Some Days You've Got To Dance

When I was a kid, my dad and some of his cousins and co-workers would get together to play music on the weekends. Naturally, my brother, sister and I were in attendance so we practically were weaned on bluegrass and country music. We learned early on that you can't have a bluegrass jam without--you guessed it--good clogging!! I vividly remember someone throwing sawdust down on the dance floor and everyone getting up and dancing. Man, those were the days!! Somewhere around 3rd or 4th grade I started taking clogging lessons and loved every minute of it. Although it's hard to see, here is a video of some cloggers at the festival this past weekend.


In other news, my dad goes in Thursday for a biopsy of his lung. He will be in the hospital for a few days and then will face a 2-4 week recovery period. Remember him in your prayers, please.

Fun Filled Weekend

The bluegrass festival is over and as always, I had a great time!! We had good music, beautiful weather, lots of clogging (I'm sore), and funnel cakes (need I say more?). Work begins next week to start planning the 2009 festival. There really is no rest for the weary. The only thing that bothered me about this years festival is that none of my friends came. Now, I know it's true that none of my friends are bluegrass lovers, BUT STILL it would have been nice to have had their support especially since this is something that I love so much. They have their spouses/children that they love and hold dear and I have the festival...so why can't they show up?? Don't I attend all those important things that matter to them--weddings, showers, births? It hurts my feelings a little; just looked at what they missed!

Bluegrass Is Coming!!

Well as most of you know, my labor of love for the past 5 years has been the "Lake Cumberland Bluegrass Festival." Our 5th festival is next weekend and let me tell you-I'm feeling the crunch!! It makes me wonder why on earth I do this to myself year after year; pushing the festival...advertising...soliciting donations...booking bands from all over the place...dealing with needy food vendors...feeling rejected when a business doesn't see my idea as GREAT and therefore they decline to sponsor...THEN it hits me:

I do this for a number of reasons. It's the feeling you get when people start actually showing up for something you've worked so hard on...when they thank you because they've had such a good time...when you look out into the crowd and you see someone singing along...when I decide I don't care how much my boobs and fat rolls might flop around--dang it--I'm getting up and clogging every time a fiddler takes off on "Sally Goodin"...when a grown adult hoops and hollers over a hot break on the banjo...when I see GREAT people that I would have never met otherwise...it's then I realize that nothing worth having is easy. Yes, it's hard work all year long for a 2day event, but I wouldn't trade those happy feelings (and happy memories) for anything in the world (not even to be the mother of Matthew McConaughey's next child).

Having said that--everyone is invited. I promise you'd have a good time!! August 15/16 @ KOA Campground in Russell Springs...be there or be talked about. :D

And Now We Know...

I decided last week that I wouldn't blog again until I knew the results of my dad's PET Scan from Thursday. My mom called me this morning and said that the doctor asked that he meet with her to discuss the results. After I picked my heart up off the floor, I sat on pins and needles all morning just waiting (that't realllllllllly hard if you're not a patient person).

Mom called back around noon to say, (ENVELOPE PLEASE):

The spots on the liver showed NOTHING during the PET Scan! (Thank God)
The spot on the left lung showed NOTHING during the PET Scan! (Praise the Lord)
There are 2 tiny spots on the right lung that will need to be biopsied but they're so small that they can't biopsy them with a needle. A lung specialist is going to look at his scans and see if they can do another scan or if they need to do a surgical biopsy. There is a chance that he will have to undergo some chemotherapy for these 'suspicious spots' and we are ready to do whatever is necessary to get rid of them for good. All of his other organs came back clean...I feel so incredibly blessed. I know there is power in prayer and we've had a lot of people praying. I just can't express how relieved I am...