What it's Like to Come Home

I've been On the Road for so long that being home seems like a vacation from reality. My house is like an exotic vacation destination. One that, though it doesn't clean itself like the rooms I stay in when I'm at work, nevertheless is filled with wild extravagances like more than two rooms! and a kitchen! With a stove!  And a yard! And friends nearby!

Recovering from 7 weeks on the road is this long process, one that is taking much longer than I ever thought it would.  It seems that no amount of mindless zoning out to bad tv can fully recharge my severely depleted batteries.

Since we've been home I haven't just been zoning out to "One Life to Live." We've been working.  We did the play in Austin, which was a real treat.  There's no substitute for an Austin audience. Especially if you're in a play that's about both Asleep at the Wheel and the life of Bob Wills.  It was pretty spectacular.

And we've played gigs. They've also been good, but getting to them has been a bit of a drag. The baby bus is waiting patiently for us in California, so we've been using our minivan aka, the Navy, because, it's navy blue and we like the idea that when we're in it we're (cue the Village People) "In the Navy!" It's a good little car, but it had neither room to  walk around, nor does it have a bed, a fridge or a bathroom. Which means we stop a lot, and have to eat road food (bleh!). And there's no where to lay down!  Dude, how do people take car trips?  It's brutal!

One of the few pictures I've taken since we got back to Texas. Dave, Beverly and Lisel at the mini mart! 

So anywho, I'm back. Still weary, but what the hell!  I'm ready to roll again.  Expect to rock with me!

And just in case you forgot, signed pre-release copies of my new record "The Laziest Girl in Town" are available now! Just click below to order your today!

http://stores.freedomrecords.com/-strse-121/Elizabeth-McQueen--dsh--The/Detail.bok

Getting Ready to Get Ready

I'm in sitting in sunny Coronado, California. I'm typing away at my computer while the rest of the household sleeps. I'm catching up on emails and internet things that have been on my mind.  I'm getting things done a little bit at a time.

And I'm a little worried.

I'm worried because here I am in sunny Coronado with nothing to do but go to the beach and sleep and watch the baby play with my in-laws Goldendoodle and still I'm kind of knackered.  Now this could be vacation knackeredness, the kind you get when you find yourself in a sunny place with nothing to do, and suddenly all the tired that you've been keeping at bay suddenly descends upon you like a weighty cloud slowing you down and facing you to nap.

But there's another possibility. And that is that traveling with the baby makes me wears me out.

This year we traveled much less than in previous years and we've taken the baby with us just a handful of times. And, um, I think I've gotten a little spoiled. I've gotten used to sleeping in my own bed when I'm home and having (gasp) a routine. I've gotten used to traveling without the baby and rocking the road old school styles. Lot's of sleep and "Law and Order" marathons and no driving.

But at the end of July, we're heading out for 35 days on the road.  Dave and Lisel and Claire and I will be traveling from the midwest, to the west to the west coast in the baby bus. It's going to be intense.

And if I'm tired now, sitting at the table in my in-laws house having had at least eight hours of sleep every night for the past 4 nights and no work to do or gigs to get to...you can see where this is going right.

How tired am I going to be on the road?

So now is the time to start gearing up. To start mentally preparing for this tour.  I mean, it will be different than previous tours. For one, Lisel isn't actually a baby any more. I mean, she's always be my baby, but technically she's a walking, talking toddler these days. One who naps once as opposed to three times a day, and who is far more active than she was way back in 2009.

Time to start getting ready.

I'm Tired...Tired of Playing the Game

Ain't it a friggin' shame...

It's strange. On Saturday, I thought I'd finally hit my stride. I was feeling good and unstressed and rested. On Sunday, I was feeling a bit fatigued. And on Monday, I was toast, of the burnt to a crisp variety.

Just when I thought I'd gotten the hang of this crazy experiment, the road totally schooled my ass!

Admittedly, it was an insane weekend. Here's the quick rundown.

Thursday -- Claire and Dave leave in at 6pm in the baby bus, headed for Louisville, KY.
Friday -- I get up super early and fly into Lexington, KY. We hang at the hotel. Dave and I play a gig at 8:30pm
Saturday -- We get up at 5:15am, leave by 6am to drive 8 hours to Boone, Carolina. Play a gig at 4pm. We're asleep by 9pm.
Sunday -- get up at 6am, leave by 7am, drive 4 hours to Newberry, SC. Play a gig at 3pm. Meet up with one of my oldest and bestest friends Desaray and her wife Lauren. Hang until 9, hit the rack, wake up at 11:30pm, leave the hotel by 12:30pm. Drive 4 hours to the Atlanta Airport, fly from there to Dallas and then home to Austin. Get in about 9:50am.
Dave and Claire? They drove home from there. Total driving time, 23 hours.




Luckily, I have the most amazing parents in the world. They picked Lisel and I up from the airport, and watched her while I napped. They even suggested that I sleep over last night, so Dave could get a full nights sleep after a full days drive.

And yet even with their help, I woke up today, zonkered. I was kaput, done, practically empty and bone tired.

Yeah I've been thinking, thinking, thinking and worrying. Because I'm starting to think that Dave and I might be doing some real damage stress wise to ourselves.




The baby? She's fine. She's happy. She seems to be rolling with this quite well. It's Dave and Clair and me that I worry about.


Here's my deal. At home, I get just enough sleep. Lisel still wakes up during the night but Dave takes night duty. He can get her back to sleep relatively quickly and easily. And about 5am, we bring her bed with us. I'm still nursing, and I love, love, love co-sleeping and waking up with Lisel is definitely one of my favorite things.

On the road I pretty much get no sleep at all.

Because on the road Dave is exhausted from driving. And sometimes Clair sleeps in the room with us (because we can't afford another room all the time) so it's up to me to take night duty. And letting Lisel cry it out is not really an option because if she cries for a couple of hours then no one gets any sleep.

We need a quiet, sleeping baby.

My solution? Bring the baby in bed with us and nurse her back to sleep. Which is quite quick and effective on the quiet sleeping baby front.

On the mommy front, not so much.

Lisel sleeping next to me all night is a tossing, turning, thrashing, nursing bonaza. As I told Claire earlier today, Lisel is basically sleeping next to her favorite food.

It would be like me getting in bed with a big plate Tamale House migas. I'd be asleep, and then I'd wake up just enough to smell the migas, and I'd be all, "Yum, migas, me want migas." and I'd eat a bite and go back to sleep for an hour, and then I'd wake up and be all "MMMMM migas, just one bite," and then I'd fall back asleep only to wake up 45 minutes later smelling those delicious migas...

You get what I'm saying right.




So we go on the road and I get all sleep deprived, and then we get home and I get a little sleep, and then we go on the road...

Y'all, I know about sleep training okay! And we're trying it! But we're never home long enough to get any kind of rhythm going! And well, maybe we're not trying so hard but when we're home we need our sleep! So letting the bean cry it out...maybe we're putting it off okay! Stop judging me!

Um, what? You weren't judging me? You were just reading. Maybe I projected a little. Dude, I'm sorry. But I'm so tired...

Anywho, here's the deal. We're going to start experimenting on making this road thing more doable, and less stressful. And I'm going to blog about it. And I'm open to any and all advice. I think we can do this and make it work without killing ourselves, but I have a feeling it's going to take all the creativity we can muster.

I'll let you know how it goes.