. We hired a salesperson yesterday, but will not start her until January. Hopefully she'll still be interested!

Well, I suppose that's enought rambling for now. Think I'll go take a relaxing bath and read my Redbook magazine.

BUSTED!

2007-11-30T19:01:00.001-08:00

Ashley won a ticket to go with her principal and some other kids to the Phoenix Suns game tonight. I agreed to let her friend, who also won, come home with her after school and to spend the night when they return. Ashley asked if her friend could wear one of her jerseys. I said "no" because they cost $60-$80 each, but agreed to let her wear one of her Phoenix Suns hats. Something told me they were being sneaky...so before dropping them off at the school, I asked Ash what all was in her purse. Her reply? My ipod, the camera, money....nothing about a hidden jersey! While Neill and I were at dinner, she texted me to say she was on TV. Thanks to TiVo, I was able to rewind to the beginning of the game to look for her. Yes, there she was with her friend. Front and center on tv. Both wearing Ashley's jerseys. Um, hello? Did you think I wouldn't notice????? I sent her a text that she is in so much trouble for lying to me and being sneaky. She replies, "I'm so so so sorry." Yeah. Sorry she got caught!

Old at 28

2007-11-28T18:37:00.000-08:00

So, I took Ashley to her first "real" concert on Monday night at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. Bands (in order of performance): Cute is What We Aim For (they need to keep aiming! haha), Plain White T's (Hey There, Delilah...), Gym Class Heroes, and Fall Out Boy. The first band had a greasy haired lanky boy who was wearing girl's jeans and they were even cuffed at the bottoms. Need I say more? Second band sounded badly live. I'm not sure if it was the band or the arena which made it sound weird. Third band rocked. They put on a good show. The lead singer said, "Now, where's all the parents at? Parents-put your arms up!" This is the part that embarrassed Ash (hahahahaha) and made me realize how old I really am. Literally 4 other people in the whole arena raised their hands. I was it for our whole section. GCH dedicated the next song to the parents....blah blah blah...meanwhile Ash sat down and texted her friend about how much she hated me and how embarrassing I am. Little ingrate. Fall Out Boy threw on a good show. All the little girls went crazy for them, especially for Peter Wentz. Including Ash. So, I googled this Peter and found some interesting information on Wikipedia. The most exciting information I found is that he is 2 months OLDER than I am! (maybe I'm not so old after all) Secondly, he is bisexual. I told Ashley I'm going to buy her a shirt that says, "I like boys who like boys" HAHAHA I kill myself sometimes because I am so funny. Anyhow, I had a hard time accepting how young everyone at the concert was. I felt soooo out of place. I guess I thought people my age would've been there, too. People my age must not like that style of music, I suppose. It was nothing like the Kid Rock concert I was at last month. (Which was awesome, by the way!) Oh yeah. GCH's lead singer took off his shoes and stanky socks and tossed them all into the mosh pit (first concert I've been to with one of those!) I found that interesting. But, then again, I still have a piece of a sweaty towel from a Vanilla Ice concert many years ago....lol. Moral of the story: I am a cool mom for taking her whether she realizes it or not. We did not get home until 1 am and I had to be up for work at 4 am. How many mom's would do that?? Next time I will bring a cane and white wig so I can look as ancient as I felt! hahahahaha