Fairmont Lights, December 18th

This morning I was awakened at 6:30 East Coast time by the funniest thing.  I answered the phone sleepily, and there was a lady on the other end who said she was calling about The House on Christmas Street and she wanted to order a CD.  But she was all flustered because she said she thought she'd get a 24-hour bank of telephone operators waiting to take her order, and she didn't expect to get me, and she apologized all over the place for waking me up.  It was pretty funny, and she was so sweet. She said her husband had heard my song at a house in Lincoln (I bet it was probably Gary and Terry's house) where they had been to see the lights three times, and all he did was sing it all day long.  Then she started singing, "45 thousand twinkling lights..." yes, she said 45, and that's okay.  I was smiling so big!  And she was explaining and singing and apologizing all over the place, and I was thinking, "What a GREAT way to wake up!"  Anyway, she wanted to get the CD to give him for Christmas and she couldn't find an option for Express Mail on my website, so she called to see if one of the 24-hour operators could help her out. HAHAHAHA!!  I'll have to get the shipping department right on that. Oh wait! I'M the shipping department!  I LOVE IT!!!!!  Dorothy, if you happen to read this, please know that you MADE MY DAY!  If I have to win people over to my music one person at a time because radio won't help me (or at least most corporate radio won't help me....but THANK YOU  Y101 in Portland, ME and XTRA 99.1 in Gloucester, VA!!...oh and the station in Winston-Salem, NC!) then I will work as hard as I can, with the help of all the WONDERFUL decorators out there, to win one person over at a time.  And I will croak knowing I never gave up and did the best I could.

Anyhow, back to the tour...and catching up....

Tuesday morning in the hotel in Lincoln I got the news that the transmission on the van was shot.  After a few minutes of panic, Philip and I worked out sort of a plan and I called Gary and he came and fetched me and brought me to the Hertz rental place in Omaha where I rented a Toyota Rav 4.  Then I went over to the garage and got some more stuff out of the van and went on my way to Fairmont, MN.  It was only a little over four hours, so that time breezed by.
Back in 2010 I was supposed to go to Minnesota on the tour when a blizzard hit and the highway was CLOSED. That's when the Metrodome collapsed because of the snow, and I was bummed. So I had to make sure that I made it to Minnesota on this tour.
This time the weather was clear, and driving was easy.
Dan Bicknase and his lady friend, Maria, couldn't have greeted me more warmly.  They made me feel right at home. It was COLD up there in Minnesota, but I was warmed by their friendliness and generosity.  There were only about 30 people at the concert and Dan felt bad but I kept telling him it was okay, it didn't matter.  He has a beautiful display and he plays my music for all the people who come to see it each night during the Christmas season and it's a wonderful thing.  Even if people couldn't make it, they have probably heard my name through his publicity and they have heard my song at his display. Besides, the people who did come to the concert had fun and so did I and that made it a success!  I mean, it really was a very cold night for people to be standing outside at a concert, although I did get people to dance to try to warm them up.
Once again I was a nimrod and didn't get pictures, because my phone was dead by the time I got there and I'd left my car charger in the first rental car on the West Coast, and my AC car adaptor was in the glove compartment of the van, so I couldn't charge the phone while I was driving. But here is a link to the Fairmont Lights website and you can see photos and videos there.
http://www.fairmontlights.com/
After the concert we went into the house and socialized a bit.  I met their daughters and grandchildren and the boys, who had gotten into a giant bag of M&Ms earlier that evening, were running around, crazed on sugar. It was really, really funny.  I also got to play with their little dog...I can't remember what the breed was but it was a little five-pounder yorkie something or other and it was incredibly cute and I got a few face licks which made me happy.  Maria served up a spread so I had some dinner and they gave me a wonderful and generous gift for which I am VERY grateful.  THANK YOU SO MUCH DAN AND MARIA! It was so great to finally meet you! And if you have any pictures of the concert, please be sure to send them to me so I can post them here.  Have a very Merry Minnesota Christmas!!

PS (written on 12-27)  Maria just sent me a couple of pics!