Thank you, Widespread Panic.

Saturday morning was a blast, people, a real blast, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I had one of the best times listening to my favorite bands right in the comforts of my own living room.

That morning started off without my sweet husband as he is in Raleigh spending some important time with his family. So, as we were without our favorite breakfast cook, I had to step up to the plate. Now, I'll be honest here, mornings ain't my thang. I don't tend to get all excited about being up any time before 9:30, but there was work to be done, children to be fed. Matt is the parent who wakes up early with the kids on Saturdays to make blueberry pancakes and eggs and bacon while I try to lay in bed as late as I can. He's way better than me in this regard. But this morning was mine. On my menu? Breakfast casserole. (In all sincerity... I make a pretty mean breakfast casserole.) While I was cooking the sausage, I looked into the living room to see what the kids were doing, and I wasn't surprised to see them playing on those ridiculous DSi game things. I had been checking out Facebook on my iPad, which reminded me that I had missed out on some super-amazing shows in Athens for the band that may very well be responsible for the birth of my family: Widespread Panic.

Back in the day, before kids and early mornings, before responsibility and reality, we used to go see our beloved boys from Athens every chance we got. They were the ones who brought Matt and I together. When we met in Crested Butte, the end of the ski season was upon us, and the thing for locals to do was high-tail it out of town for the mud-ridden spring. So, we hopped in Matt's truck for a 2-month journey following Widespread Panic around the Southeast. We went from Alabama to South Carolina to Georgia to Florida to North Carolina (for Merlefest) to Tennessee. And we had the MOST fun. And we got to know each other. And we fell in love. Sigh.

Eleven years later, our opportunities for shaking what our mamas gave us have dwindled, but the love that we have for the Boys has not. So, on Saturday morning, rather than watching the kids grow into DSi-playing robots, I turned on a DVD from the Widespread fellas. And I showed my kids how awesome they are. And we had a Saturday morning dance partay!

My favorite part of The Earth Will Swallow You has to be the scene where John Bell and Mikey Houser are sitting on the front porch of the Panic house in Athens playing an acoustic version of "Driving Song." In one of the lines, JB sings, "An honest tune with a lingering lead has taken me this far." You know what, it's true. The honest tunes of Widespread Panic have taken me this far. If it wasn't for these boys and their music, I might not have had the life I do. I might not have gotten the chance to fall in love with my love, and if that didn't happen, I wouldn't have my two beautiful children. So, thank you, Widespread Panic.