A busy couple of weeks

It's been busy around our house lately.  Here's a few highlights.

I have a friend that I used to work with at YL that now lives in Denver.  We've been friends for 25 years and we get together at least twice a year to catch up.  This time it was at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to see The Book of Mormon.  It was fantastic especially if you're in need of a good laugh.  We didn't get home until after midnight, but it was well worth it.

The next night we had tickets for Dwight Yoakum at the brand new Ford Amphitheater.  It was a delayed start because of a rain storm in the area.  After the storm ended we went and got into line, but it was probably another 45 minutes until they let us through the gate because of a "shelter in place" order due to possible lightning.  They kept telling everyone to go back to their cars and wait it out, but we never saw any hint of lightning in the area.

The rain shower really cooled things down.  I had my winter coat on before the show even started.  The moment they opened the gates the first warm up band, '49 Winchester, started playing.  They were okay.

Of course we had to get a selfie.  This might be one of the most beautiful venues in America with the mountains and Pikes Peak in the background.

Then it was time for warm up band #2, The Mavericks.  Have you ever heard a band and had a memory that somewhere in your past you have known their music?  The Mavericks were formed in 1989 and had many hits including "All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down".

They were the highlight of the night!  High energy and fantastic music.  I could have listened to them all night (I've listened to them every day since then).  The accordion player, trumpet player and sax player brought the music to life!

Here's a short snippet of their music.  I would call them a mix of Tejano and Country.  Lead singer, Raul Malo, has a voice that is as smooth as melted butter.  What's even more amazing is that after the concert I looked them up to see where they've been all these years.  It turns out Raul is currently battling stage 4 colon cancer.  I can't believe he has the energy to tour and I'm so thankful to have had the chance to see him.

This new amphitheater has been very controversial.  You can see how close the apartments are to the venue, there is also a housing development close by.  When the venue opened last fall the complaints started flowing in.  Apparently it was too loud and now that I've been there I have to agree.  The developers worked throughout the winter to add additional sound walls.  There are also other guidelines such as the sound can't exceed 105 decibels.  They also installed noise measuring devices in several locations near the venue.  Shows have to be finished by 10:30 on week days and 11:00 on the weekend.

The picture above also shows the "suites".  The seats that come with a fire pit.  We could really have used one that night.  It was 46 degrees when the show wrapped up.

After the Mavericks finished we sat around forever waiting for Dwight.  The concert started at 6:30 and it was 9:30 when he finally made an appearance.  We've seen Dwight numerous times over the years and we love him.  On this night though Dwight just didn't show up.  He's usually quite high energy, but on that night he was boring and didn't really perform any of his signature dance moves.  People were exiting the arena like crazy.  We stuck it out to the end.  Maybe it's just hard following the Mavericks or maybe it was too cold for him.  Sorry Dwight.

The next morning we were up bright and early to head to a county up north to help with their horse judging contest.  Our horse's twin was there.  Although she's only ten, not 28 like Doc.

My very favorite helper came along to assist.

A long day waiting for the contestants to finish their reasons so I could compute the results.

The next afternoon we went to see Sister Act at the local fine arts center.  I have season tickets with some friends.  One of them was in Ireland so Irv got to use her ticket come along.

Then you'd think I'd have some time to recover from all this activity, but no.  I normally have my veggie patch planted by mid-May and since we have such a short growing season I knew I had to get on it.  Lots of weeding, soil turning, and planting needed to happen.  I fully expect there will be another freeze before month's end just to kill my tomato plants, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We've cleared our calendars this week because our ensuite bathroom is getting a major overhaul.  Everything is being gutted and new stuff installed including flooring and the shower.  They've only allotted five days for the whole project and guess what....it's almost 11:00 a.m. on day one and no one has showed up yet.

Keep the faith, Ellen.  They know what they're doing.  Right?