Deep Thoughts By Me

I worry about people. Especially people who lack common sense. This is just my observation.

Sometimes a person’s reaction is 100 times worse than the actual situation that caused the reaction. So much worse that it gets to the point that other people don’t even remember what the initial situation was. They just remember the person’s crazy reaction. And it spirals out of control from there. I like to think everyone who reads my blog has common sense. So I encourage you to take a moment and think through what just happened before reacting. Sometimes it is not nearly as bad as it seems. And sometimes no reaction is the best way to react. Just think about it.

Common courtesy, politeness and just plain being nice is the best way to get someone to help you. Yelling, cursing, threatening or any type of physical violence is the worst way. In actuality that kind of behavior will only make others not want to help you. But yet I see people yelling at others all the time and then expecting them to help. Why is this? I mean I get that we all reach a point where we lose our cool with “David” in a call center in India when we have been talking around in circles for 2 hours. But so many people start off the conversation that way. At least give poor David a chance. He might surprise you.

If you do something bad or wrong on purpose then expect to pay the consequences. Don’t ever think people will feel bad for you and just look the other way. It does not work that way. You know you screwed up. Deal with it.

If you want something but cannot afford it you have 5 choices. 1. Get a job. 2. Get a better job that pays more than your current job. 3. Get a credit card (not the best idea). 4. Find a sugar daddy (brilliant idea) or 5. Give up on getting this thing. Please note that stealing the thing or stealing money from others to buy the thing is not an option. People work hard for their money and you have no right to just take because you are a lazy bum.

If you want to lose weight put the French fries and coke down and go to the gym. Until you do so you have no right to complain. Don’t sit there and complain about how you have to start eating better while stuffing your face with fried chicken. Drives me nuts! BTW…I have nothing against fried chicken. I love me some Popeyes. 

Every once in a while stop for a moment and look at yourself through someone else’s eyes. You are not perfect. And that’s okay. But please stop pretending like you are.

The world is not out to get you. As matter of fact most people if given the opportunity to help or hurt someone would choose to help. So stop acting like everyone is out to ruin your life. Now if given the option of ignoring you then I would say they would be the most likely response. People are selfish like that. But I do it to. I drive by that guy on the corner of I-4 and Conroy every day. He is always begging for money. I am afraid of him. I would never give him money. I am convinced he is scam and makes more money that I do standing on the corner. He falls into my lazy bum category. And I don’t really go to work every day so that I can give my money away to people who are too lazy to get a job. 

If one more person tries to sell me Mary Kay and offers me a free makeover/beauty session/whatever you are going to see my pretty face on America’s most wanted sans the tacky Mary Kay make up. That is one brand I can never support. They vultures…pink, prissy vultures. I have never been so annoyed. I love make up and I have several brands that I am loyal to. I will never give Mary Kay a chance simply because of their annoying sales people. Until now I have been too nice of a person to flat out tell them this to their face. But I have reached my breaking point.

In conclusion I would just life is too short not to be happy and enjoy every day.  So do something today that you enjoy.  And no, I would never really harm a Mary Kay lady.  But it helps a little to vent about it.  I do not wish any harm to the pink ladies.

In case you want to get me a present...

I saw this at the mall yesterday.  Isn't it cute! It has a little bow and can be yours for a mere $795.  I need this.

It's been a crazy few days...

Where to begin...
On Thursday night we heard helicopters flying over the house.  We saw them shining spotlights all around the area.  The last time this happened there was a bear on the loose.  We went out on the sun deck and could see that there were cops at every intersection and the road was closed.  They had even closed part of the turnpike.  What was going on??  Was there a serial killer on the loose?  Nope.  The president was in town.  Drove right by our neighborhood.  His entourage consisted of about 25 cop cars, 25 cop motorcycles, 10 unmarked vehicles and 3 ambulances.  Tax dollars hard at work!  I hear he was going to a fundraiser at Vince Carter's house in Isleworth (you know...the neighborhood where the Tiger Woods incident took place...it is just down the road from us).  I also heard that it was $30k a plate.  He stayed less than 2 hours.  I hope the food was good!  We are not Obama fans but it was pretty freaking cool to see the President drive by our house while standing on the deck in our pajamas.  Respect (in my best Ali G accent).

I know it looks like nothing but I am pretty sure one of those lights is the car the President is in.

On Friday Dave got tickets to whatever event was happening in the NBA Allstar event.  Something about a freshman sophomore game.  I have no idea.  But he has a great time and met some famous NBA people.  I had a makeover night with Adaya.  We got our hair done and then a mani pedi.  And then we had the most amazing dinner at Timpano's.  Seriously...melt in your mouth filet and short ribs.  

Yes, there is a red carpet at the salon.  The lighting is not great but I decided to bring back the red.  I love it.  And don't you love my shirt...I do!

Adaya in her pretty new do!  Loveliness!

Dave has been set on going to the NBA Allstar game.  But tickets were insanely expensive.  So he found a guy on Craig's list that gave him a great deal.  All the details were worked out. We sent the money he Fedexed the tickets.  Well...he got the money.  We never got the tickets.  People are such losers.  What a pathetic excuse for a human being.    If you need money that bad get a freakin' job.  Oh wait...you are too lazy for that.  You would rather sit on your ass and live off the government while scamming hard working, decent people out of their hard earned money.  Whatever...what goes around comes around and this dude is in for a real treat whether it be in this life or after.  I am done thinking about him.  Truth is that $400 will neither make us or break us. 

On to Sunday...We decided to go to lunch at the Millenia Mall.  That place was a madhouse.  There were cop cars at all the parking lot entrances and officers at all doors.  We had to wait in line for 15 minutes just to valet.  And yes, Diamond Dave valets at the mall...always.  You should have seen all of the fancy yet somewhat tacky cars.  All of the NBA players and their wives were there shopping before the game tonight.  There was a line to get into Gucci.  We went in just before the line formed.  It was packed.  Everyone shopping in there looked like someone famous but I could not tell you who any of them were.  They shut down True Religion and it was surrounded by cops.  There was a crowded surrounding the store.  I asked if it got robbed.  Nope...Scotty Pippin was shopping.  Who?  To be honest it did not look any different from the annual "Classic" weekend.  Local people will get that reference. 

Why am I chewing on a baby???

I have never really been a fan of Mardi Gras. I have never had the desire to go…ever. Dave use to go all the time. We still have bags of beads in the garage. They come out at every tailgate. I am not sure why. I went to New Orleans for the first time last summer. I was disgusted. And this was on a random day in July. I cannot even imagine how awful it would be during Mardi Gras. We had brunch at a place called Brennan’s. That was delicious. I will give New Orleans credit for good food. But those beignet’s everyone raves about…horrible. It was fried balls of bread covered in powdered sugar. I was not impressed. Now the gumbo, sausages, red beans and rice and bananas foster. That was some good stuff!  I was also pretty impressed with aquarium.  But back to Mardi Gras...

I guess I just don’t get Mardi Gras. You are partying it up for the week leading up to Ash Wednesday and then you are a perfect angel until Easter. Why??? That reminds me of the people who eat anything and everything during the holidays and then diet in exercise in January. Why, people, why? I guess Mardi Gras is just more of a tradition. People from Louisiana are very proud of this tradition. I think it is good to have something like that to be proud of and share with others. But I still don’t get it. I love to see the Mom’s go to their kids class and share this tradition. Although I am curious as to how they explain it in kid’s terms. I just think it is neat that one of our states has something like that and no other states have the same thing. This brings me to my first memory of Mardi Gras.

When I was in the 2^nd grade there was a girl in my class that had just moved to TN from New Orleans. During Mardi Gras her mom came to the class to tell us all about it and bring us king cake. I was 7 so this was the first I had ever heard of Mardi Gras. Well…I got the piece of cake with the baby in it. That stupid thing terrified me. I found it in my mouth and was so confused as to why there was a baby in my mouth. I actually spit it out and tried to hide it. I thought I did something wrong and did not want anyone to see it. But someone noticed and made a big deal out of it. This was traumatizing. I think this is where my dislike for Mardi Gras started.

Reasons Why the NBA Sucks

I am sure you are all aware of the delay in the start of the NBA season because the players were demanding more money. You know…because $50 million a year is not enough for an NBA player to live off of. They did not care about the lady who takes tickets at the door and depends on that money to feed her family. Or the guy who owns the parking lot down the street and depends on that income to pay his mortgage. Or the local business that depend on the game traffic to turn a profit. Nope…they only cared about themselves. This is reason number 1 why the NBA sucks.

Next weekend is the NBA All Star game. It is here in Orlando. Dave and 2 friends have a total of 9 season tickets they share.They have had season tickets for years.  So you would think they would be able to get tickets to the All Star game, the celebrity game or maybe the slam dunk competition. No way…the NBA does not care about their fans…at all. They created this lottery system where you get to choose 1 event to enter your name in if you have season tickets. And then you might be chosen to purchase a ticket. Upper level tickets are $500. Lower level is $2500. Keep in mind that Dave sat front row at the Superbowl 2 years ago on the 40 yard line and that ticket only cost $900. Of course we did not get chosen to purchase any tickets. I don’t know anyone who did. Even all the DJ’s on the local radio stations are talking about how they could not get tickets. And you know the local DJ’s always go to these things and get tickets to give away. It is like the joke of Orlando right now. This is reason number 2.

Surrounding Amway Center are several local shops, bars and restaurants. These businesses depend on traffic from games and concerts to make money. So you can imagine how excited they were to hear that the All Star game was coming to town. That did not last long. They are putting an 8 foot tall wall around the arena….6 feet from the businesses doors. So this means that people attending the game will have to exit the arena walls if they want to go to any of these businesses. And people without tickets cannot enter the walls. How stupid is this? How crowded is that little 6 foot walkway going to be. This is deterring those with tickets from going to local businesses. This is deterring those without tickets from just going downtown to be a part of the action. This is hurting local businesses. Why are they doing this? To protect the high profile people who are attending the game. There is nothing that annoys me more than people who they are better than other people. This is reason number 3.

The NBA has also requested additional police officers in the area to protect celebrities. Really??? You could not just say to protect everyone or to control crowds? Way to devalue the life of everyone else. It is everyone else that supports your team year round. It is everyone else who pays the salary of NBA players. It is everyone else who buys movie tickets, music downloads and watches tv shows to make these people celebrities. Way to make them feel like they don’t matter. I cannot stand the whole “celebrity” thing.

And for the icing on the cake…I hear Obama is going to be here. And for the record I am okay with him getting special treatment. He is the leader of our country. He needs to be protected. But does he not have more important things to do? 

Last night we went to the game.  They were practicing security for the all star game.  So they had metal detectors.  Seriously...metal detectors.  So they were practicing on a bunch of people who cannot even get tickets to the game.  And there are no home games 1 week before and 1 week after the all star game.  Does it really take that long to set up and break down???

Last of the St. Augustine Trip

This the last of my St. Augustine recap. Hard to believe I had this much to share about a weekend getaway. On Sunday night we decided to do a ghost tour. I will admit that it was a bit more theatrical than what I had expected. The one I went on in Savannah was just a guy telling stories and he even had pictures to back up some of the ghost claims. This was not the case in St. Augustine. The girl doing the tour was dressed in a costume to look like she was from hundreds of years ago. She basically acted out the stories…dramatic pauses and all. She was really good at at telling stories. But I was not there for a show. I wanted to know the real history of the city. The city has some interesting stories. It was discovered in the 1500’s so it is the oldest city in the country. Yes, older than Plymouth Rock. We went to 2 graveyards. We stopped at the city gates to hear about a little girl that make appearances. We stopped at 3 buildings on St. George street that had some interesting stories.

At one of these I was trying to take a picture and my camera kept telling me it was full. But there were only like 50 pictures on there and it holds like 300. So I went to erase some. Then it told me there were no images. And then it just quit working all together. I gave it to Dave and it worked again. I remember from Savannah that they said camera’s malfunction all the time in haunted places. I told the tour guide. I don’t think she cared at all. I really think she was an actress and this was just a part for her.

Our last stop was the old Spanish Military Hospital. We actually got to go inside of this one. I think this was on that same episode of Ghost Hunters as the lighthouse. It was neat to see but there was nothing really scary about it. I was not impressed. Dave was not impressed either. He did the haunted tour in Edinburgh and was locked in a poltergeist tomb. So it would take a lot to impress him.

After the tour it was like 10pm on a Sunday night and the city was dead. We wound up going back to the same place we ate lunch at because it was like the only place open. They put the Grammy Awards on for me so that made me happy. And it was just in time to see Adele perform. I almost passed out from pure boredom. I know every loves her but I cannot stand her. She is dull, arrogant and unappreciative. Her songs are horrible. And who performs without back up dancers??? Just my personal opinion…you are allowed to disagree. But she is officially added to my list of musicians that bore me to tears: Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Pearl Jam and Adele. Please don’t torture me with their annoying noise.

In front of the Lightner Museum.  I have no idea what is in there.

Driving by the Bridge of Lions.

It's the spooky ghost of Dave...and the city gates behind him.

The public graveyard from a really long time ago.

The house that broke my camera.

Inside the Spanish Military Hospital.

The Haunted Lighthouse of Saint Augustine

Did you ever see the episode of Ghost Hunters where they went to the Saint Augustine Lighthouse.  Yeah...that.  Even the ghost hunters, who don't believe in ghosts, said it was haunted.  They have both video and audio to back it up.  Due to this we went at 10am when the sun was shining. 

Did he just see a ghost???

No Dave, that is not what the bucket is for.

We made it to the top!

This is the spot that they saw the ghost on the video...spooky.

The haunted bucket that moves and makes noises on its own.

The haunted window that opens and closes on it's own.

I don't if it is haunted or not but that doll is downright creepy.

View from the ground by the lightkeepers house.

Fun at the Fort

Try not laugh at my recap of the Fort.  I don't remember many details.  All I know is that Dave went there as a kid and anytime we get near St. Augustine he has to tell me about it.  So we finally went there.  It was huge.  At sometime the Spaniards were in there and then the British.  And then there was a siege and something like 2000 people lived in there for 50 days.   That is about all I remember.

Outside the Fort.  Notice the cannons in the background.

They had a few draw bridges.  Very medieval. 

I found a secret room and it makes me look really tan. 

Self portrait.

Lots of cannons.

Really big cannons.

Time out to tweet.

Firing the cannon.  It took like 15 minutes for them to fire the cannon.  I think the enemy would have blown you up by then. 

Silly Dave always trying to take my picture.  I am trying to put the lens cap back on here. 

Dave says I run like a girl.  I think I run AWESOME and he is jealous.

Believe It or Not

Upon arriving in St. Augustine on Saturday afternoon we decided that the way to get around town and see everything was to take a trolley.  We did the Ripley's site seeing train.  In retrospect I would have chosed Old Town Trolley's.  We saw 3-4 of them at every stop while waiting for our train.  But anyways....

This was a fun way to get around.  Our first stop was the first permanent Ripley's Believe It or Not. I have never been to a Ripley's, not even the one in Orlando.  It was interesting but I was not super impressed.  The next day they were trying to break a world record for the most people renewing their vows.  That way pure tackiness.  People running around in wedding dresses everywhere...freezing because it was like 35 degrees out. 

All bundled up on the train.

Dave watching a basketball game when we were supposed to be site seeing.

Inside Ripley's...finally warming up.

A manatee made out of bottle tops. 

We found Timmy T made out of little balls....hehe...little balls.

What's that???

That's all I have on Ripley's.  On a side note:  Happy Valentines Day!  I hope you are are spending some time with a loved one today whether it be a spouse, boyfriend, friend or family member.  Find somebody to love.  Today I share my love with Diamond Dave.  It's fun to joke about his diamondesque antics but at the end of the day I am happy to call him my own. 

Chasing Peacocks at the Fountain of Youth

We made it home from St. Augustine safe and sound.  I know you were worried.  We had wonderful time.  Sometimes it is nice to getaway with just the two of us.  We really are two of a kind.  There is nothing like traveling with Diamond Dave.  I love our little trips together.  It is better than any flowers or jewelry on Valentines Day.  I will have a few posts over the next few days to recap out trip.  It appears as if we did nothing but take pictures all weekend.  Don't worry...we threw in a couple of Tebow poses for you.  We shall start with Ponce De Leon's Fountain of Youth.  He discovered St. Augustine in the 1500's on behalf of Spain.  He was in search of Bimini and the so called Fountain of Youth.  But he found La Florida instead.  And this is where he first set foot on what is now the USA. 

Look Mr. De Leon...this is how you tweet.  Did you know Ponce de Leon was only 4'11" and would not let anyone on his ship that was taller than him.  Ship full of little dudes...

They like to fire cannons in St. Augustine.  It is the thing to do in these parts.

Drinking from the Fountain of Youth.  I feel younger already.  Too bad it tasted like salty sulfur water.  What no Brita filer??

Yep, that's it.  The Fountain (trickle) of Youth.  And look at that handsome guy standing next to it. Good thing they put that gate up.  I would have jumped in.

This place was overrun with peacocks.  There were about 25 of them.  And I was determine to touch the white one. 

Okay...how about this one.  He looks like he wants to be petted.

I am the poster child of the fountain.  Do you find it strange that I am wearing furry boots in Florida?  I do.  The high was about 45 on this day.  That is frigid arctic weather for us.  We were freezing.

He was trying to impress me.  Or maybe the 12 female peacocks behind me.  No...it was definitely me.

I have no idea what he is doing.  But check out that giant cross.

OMG...it is Ponce de Leon's first foot step in the US.  Or maybe it is Diamond Dave's foot print. 

Give me back my tailipo!

Do you know what a tailipo is? I don’t know why this story has always stuck in my head. When I was a kid a story teller came to our class and this was one of the stories he told. The next day my family went to Gatlinburg. The story supposedly took place in the Smoky Mountains so we spent the weekend reenacting Tailipo. The story is about a guy who lived in a cabin in the mountains. He was out hunting or something like that. Somehow he manages to find this elusive critter/big foot type thing and cut off it’s tail. Obviously I don’t remember many details of this story. So the critter wants its tail back. It keeps scratching at the door and on the walls of the house saying “give me back my tailipo”. That’s all I remember. Telling this story seemed like a good idea when I started writing but now I am second guessing that. I don’t even remember how it ends.

My point is there are all these ghost stories that took place in the Smokey Mountains. Okay…no that is not my point. My real point is that I just booked a girls trip to the Smoky Mountains! We found super cheap flights (Like $115 round trip) to Knoxville. Adaya and I will be flying in to meet up with Nikki and Jessica. And from there we are driving to our log cabin up in Gatlinburg. It looks really nice. It has a big deck with a view and a hot tub. We leave in 4 weeks! I am going to have to buy a Smoky Mountain ghost story book so I can tell better stories while we are sipping Firefly in the hot tub. This is going to be the 1 year reunion of our Savannah trip last year. We plan on doing some hiking and zip lining while there. And maybe a day trip to the Biltmore. And definitely some Pancake Pantry. I have not been to Gatlinburg since college and that was over a decade ago. I’m old people.

Mini Me

No, I am not having a baby. But my twin sister is. And her name is going to be Riley Allyson. See…mini me. She is due to arrive in late April and I will be going to Atlanta Memorial Day weekend to meet her. Remember a year and half ago I went to Atlanta the weekend Sydney was to be born. That little one was almost 2 weeks late. So then I had to make another trip to actually get to meet her face to face. Silly babies. Don’t they know my schedule?? 

What would you have done?

This past weekend I was shopping at a women’s clothing store at the mall. I found three items that I really wanted. But the sales person was so rude. She kept telling me I needed a small or medium. I wear an extra small at this store. And she was super pushy too. I tried on my XS’s and they fit great. There was a sale and I had a coupon. But I was determined to not buy from this lady. I was actually thinking about filing a complaint online because this woman was so awful. So I put the items on hold and shopped around for like an hour. I came back and the same lady was there. But I really wanted these things so I bought them from her. Well…when I got home like an hour later I realized she only charged me for 2 of the 3 items. The 3^rd item being a $50 sweater. Am I going to go back and tell her…ummm…no. The store should hire more competent sales people. Had she not been so rude I may have not been in such a hurry to get out of there and actually paid attention when she was ringing me up. But I was so focused on getting away from her I honestly did not notice.

I have also been on the other end of a situation like this one. I worked for another women’s clothing store for 3 years in college. I was always the one at the register. One day I put a shirt and 2 pairs of shorts in someone’s bag that was not their’s. The girl brought them back like 30 minutes later and handed them back to me and pointed out my mistake. Oopsie. The funny thing is the items I put in their on accident were size 0 and I think she was maybe a 10. I have always wondered if they were her size if she would have just kept them. But even if she did I am not sure The company would have ever noticed until they do their once a year inventory. Now for the record I would never do anything like this on purpose. It really was an accident.

Another interesting story from this same store…When I moved to Florida I was interviewing for a “real” job but needed income in the meantime. So I took a Manager job at this retail store. It was all I really knew how to do. About 10 days into my 2 week training I got the offer for that real job that paid just about double what the retail store was paying me and not to mention was a Monday – Friday salaried job. So of course I took it. I told my manager and she was happy for me but sad to see me go. I offered a 2 week notice thinking they would just let me go. I mean I had not even been fully trained. What good was I? But they kept me the 2 weeks and had me ringing people up but continued to pay me as a manager. Whatever. That was the only real work history I had so I did not want burn any bridges so I did it with a smile on my face and used the employee discount to get new work clothes for my other job. At this store they pay you weekly. So in my 2 week notice period I got paid twice. My 2^nd to last check I got picked up in the store and they sent me the same check in the mail. I am an honest person so I only cashed one. When I went to pick up my final check I brought the other one to return it. The manager was so rude about it. As if I was the one who paid myself twice. She would not give me my final check until I handed her the duplicate check and she could review it. Fine…I was done with them. Fast forward 5 years. The state of FL comes out with this website that tells you if anyone owes you money. It tells me this retail store owes me money. The exact amount of this duplicate check I returned. So I guess they never bothered to look into it or correct it. I collected my check. If 5 years is not enough time for you to fix this mistake and the state is telling me it is my money then I am taking it. Does this make me a bad person? No. I did my part. I returned the check. The company failed to do their part so shame on them.

I am not one to lie, cheat or steal. I consider myself to be an honest person. But I can only do so much to help others do their jobs correctly. You would think retail companies would have a better hiring selection process.

Life is a Mystery

Just before the Superbowl started Dave was telling me about all the bets he made in some pick ‘em league. One of them was whether or not Madonna would wear a hat. He took the hat. I told him that was nonsense. She came out in a gold crown. Technically that was a hat. Dave was right. Anyone surprised?

I was very impressed with the halftime show. For someone who is 53 Madonna still rocked it. And I loved all the cameos. I thought it was a great way to keep the younger generation interested. I love Nicki Minaj. She is just fun. LMFAO is far from musically talented but entertaining nonetheless. MIA cracked me up. She looked like she was not having any of the dancing. This was very obvious when she flipped off the world. Would you expect anything else from someone who sings about how she “packs and delivers like a UPS truck”. This year’s show was so much better than last year’s Black Eyed Peas debacle. And The Who??? I could not tell you anything about that one. I changed the channel. And we all know that the 2001 half time show was the best ever. If you don’t know why google it.

For the most part I think everyone 30 and older loved it. I mean, it was Madonna for cryin’ out loud. And from my view anyone 23-29 was not that impressed but in a somewhat respectful way. Most of them did not grow up with the Madonna that we did. They will never know the controversy behind the Like a Prayer video. And for those of you 22 and under…the world does not revolve around you. Get over yourselves. Lose that sense of entitlement. I have no idea where it came from but it is extremely unattractive. Now keep in mind I am not talking about everyone 22 and under, only about 75% of them. What this generation needs to come to terms with is that the Superbowl is not about them. They are the ones who drink so much they cannot remember who won the game. They cannot afford a $900 ticket to the game. They would however expect Mommy and Daddy to hand them one. They cannot afford to buy any of the cars advertised in the commercials. I doubt they have any idea what E Trade does. And most of them cannot legally buy beer. So yes, I am talking to you Mr. 19 year old that knows everything. There is a major event that does not cater to you and is not about you. So why in the world would the halftime show consist of some untalented no name band that only your generation has heard of? I can promise you that band will not be headlining the Superbowl when they are 53.

Now…next year….please bring out Britney and U2 on stage together. And maybe a cameo by Lady Gaga. And if Tebow plays in the game our lives will then be complete

If we couldn't laugh we'd all go insane...

Yesterday was the Jimmy Buffett concert here in Orlando.  Buffett is what it is all about here in Florida.  A few months ago Adaya asked me if I wanted to get tickets when they went on sale.  Of course not.  I have never had to buy a ticket in advance to go to a Jimmy concert.  That is nonsense. 

Dave, the king of tailgates, set up around 2pm.  Adaya and I arrived about 5.  There where margaritas, burgers and more.  Then about 15 minutes before the show tickets just landed in our hands.   Okay, not really.  Our friend Alan gave them to us.  I am still not too sure where they came from but we were more than happy to take them.  And they were awesome seats.  This is what happens when you hang with Diamond Dave.  We are very appreciative of Alan! While Adaya and I enjoyed the show Dave and company continued the tailgate party and listened to the show live on Margaritaville radio.  Fun times for everyone. 

Yes, those are shots.

Notice the big bag of Mardi Gras beads behind us.  Never leave home without it.

Nobody would look at me and smile for a picture.  They were more interested in drinks.  And yes, the margarita machine tailgates with us.

 Fun times in the parking lot.

There was dancing...to reggae.

Lots of margaritas.

You try and get Dave to look normal in a photo.

Tickle, Tickle.

This is about as good as it gets.