Tanya Writes About Cowboytown Redux

Sometimes pictures really are worth a bazillion words!



The guys rocking our world.



My hero and me. Isn't he a cutie?



Same here for our dear friends, Charlene Sands and hubby Don.



Grub was good. Shrimp...what else?

Thanks for the pix, Char!

Tanya Writes About Cowboytown

Ditsy Tanya's Almanac #6

It's gonna hurt every now and then. If you fall, get back on again.
--Dunn, Brooks, McBride, Terry



Of course, cowgirls do cry. Once in a while when the journey's tough. But...they get those tears wiped off right away, and often with the help of friends.

In this case, it's my dear friend, award-winning romance author Charlene Sands.

Valentine's Day 2008 wasn't a good one for my hero and me. It was his fourth day of chemo (3 X BEP) and already he wasn't in the mood for See's Candy Bordeaux chocolate hearts. I got him some anyway. And the day at the hospital, that first round, was about eight hours long. So Charlene took me out to lunch. It isn't the first time she's "saved" me from crying my eyes out, but normally it's a rejection. This time was pretty serious.

So a while back, she found that Brooks and Dunn were coming to L.A. Did I want to go? Well, duh. So we asked our hubbies, who both like country music and B and D in particular, and it was decided for the four of us to celebrate Valentine's Day a few days late.

Last night was the big night. We had dinner first (shrimp, what else) at Bubba Gump's (all of us knew all of the waitstaff's questions about the movie), then trekked into a throbbing theatre of eager fans. What's not to like about cowboy music? The guys didn't disappoint.

None of them. Not even the two opening acts: Gloriana and Jason Michael Carroll.

(The only teensie disappointment for me was the guys not doing "That Ain't No Way to Go...") But they far made up for it. Pausing dramatically during "Cowgirls Don't Cry..." my hero jabbed me and said, here she comes.

And there she was. In the flesh. Reba joined them on stage for the that magnificent refrain. Wish she could have stayed longer. But wow.

And during "Only in America," there wasn't a dry eye in the house when four servicemen joined the guys on stage. Red, white, and blue streamers shot through the air like a thunderstorm.

And ZZ Topp coming out for a guitar riff. Wow.

Whew. My ears are still ringing a bit, but I am soooo sorry it's over. It was a to-die-for Valentine's Day...just gotta wonder what next year will bring?

Well, whatever it is, I'll have my own personal hero and my wonderful friends by my side.

Tanya Writes About Cool Country Songs

I dunno how a southern California girl ended up loving country music so much. I guess, like Trace Adkins sings, the songs are about me. And...the titles themselves could often become romance novels!

Truth to tell, I was raised on classical music, the Beach Boys and British invasion, all fitting as I love Baroque, coastal life and London. Even though I went to college in Nebraska, the love didn't start until we moved north of LA as newlyweds to a rural (for SoCal) area where strawberries are queen and lemons not far behind.

So I got to thinking what songs I'd put on a All-time favorites album of my own. Since I'm listening to Trace right now, I'll start off with One Hot Mama.

Oh, my dream is for my hero to have the DJ dedicate that song to me when our little girl eventually gets married...

Next up: I wanna Feel Something. I just this very day added Ladies Love Country Boys to my profile at MySpace and hope to figure out how to add 1HM as my ringtone...

I could add just about everything Tim McGraw has sung, but I confined myself to two. For at least five years, my dear friend, author Charlene Sands has gotten us tickets to a concert of his, but I guess he's taking this summer off. So I contented myself with Trace who performed at our county fair.

My McGraw picks are, understandably after the journey my hero has been on, Live Like You Were Dying. And Everywhere.

Driving around with our kids during their college days, we all sang along to Garth Brook's Unanswered Prayers. It's a pretty apt song when you realize the answers to prayers do sometimes suck and you don't get the reason until way later. And they were raised on Crystal Gayle. Someday Soon about that rodeo rider still gets to me.

Our lovely county fair also featured Brad Paisley not long ago. I recall him saying "it ain't a true country song unless the girl cries." During my teaching career, I recall arriving on campus in tears to the consternation of colleagues. Oh, no, it's nothing, I'd assure them. I just had KHAY on... Not that the song has to be sad. I get misty just hearing We Danced, watching them in my head dancing across that hardwood floor...

And my heart breaks listening to Brooks and Dunn telling us That Aint' No Way To Go...all about that lipstick letter on the mirror. What a heartless chick!

Speaking of chicks. The Dixies took some flak not long ago, but their Wide Open Spaces can really take me away to where the sky is tall and the range goes on forever.

Blake Shelton listening to that phone message from Austin really gets to me, and Lonestar's Amazed will always touch my heart.

I sing along loud and boisterous whenever I hear Taylor Swift's Another Picture to Burn. Who could help it?

But I have saved two of the ultimates for last. Ever since I heard George Strait's Best Day of My Life, I planned my little boy's wedding video in my head. Until he grew up and actually got married and said, no video, Mom. But it's one of those songs that always gets me weeping.

As does Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA. Nothing more needs to be said about that one.

Oh, I know I can come up with more stirring favorites. But I'll save those for another blog. Just let me know some of the country songs and singers that mean something to you!

I wonder if our lists will be the same.