Our kids talk about “the girl Daddy would’ve married if he hadn’t married you” every once in a while. This beautiful, talented woman doesn’t even know that she’s the one who barely got away! Until this past weekend, I’d never actually met her in person. Well, I guess I didn’t officially meet her, but I did get to witness her up close and personal and at her finest. She and I are the same age, and her oldest daughter is the same age as my oldest son. She has three children while I have four, and we have similar hair colors, are both short, and can both be pretty full of life. I’d like to say that we are both INCREDIBLY talented, but unfortunately, that would be quite a stretch!!

The beautiful woman I’m talking about is Martina McBride, and she sang “our song” when we were dating and still sings “our song” each time Rowland calls my cell phone. “My Baby Loves Me” is the name of the song, and it describes how he loves me “just the way that I am.” “He thinks I’m pretty. He thinks I’m smart. He likes my nerve, and he loves my heart. He’s always saying he’s my biggest fan. My baby loves me just the way that I am! My baby loves me just the way that I am.”

Martina on the Big Screen (stage pics didn’t turn out very well)

In March, I bought tickets to Martina’s concert and was able to keep the secret from Rowland until we were walking into the outdoor amphitheater. Honestly, I think he was as excited as I was to be there. I don’t care how old (oops - young) that girl is, she can sing it even in Denver, something tough for every artist we’ve seen here. She’s been called the Celine Dion of country music, and while I’m not a Celine Dion fan, I’d have to agree. The crowd was nuts for her, standing ovation after standing ovation. The songs I especially paid to hear were “My Baby Loves Me,” “Independence Day,” and Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” and I couldn’t have been more impressed!!!

The coolest part of the whole concert was standing next to my sexy man, singing out just like Martina (in my own mind anyway! HA!!), and knowing that in spite of myself, after all these years and four kids later, “My baby love me JUST THE WAY THAT I AM,” and his baby loves him just the way that he is (which is probably a LOT easier)! Glad he didn’t marry the girl he would’ve married if he hadn’t married me!

Our Own IPhone Photo

What a crappy day I’ve had! I slept in until 9:30 and only got up then because I wanted to shower before “The View” came on at 10:00! I showered, then lounged around watching my favorite girls on TV discuss things like “Sex and the City.” Rough life! Meanwhile, my husband Michael Landon was outside working like a dog. He filled an entire dumpster with all the trash around here - by himself! I would’ve been glad to help, but I was afraid that I might just get in the way! I did remember that we were getting our new appliances today so I ran downstairs to turn on the dishwasher before the new one arrived. And….he’d already turned it on! Of course!

Once he finally came inside after slaving away for the entire morning, he had to wait on me to get ready so that we could go get a bite to eat. After lunch, we walked around downtown Breckenridge and wandered in and out of the shops. I still never found the jacket or the shoes that I NEED, but I did get a cute short-sleeved Roxy jacket in one store and a precious bright pink corduroy jacket in the thrift shop. Rowland’s eyes lit up over a cool fishing hat (if a fishing hat can be cool), and he bought it and even tried it out while I napped later.

While I was napping, Rowland stained the new steps that he and Toby built the last time they were up here, and he met with a guy about delivering some gravel for the drive. He was still painting on the stain as I lay in bed and read several more chapters of my Barbara Walters memoir, Audition. Once he came in and took a shower, we both got ready for a walk downtown and a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant, Relish. The creme brulee put both of us over the top!! No counting points tonight! (We’re Weight Watchers’ members.)

After a long, rough day, I’m ready for bed now. My poor husband has already curled up in bed with his dog!! What a great birthday weekend! We definitely need to do it again next year!!

We’re having a blast!! We left our last port of call today, Manzanillo, after a fun Jeep (or “heep” as we called it!) adventure. Rowland’s quite the off road driver. Yesterday, we were in Ixtapa and some place that I can’t spell (so I won’t try). We went to Ixtapa island and sat under umbrellas with the natives. The pelicans offered the most excitement for the day. Oh, yeah, and Carrie’s injuries! She bumped her head on the dingy boat, then busted her toenail getting onto the dock. The sad thing is that that was BEFORE the alcohol! For Valentine’s Day, the love of my life had a dozen beautiful red roses on my dinner table. I wouldn’t have expected any less!! He’s awesome!

The first port of call was Acapulco, and we enjoyed margaritas at Senor Frog’s before doing some shopping in town. We also walked around the Princess Hotel - absolutely gorgeous!! That night, we watched the divers go off the cliff. I begged Rowland to let me jump, but he’s so overprotective - just wouldn’t let me do it. I think the idea of my standing on top of the cliff without a shirt on is probably what scared him away from the idea!! HA!!

I have to throw in that the first night on the ship, my incredibly romantic and thoughtful husband gave me my anniversary present a little early. He gave me the most beautiful and original necklace with a diamond hanging off of it and gorgeous earrings with three channel set diamonds in each ear. Speaking of rocking!! He rocks!! He also took me to a special top-of-the-ship restaurant where we enjoyed the best meal I’ve ever had - yes, I even ate green peas which I HATE - and romantic dancing. I’m thinking about keeping him around for another 14 years!!

He’s looking over my shoulder now telling me that I”m going to be late for dinner if I don’t quit typing. I’m gonna sign out, but I”ll post pictures later. Rowland’s dear other brother Grant has my flickr upload working again! He rocks, too!!

Off to dinner and MORE wine……..

Today is the anniversary of Rowland and my first kiss. It was the night of the Miss America Pageant, and Rowland made me dinner that night while we watched the pageant. If I hadn’t already known what a special man he was, I would’ve figured it out that night. Not too many guys would make dinner for their girlfriend while she sat on the couch drinking wine and watched the Miss America Pageant!

Actually, I planted a kiss on him that night. He was such a gentleman that I’d probably still be waiting on that first kiss if I hadn’t attacked him! Of course, I’m sure he planned it all that way - a little wine, a nice dinner, sitting next to each other on the couch, etc., etc. He just wanted me to think that it was all my idea!

Each year since that first one, my precious husband has made me a gourmet meal complete with wine and my favorite dessert, creme brulee. I sit on my bottom with my wine while he works his tail off to make a wonderful dinner for a very special anniversary. This is the fifteenth time that he’s done it, too! I always tease him that the only reason he works so hard this one night each year is that it’s the one night each year that he KNOWS he’s gonna get lucky!! After all, if he’ll do all that work for me and still make me feel like Miss America with all of those young, beautiful girls on the screen, he DESERVES a reward!!

Thank you, my precious husband! You really are my Prince Charming!!! I adore you!!!

Anyone who knows Rowland knows that he delights in surprising me. He’s always very creative in his surprises, too. It’s definitely one of the reasons I fell in love with him. He can put it on thick! My goal has always been to try to keep up with him, which I really don’t do very well. This week, though, I was able to pull one off! I told him that we were going to have a date on July 31st and gave him no information except what time and to wear jeans.

The Surprise? It started off with dinner at Brooklyn’s next to the Pepsi Center in Denver. Then, we walked over to the Pepsi Center where I had bought tickets, great seats, to the Tim McGraw / Faith Hill Soul to Soul II concert. The stage was in the round which was a little different, and they spared no expense on lighting, etc. It was a great concert. I guess if I were giving a true review, though, I’d say that while Faith was definitely working her buns off, she seemed a little too “coached” and maybe even a little “uncomfortable.” It was almost like she was outside of her comfort zone with the actual performance part of the concert. She did give it her all, though, and as I said before, the girl can sing. She looked amazing as well. The sound was great, and we loved her act overall.

Once Tim McGraw hit the stage at 10:15, we were beginning to be a little tired. (I guess we’re getting old!) The sound completely changed and was bass heavy to the point that we couldn’t understand Tim. After about 20 minutes of the booming, I developed a headache, and we were both ready to go. Moral of that story? Tim needs to use Faith’s sound guy! Faith was definitely our favorite part of the show!

One of the reasons I picked a country concert is that one of our first dates was down at the Arkansas River watching several country acts while cuddling up on a blanket. It was such a romantic night, one of those special not-to-be-forgotten dates. The goal of the Surprise was a romantic, cuddly time watching a couple of good country acts. Was it successful? Oh, yeah! Another special memory in a long line, and the best part…..I’m off the hook for a while until he comes up with the next surprise!!

Rowland and I went with David and Anita, some new friends of ours here, to the Police concert in Denver last night. Sting’s voice doesn’t seem to have aged at all. He gave it all he had for a good two hours. After the fourth (yes, fourth!) encore, I was done! What’s the deal with encores anyway? I looked the word up in the dictionary, and it says a repeat performance due to popular demand. I’ve been to a good many concerts, and I’ve yet to see an encore that wasn’t “planned.” I guess if the band totally sucked, and the crowd was walking out, there might not be an encore. One encore is good, even great at times! Two encores must mean that the band is going through their hits and trying to come up with the best one to play. Three encores are obviously planned as are four - especially when there is video to go along with each one. So, essentially, they aren’t encores. They are, instead, VERY SHORT intermissions intended to get the crowd revved up! Let’s just play all of the songs during the concert, then kiss the crowd good-bye and move on! After all, it wouldn’t have changed the way the crowd felt about the concert. It was awesome! And to think it was done with just three pieces, a drummer, Sting on bass, and a kickin’ electric guitar player - almost as good as my husband! Very close! But not nearly as sexy!!

The other fun part of the night was that Anita had never been to a “non-Christian” rock concert. We were up high, so we didn’t get jostled with the crowd, and I think that the days of smelling “that sweet smell” may be behind us, but there was still beer. As luck would have it, we had four young drunks behind us. They were in the wrong seats (imagine that) and had to be asked to move. As they stood behind us, inching their way down the row, I grabbed Anita to push her forward. I knew beer was coming down. Sure enough, I was just a tad late, and she was baptized by beer. Now, she can say she’s REALLY been to a rock concert!