Good news: I found my lost iPod.
Bad news: It had a giant crack through the screen and was clearly a victim of the new dishwasher installation.

This is awesome.

Just because weather.gov says it's not going to storm until 8 PM, when I'm supposed to be safe at home, it may start storming at 7 PM, when I'm still on my run and have to take shelter on a porch of the historical general store.

And related to that...

Dear Good Samaritan Family,

I will probably never see you again, but you are all wonderful. Thank you so much for the ride back to my car. I truly appreciate not having to sprint the 2 miles in the pouring rain, lightning, and thunder.

Very, very thankfully,

Me

(Yes, I got in a car with complete strangers, completely going against everything I was taught as a child. Shut up.)

No more Laffy Taffy just before a run, even if it is only 5 miles. Ugh.

Ironically, as I'm posting this, I'm again eating Laffy Taffy, but since I'm done with my run, I figure it's safe.

Me to coworkers: Oh, I can do it on my knees, easy.

A coworker and I were talking about our experiences singing and in choirs today at work, and we brought up singing solos. He mentioned that he'd never been confident enough to sing a solo, and the following conversation occurred.

Me: I did a soloist at my high school Baccalaureate mass.
Coworker: OK.
Me: Did I just say that I did a soloist?
Coworker: Yep.
Me: I meant solo! I did a solo! Why didn't you say anything?
Coworker: I was going along with it. I thought, "Wasn't expecting that to come up."
Me: ...Is this when I go, "That's what she said?"

Should I be disturbed that I apparently can say I did a soloist at a Baccalaureate mass, and my coworker won't even blink?

My health insurance provider thinks that I'm a guy. I brought a new prescription to Giant Eagle today to get it filled while I shopped, and it was basically something only a girl would have filled. When I went to pick it up, the pharmacist said that I needed to call my insurance company because they tried to refuse coverage due to me being listed in their system as male. The pharmacist was able to get a one-time override, but I have to call the insurance company to make sure it's changed in their system.

I'm kind of curious how long it's been in their system like that. I've had this insurance for over a year, but I've only been off this kind of prescription for 6 months. Shouldn't the insurance company notice that they covered this for about 7 months last year? Did they think I magically changed genders at any point during the last 6 months? Of course, this is the same insurance that is currently requiring me to meet a $300 deductible before they start covering any blood work. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by anything they do anymore.

Went to the mall yesterda for my family's gifts, and I ended up spending way more money than I intended, mostly on myself. I got 4 pairs of pants, a skirt, 2 camisoles, a sweater, 2 every day bras, 1 sports bra, and a Camelbak water bottle. All for myself. At least everything was on sale except the sports bra and water bottle, both of which I definitely needed. And I got to the mall early and got out by noon, so it wasn't nearly as crowded as it could have been. Now for the strange parts.

Story the first: The 4 pairs of pants came from New York & Co, all on sale, and each a different size. Now, 1 pair was a pair of athletic pants so it was the small/medium/large sizing, not regular sizing. But the other 3? One pair was 8 regular, one pair was 10 regular, and 1 pair was 12 petite. All 3 pairs fit perfectly. So bizarre. My mom brought up the fact that they're 3 different styles, but they're still all from the same store. I go into Express, Banana Republic, or J Crew, and I know that I need 10 petite. Doesn't matter what style the pants are, I'm going to be wearing 10 petite. Needing that many different sizes is just frustrating. Bright side, I'm thrilled that I get to say I fit into a size 8. :D

Related to that story, my apologies to the fitting room attendant that I sent all over the store to get multiple sizes in multiple pairs of pants. Totally didn't mean to have you running around like crazy. Blame your quality control people.

Story the second: I was in Limited, and everything in the store was 40% off, but I had to double-check that it included the sale merchandise. Now, I was wearing my glasses instead of my contacts, but other than that I was just in jeans and a t-shirt. The sales girl asked if I was a student or a teacher, and I said no. She paused and went, "Oh. Really?" She sounded so shocked that I said no. Apparently my glasses make me look really studious? Usually I have to at least be wearing a Purdue shirt to get a student comment. Or that one time last year where I was wearing a shirt from my high school and apparently got mistaken for a high school student, but that's a different story.

About a month ago, I open one of the many House of Blues concert schedule e-mails I get, and on the e-mail, it says, "October 22: Eric Church and Christian Kane." I nearly fall off the couch while asking, "How did I not know about this?" I immediately text my brother to ask that he go with me and bought 2 tickets. And here's my recap of tonight so it is forever saved. :)

I got there early since I got the standing room only seats, and I'm all of 5'3". (Next time I'm totally springing for the reserved seats. I cannot deal with that many people standing that close to me for long periods of time.) Met my brother down there since he had class nearby until about 7:30 and the concert started at 8. We were waiting for the concert to start and watching the stage, since there was nothing else going on, and we saw someone come out onto the stage, make a couple stops, and walk off. I say they must be getting ready to start, and my brother (who's not really all that familiar with Kane) sounds all confused as he says, "The guy walked out and put a beer at each microphone." I was like, "Yep, they're definitely getting ready to start." :)

Now, the entire past month I've been waiting for this concert, all the information was from either House of Blues or Christian Kane's e-mail list. Nothing on the Steve Carlson front, so I'm happy that I'll at least get to see Christian Kane. The band comes out, and I can see Christian Kane and most of the stage to the right of him. Halfway through House Rules, the crowd shifts just so, and I nearly keel over because there's Steve Carlson with Christian Kane. I kept trying to get a picture of the two of them near each other on stage, but people in front of me kept moving and blocking the shot. I got this one:

http://picasaweb.google.com/CelticAngel13/Kane#5395644416456349314

which is really nice. This one:

http://picasaweb.google.com/CelticAngel13/Kane#5395644937333074578

is a perfect example of someone moving their head into my nice picture.

The music was incredible, and I loved it. They played Different Kind of Knight and Rattlesnake Smile, which may be my 2 favorite Kane songs, so I was thrilled. I think my brother liked it too, minus the sloshed idiots we were standing near.

After the set, I was kind of wandering around needing fresh air, but also looking for the band. I bought a shirt before the show, and the guy who sold it to me said that they'd be greeting fans between their set and Eric Church's set. (Which turned out to be a full 45-minute break, but that's a separate issue.) I'm walking around, getting fresh air when I can, and sort of looking to see where the band might be when I turn around and Steve Carlson is standing Right. There. Not more than 10 feet away. I mosey on over, and they're taking photos with fans, as promised, and Christian's available first. He pulls me over to him for picture:

http://picasaweb.google.com/CelticAngel13/Kane#5395645262911727042

And the brief conversation with him.

Christian: How are you doing, sweetie?
Me: *possibly squeaking in delight* I'm great! Thanks so much for coming to Cleveland!

Then it was over, and I was left it awe at how amazingly hot he is in person. Next came Steve:

http://picasaweb.google.com/CelticAngel13/Kane#5395645280461820994

My brother stayed where we stood for the concert while I was doing this, so a fellow fan took the picture and said that Steve looked demonic.

Me: *pulls up the picture on the camera* No, you look good.
Steve: I look hot. You do too. *squeezes my waist*
Me: *dies*

I may have managed a "Thank you" in there but I'm not sure. Probably not. Again, blown away by the hotness in person.

Also, as I was waiting for a picture with him, the fellow fan who was taking my pictures reached over to pull up the sleeves of Steve's shirt to see his tattoos. Yet again, totally hot, so thank you, fellow fan whose name I never got. And Steve made a comment about how he'd lost weight and how the shirt he was wearing was too big, which completely explained why my first thought at seeing him up close was, "He's skinnier than I thought."

Um, I think that's everything. Eric Church's part of the concert was pretty fun, except for the drunk people behind us who kept falling into us, and the couple to my right who made out the entire time. I only knew 1 song of his, so I might have to listen to his latest CD because I enjoyed the songs tonight.

In conclusion, Christian Kane & Steve Carlson? Way hotter in person. They totally need to come back to Cleveland soon. Either that or I may have to move to a city that they're more likely to tour in.