Let's face it, these guys have made us absolutely insane. You've got soccer moms dressing up in full goth and dancing around their living rooms. Why? Because Donnie asked us to. Twitter has absolutely exploded with an influx of thousands of new users? Why? Because NKOTB & each individual guy now have Twitter accounts. We've crashed site after site on the web when concerts go on sale, when new details are released for something the guys are doing or when they pretty much breathe. Seriously. What is the MATTER with us???
I should start at the beginning of where the conductor punched my ticket for the crazy train.
I surprised myself last May when tickets went on sale for the fall tour. Due to a misunderstanding (as we weren't yet on the forums), we thought REGULAR tickets were $375 and balcony seats were $175 and we were totally willing to pay it to see the guys again. Obviously we realized our mistake when all the tickets went on sale and we were VERY relieved that regular tickets were well under $100. Whew! Still...we'd have paid it.
The summer went along fairly quietly. Not much insanity, other than the countdowns and the numerous daily emails between myself and mah girls talking about the guys, sharing YouTube links and discussing concert plans.
We bought tickets to the Kansas City show. They were balcony seats and while we did plan to go early, in the hopes of seeing the guys, we didn't get to. Here's where "questionable" enters the picture. We'd NEVER considered waiting outside the arena after a show, but something told us (okay..I blame the Waffle House video) to hang out and see where they go. So, while Kimmi sat toastily in the car, Jen and I sat outside in 40° weather, spitting rain and a brisk breeze, on the curb with my camera (and a killer zoom lens) across the street from the venue, shouting "I LOVE YOU's" at Joe and Jon. (I apologize, guys. I told you: CRAZY!) We froze our butts off in that rain, but we were SO excited at the great pictures and the waves and blown kisses we got from Jon, Donnie & Jordan. Thus began talk of "Stalkfest '09" before we even knew if they were still going to be performing in '09!! Hubby was NOT pleased with our promises of a three city tour in the summer. Crazy faded in and out for a couple weeks.
Then, we discovered the forums. Ho. Ly. Hell. Life hasn't been the same. I've found myself on the forums sometimes up to 18, 24, even 36 hour stretches reading all I can, right-click-saving, soaking as much of this in as I possibly can. Thankfully the holidays were in there and I smartened up and realized I don't need to be here all the time, reading every thread to keep up. Word spreads quickly as to what's going on, so I've lightened up quite a bit.
Holidays over, the cruise announcement was made. It was at this point I realized there were some people who were off-the-charts-NUTSO slightly crazier than I and being on that boat with them was NOT a smart place for me to be. I'm far too snarky and outspoken for that situation to turn out well. I'd be likely to start throwing people overboard or chucking fruit at people. LOL! I did, for one BRIEF moment consider it, but logic overruled obsession.
Enter: spring concerts. DES MOINES??!! MOLINE?!?!?!?! OH EM GEE! SO there. Hubby wasn't thrilled with the travel plans, especially considering he knew there was still a summer tour to look forward to. When I reminded him this thing wouldn't last forever, he just rolled his eyes and said "I'm not paying for it." HA! No problem! Fast-forward to April - Moline's show. Again with the rain and the 40° temps. Take that 2 hr wait from Kansas City last fall and multiply it times FOUR. That's how long we stood out in that miserable weather hoping for a glimpse of our guys. Wet to the core, freezing cold, we finally gave up about 5:00 and went to get dinner. What we hadn't really counted on was our abrupt decision to drive to Columbus the next day. Being from Iowa..that's QUITE the haul. We'd gotten some inside info from a friend that they were staying in Chicago the night of the Moline show, so we decided, last minute, to drive to Chicago (three hours away, I might add). First dose of really out-of-character for us. So...at 3 in the morning, my girl Jen and I rolled into the Windy City. (We got the big fat "IDONTFRIGGINTHINKSO" from Jen's hubby on Columbus, so we turned around and came home.)
It was a bust. No face time. But..we had a GREAT time anyway, slept in the most comfortable bed on the planet AND we didn't have to deal with our "real lives" for a day. Woo!!
Des Moines was a few days later and we'd learned our lesson about cold weather and the likelihood of the guys coming out in miserable conditions, so we didn't venture down to the arena til later in the day. We DID get Face Time this time around. Yay us! But really...crazy wasn't too much of an issue for that show.
Unfortunately, within 48 hrs, I started experiencing that ever-common "Post Concert Depression." I couldn't listen to their songs, I couldn't get on the site. I couldn't even edit my pictures without feeling blue. I had to go to another show. It wasn't a matter of WANT...I NEEDED another concert. I swear, if I'd been left alone much longer, I'd have started to twitch. But there were no shows left for me. I didn't have a passport, so Canada wasn't an option and California airfare & hotel was too expensive to even consider. It was a couple weeks before I finally came out of the haze of depression and was able to do anything New Kid-related again. I believe Twitter was to thank for that recovery. The guys started Tweeting and giving us glimpses into their lives (and their beds, thankyouOHsoVERYmuchJOEandJON!) and I was able to get through it.
Somewhere during the haze, the Today show appearance was announced. Obviously, Iowa is NO where close to NYC, so I hadn't even considered it. I was super excited for my friends who were going, but I knew it wasn't an option for me. First of all, I'm highly uncomfortable in new places, much less somewhere as big as New York City! Also..I know NOBODY in NY and knew I'd never find my way around by myself (my girl Jen is busy that weekend) and I wasn't about to go alone. That's just *NOT* me.
Along comes my little twitter friend, Susie. (Stop batting your eyelashes, girl...you're not so innocent!! LOL) "Mel, you should come to NYC! You could stay with us, here's an email address to request passes. C'mon!! We'll take care of ya!" Gah...are you kidding? Okay, fine. I'll check airfare, but I know it'll be astronomical. So off I go to travelocity.com. Less than $300?? Out of DES MOINES??? NO freakin' WAY! They're NEVER this cheap. Still, I wasn't holding my breath. A LOT of things had to work out perfectly in order for this to come together. I knew hubby wouldn't go for it. Too expensive. Too unsafe. Too over-the-top. Too...too...too.... I decide to bring it up in one of those off-handed ways that I'm famous for -
"So...May 7th-10th. What do we have going on?"
"Umm...nothing. Why?"
"Just curious."
Fast-forward a couple hours. "Hey...you know that weekend in May? The Jersey girls invited me to go to the Today show with them." (At this point, I still have not mentioned THEY are going to be on it.)
"Uhhh okay. Why would you want to g........oh!!! Of course. New Kids. (insert the "I'm so OVER this" sigh) How much is THIS gonna cost me?"
"Well, I actually checked airfare and it's less than $300 to fly out of DES MOINES (this, btw, is UNHEARD of. DSM is the most expensive airport on the planet)."
"Hmm..where you staying? How much will you be spending on ...."
I rattle off some figures.
"Well, if the tax return comes, I don't care what you do with your half."
Holy crap! Did he just say yes??
I'm fairly certain for a brief moment in time, the earth stopped spinning. First off, he's SUPER protective of me and the fact that I'm considering running...err...jetting off to NYC with people I've NEVER met is just insane to him. Secondly, this would be the second out of FOUR trips I'll be making solo this year to various cities across the country (Chicago and Denver are still to come for concerts this summer). Thirdly, did I mention, he's super protective?
So I talk to my girls...and this morning, I bought my plane ticket. I'm actually going to New York City without a plan, without a clue, without even a map of the city. I'm *so* screwed. LOL (Okay, I'm really not...my east coast girls have promised to take VERY good care of me and I trust them implicitly)
I think I crossed from "enthusiastic" to "crazy" when I clicked on the "book flight" button this morning. What in the hell am I thinking?!?!?!
I. Have. Lost. It.
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