The first night without her.

That's what tonight is.

We're playing Wasau, Wisconsin. It's 5 hours away from the outskirts of Chicago, where we were last night. The weather is a nasty "wintery mix." Add to that a projected 8 hour drive to Indianapolis tommorrow with a route that will take us right by Chicago and you have the perfect conditions for a "save the baby and the grandparents a trip in the Baby Bus."

So Dave and I took the Band Bus, or as we call it, the Big Bus, up to Wasau. My folks got a room down near Chicago, and are keeping Lisel with them. This really makes the most sense. Lisel gets out of ten hours in a car seat, my folks get some serious grandbaby hang time and we all get out of a potentially harrowing ride in the Baby Bus. It all good.

Except that I miss my baby!

I haven't spent a night away from her since her birth 3 months ago, though technically, since she was living inside me for 8 1/2 months before that, I really haven't been apart from her for this long in 11 1/2 months.

Dude, that's a seriously long time.

Right now, it's not so bad. I took a for real nap on the way up here (uninterrupted sleep is a glorious thing!) I'm chillaxing in the hotel room before the gig. I'll go work out here in a minute. It's kind of like the pre-baby road days.

But tonight...I fear that I won't be able to sleep. You see Lisel sleeps with us. It's really the most awesome thing. We get all cuddly and snuggly-like, one sleepy family. I nurse her to sleep lying down, and then again at some point during the night. This morning, I woke up between Dave and my daughter, and watched as the two of them as stuck their tounges out at each other, each one cracking the other one up.

It's really the most awesome thing.


This is what we wake up too!

It's snowing outside my window.


Which should confirm that this is really for the best. I'll see her tommorrow. She'll be fine and I'll be fine and we'll all be fine. But there is a part of me that just can't hardly stand this separation, even for one night. I'm drawn to her in such a physical way that to be apart from her causes a panicky kind of pain inside of me. I feel it now.

I expect tears.

It's so weird. Even when I was pregnant, I thought that having a baby would be so demanding, that I would long for time away from her. Alone time to be the singular self I was before I had a child. But rather than drain me, she fills up my soul with joy and delight. It's being away from her that bums me out.

I guess this is motherhood.

-- Post From My iPhone

Parents/Grandparents of the super cool variety

That's what my folks are. Right now they're hanging at the Comfort Inn on the outskirts of Charlotte, MI with our baby daughter. They're pretty much stranded there on the side of the highway, as Dave and I are taking the Baby Bus to the gig. Plus, the weather is a classic "wintery mix" so there will be no strolling about outside...not that there's much to walk to by the side of the highway on the outskirts of Charlotte, MI.

They drove to Charlotte, MI with us in the Baby Bus from Chicago. What should have been a three and a half hour drive turned into a 5 hour slog through snow and rain.

And this is pretty much a typical day on the road.

What I'm saying is, my folks rock. Without them, it would be near impossible for me to stay on the road or for Dave to get to see the everday changes of his rapidly growing up baby daughter.




And without them, we wouldn't be having near as much fun as we are. Traveling with them is a blast. Three generations of family, cutting up while we're rolling down the road.




Thanks Mom and Dad.

-- Post From My iPhone

What happens When You Give Muscians Sharpies and Wallspace

From the Green Room of the Old Town School of Foll Music in Chicago


The Magnetic Fields! From the 69 Love Songs Tour! This is on the ceiling yo!



Neko Case signed to ceiling too!




And here's a sweet little missive from the Handsome family.




Ras Neal




Billy Joe Shaver and James McMurtry did some classic and classy hand outlining.





This is by far my favorite. Joni Mitchell's signature is cool in and of itself. Even cooler? The ongoing conversation it has inspired. It's surrounded by notes from admirers and detractors. One comment, not pictured, wanted to turn the wall into a shrine. Awesome

On the Beach

Last week, we were hanging out at St. Andrews State Park, on the coast of the Florida panhandle.

St. Andrews is right outside of Panama City, Florida, an it might be one of the most lovely state parks in America. The campground is set on the Lagoon side of the camp.

Sweet sweet campsite

The swimming beach is not far away.

Sweet sweet beach

Dave and Lisel and I spent two nights there. Dave and I were kind of unprepared for camping, as was evidenced by our first attempt at making a meal. We had no lantern or bug spray, but we did have a screaming baby who had been cooped up in a car seat for far too long I will say we made a valiant attempt at enjoying this situation – endeavoring to eat by the light of our lone flashlight while simultaneously struggling to ignore the encroaching mosquitos and trying to convince ourselves that Lisel would calm down “any minute.” Alas, we finally had to admit defeat, and ended up eating our food inside the Baby Bus, after I’d nursed our daughter to sleep.

I think it’s what they call a learning experience.

Contrary to my earlier fears, the campground was not overrun by college kids gone wild. Instead we found a sweet community of people from all over the country who gather at this lovely gem of a state park every year. Some, like out neighbors, come to fish for Spanish mackerel. Others bring their clans down for Spring break. At sundown people create elaborate mealtime set ups and wander from site to site, visiting with friends and catching up on the year past. The teens gather at the playground, trying to play it cool while flexing their newly found flirting skills. It’s was like we’d stumbled on a little utopia.

Today, the Panhandle of Florida, along with a large part of Southern America is getting smacked around by what the folks at the Weather Channel have termed an Epic Storm. It’s some scary business, what with all with flooding and tornadoes they’re expecting. And Dave and I can’t stop thinking about all the folks at St. Andrews who are going to have to hightail it inland, away from what is most likely a highlight of their year.

And this particular Epic Storm is coinciding with the biggest blizzard of the season in Colorado and the plains, and severe flooding in North Dakota. When it rains it pours…and snows and floods and hails and tornados…It’s the frightening new trend in climate change. I guess they call it Extreme Weather.

Dave and I aren’t really religious, but I do think there’s a time for prayer. And right now I’m sending one out to the universe. Please look after the folks in St. Andrews, and all around the country. Nature is flexing her muscle right now, and us little humans could use all the help we can get.

Soap Opera Excursions

While driving through Wiscosin we just happened to pass...






Young and the Restless fans holla!

I alway thought that soap operas were set in fake places, but it turns out there is, indeed, a Genoa City, Wisconsin. As Dave and I are both huge fans, we had to take a little tour. I've always loved the idea that so much sexy drama and insidious corporate underhandedness could be centered not on one of the coasts, but in a small Midwestern town. I gotta say, the real Genoa City is far less glamourous than it's daytime TV counterpart. I can't quite see the oh so European Victor Newman and his equally posh arch rival Jack Abbot hunkering down there. And there is no way anyone would choose that location to headquarter a national makeup brand like Jabot Cosmetics, unless the town had some bitchin' tax incentives.

Everything that could go wrong…Part 2

You know, as a wife and mother, I really feel that I should leave childish things behind and start acting like an on-top-of-things, with-it adult. My parents couldn’t make the Florida trip, because they were going to my cousin Kriqui’s wedding. This left us in need of babysitter for our little bundle of joy. I thought I had found the perfect solution when I asked our bus driver, Mack Neal, to do some Lisel watching during the Florida trip.

I really should have followed up with Mack between the time I asked him and the time we arrived in Florida. But I assumed he’d be there. I mean, who would drive the bus?

When we pulled up to the hotel on Friday, exhausted from our adventures in oil changes the day before, which had not been relieved by the 4 hours of sleep at the Super Wal-mart in Gainesville the night before, I figured I’d give Mack a call and check up on the plan for that night’s show.

“Hello?” answered Mack

“Hey Mack, It’s Elizabeth,” I chirped into the phone

“Hey baby. Where are you?” he asked

“I’m in Florida.” I said, “Where are you?” I figured that to be a rhetorical question.

“I’m in Texas.” Said Mack.

It turns out that Mack’s lovely Mama, Jo, had a bit of a spell, and had been in the hospital for the last week. There never was a son as good as Mack Neal, and he had taken off work to stay with her.

Had I been a good mama, and checked in with him, I would have known this.

Another thing I didn’t do was cancel the hotel room that had been booked for my folks. While I was talking to Mack, Dave was trying to remedy this at the check in desk.

“I need to cancel this room.” he said.

“That’ll be $170 dollars.” said the man behind the desk

“But we’re not using the room! Can’t you give us a break?” pleaded Dave

“That’ll be $170 dollars.” said the man behind the desk

“We’re even for the oil thing.” said Dave when he returned to the Baby Bus, $170 poorer and one babysitter shorter.

(Luckily for us Jed Bruner, the coolest road dude ever watched, Lisel during both the Florida shows. She screamed one night, and was an angel the next. Thanks Jed!)

Dad you're awesome!

Everything that could go wrong…Part 1

You know, as a wife and now a mother, I really to want to avoid the title of constant nag. So I try my best to just be cool, man. What I’ve learned is that one must choose her moment to tell her partner that his way is not the workable way.

Take for instance when Dave decided that the day before we left for this trip, he would give the Baby Bus a much needed oil change with the help of Asleep at the Wheel bassist Dave Miller.

“Don’t you want to take it to a pro…to someone who knows about changing oil in this very specific European type vehicle?” I asked.

“No,” Dave said “It will cost too much money and besides I should know how to change the oil in our traveling machine myself”

“Fair enough.” I said, though I still thought I was right.

Or let us look at Thursday ‘round noontime, when the check oil light suddenly lit up the dash with it’s cute little oil can symbol.

“Don’t you think we should pull over and try to find a mechanic who can make sure you didn’t make any oil change missteps?” I asked

“No” Dave stated most emphatically, “No one knows how to work on these vehicles, and besides, I can probably figure it out and fix it. I should know how to fix our traveling machine myself.”

“Fair enough.” I said, even though I thought I was right.

So I played with the baby while Dave replaced the O-ring, reset the filter and the oil cap, poured more oil in which ended up being too much oil which he then had to drain out again. And the oil was still leaking. But did I say anything? I most certainly did not.

One hour later, we stopped to check the oil. Lo and behold we has lost almost two quarts!

“Something must be wrong with the engine!” Dave exclaimed, “It certainly isn’t anything oil change related. The leaking keeps happening, but I’ve done everything I can to make it right! We must have blown some kind of gasket!”

“I’ve got an idea.” he said. “ We’ll make an appointment for tomorrow morning in Orlando at a Sprinter Dealership. It’s only nine hours away under perfect conditions.
We’ll drop the Baby Bus there, rent a car and drive to the gig in Palm Beach. For now, it looks like we’ll have to stop every hour and fill up the leaking oil tank! Let’s go!”

“Don’t you think we should have a mechanic look at the engine and make sure it’s not a simple case of an oil change gone wrong?” I asked

“No,” said Dave dismissively. “Like I said, no one works on these vehicles, and we’re just going to waste time waiting for someone to tell us they can’t help us. To Orlando!”

In that moment, I realized that I was going to have to risk being a bit naggy. My husband was in the grips of Do-it-yourself dementia. I needed to shake him out of it.

“No.” I said kind of loudly and maybe a tad bit hysterically, “Before we inch our way to Orlando we’re stopping here and having someone look at the engine!”

“Fine,” he said exasperatedly, rolling his eyes when he thought I wasn’t looking.

So we found a nice mechanic to look at the engine.

“It looks like your oil cap is on wrong,” he said, reaching over and screwing it on the right way.

And we haven’t had a problem since.

Sometimes there are no sweeter words than “I told you so.”

Mom knows best!

Why We Do What We Do

Because neither one of us could stand missing this




Or this



Or this




Because Dad wants to play with his daughter between gigs.




And mom wants to watch her daughter watch the pelicans get fed by neighboring campers.









Because she's the coolest person we've ever met, and we can't imagine going on adventures without her.

Willie and Wheel on NPR

Being a new and very addled parent, sometimes I let rad things slip by my blogging. But I'd be way remiss if I didn't post a link to this NPR story about Willie and the Wheel that aired the other day. I'm a huge NPR nut, so this is especially sweet for me. Happy listening!

http://www-cdn.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102003062

Walmart on the Bayou

I, like so many people in America, am conflicted about Walmart. On the onehand, it's an Arkansas based company (pro!). On the other hand it's a local business destroyer (con! Big con!). On the other hand it often brings goods and services to isolated communities (pro!). On yet another hand it squeezes companies for low prices (con!). And so on, and so forth.

Last night, Dave, Lisel and I discovered another pro for the pro column. This is a pro known only to the elite group that we have just joined...RVers! It turns out that it is Walmart company policy to let RV's stay the night in their parking lots. It makes sense. You stay there for free, and you buy any supplies you need from them. It's relatively safe, since they have security check on the RVs. It's what is known as a win win situation.

Dave and I first heard about this from my Dad, who heard it from an RVing friend of his. We kind of believed him.

Last night about 11pm, Dave and I decided to see if the rumor was true. We found a Wamart Super Center (because the Super Cente is open all night. A little tip I picked up from an RV website! So inside!)in Lake Charles, LA. When I called to ask if we *really* could stay the night, the woman answered the phone:

"Walmart on the Bayou"

We knew we had to camp there.


This Bayou was 20 steps away from the Baby Bus.

And we were not the only ones. In fact, we were one of 4 RV's staying at the Walmart on the Bayou. It's a whole thing, man.

Last night was also the first night ever that we've camped out in the Baby Bus. And I'm happy to report that a good time was had by all. We all snuggled in the bed in the back and the three of us slept like little babies...especially our little baby.

See how refreshed we look!





Plead don't laugh at the hair.

Sure enough, we got up and purchased supplies and breakfast at what became to us the largest camp store ever. We bought deisel at their gas station (for 1.89 a gallon! We shall treasure these days...). And now we're back on I-10.

Maybe someday we'll return to Walmart on the Bayou.

-- Post From My iPhone

Back in the Bus

Well, our time at home was loverly. For a short while, Dave and I got to pretend we were both stay at home parents. Our days were spent playing with the baby, getting chores done, napping with the baby, swimming, walking around the neighborhood with the baby, having friends over to see the baby and falling asleep with the baby. Good times. Great times.

And now we're on our way to Florida to play two gigs. The band will turn around and head home, but Dave, Lisel and I will stay in Florida and camp on the beach for a couple of days. It's spring break, so we're not quite sure to expect.We'll be hunkering down in the more cost effective campgrounds of a state park. Sounds tranquil, until you consider that other bargain hunting population..broke ass students. We could find ourselves surrounded by a bunch of wild college age horndogs, looking to push the limits of their newfound adult bodies through the use and abuse of mass quantities of alcohol, nicotene and other more tightly controlled substances. I just hoe that if they do decide to infiltrate our campground that they won't play their music too loud, and they'll keep they're wet t-shirt contests to themselves.

Dude, do I sound old, or what.

Dave, on the other hand, swears he packed his beer bong in case those youngsters need a lesson in partying down...which really doesn't make him sound younger or hipper than me.

From Florida, we'll make our way up to Chicago, where we'll pick up my folks and proceed to tour around the Midwest.

And that's how we'll spend our next two and a half weeks.

Now, today Dave and I didn't just pack up the bus and hit the road. Oh no. First, we played a gig. Because we're kind of nuts. And also because we couldn't totally miss put on the extravaganza that is South by Southwest.

For those of you who don't know, South by Southwest is a huge music/film/interactive (internety) festival that is held in Austin every March. Billions of people, most of them clad entirely in black, descend upon our fair city for a week long shmoozy boozy party. Millions of bands from every corner of the earth playing every genre of music imaginable drive their beat up vans to our town. Every local business that can throw together some semblance of a stage and sound system together does, and hosts 60 bands over the course of a weekend. It's awesome, inspiring, and always exhausting.

And this year, we're going to miss is.

Except at 3:30pm today.

At 3:30pm today, I got the Firebrands (my pre-Wheel band) to together to play 45 minutes of rock and/or roll. For 45 glorious minutes we kicked out the jams just like we used to when we played every Friday at the Carousel Lounge. It was rad!!!

Now, I had my doubts about playing a show right before we took off for a two and a half week tour. But I forgot the power of playing music you love, with people you love, for people you love. A gauranteed tonic for the soul.

Now to Florida! And beyond!


-- Post From My iPhone

With super rad friends like these...

This morning, Dave, Lisel and I were all laying around in bed, lazily checking our emails (hey, you can't take the slacker out of the parent...) when we saw that our good friend Mike Lavigne had sent us this:







Let's take a closer look,

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 263
WHEREAS, The birth of a baby is one of the most treasured
events in the life of a couple; and
WHEREAS, December 27, 2008, will be a day long remembered
in the lives of Elizabeth McQueen and Dave Sanger, for on that day
their daughter Lisel Blossom Sanger McQueen was born; and
WHEREAS, The beautiful baby girl was born at 1:17 a.m.; she
weighed seven pounds two ounces and was 19 and one-half inches
long; and
WHEREAS, Lisel’s safe arrival is the fulfillment of her
parents’ dearest wish; Elizabeth and Dave are filled with joy
over this long-awaited infant, who has already found a permanent
place in their hearts; and
WHEREAS, It is indeed appropriate that the Texas Senate
welcome this new arrival as a treasured citizen of the Lone Star
State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 81st
Legislature, hereby extend congratulations to Elizabeth McQueen
and Dave Sanger on the birth of their precious child and best
wishes for the future to Lisel Blossom Sanger McQueen; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for
the family as a memento of this special day.
Watson
________________________________
AAAAAPresident of the Senate
AAAAAI hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on February 23, 2009.

Yes, our friend Mike had a Texas senate resolution passed congratulating us on the birth of our child.

Amazing.

Mike is a generally amazing guy. He rocks everything that interests him, whether it's politics or poker or public relations. He's a cook whose project has been working his way through the Les Halles cookbook. He's the only man I know who actually got sponsors for a house party (Lonestar beer and Bacardi anyone?) In short, he's awesome, and I'm lucky to know him and his wife Leigh.

In fact I am constantly amazed by the coolness, the creativeness and the generosity of our friends. Dave and I have a great village to raise our daughter in. Nothing feels cooler than that.

Pure Pics for Now People

So when I was retelling the story of our weekend past, I completely forgot to mention the gig we played on Friday. Truthfully I had completely forgotten about the gig. Another addled new parent moment. Luckily, the lovely and talented Sherry Miller, wife of our bassist Dave Miller, took some snaps to remember that event by.

The gig was a part of KUHF's (Houston's Public Radio Station) Friday afternoon concert series called the Front Row. We played a three song set, and shared the stage with the awesome Invincible Czars and some equally rad child prodigy classical musician types. Those kids rocked the stage in a scary yet amazing way.

My folks were there, and they hung with Lisel while we played. Sherry took what has to be one of my favorite shots ever.


It was a sweet gig, on a sweet day, and afterwards we made our sweet way to Galveston.

Don't we look happy?

And I tell you, in that moment, we were.

Later that night, while Dave and I were acting on the stage, our daughter was having a freakout of sorts in the hotel room. She's too little to throw tvs out windows and punch holes in walls, so instead she vocalized her displeasure, which is to say she cried inconsolably all night long. I think we're all learning the limits of the baby brain...A car ride, a outdoor show, another car ride, and the lobby of a grand hotel (the Galvez lobby is rockin') it's all, well a little much for a little bean. And we a little bean's noggin get's full, the bean get's overwhelmed, and the bean must let out all that weird energy somehow.

I know all babies get overstimulated, and all babies go on crying jags, but not all babies have parents who take them to different cities everyday, who never really settle into routines, who live in a world of loud music. Dave and I are going to have to figure out how to find a new balance (no, not the running shoe kind) in our road life. How can we integrate her into our deal, without totally overwhelming her.

I don't know of any baby books that talk about this...I guess we'll be writing our own guide as we go.

We Rode With Bob -- a Picture Book-esque Blog

The following blog entry is part update, part nighttime story book, and part experiment. Ideally, I'd like to have Dave and my words complimented by photos that we've taken of our journeys and adventures. Unfortunately as I stated before, we're not the best at the picture taking. We want to be, but at the moment we're addled new parents. So here is a little story about our weekend, with pics taken straight from the interweb. Next time, we 'll take more the snaps. We promise!




Over the weekend, Mom, Dad, Baby, Nana and Grandpa all took a trip to Galveston, Texas.

The long skinny island is Galveston Island!

Mom and Dad were going to perform in the play, A Ride with Bob


The city of Galveston was really hit hard by Hurricane Ike.

Click on photo to help rebuild Galveston

In fact, most of the city suffered some degree of water damage. You still can not look anywhere in the city without seeing blue tarps on roofs and those don't even hint at the devastation caused by the flooding. The traffic lights are still not working and much of the city is still without power.

The play was to be at the Grand 1894 Opera House. The Opera House was not spared this damage but with the a super-human effort, the theater community has gotten the jewel of Galveston back on her feet.

A Texas Treasure

The whole family got to stay at Galvez. A truly fine hotel. Nana, Grandpa and baby got to chill on the veranda.

While Mom and dad performed 4 shows in 3 days.

Mom as Minnie Pearl in her pre-baby skinny days

A good time was had by all in Galveston!



THE END

I figured you deserved one picture actually taken by us!

PictureFest 2009!

Before I get into the promised PictureFest, I want to let you know that I've opened up the comments on this blog so that *anyone* can comment, not just gmail users. (Who knew you could change the setting on your blog. The interweb is cool!) So, comment away!

Now, PictureFest 2009!

Like I said before, Dave and I took very few pics on the road. We had 5 cameras between us (The nice Nikon, the little Canon, the even littler iflip and the two iphones) and I think we took 5 pictures total. Okay, maybe 10. We were...preoccupied. So I've had to dip into the stashes of Kevin Smith and Jobelle Smith (no relation). Kevin played bass on the tour during the Wille and the Wheel and the Willie Nelson segments of the show. Jobelle is Ruby Jane's mom and heir both rad photogs with mad skills. I will credit them for sure.

I first went through previous posts, and inserted snaps where I should have put them before. So feel free to take a walk down blogger memory lane and reread those old posts, now with pictures!

And then I just put a bunch of snaps on this post!

And now, PictureFest 2009

From the Camera of Jobelle Smith

Ruby Jane and Willie

Kevin Smith takes a pic

Two fiddlers

After the show

Ruby Jane holds Lisel for the first time

More pics on Ruby Jane's myspace http://www.myspace.com/rubyjanesmith


From the Camera of Kevin Smith

Mom and Dad

Trigger: A Portrait

Bass Case: A Portrait


Lisel's first show

Did I mention we played some beautiful places?

Ray and Floyd Rock

Austin City Limits is awesome!

From the Camera of Kevin Smith, taken by Mack Neal



From the many cameras of Elizabeth and Dave

Elizabeth and Ruby go all Willie Nelson!

Trigger and Suzie (Dave's guitar)

Lisel and Annie

Lisel and Willie

Coming soon (hopefully, if Dave and I can get our poop together) MovieFest 2009!