After the last few days of non-stop rain, Saturday was gorgeous and just perfect for spending the day at the Strawberry Festival.

4 billion of our closest friends also showed up.

I love the fact that a few haphazardly placed cotter pins held us up. I won't mention the sound of rusty metal shavings sliding up and down inside the pipes as we spun around...

He goes out back and finds one of the limbs to our shade tree down.

Not all the way down....yet.

Have you ever suffered from Phantom Hat Head: where you wear a hat all day and after you take it off, you still feel like it is on? I am suffering from Phantom Car Syndrome. Even though we are home, I still feel like I am moving 80 mph down the highway. We began our trek to Atlanta and the Clay Walker concert this past Friday after I got off work. Tobey and I arrived in Duluth, Georgia on Saturday afternoon and as luck would have it: our hotel was a little over a block from Wild Bill’s. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend looking around but we did stop at the Gwinnette Place Mall and then went back to the hotel for a nap before the concert.

Tobey napped and I spent a good hour on my hair. By the time we left the hotel every curl I sprayed and burned into my hair was gone. Tobey didn’t even think I did anything to my hair, which is always nice. We stopped to get a bite to eat at Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse that was located near the mall off of Market Street. We wanted to go someplace that we didn’t have at home, like Applebee’s, Chili’s or Olive Garden.

The décor inside Bug’s was nice and very lodgesque. Homey even. We ordered the Bunyan Onion which was a huge, yummy blooming onion. I had ordered their beer battered fish which boasted 6 fish flanks with coleslaw and fries. Tobey ordered a crab cake and steak fillet combo. At this point our dining experience went downhill, fast.

The booth next to us was checking out and had problems with their bill, seems they were billed for items they never ordered. Red flag number one. Then I overheard the booth behind us talking with the manager. The manager informed them that he couldn’t replace their chicken because he checked in the back and “All the chicken was the same way.”

Our order arrived and Tobey’s crab cake was blackened. I told him it looked burnt and that Gordon Ramsay would not have sent that out and that he needed to send it back. But Tobey didn’t want to make waves and just ate it anyways. He finished the crab cake and began on his steak. After a few bites he wanted me to taste his steak. It tasted spoiled and the edges of the steak were feathering. I have never seen a steak do that before but it looked all shades of nasty. The fish I ordered was okay but was half of what the menu described. The menu stated the meal came with six fish planks, my order came with three.

We called the manager over regarding Tobey’s steak and he explained that their steaks come in cryovac packages and if the cooks don’t let the steaks sit out 20 minutes after un-cryovacing them – well this is what happens. He said if the gases are not allowed to dissipate they get seared into the meat. Yum. Not. He offered Tobey another steak which he declined as his stomach was reeling from the few bites he ate of the bad steak. Plus we had to get to Wild Bill’s.

We arrived early at Wild Bill’s and got to our seats. We were seated next to Kim and her husband from the fan club. I really hate saying I am part of a fan club. Last time I joined a fan club I was 12 and it was for Shaun Cassidy. I know, Shaun Cassidy. Really. I won’t mention I sent him a letter inviting him to dinner. He never responded. Wanker.

The warm up band was fairly good but I have no idea who they were. They seemed to favor Billy Currington covers. Kim was our little Charlie Bucket and received one of the six golden tickets for the Meet and Greet. I used this time to get the camera settings just right which in and of itself was a booger. Then finally….Clay took the stage.

All I can say is: WOW.

All Tobey could say was: “____“, I guess he wasn’t as impressed but I love that he was willing to drive the 18 hours round trip, over 1,000 miles and spend two nights in a hotel for me to have this experience. The show was awesome. I have to say that Clay was just as gorgeous in person as he is in his promotional shots. The music was just as good too. Tobey and I have gone to concerts were the bands were so horrible in person that we have walked out, not so with Clay. He rocked it out.

Clay played a selection from his new album that is due out this summer. He played the standard “Clay” songs and for an encore he threw in some Skynard. I loved every single second.

I have uploaded a few pictures from the concert and you can find them under my Slideshow link on the right. I did take over 300 pictures at the concert and yes, I did feel slightly paparazzi-stalkerish, but hey, when am I going to get to see Clay again?

Finally, we stopped in to visit with Lil Martha, Matt Damon and Porkchop. We visited with them at their house and got to see the beautiful pond they just installed. Then we all headed up to Rodeo for lunch. Matt tried to order the 40 gallon Mungo beer but alas it was too early in the day for alcohol. We finished our visit by going to see Mom. She was fine and sends her love.

And now at 7:00 p.m., I am going to bed!

~ame

After work today Tobey and I will be heading north to Atlanta to see (as Lil Martha says) "my redneck singer" in concert on Saturday. Did I mention the VIP seating we have in the front row? Tobey is beyond excited and can barely contain himself. His enthusiasm doesn't even waiver when I get 6 tweets from Clay in 30 minutes on a Saturday night either. Truly, he is the bestest of the best hubby's in the world.

Now there is the issue of what to wear to the concert. The concert is in a bar, a redneck bar. I haven't been to a bar in eons and have no idea what to wear. I suppose I could ask Simba what the latest club wear rage is but I think I will just wear my black polka dotty dress. Too formal for a club scene say you? Nay say I. I figure the nicer I dress, the more likely I will be able to get away with the Clayknapping that everyone thinks I am going to do.

Seriously, would I perpetrate a Clayknapping*? Don't answer that. And no that isn't me in the dress picture on the right. Want to know how you can tell...that gal ain't got my flubbery** arms. I am going to wear a little sweatery-bolero jacket thing that covers my flubberiness. I know what you are thinking, Clay should love my flubberiness and I think he might but I don't want my jiggle to scare the boy off before I can pack him in my suitcase meet him.

Tomorrow's post will be our first Mary Kay post by Lynda Neal , so be sure to stop back by.

*I must clarify just in case Clay Walker has a PR team that scours the 'net looking for folks talking about him like Ikea and Sleep Number do. This post is meant to be light hearted and not serious at all. I do not really plan on kidnapping Clay Walker. If Clay Walker does happen to request I kidnap him, that is a different story altogether and as a fan, I would be obliged. I can just see me getting arrested at the door in my polky frock, I wouldn't put it past Tobey giving the FBI a heads up.

**And finally to my spellchecker: um 'flubbery' is too a word!

~ame

I really like being able to 'see' how some folks get to this blog. Here are a few of the more interesting Google searches that bring weirdos folks to my little, humble blog:

"Matt Damon" I bet people get a big shock seeing my baby brother's head stuck on a Hugh Hefner-like body instead of the Matt Damon.

"Stuck in mud" Can you imagine being stuck in the mud and having time to Google a solution only to find my post about Nappy being stuck up to his knees in mud. People really need to use a little ingenuity or a racquetball racket instead of Googling.

"Who plays mrs folks in my friends hot mom" Um, what can I say about this one? While my hotness factor is only grandiose in my own mind, I worry about the person that got here by Googling that statement.

"Ralph Fiennes" I got a few hits from Brazil for Ralph. Probably from some hot Brazillian super model. All I can say is, back off chica, he is mine! Opps, they speak French in Brazil don't they?

You may notice not a single search for Clay Walker appeared in this weeks stats. I did get a hit from Beaumont, Texas (where Clay was born and raised) and I won't admit my heart skipped a beat or three thinking that Clayboy visited my site. Until I read further that the Beaumont hit was looking for the Carrabba's Herb Mix recipe. Well, maybe it was Clay and maybe he was hungry. If I am anything...it is a dreamer...ahem.

~ame

Now you are probably thinking since this is Recipe Thursday that I won't even mention the upcoming Clay Walker concert. You would be wrong because I would be remiss if I didn't mention that yesterday we got our tickets. Our VIP tickets. In row ONE. I can't tell you how excited Tobey is over this, he is probably more excited than I am...well maybe just a touch less than me.

So now on to the recipe. This is a Rum Cake recipe I received from a gal I used to work with in Georgia and I doctored it a bit. If you love coconut, this is the recipe for you. I am going to give you the original recipe and my doctored version will be in parenthesis.

Rum Cake
1 box Duncan Hines Yellow Cake with pudding (or Coconut Supreme)
Add: 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of oil and beat in 4 eggs, one at a time. Add in 1/4 cup of rum (or coconut rum).

Pour into a prepared Bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for one hour.

Glaze
In small pot mix 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup butter and bring to a boil. Add 1/4 rum (or coconut rum) and cook until sugars are melted, about 5 minutes. Pole holes in cake and brush glaze on while cake is still warm.

I brush a little of the glaze on and I recently bought an injector and I fill the cake with the rum glaze. This cake is simply to die for good.

It has been slow around the Ohtobe abode this week but I thought you might enjoy seeing my new wallpaper for my work station. Yeah I know, he is hard on the eyes, I will suffer through. And hint Tobey: he has nice toes, so use that *$@^! Ped Egg I bought you. And to Buttercup: pffttttt!

Any who, we did get to see Hulk Hogan when we lunched at Las Mayas today. Contain yourselves, it was hard, but Tobey and I didn't even bat an eye at him when he asked for our autographs. I suppose all the mentionings of Matt and Martha have finally put us on the map with the rest of the Clearwater Celebs. Now if we can just run into Tom, John, Lisa Marie or Kirstie down at the Thai place.....

Can you believe that Clay Walker actually rolled out a new website design. What timing is that? They have tons of a/v stuff. Now I think I can make it through the next 43 long days until we get to see him play at Wild Bills in Atlanta on May 30th.

And I have to wonder aloud here, what kind of God would put a woman through premenopause and have her um, peak, at the same time. I tell ya, God sure has a sense of humor. Not really. Poor Tobey. Poor Clay.

Yay me, though!

~ame