2007, one more time......with some insight!

From new blog find Blonde Ambition, one more look at 2007.....

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?

Walk away from a job because I was told to. Good ol' budget cuts!!

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't do New Year's resolutions. At this point in my life, a good resolution is to be able to stay up New Year's Eve!!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth or adopt?

Unbelievably, no.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My Grannie in North Carolina. Age 88. I could deal with living 88 years.

5. What countries did you visit?

Heh...I got out of Virginia for the first time in four years, let's take it a step at a time, ok?

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

The resurgence of a career containing a job that matters, and a paycheck that is an increase over 2007....is that too much to ask? Ya think? :)

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

January 24th, I finally traveled out of Virginia (goodbye anxiety attacks!) February 26th, my daughter turned 10 (gasp!) and my dad turned 75.
April 29th, my son turned 15 (gulp!!!)
June 23rd, I turned 40. That's cool; I'm alive, right? :)
August 5th, the Moody Blues concert. Enough said! Whoo hoo!!!
November 5th, the day I got axed and lost daily contact with my best friends.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I went to North Carolina; enjoyed it so much I went four times!!

9. What was your biggest failure?

Gee, where do I start? Still depressed, I still look seven months pregnant, I did NOT handle losing my job well emotionaly (because of friends, NOT the job), need I go on?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

My shoulder, injured badly in 2004, is barking for the first time (arthritis, anyone?)


11. What was the best thing you bought?

A ticket to see the Moody Blues, of course!


12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

MY WIFE!!! 71 pounds down in the first year of the LapBand era. She's INCREDIBLE.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Beside me? I'll keep this to myself.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills, tragically enough. (I stole this answer word for word from Blonde Ambition).


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Taking my daughter to see Rascal Flatts in concert for her 10th birthday and she had NO IDEA it was happening until we got to the venue.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?

"I See Your Smile"---Gloria Estefan


17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? About the same, but a little more optimistic!

b) thinner or fatter? Heh. Fatter. Or, as I put it, more pregnant-lookin'.

c) richer or poorer? Poorer....but it could be worse!!

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Hanging with friends, but with social phobias, each attempt to do so lately is an adventure....

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Being in bed. Not sleeping, and sadly, not that other bed thing, either.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Quietly with the gleesome threesome. And my wife and kids! (The gleesome are the two cats and the dog.) Hee....

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?

Nah, that was a LONG time ago.

22. How many one-night stands?

I couldn't stand all night if my life depended on it. That was the question, right?

23. What was your favorite TV program?

"24", though season six was much weaker than seasons four and five.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Almost. But God's making sure the hate leaves me before the bitterness sets in.

25. What was the best book you read?

None. I read newspapers, some magazines, and lots on the Internet. Even my own blog.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?

No one will believe this...."Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. The CLEANEST version I can find, mind you. For you 80s music lovers like me, I refer to this song as "Mickey" on steroids. Toni Basil 2.0 kicks, well, you know......

27. What did you want and get?

Time with family, a dog, time with my best friend.

28. What did you want and not get?

....to sit at my cubicle longer than November 5th.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?

None.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

40, whoo hoo!! I slept most of the day away.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

More time with best friends. And FINALLY having a church home. (Reverse the order of those....)

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

Shorts. What else??

33. What kept you sane?

Family, best friends, Mountain Dew, and the Moody Blues.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Are you kidding?? I'm sick of the celebrity-fixation of this country. But the lady with the short blonde hair on "Women's Murder Club" catches the eye....hee....

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

Why have we already started the 2016 Presidential Election Campaign??

36. Who did you miss?

Mama, my Grannie and Granddaddy, my Grannie Witham (now that Rachel is crocheting, Grannie knitted with the BEST of them, they'd get along so well) and being with my work friends.

37. Who was the best new person you met?

My newest co-worker before my untimely demise....she's a Giants fan (football, that is), so she already rated high on the cool factor before she set up her cubicle!

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:

Be prepared for anything! Get closer to God so the next time my knees are cut out from under me, it doesn't take long for me to have knee replacement surgery. And enjoy EVERY minute you spend with your friends. Never take any time for granted.

Oh, and always try to find six-packs of 24-ounce bottles of Mountain Dew for under three dollars if humanly possible.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

"Nah, nah nah, nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey Jude."

2007------THE GREAT!!!!

---FREEDOM! Finally got out of state on January 24th, to North Carolina for my niece's wedding. Drove four hours down, photographed the wedding, enjoyed the reception, met Daniel and family members, drove four hours home, which was four of the quickest hours in my life; it was fun!!!

---Dad turns 75 and Rachel turns 10---the same day! We celebrate in Carolina on the 25th (birthdays were the next day).

---THE MOODY BLUES!!! August 5th at Wolf Trap. What a night; even better than the 2004 show here in Richmond. They're in Baltimore in April. Maybe??

---I turned 40! Yes, I consider this positive, why not? I made it to 40; there are many who do not.

---Robbie's first big trip without the parents. Chorus trip to Orlando. He had a blast, and was kind to call home alot! :)

---Enjoyable visits from Uncle Frank and Aunt Tammy, especially near year's end; a great source of fun during a ROUGH time for moi.

---A final GREAT ten months with my friends at work (love ya Kim, Dionne, Rodney, Desiree, Gina, and Angela!!)

---The chance to spend significant time with the kids since November 5th (about the ONLY positive that came from THAT day...)

---BONNIE LOST 71 POUNDS IN ONE YEAR!! Go, Lap Band, Go! Go, Bonnie, Go!

---Robbie heads to 10th grade; Rachel is elementary queen (5th grader) and becomes safety guard and TV announcer (the morning announcements!)

---WELCOME, HARRY J!!!!!!!!!!!

---Two trips downtown for wrestling.....

---"24": Season 6. Disappointing, but still good.

---The opening of my campaign to open the first Smithfield BBQ outside North Carolina.

---The continual pathetic play in the Raider Nation. (Good? Yeah, it didn't surprise me.)

---The continual pathetic play of the Orioles. (Good? Yeah, it didn't surprise me.)

---Sidney Lowe's red jacket.

---Women's Murder Club

---Jessica Biel

---Rachel's SURPRISE birthday trip to see Rascal Flatts in Charlottesville!

---Bonnie and Rachel to VEGAS, Dad and Robbie do 'da bachelor thing!

---A playoff year for Patrick Henry Football!!

...and the Withams survived another year at Witham Nation.

As Rodney Woody would say, "It's all good!"

Me??? Rascal Flatts??? In the same building?? Within feet of each other??

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction!!

Rascal Flatts and Rob Witham in the SAME building.

Only a beautiful almost ten-year old freckled-face daughter could pull this one off. And what's even better, she never knew she was doing it!!

Here's the story, which has been a big secret for about four to six weeks.

--Daddy finds out Rascal Flatts, his daughter's favorite group, was coming to the new arena in Charlottesville. Dad was able to get two tickets for the show to be his present to Rachel for her 10th birthday. One catch.....let's NOT tell Rachel...make it a surprise.

--I get the tickets, and cannot believe the location. I hoped to be "in the building"; you know, Section 309....that's cool by me! What do the tickets say? "Floor. Row E." "Is this as good as I think it is?", I ask myself.

--So, the day comes, I call Rachel at work on speakerphone late in the day to inform her that her and Dad were going on a date. Her reaction......"what??" We meet at home around 530 and hit the road. Traffic was heavy all the way to C-Ville.

--Then the worst part of the night begins. I take the 3rd exit like the directions say, but the flashing sign on the road said take the second exit for parking. At this arena, you either pay lots and park close, or park for free and hoof it. 15 minutes worth of walkin'. Most nights, that's actually good exercise. Last night, with temps falling thru the 20's and Rachel having NO idea what was going on....she ended up cold and confused.

So, I take the third...wait in a long line of cars, then find what I thought was the right street based on the map....and was right. Went into an area of the University to park.....full; side parking lot...full---Rachel and I drive around for ten minutes, and SHE saved the day. We pass a building and she says, "Dad, you can park in there, I see stairs. And cars." I go around, get back to the other side of the building, enter the deck and the first parking place is open. I gladly take it.

--Of course, I'm in shorts. I'm always in shorts. Funny, the whole walk, my legs weren't really cold; it was the top half of me that was freezing! Okay, back to the really important part....

--I've taken Rachel up the interstate on a one hour, fifteen minute road trip and she knows nothing about what's at the end of the potential rainbow. We approach the building, she later said she saw how big it was and thought it must be some kind of show, but with no marquee or sign to announce to surprise, I take out the tickets just as we walk into the building.

"Rachel, tell me what it says on the tickets."

Rachel, who always reacts emotionally on a two-hour delay, looked, said nothing, then quietly said, "Rascal Flatts." Let the shock begin.

Then we have very nice UVA people (DID I JUST SAY THAT??) help ya find your seats.

The seats. Yeah, the seats that put you TEN FEET from the front walkway of the stage.

After a gaggle of teenage girls swooped in front of us to try to have their hand touched by the opening act, I told Rachel just before the main event, "...you better get up and stand at the end of that railing, or you'll never see the show."

So, she staked her claim to a slab of concrete, and proceeded to never sit down. Two solid hours of Rachel mesmerized by what was unfolding in front of her, fifteen chances to be "psuedo-crushed" by aforementioned group of teens, surviving one lady's "super-scream" just behind us, who I told Rachel after the show should join the military and become a drill sargeant, and having Rascal Flatts come up to eight to ten feet away from her.

(Rachel, by the way, never held her hand out to be touched. She got her maturity from her Dad.) :) :)

REVIEW:

1) The show? Well done; the stage was tremendously put together with a huge tall rectangle screen in the back middle showing some of their videos during their performances. The top is semi-circled with "little monitors" on them in checkboard fashion. Not overdone. I appreciated that. Sparks in the opening song; serious confetti at the end (before the encore). The best technical aspect of the night was when the threesome all came to within ten feet of Rachel, there was a hydraulic machine up high, they connected cables to the end of the stage, it rose high and carried them over the heads of the floor seating onto a small stage on the other end of the floor. The back upper and lower levels went nuts as they "brought the show closer" to them.

2) The group? They put on a pretty good show; quite entertaining for a general music fan like me, and apparently more like a worship experience based on the emotional reaction of many girls around me. Rachel later admitted to screaming twice and smiling alot. See, all I saw of her was the back of her head! She wouldn't look stoic alot when turning around to see me, and I asked her if she was smiling. She said yes. I told her I wanted to make sure the group didn't look down and think you weren't having fun!!

3) The music? Thank God they are musicians, and not just studio singers. The lead guy only sang, but another guy (Jay) really impressed me with acoustic and electric guitar work, a drums duet he had with the stage band's drummer that was nuts, then a virtuoso performance on the piano. When I see a group member sing, interact with the crowd, have fun, and show that much musical dexterity, I see worth in the cost of a ticket.

4) The final score? I enjoyed the show, I bounced up and down out of my chair taking pictures for my girl when good opportunities arose (and there were many) while holding her coat, and I enjoyed the people-watching.

Am I now a "Rascal Flatts fan"? No. Can I listen to their CD now in the van without thinking "yech!"? Yeah. Because that means Rachel's in the van, too, and I'll apparently use Rascal Flatts to any and all lengths to surprise my girl. :)

Like I said to some people yesterday and today:

"She's had me around her finger for ten years now, at least once I should be able to string her along!"

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

And, to Dee, the lady who put us in the seats that made my girl's surprise dream come true, I will kiss your feet when I see you. Thank you. :)