NEW KIDS ROCK!!

• Yo yo yo! I'm back! I had the best weekend ever! This post is going to be LONG, I'm just warning you. I have a lot to talk about. Let's start out with Wednesday, since the last time I posted was early that morning. I didn't get much sleep that day at all. Dad had an appointment at the DMV to renew his license. We didn't have to wait in line long since he was in a wheelchair, which was a plus. He got a temporary license that expires in December, and he has to come back and take his written test before then. He could have taken the test right there but he was unprepared and I was exhausted. Michelle is studying to get her driver's license so they're both going over the handbook together. Later that day I worked at Traffic, got a few hours of sleep and came here.
  
• Thursday was pretty busy. I got off work a bit early (thanks Brad) and Cathy drove me to Millbrae to pick up the special van from Wheelchair Getaways. It was a bit confusing finding out where exactly the place was and we kinda got lost, but eventually we found it. On a side note Fernando texted me asking if we were in the Greenhouse parking lot around 7am since he saw a car just like Cathy's hauling ass into the McDonald's drive thru. His assumptions were right, we got breakfast before we hit the road. LMAO. If you guys know Cathy, you know she has a lead foot. Hence why a few weeks ago she spent her Saturday in traffic school. Okay anyway I got the van and began my 2 hour trek from Millbrae back across the bay and on to Lodi. The commute wasn't really that bad at all. I got to Kimmie's house around 10:30 am and she wasn't ready yet. In fact we didn't leave until about 2 hours later. I wasn't mad or anything. I'm sure most of you know my pal Kimmie has cerebral palsy and lives independently, and it takes her three times as long to do everyday things like getting dressed, packing for a trip, etc. Plus her mom was there and overpacked way too much stuff she didn't need. I know she meant well and this was Kimmie's first major trip away from home, first stay in a hotel, first major concert. So with Kimmie's sister Carol driving, we took off for Sonora to visit their Uncle Freddie and Aunt Norma. The drive there took a few hours, and it was fun. Kimmie had a very random CD with lots of cartoon songs and the theme from Greatest American Hero, among other things. Kimmie's aunt/uncle's house was really nice. They are really nice down-to-earth people with a great sense of humor. We spent our time there watching a cheesy Lifetime flick about the guy from JAG losing his memory in a car accident and eating sandwiches that Aunt Norma made us. Fun time for all. We left around 5pm and made the almost 3 hour journey to San Jose with a stop in Oakhurst for gas, a pee break and snacks. Eventually we got to the hotel and were going to settle in our room, but the bathroom was too small. I had asked for a double bed room since Kimmie really didn't want to share a bed, but it wasn't handicapped accessible. We ended up getting our accessible room and shared a king sized bed, and all was okay. Carol had her own room on the floor below us. She pretty much left us alone since we were driving her up the wall with excitement and she needed a hot bath. Bedtime came around and I figured out how to properly use a lift to get Kimmie from her chair into bed. It was a great learning experience.
  
• So we got up around 9:30am on Friday, the day of the SHOW OF THE CENTURY. I got Kimmie out of bed, hit the shower and we began getting ready ASAP. We wanted to leave the hotel by 3pm at the latest to allow time for traffic, getting out of the van, etc. The meet and greet was scheduled at 4:30pm sharp. (I almost wrote SHART.. ROTF.) It took us a while to get ready since Kimmie was bathing, getting dressed, etc while I was helping her get cards/notes/gifts ready for the various New Kids and making signs to hold up during the show. We were also donating $100 to the Betty Wood Breast Cancer Foundation so we were organizing that as well. Danny Wood lost his mom to breast cancer 9 years ago and that money goes to the American Cancer Society, great cause. Anyway, we actually got on the road a little bit ahead of schedule, parked in our free spot, and found the line for the 5 Star All Access VIPs. I ran across the street to Guadalupe River Park to go pee briefly, then came back and waited for about an hour. Oh and I reunited with my friend Marianne, she and I worked at Longs together a few years ago, she works in the pharmacy. Unfortunately she had to wait in the back of the line. Haha. Poor woman. Since Kimmie was in a chair we were pulled out of line along with another girl with cerebral palsy and taken through the building and downstairs through the elevator. We then had first dibs at souvenirs. I got a program book which I paid too much for, oh well. Then we got to sit at our tables at the little VIP party and eat finger foods, have some drinks, etc. Oh and we got free gift bags as well. A fleece blanket, a mug, postcards, a photo album to put pictures in. Pretty sweet. So eventually came the time to go meet the boys. We were in group B, which was awesome. As we got in line to see them, Kimmie got a little emotional. Okay very emotional, with tears streaming down her cheeks. She had waited 22 years to see her boys, and there they were on the other side of the curtain. Robo, the New Kids' bodyguard since the Hangin Tough days, noticed her and came over to hold her hand and console her. He felt so bad that he let us go to the head of the line, because Kimmie was a special priority. So finally, it was our turn to meet the New Kids, the chance of a lifetime I will never forget. We went through the curtain and there they were, just standing there smiling. We rolled in (well Kimmie rolled, I walked and Carol pushed) with me holding Kimmie's hand. All of a sudden my nerves went away. I gave Donnie a hug first, since he was my favorite. He's a great hugger. He was like "Hey girl!" Next was Danny. We hugged and smiled at each other but that was about all our interaction. Next I hugged Joey, who had just let go of Kimmie. He's like "Hey girl, how you doin?" in his Boston accent. So cute. He also smells VERY nice. After I let go of him, I noticed Jon standing by himself so I'm like "Hi JON!" hella loud like the excited dork that I was. He gave me a really long hug and was like "How are you?" and I was like "I'm GREAT!" I'm such a nerd. Then I saw Jordan standing there so I'm like "Hi JORDAN!" and gave him a bigass hug, then told him about how we saw him perform in San Jose last year. He was like "Oh cool." The song Tonight was playing out in the main room and he randomly started singing to his older brother on the other side of me. "Jon Knight!!.. Jon Knight!!" and doing some random dance. I love Jordan but I think he has some serious A.D.D. That man needs Ritalin. Then I noticed that Jon was trying to talk to Kimmie but she was starting to cry again and Jon's like "Why you cryin?" and she's like "I'm nervous" then he said "Awww why you nervous? You don't need to be nervous. We don't bite." and we all laughed. He also bumped his knee on her chair when he was squatting down for the picture and Kimmie apologized. He's like "It's okay." So we got our pictures taken, and when we were leaving I gave Jordan another hug, and Jon another hug, then Jon said "Have fun tonight, girl" and patted me on the head. He's so cute and nice. I think Jon is my favorite New Kid now. He's so shy. So we went back to our table in shock, ate more refreshments, and eventually left to go pee and find our seats. Our seats were totally awesome, in the 6th row. At first security was being mean about Kimmie transferring out of her wheelchair into a regular seat since if there was an evacuation, she'd be at risk, etc. She told them flat out that she waited 22 years and didn't pay all that money to sit up in the nosebleeds. Carol and I managed to get her into a seat, and there she sat for about 4 hours. The concert was AWESOME. Lady GaGa came on first and luckily only performed for like 15 minutes. She was dressed like some space age hooker and most of her songs made no sense. Next act was Natasha Bedingfield, and she rocked. She can sing. At 9pm, the New Kids finally came out. Their show was the best concert I have ever attended. EVER. About 90% of their songs were not from the new album. They all still can dance their asses off and get the crowd going. I could tell they were having a lot of fun and loved performing. They even came out for two encores. Amazing. After the concert was over I went to find Sandi, who sat in sec 110 with her friend Shannon from work. Sandi is a physical therapy assistant and has plenty of training with transferring folks to and from wheelchairs. The one obstacle we had was getting back on the floor to help Kimmie. Security was a royal pain in the ass. I understand it's their job since they were dismantling the stage, removing chairs and such. Still sucked. So we got down there eventually, got Kimmie in her chair and were escorted by security back upstairs. I do have to say security at the HP Pavillion is well organized, they treat their job like it's the secret service. "10-4 we have a wheelchair and 3 attendants in elevator A.. " LOL. So I briefly chatted with Sandi, then we got the heck outta there and headed for Denny's for some real food. I had french toast, it was good. When we got back to the hotel we decided to toast with some champagne, but I couldn't figure out how to open the bottle. Carol wasn't answering her phone (found out later she was surfing the Tookie wave.. lmao), so I went downstairs to the front desk barefoot at 3am so the guy could open my bottle. Haha. We had a very eventful day that I will never forget and didn't go to bed until like 4:30am.
  
• Saturday we got up around 10am, I showered and started packing while Kimmie was getting ready. We didn't end up checking out of the hotel room until 12:30, then we headed to Pleasanton since I wanted to show Kimmie what Stoneridge Mall was like. It's fairly upscale, and she doesn't see Abercrombie and Fitch around her neck of the woods so I thought she would enjoy the experience. We did shopping, got Starbucks, Subway for lunch and headed back to Lodi. I didn't stay long since I had to get the van back to Millbrae by 8pm. I helped unload the van and I was on my way. I arrived in Millbrae, gassed up the van, returned it, and Cathy picked my booty up. Boy did I have stories to tell, but Cathy tried to shut me up/drown me out with the Ghostbusters II soundtrack. She knows me well. After I got home I put my stuff down and picked up Michelle and Dad, then brought them over to my place to celebrate Dad's birthday. He was turning 69. Cathy made an awesome chocolate cake, the same kind she made for my birthday. I gave Dad an "Army Veteran" hat and a camouflage Beanie Baby. He loved his presents. That's one thing I love about my family and what both my parents taught me, to appreciate even the small things and not be greedy. Both my parents grew up fairly poor so they know what it's like to not have nice things. Okay I'm digressing again. So I dropped them off at home, loaded pics on Myspace, and went to bed.
  
• Sunday I slept in until about 11, then ate leftover zucchini for breakfast. Then I did some housework I needed to catch up on, took a shower, edited about half my New Kids Trip video and relaxed for a bit. Later in the afternoon I went with Michelle to the gym, then took her and Dad to dinner at Applebees's in Alameda, followed by Borders since Dad needed new reading material. I finally dropped them off at home, then went back to my place and watched some TV before I went to work. The second episode of Easy Money came on the CW, but I was disappointed since my movie boyfriend Judge Reinhold wasn't in it. He was credited though, maybe his scenes got cut, his role is pretty minor. Oh well, I think I'll be leaving Kimmie's house late next week so I can watch it before I drive home. Haha.