Thursday, September 13, 2007

OMG - I actually hugged Emily Saliers!!

Yesterday was Trouble's birthday, and I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to detract from her blog, but her big birthday gift from me was that we went to the Indigo Girls concert here in KC. They just happened to be playing on her actual birthday - how cool is that? But to make it even cooler, I was browsing their website one day and found this little blurb about them starting a Green Team. They were looking for fans to pick up their recyclables after the show and take them to a local recycling center so that their tour could be a little more eco-friendly. As a thank you, whoever volunteered to do this would get free tickets to the show or some other token of appreciation. I sent an email figuring someone from KC would have already jumped on it since the concert was only a month away and tickets had been on sale a while, but a week and half ago I got an email asking if I still wanted to do it. HOW COOL IS THAT?? Since we already had tickets to the show, they gave us backstage passes and right after the concert we got to meet Amy and Emily. There were other people in line waiting for the After Show stuff, but we were specifically called up by ourselves. Trouble and I were already giddy (the concert was absolutely AWESOME and we were only 4 people back from the stage) when we went upstairs to meet with them. We got our picture taken with them (to be seen later when we have our home computer hooked up again after the move) and chatted for a couple of minutes before they told us they already recycled their stuff and there wasn't anything we had to do. Trouble insists it was the best birthday EVER (I had to do something good to repay her for my big 30th bday surprise party a couple of years ago).

I'm still kind of amazed that I actually had the opportunity to talk with them, but didn't ask them any of the millions of questions I had or gush about how great they were. I was so worried about not coming off as a crazed fan, I don't know if I said much of anything (other than making a joke that Amy didn't break a string - which looking back on it, seems lame). I know they're just people - and they're definitely laid back and not as "famous" and some other celebrity types - so why did I get so dumbstruck?? What is it about people who are famous that gets the rest of us all in a tizzy? I don't know - I just thought it was interesting that when we walked out of there last night, I felt like a jubilant little kid on Christmas morning. I honestly expected to get a signed photograph or something - not to actually meet them. I knew it was a big moment for Trouble, and was surprised at how much it affected me too. Guess I'm just another fan after all.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Brief Update

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted on here and I apologize. Things have been a little crazy to say the least. I've officially started my new job at Habitat for Humanity in Kansas City, MO and am LOVING it! My official title is "AmeriCorps Volunteer Coordinator" - which means that I'm working thru the AmeriCorps program and am responsible for recruiting, training, and keeping up with our volunteers. My boss is the paid staff person in charge of volunteers, so I'm basically her sidekick, but she's giving me a good amount of responsibility, starting with all of the college groups that want to come work with us. What is very cool is that on my first day I had contact with 3 college groups - a social justice group from a local Jesuit college, an Honor Society type of group from UMKC, and a group from UCO in Edmond, OK - near my old stomping ground! I'm so excited to be able to do all of this!

Also going on right now is our move to our new house. Trouble and I are proud new owners of our first home!! I'm a little overwhelmed with everything going on right now, and my email access is spotty at best (mostly from work, which isn't really appropriate for blogging) so things will be touch and go on here for a while. Still, I plan on keeping this blog going, so please keep visiting!

I'm going to close with my soapbox on volunteering. EVERYONE has something to offer to make the world a better place. We don't all have money, but if you do, groups like Habitat can always use the donations. We all have our time that we can give too. If you have specific skills and/or talents that you'd like to use for the common good, there's a great website called VolunteerMatch that will help you find organizations in your area that can use what you have to offer. I'm a personal fan of HFH (obviously) but there are SO many organizations out there that need your help, so GET OUT THERE!! Thanks...