The Christoffersen's: September 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Why Am I Here?

Byron's brother has invited us up to Santa Monica again. Wyatt and I came last year around this time and had the time of our lives. There were several moments when I was able to sit back, take a breath, and say, "This is why I came." But what will be my reason this time? I'm a little worried that I won't discover the reason. I have a sore throat and my patience for Wyatt is wearing thin. I'm edgy and tired. This was not the mother I was last year. I realized that I needed to change my mindset immediately when I noticed Wyatt too restless to sleep just a few moments ago. I laid down to cuddle with him and immediately my heart rate went down. And so I am writing this to kick start my brain into looking for and enjoying special momemts with Wyatt that will never happen the same way again. That is why I am here.

A Hunting We Will Go!

It is hunting season. I have come to terms that every Fall, I will be a Hunter's Widow, doomed to spend my weekends at home caring for the kin, while the menfolk shoot us up some game meat. I grew up with my father doing this, my mother complaining about it, and so now my husband does it, and I try to complain a little less. Despite the absence of my husband, not mention lack of date nights or any type of home improvement project getting done, hunting season does have its advantages. Though game meat is not my favorite thing to eat, my freezer is always full and I'm learning to cook it in ways so that I don't have to taste it. Something else that has happened is that Wyatt has developed a great interest in going with his father on these trips. Byron and Wyatt had one such trip a couple of weekends ago. It was just an overnight trip, but it was just the two of them and they did very well. Wyatt has been camping with his father before, either with me, or at church Father and Son outings. But this was the first one, just the two of them. They rode the four-wheeler, called in elk, watched shooting stars and heard elk calls all night.

I was happy for both of them. I was more happy for me though. I mean, let's be honest. I had just over 30 hours to get as much stuff done as possible! It had been one of those weeks where the projects that I wanted to do kept getting pushed off until the next day. So I happily buckled Wyatt into his car-seat and waved goodbye, only to out it in high gear to scratch off the items of my to do list.

So, though I may have to attend some of these hunting trips for the next few years, to help with Wyatt while Byron does some actual hunting, I see it as an investment. An investment in a few weekends off for me!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Living the Rock Star Life for 6 Hours, 27 Minutes, and 21 Seconds.

The concert was amazing! It was so exciting to be there and to be apart of it all. It finally came to an end though. My ears were ringing like crazy. Byron was feeling quite proud of himself that he accepted the ear plugs that were offered before the concert. I, however, was much too young and cool for such a thing!

It was time to go backstage. Have you ever been "backstage" of a concert before? Well, it is literally, the BACK OF THE STAGE! Not at all exciting as I thought it would be. But still, we were vsiting with old and new friends as we walked through the hard working roadies to the back room. Which was literally, a ROOM, in the BACK. Some tables and chairs were set up, and THAT WAS ALL. I had no expectations really, so it was all good to me. After a while, members of the band came in, greeted by thier family and friends. Then they were off to see the cute young fans that some how got thier tickets from a radio station of they knoew a friend of a friend of the nieghbors with Brandon's mom, yadda yadda yadda. Honestly, after the show they put on, I'm not sure how they had the energy or desire to visit with anyone. I never spoke to Brandon, but I stood next to him and thought, "Gosh what a cute little thing you are!" He was like a little elf, and I just wanted to put him in my pocket!

After a while, our friend, Les, said, in his very simple way, "Sommer, better get your camera out." OK, Les. Whatever you say. Ronnie Vannucci came and said hello, but no real introductions were made, and I don't think he really cared. He probably has to meet friends of friends of mothers of friends all the time. Well, take a really good look at this picture below. Do you see me with the ridiculous looking smile and then Ronnie's straight face? Oye! Here's what happened just seconds before the picture. I stood next to Ronnie for the picture, not wanting to invade his space. Well then Les says, "Come on Sommer, cuddle up with him!" Now I'm starting to blush and I exclaim, "Well, I don't want to violate the man!" Then Ronnie grabs my waist, says "Hey Baby! This is Rock n' Roll! We'll be ripping our clothes off in a second!" I am now mortified, embarressed beyond belief and laughing hysterically, and my face is now 10 times redder that before (hence the black and white photo). What get's me is Ronnie makes this comment that kills me and then THATS the FACE HE MAKES! What? Like he never said a word, and I'm some insane fan thats about ready to pee her pants! I felt like such an idiot! Needless to say, I did not share with him that we have mutual friends, what high school did I go to, blah, blah, blah, blah!

It was time to go to the House of Blues Foundation Room for the after party. I am not a clubber. I do not go to lounges and "hang out." I had absouletly no idea what a foundation room was. So far, it could have been like all the other "rooms" I had been in. Les told us he'd go with us and stay a bit, but it was getting late and we'd be on our own. So we walked out with Les and his super fun daughter, Amy, and we headed over to the Foundation Room entrance. There is a line of people just schmoozing every way they can to get into this "Room." But looking past them, I notice we're getting into an elevator. See, I told you, I'm clueless and just along for the ride. We pack into the elevator and smoothly but beyond quickly are we jetted up to the TOP OF THE FREAKIN' MANDALAY BAY! I am all of a sudden at eye level with the flashing sign! It was amazing! Once again, we walk by people just begging to get into the VIP section. And once again, I ask myself, "What in the world am I doing here?" We hung out for a bit, visited with some people, took pictures, and though there wasn't anything going on, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to just savor this moment that I was never going to have again. It was awesome!
We finally decided to leave, and got home to our normal house, and got into our normal bed at 2 AM. We woke up then next morning (or the same morning rather) and lived our same, normal lives, went to our normal church, and had a normal Sunday. And that was just fine to me.

Friday, September 25, 2009

The Killers, the Concert!

Read the Prequel below first!

I've always admired the fact that the Killers have stayed local. They could have placed their recording studio anywhere in the world, even London where they got their start, but they stayed true to their home, Las Vegas. I started doing some research on them, because I was stalking them, oops, sorry, I mean I wanted to get a thank you gift to Ronnie's wife for the tickets, and I was looking online for some interests they had. In the process of reading about them, I discovered Ronnie Vannucci, the drummer, was the drummer for Attaboy Skip, a cute little SKA band my friends used to listen to in high school. It was one of those things where my circle of friends skimmed the edge of his circle of friends. So I was super excited about this information and I was trying to share it with, oh I don't know, THE WORLD! And people already knew this little tid bit of information. Why was it not shared with me! I would have started stalking, oops, I mean searching out for these guys a lot sooner! See the crazed look in my eye? But seriously, what is up with that picture? Take away my glasses and I look full on PSYCHO!

We weren't sure where our seats would be at the concert, but we knew to search for our friend Les, and took comfort in knowing we'd be sitting with him. We called him as we got closer and he told Byron, "It took me while to get the tickets, so we might be in nosebleeders!" A little disappointed, but still excited, we ventured forth and met up with Les. He handed us our tickets, and then in its blingy, golden glory, he handed us our bright, flashy, gold backstage pass wristbands. I could hear the choir of angels as Byron put it on my wrist!
We began walking towards our section in the arena, and I began making mental notes:

"OK, please remember not to make a fool out of yourself backstage. Ronnie Vannucci doesn't really care if you saw AttaBoy Skip at Brock Olson's Graduation party and a fight broke out!"

"Oooh, concert t-shirts, I wanted one of those. Don't forget to buy one. Darn it, the one I wanted is in a ghastly shade of purple."

"It is ridiculously hot in here. You just had to wear this little jacket in the middle of a Vegas September, didn't you."

"On the other hand, aren't you glad you wore flats. Your feet would be killing you be now. Yes, Byron makes you look like one of the Munchkin People without high heels on. Get over it."

"What? The Killers don't go on for 2 more hours? What are we going to do for that long? Oh, stand in that crazy line for my t-shirt. Very good."

"Here's our section. I wonder how high up we are?

"Wait, we're not going up. We're going down, closer to the stage
This is when Les turns at us and gives us a little grin, as though to say, "I tricked ya, didn't I?" Nosebleed nothin'! We were on the side, 3 rows up. Not close enough to lick, I mean, touch Brandon Flowers, but darn close enough to see his smile (more about that later). Come to find out, we were sitting in the Killer's family section. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and wives of the Killers were sitting all around me. Lisa, Ronnie's wife comes up to introduce herself, and hands her father, Les, three purple fabric stickers that read "The Killer's After Party, House of Blues Foundation Room." "Come on up and hang out with the band later." she says. It was the first time of many that night, when I thought, "What in the world am I doing here?" It was very surreal.

Then it was time. Music began playing, the crowd started yelling, and out came the band. The entrance was very simple. No smoke machine, not strobe lights, just the band walking out onto a well lit stage. The entire arena was still lit up. This is what I saw (Thank you YouTube for always having much better videos than mine):
Mr. Brightside

Every time the camera pans to the right, that was our section.

Spaceman

Joyride

Apparently, Brandon Flowers doesn't allow fighting at Killer concerts! "Losing Touch" starts nicely, then all of a sudden, Brandon stops the song! I started thinking it was part of the act, but he saw some fans fightings and this is what he did about it.
Losing Touch

Call it community pride, but I love things having to do with my hometown. CSI, Ocean's Eleven, and Brandon Flowers sarcastic reference to "beautiful Boulder Beach" at Lake Mead as the band starts "I Can't Stay!"
I Can't Stay

All These Things I've Done

I had some immediate impressions while observing these guys perform. First off, in all the videos these guys make, and the pictures they are in, Brandon Flowers is very reserved, mysterious looking. But have you ever watched someone doing something they truly have joy in? No matter how tough they try to look, there is a smile on their face? That was Brandon. He'd sing, do his odd little dance, then look over at the family section, and just smile. I'm also pretty sure he was smiling at me, but I won't tell his mom that! He was like a little kid that was signing and performing just for the joy of doing so.

Something else I noticed was what a show Ronnie Vannucci puts on when he plays those drums. Every single body part is in motion to the beat of the song. Even his head could have created its own rhythm and beat, though I'm sure hitting his head with as drum would be painful. There was also an on stage relationship between Brandon and Ronnie. You could tell that the band really trusted in Ronnie to create the heart and soul of the song. It was almost as if they were looking to Ronnie to lead the band. It was interesting to see.

One last thing about the concert, one of the opening bands are these guys, Phoenix, from France. Really fun music, with another drummer that was fun to watch. Go iTunes them, its worth it.
Phoenix

Well, the concert ends after 90 minutes of non-stop music. We've already made new friends, ran into some old ones, and I was about to find out what this little gold wristband was about to do!

Coming up next, The Killers, Backstage!

The Killers, the Prequel

From a very young age, I have had a fascination with MTV and celebrities. Growing up, my mother would have died rather than allow me to watch a... dun, dun, dun...music video. The video for "Take on Me" or "Let's Get Physical" were just too odd and obscene for a 6 year old, in my mother's mind! One day as I watched TV with my friend, Yolanda from across the street (who, BTW, was a big influence of the music I liked as a child. Anyone heard of Micheal Jackson?), my mother came storming into the 70's wood paneled family room, just ranting about the terrible, sin dripping music video we were watching. The thing was, it wasn't even a music video at all! I swear to you, it was "Solid Gold!" The Solid Gold dancers were doing some chorus line kick, which seemed pretty tame to me, but my mother swore it was an offensive music video and that she was to NEVER SEE ME WATCHING THAT FILTH AGAIN! She was so distraught about it, she used me as an example as she gave a talk to the entire congregation of our church. Something about the evils of music videos and how she caught me watching such terrible filth and that she forbid me to watch anymore. I was only six years old, but I remember sitting in the middle of the chapel, mortified! My mother basically confessed my sin to the entire church! I wanted to stand on the pew and yell, "BUT IT WAS SOLID GOLD!"

This experience, however, did the exact opposite of what my mother wanted. The more videos I watched, the more interested I became of the people singing and the lives they were living.

Its no secret I'm fascinated by celebrities. I am shameless about bragging about K.B. Plumbing: Plumbers to the Stars! I am glued to TMZ while Wyatt takes a much too long shower, wasting the water, because I'm too interested into what photo the paparazzi caught that week! I can answer any question concerning Brangelina, Britney Spears, or Micheal Jackson. I've been accused of being a pop culture know it all.

My brother-in-law makes fun of me because of my little obsession. Whenever I visit him in Santa Monica, I am on Celebrity Alert, constantly keeping my eyes open for a movie star! In fact, when John runs into a celebrity in town, he now refers to it as a "Sommer Moment!"

So where do the Killers come into all of this? Well, one day Byron comes home from work and says, "Guess what I just found out?" He then proceeds to tell me that my father's friend of over 20 years, Les, has a daughter who has married the drummer of the Killers! "That's really cool!" I exclaim. Then a couple of weeks later, my husband calls me and very cool and collected says, "Guess where I am?" I'm not good a guessing games. "I don't know, where are you?" "Oh, no where big, just installing a sink in the Killer's recording studio." WHAT! "You're lying!" "Nope, and all the band members are here!" Now that was really, really cool! Though not very glamorous sounding, my husband then went on, installing a sink while listening to the band make final corrections to "Human" a single that wasn't even out yet.

Time went on, our little 3 seconds of fame passed by, and we went on with our lives, Then my dad got a phone call that was the really, really, really coolest thing ever! Les knew Byron and I were Killers fans and he got us tickets and backstage passes to the Vegas show! Byron did his best to keep it a surprise, but Byron knew how excited I would be, and couldn't hold it in any longer! I had a week to get myself a new outfit, decide on hair and makeup options, get contact lenses, and download any new Killers songs that I was missing! Then, all I could was wait and look forward to a great night!

Coming up next, The Killers, The Concert!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I Can See Clearly Now the Glasses are Gone!

I got glasses when I was 15 years old. It was exciting then, a new look, wearing them during French class just to hear my boyfriend say how cute I was, it was all fun. But then I reached a point where I had the wear them ALL THE TIME! Yawn! For close to 20 years I have worn glasses to the point where the lenses have scratched and chipped, and one pair even broke off in half and I had to tape them together right down the middle, just like "Revenge of the Nerds!" I couldn't take it anymore! I started contemplating contact lens, but would shudder at the thought, because, you see, I have this...thing. You know how everyone has a "thing" that freaks them out, I have several. But this particular "thing" was sticking anything, ANYTHING, near my eye. The thought of that eye machine that puffs air into your eye is horrifying to me! "When's it coming, when's it coming! Ahhhh!!!" I say in my head. Eye drops are ridiculous! Remember the "Friends" episode where Rachel freaked out about the eye drops and has to get held down?

That's me! At one point I had Byron holding my shoulders, Dad holding my head, and my mom shoving the eye drops in my eyes! So what was I thinking wanting contact lenses?
It started when I became a teacher. A little girl drew a picture of me and she was very excited to share it. I looked at it, took a sigh of relief that she hadn't given me green skin or a wart on my nose, but them I looked at my face and I saw them...glasses. When I picture my face in my mind, I do not have glasses on. But I realized that's how people see me, with glasses. I guess I wanted people to see the person I felt I was, without the glasses.
So what was the turning point? What finally pushed me into the tiny, cramped Walmart eye doctor office? Pure vanity and my obsession with celebrities. 4 days before I found myself in the doc's office, Byron surprised me with great news! I was going to the Killers concert with backstage passes to meet the band. Then I looked in the mirror at my overly chubby face and my scratched, unkept glasses and thought, "They may never remember me, but I cannot meet the band like this!" Loosing 20 lbs in a week was not going to happen for me (though I tried my best) but I could do something about my eyes. I dropped Wyatt off at his Grammy's and set off looking for a cheap makeover, new clothes, new makeup, anything to help me feel a little better about myself. And in my head, I had a secret plan. If I can get into the eye doctor TODAY, I am GOING to do it. No excuses! Well, I ended up following through with my plan and left with my glasses in my purse, contacts in my eyes, and new $5 Walmart sunglasses in my hand (something I could never do before).
As I took my picture with The Killer's drummer, Ronnie Vanucci, he had no idea what I did that week, nor did he care, but Ronnie was the one that got my butt in to that doctor's office and I'm so glad. I'm still not great at sticking my finger in my eye, and though I need them, I still haven't bought eye drops, but I look and feel good in my cheap sunglasses and now people can see me how I SEE ME! (BTW, can you all just see me as 20 lbs lighter, too! Thx!)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

One Question

Following tradition, we went to Parawon for Labor Day. We did the same fun stuff, went to the fair, rode the four wheelers, I did some major scrapbooking, ate some awesome Prime Rib cooked by good ol' KB. But one new question did arise that deserved to be answered...

$20 bucks in my pocket

One day I got out some pants that I had been avoiding wearing because I , ahem, might have put on, ahem, ahem, a few pounds and I knew the fit would be tight. Well, I put the pants on anyways (do not even think about asking about the fit) and surprise surprise! $20 bucks sat happily in my pocket. Don't you love those surprises? Don't you wish they happened more often? I just got another surprise tonight when I realized all my memory cards were full. I downloaded them onto the computer and a slew of video from Seattle came falling out and these great pictures of Wyatt on his first plane ride. It was like $20 bucks in my pocket! (Well, only my memory card can't buy my lunch at Cafe Rio, but you get my drift!)

Its not the best edited video in the world, but hey, there's a title and a soundtrack. Its better than a poke in the eye with a stick!

Creative Escape

I love the process of creating. I cannot paint a picture, draw, or sculpt, but give me some paper, pictures, and glue, and I'm in heaven! I can get lost for hours scrapbooking, and yet, it is so hard to make it a priority in my everyday life. That's why I was grateful for another chance to attend Heidi Swapp's Creative Escape in Chandler, AZ a couple of weekends ago. It isn't a "scrapbook convention" but it isn't just a little "crop" either! (That's scrapbook talk, sorry) It was an opportunity to be instructed by some of the best teachers, designers, and artists in the paper crafting industry. We left with about 10 different projects in just 2 1/2 days. But it wasn't just about scrapbooking or how many project we could make. It was about allowing yourself to be inspired by simple things such as a tea bag or your son's face. It was about learning as many different techniques as possible to have for the future of creating. Something that stuck with me was a message given by Heidi Swapp when she said scrapbooking isn't just a craft, we are creating ways to remember or past, our family, our thoughts, and our dreams. I could just write about the time this past weekend that Wyatt picked me sunflowers and how it made me feel, OR I could scrapbook a page with the pictures of my sweet little boy, sunflowers in hand, and then record my feelings. I guess it all appeals to me because I am a very visual person. Images can have an emotional connection for me.

Needless-to-say, it was a wonderful weekend. I went with good friends, became closer with new friends, and had a weekend just for me. Below are some great pictures, taken by Ginger, because my pictures suck! She's got more pictures on her blog, check them out. Also below are links to some of the designers. Take a peek at them and expand your creative horizons!

Anjuli, Ginger, HEIDI SWAPP, Heidi, and Me!

Heidi Swapp is a awesome, sincere woman who genuinely wants to meet you and talk with you. For 2 years now, we've waited until the whole shin dig was over and then would visit with her. She talks to you like you are an old friend. She's a great lady!

The lamp Heidi designed to auction off for the Lymphoma Foundation went for $8,000!

This is designer Heather Bailey, her project was my favorite. Heather has a little old Hollywood glam, rockabilly style to her. And she's also super nice. She has these amazing hair accessories called "Trash Ties" which I am fascinated with since I have long hair for once in my life. Here she is taking time away from her adorable family just to show us how to use them!

"Mr. Bazzil" owns Bazzil Paper and is partners with Heidi in putting on Creative Escape. He's a sweetheart!

Some of these crafters a little nuts! You would think the norm would be stay-at-home moms from Provo, UT, but that is not the case. They are pear-shaped ladies from Georgia. The color theme for this year was pink, green and that's right, zebra. Frightening, isn't it? There was a lot of this going around. Us "normal" girls had to quickly find each other and cling on to avoid being body-snatched and turned into pear-shaped zebra ladies ourselves. Message of the day, crafting all day and no exercise is NOT a good combination.

Anjuli and Ginger after a long 2nd day of crafting! Only one more class to go!

What project shall me make next?

Yes, Byron, I was Facebooking, again!

Hiedi and I coveting our new zebra camera bags. ($80 here in town, got mine for $46! Neaner neaner neaner!)

This is Tim Holtz, if you do any type of paper crafting and you don't know who he is, you are living in the dark ages and its time to wake up. He's huge. His projects are messy, different, and just cool. What's sooo funny is that because he is the only guy designer, pretty much anywhere, dealing with paper crafts and scrapbooking, the pear-shaped ladies throw themselves at him. They could lick him like a lollipop, but the thing is, woman are clearly not his attraction, catch my drift? He's more flaming than a campfire! But those old ladies love him! Tim also designed a lamp for the Lymphoma Foundation. Last year a shirt he designed for the same cause was auctioned off for $12,000. That's right. He stood there, dumbfounded. This year, he was just plain brought to tears when his lamp went for , are you ready?....$29,000! Some lamp, huh!

I was going to post my TERRIBLE video of the action, but thank heavens for YouTube. Here's a much better video.