First on the docket: American Idol Auditions! I went to the Dallas, TX auditions to try my shot at fame. What an experience. I stayed for 3 and a half days in order to register early, and hopefully audition early. Close to about 13,000 people showed up at Texas Stadium on August 6th. And it was about 92 degrees in this outdoor stadium. Not fun! With my wristband and ID I got in line at about 5am, and was finally seated in the stadium by about 9:30am. We did a series of crowd shots and sang "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Brothers for the cameras. By 10:30-ish we were done, and all we had to do was wait our turn to audition.
No, Simon, Paula and Randy were NOT there (but I already knew that). We auditioned in groups of four in front of producer people. There were about 12 tents set up, each seated with two producer "judges". You found out right then and there whether or not they were going to put you through. After nearly 12 hours of waiting in the heat, I got my chance at about 4:30 pm and I CHOKED!!! I totally cracked my high note on my chorus section. Needless to say, they didn't pass me through. UGH!!!! 12 hours, only to screw up the 10 seconds I had! It was a very anti-climactic experience!
I called my hubby and cried. Yes, I cried. I was so disappointed in my audition. Sweetheart that he is, he said that I had a bad audition, and that doesn't mean I'm a bad singer. "Trust me," he said. "I know what it's like to have a bad audition." He's a sweet heart. When I came home, he had a banner to welcome me. He then told me to try one more time in Omaha, NE.
YES! I drove to Omaha several days later. When I got back to Illinois I had about a day and a half, but set out early morning on August 9th to hit the second day of registration. A friend of ours arranged for me to stay with one of his family friends, so lodging and transportation was all set (my poor Honda Civic had an extra 900 miles put on it with this trip). I had a lot of time to think and pray on the 6.5 hour drive there. All I wanted to do was sing well, and it didn't matter whether or not they put me through to the next show. I just couldn't leave my bad audition in Dallas the way it was. I prayed for safety and God's will to be done, and for his wisdom to be revealed to me.
The audition day was great. It's so much more fun when you bring a kooky banner and anything else to grab some attention. My sign read "I'm from Normal" which isn't all that crazy, really. But the camera guys thought there was something in it, so I managed to score some camera time and shots. I also brought my knitting with me, which they thought was interesting, so hopefully I'll have some footage on the show when it airs in January (who knows, eh). In the meantime, you can see a picture of me at
http://www.961thebrew.com/ Under "Brew News" click on "New! Idol Audition Photos". I'm in pic number 37.
I was smart this time around, and got in line later, so as not to stand in the heat for longer than necessary. But there wasn't much of a turn out in Omaha, somewhere about 8,000-9,000 I heard. And the venue (Qwest Center) was AIR CONDITIONED!!!! Praise God... I got in line after 6am, and was in my seat by about 8 something. With my knitting, reading, and CD's I had a fun time entertaining myself while I waited for my second chance. I also met some fun people. We were all in it together, which made for some good camaraderie.
So, did I make it? No :) But God taught me a lot. I had all day to watch the auditions before me (this was a smaller venue, so you were able to see and hear more closely as the auditions went on), and saw that the producers put through crazy people, good singers, not so good singers. But they turned away even more exceptional singers. I can't count how many times I heard an auditioner sing, and thought for sure that the judges liked it. But they had not. And sure enough, when my time came, God was merciful and enabled me to sing my very best. It was a good audition--not perfect--but good, and I got through it. And I saw where I could have done better. The girl who sang after me gave a flawless performance that got applause from those who could hear her in the stands. But again, they didn't put her through. Instead, from our foursome they put through a local band member who sang blues.
God taught me that I have some work to do as a singer. But He did so in the most loving way, that didn't at all hurt or bruise my ego. I could plainly see where I stood when compared to 10,000 people! And I was glad to know it. He showed me His wisdom in that I saw how difficult it would be to work in this "biz", and that it would be a hard life--not something for me I'm afraid. Finally, along the way, He enabled me to spend some time with family in Dallas, and friends in Omaha. And He brought me safely back home to my family. How good He is!
This morning we spent a lovely time having some fall fun. We went to a place called Rader's Farm where you can go pumpkin picking. They have a few animals to check out, a "corn box" (like a sand box, but filled with corn) and something like a jungle gym made out of bales of hay. Or is it straw? I don't know, but that's what you get when you put a city girl in the middle of farm country!
Our friends, the Schmidtgalls, joined us with their two girls. We had so much fun watching the play with Ethan. And of course, it was a great time being able to catch up with what was going on in their lives. 
After some play time, we all decided to go pick out our pumpkins for the season. They had these wagons, luckily, so Ethan got to have a snack while we loaded up the cart with a pumpkin for each of us. Even one for our cat, Eddie! Then we took (or tried to take) a family picture over by their "photo op" station. For some reason, Ethan doesn't like to pose for pictures with Mommy and Daddy! If you click on each picture you can get a closer look...
.jpg)
