country comes to town

finally the time of year has come for the redneck rodeo, otherwise known as the wmzqfest. but before heading out for the big adventure on saturday, i had to face a few demons.

friday evening was the karen chapman pre-wedding family dinner. since i couldn't attend the sealing or reception on saturday, due to my existing plans, it was even more imperative to show my support at dinner.

some of you will remember that not too long ago an ex-boyfriend reappeared to break the news that he and his wife were expecting, while simultaneously reminding me me that i will be turning 30 this year. my response was to block him from im, and to ignore all of his attempts at contact.

maybe to some that seemed dramatic, but to me it seemed like a good idea. afterall, we have no reason to still be in contact. he has a new and different life, and i am not, nor do i want to be a part of it. but i guess sometimes, that is not up to me.

i was warned when the invitation came for dinner that he and his expecting wife would most likely be there, since he is the cousin of the bride. though a bit dismayed, i was determined that i could practice avoidance with the best of them.

the evening started bad and got worse. my family was not given instruction re the dress code, and since the meal was a sit down plated dinner at a nearby hotel, we decided to play it safe with sunday dress. upon our arrival however, we learned that we were completely overdressed, as most of the attendees were in jeans.

can i tell you how much i hate being inappropriately dressed? over or under, it's just bad, and makes me feel uncomfortable.

so while dealing with that, my ex-potential future father-in-law came over to say hello. he instructed me to stand up and give him a hug, which i gladly did--i always liked him. but then came the two coments that would send the evening even further down painful pl. the first was something like 'wow, you look healthy and robust.' i don't think it was a compliment. the second was 'this is just like the good ol' days.' ugh.

and then, there was v and his pregnant wife. avoidance was working quite well for me, that is, until he decided to 'be the bigger person' and all that craap. he let his wife go to their table and approached me in a completely cautious and respectful way. that was upsetting. how dare he show me respect! if he was a jerk it would be much easier to hate him.

we exchanged pleasantries, and finally it was over. except that i spent the next three hours in a room filled with people whose soul purpose was to celebrate the institution of marriage, and watched the last man i loved with his wife.

needless to say, it was not a pleasant evening. what was most frustrating was that i could not pinpoint the source of my uncomfortability. it is not as if i want him back. it was me who made the decision not to take the relationship to the next level, and i have never regretted it. so i am still a bit unsure as to why it was so difficult.

regardless of the uncertainty around that point, the strangest thing happened. after a truly awful evening, i woke up on saturday morning, and i was at peace. absolute peace. i didn't understand any more than i had the night prior, but i no longer needed to. instead i felt that final blissful sense of closure, and i let it go. i've been practicing letting things go lately, and apperently it's paying off.

just in time to go see the mullet parade.

lara and i bought our tix to wmzqfest awhile ago, and paid a price for our very good seats. we were both disappointed when the lineup was finalized and there was no one we were truly excited about. we tried to psych ourselves up, and were determined to have a good time.

we arrived at nissan in time to catch the last three acts on the side stage..the best of which (by far), was eric church. i wish his set had been longer, and i am looking forward to his album release.

on the mainstage, trace adkins took the 'best entertainer' prize. trace is 6'7" and all man. and the man can move.

gretchen wilson headlined, but as neither of us is a huge gretchen wilson fan, we headed out after a few songs to avoid the notoriously bad nissan traffic.

the true highlight of the day was the people watching. i often wonder when i look at people, if they really stood in front of the mirror in the morning and thought 'i look goood.' do they have a different mirror than i do? the funniest was the pseudo pig-tailed, four layers of clothing wearing, pancaked blue cowboy hat owning pink lady, as we lovingly referred to her. this woman was a trip.

we were also particularly grossed out by the girl in the tank who had the biggest most awfullest mole you've ever seen, dead center on her back. seriously if i had had a knife, i would have sliced it off.

and let us not forget the beautiful leggy blond in the short shorts that passed us in the aisle with her nappy haired 'round' friend. lara leaned over and said 'it would suck to be her friend.' but during trace's set, i noticed them on stage watching the performance. i pointed them out to lara and said 'guess it doesn't suck that bad to be her friend.'

the mullets and wife beaters were out in full force, and we got lucky with beautiful weather. so all in all, it turned out to be a very enjoyable day!

for the rest of the pics, click here.