Staring at a Car Crash

Wow. What I won't do for a great concert.

Paper route is killer anyways, but I find ways to make it even harder...

So last night, AMAZING show: Hazel & Vine, Sleep for Sleepers, Abandon Kansas, Children 18:3. Unmissable, right?

Well, most people are surprised to hear this (though they know I do a paper route from about 1-5:30 in the morning), but I do the paper route every. day. And during the week, I catch a couple of hours of sleep before going to work in the elementary school. Well, yesterday was no different. I figured I'd catch a couple winks after work and before the concert, then maybe even a few after.

My body had much different plans. Something happens when I get excited for a break from the monotonous: sleep isn't so easy. Eating isn't so easy. Being excited, for me, is dangerous. But I can't stop and I don't want to and I don't have a problem and no I won't go to any center and I can stop whenever I want....LOL.

So basically I hung out trying to sleep from after work (3:15 p.m.) till about 5:30, saying very, VERY, strange sleep-deprived things. Check this out:

Me: This morning, when I went to get in the shower, there was this huge red bug! It looked like a spider, like, the same size, but it had six legs.

Mom: Yuck!

Me: Ya, I killed it with your Croc.

Mom: MY CROCS ARE AT YOUR HOUSE?!

I laughed for probably fifteen minutes. Does that make sense? NO. What's worse, now that I slept I still think it's a little funny. I don't know why.

So then, the David's and I went to the show. Blast. For real. I got to meet a couple of the bands at Spirit West Coast, and a couple folks actually remembered me. Sweet. And the lead singer of Abandon Kansas gave me this website where you can buy glasses for eight dollars!!! zennioptical.com. Ya. Not to mention they rocked it out. We were a bit late, so we only got to see the last two songs from Hazel & Vine, but on the way we heard the show streaming live, and they have an amazing Killer's cover. Sleep for Sleepers had a circuit blow during their performance, and didn't have time to play "Thieves & Liars", but Jamey (lead singer) pulled out his acoustic and did some praise songs while we waited for repairs. Abandon Kansas. They have a guitar player who looks and dances like Michael Jackson. I'm not kidding. Children 18:3. INCREDIBLE. I'll admit, I never really respected LeeMarie's vocals until last night. More than just yelling. She screams. She puts Flyleaf to shame. Just an amazing performance. Hope to see them back.

So, then we hit up coinstar at Walmart. I'm a little.....okay more than broke. And the paper route takes gas. Waiting for the first pay day has been horrific. I owe my mom and the bank about sixty dollars each. It's annoying working two (incredibly stressful) jobs yet being incredibly tight belted (okay, belt...I think I might have internal bleeding....) for the first whole month. What's great is that I'll get paid two days before Joshua Fest. Should there be any two day glitches...eek.

Anyway. I need to stop going off on so many different tangents.

So, by the time we got back and the David's were safely dropped off, it was close to one. The call to do the paper route would come any minute. So that's two hours of sleep to live off (not to mention the energy I spent at the concert...and dancing in front of the security camera at Walmart...What?) and only the hope of two more before work this morning. Fun stuff.

Last night, by the Grace of God, I had help on the paper route. This lady, Maria, has been staying with me and this was the second time she's helped. Much appreciated.

The only tough thing about being helped on the paper route, is that I can't sing. Usually singing (loudly) along with the radio or a cd is the most affective way to keep to me alert. And when I have help, either they keep me alert by making conversations, or, out of their own tiredness, they don't talk at all. Unfortunately, the latter was the case last night.

My eyelids were getting heavy and my contact lenses were trying to fall of, but i kept going. Stupid, but really, what else could I do? I did the thing where you tickle the roof of your mouth with your tongue. I gave me head a good shake every once in awhile. Then, it finally happened.

"Aly! What are you sleeping or something?!"

I jerked the wheel and missed the hill I was going for. Thanks to the curvy roads, I was really only out for a split second, but it was enough to scare me and my passenger. I felt the orange Rockstar turn in my stomach and heart was beating hard. Having been in a car crash before, anxiety while driving is pretty normal. I felt it again, but this time I was grateful for it. I was wide awake the rest of the night.

Being wide awake is the best way to hear from God. I found myself wishing that I could be headed for a spiritual hill, just to hear His voice jerking me awake. My body would react and my eyes would focus.

Just like in the back of my mind, I knew I couldn't really stay fully awake all through the route last night, I know a spiritual wake up call is coming. I welcome it.