eddie from ohio journal November 15, 2004

Hello Edheads,

From the peaks of the Rockies to the sunshine down south......we have been going going going and flying everywhere. Poor Hazel, just sitting quietly, waiting to take us on a trip. Don't worry girl, we'll be seeing you this week.

I'm sitting here in my house, but it feels like I'm just visiting friends - well friends who happen to be my children and my husband. And it just continues until the middle of December! But don't get me wrong, I'm so glad to be working and supporting this new record, which has made heavy rotation in my mini-van. You know, I like the way we sound, but it's weird listening to our own record, over and over and over again. But it is just so damn cute when both Liam and Corey sing EFO songs. Corey's favorite is "And the Rain Crashed Down" and Liam's is a tie between "Horse" and "The Bird" (which has made Mike very happy)...except, "The Bird" comes on and right away they both say, "oh this is stupid little kid". That's just great, we have the rule that we don't say stupid, but there it is right on the CD, mommy singing "stupid", I'm still working on explaining that one. Thanks Mike.

So two weeks ago, we were in Colorado and it was just great. Let's see, it was just starting to get cold, and for once I had packed appropriately. Of course, Durango on the Sunday night was just incredible. We love seeing all of our friends from the Four Corners Folk Festival in Pagosa Springs, especially Eli and Bear, who somehow always manage to get us out to a bar after the show. I had to drink a bit of wine to help my nerves....see, we were staying in a hotel that was supposedly haunted. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but there have been sitings of I guess old cowboys and saloon girls. So I figured they were partying type ghosts, so I would be ok if I met up with any, until Mike started saying things like, "I saw twins on bigwheels at the end of the hall". He was freaking me out! Luckily, no ghost sitings for me. I slept with my TV and light on all night, I'm sure that kept them away.

Another highlight was Saturday at Steve's guitar shop. WE had had our Saturday show in Salt Lake City cancel two weeks before and this had kind of been thrown together. It really could have been a big bomb, but it ended up being just packed full of folks who knew us and knew our music. Steve and company were just as nice and accomodating as can be. Thanks again.

We were home for two days after that and flew down to sunny Florida on Thursday morning. We haven't been to Florida since 1995, and that show was really unforgettable, so let's just say that we've never been there. We played the Bamboo room on Thursday in Lakeworth with a band called the Clumsy Lovers (Canadian based and simply FABULOUS - lots of energy, lots of fun, a chick who kicks some serious ass on the violin, and AWESOME merchandise - check them out). The room was very cool and I believe all the seats were sold. WE HAVE EDHEADS IN FLORIDA, who knew? Anyway the show was great and I got to catch up with a dear friend of mine, Rachel, who moved down to Deerfield Beach last year. She was my nurse practitioner/midwife who actually birthed Corey. Is that how you say it? She actually caught Corey? I don't know, she was the one at the other end telling me to push. It was great to see you Rachel. Please move back here!

Onto the other side of the state, down to Dade City, where we spent Friday and Saturday at the Riverhawk festival. It was our first time there, and pretty interesting. The best part for me was a great surprise planned by my dear friend Chrissy P. She had gotten two of my other friends, Jen and Susan, to fly down for the festival as well. They were hiding behind a tree and Chrissy was saying, "Come meet my friends, there so nice, you're gonna love them", and then they popped out and yelled surprise! I just burst into tears, I was so touched! It couldn't have come at a better time (actually leaving on Thursday morning had been pretty rough due to unforseen circumstances), and seeing there two friendly faces was just AWESOME. I am VERY VERY VERY blessed to have such great friends! Thanks Kiki for all the loans (how much do I owe you), thanks Susan for the catering, uh, yeah that's right you're the caterer (and for loving my kids), and thanks Chrissy for being the party planner and a great psychologist as well. I love your house and your stinky dog too! And Mike Schimmenti....oh the tickle fights you missed!

Ok, the festival, yeah that's right, we actually did play there - like 5 times in two days. We met some nice folks, made some new fans, heard some GREAT music (Clumsy Lovers, The Mammals, Laura Love), bought a very cool Spiderman throw fleece blanket for the boys. It's a very family friendly festival and the promoter Mitch and company were just great! Our last show was at 8pm on Saturday and we flew out very very very very very eary the next morning. Well the flight was at 7am but we had to leave at 5am, which means I had to get up at 4:30am, which was the sucky part. (but it did put me home with my own family at 9:30am!) It would have been much better had we not gotten that bottle of Walnut Crest, Jen, but oh well, live and learn - AGAIN! And remember kids, don't ever eat dip from a can. You will regret it!

Off to Philly, New York, and Marlyand. Hope to see you there.

Lots of love,

julie