Lets Go! G.N.O.!

What a FUN G.N.O. we had Saturday. ("G.N.O. is Hannah Montana lingo for "Girls' Night Out," for those of you whose households have not been swept up in this mania.) Julia, her friend Elizabeth and Elizabeth's mom and I got to downtown Little Rock around 1:30, where we had lunch at the River Market. Hannah fans and their moms were EVERYWHERE. Then we caught the streetcar which took us over the Arkansas River to Alltel Arena, which is in North Little Rock. (I highly recommend the streetcar if you're ever catching a show at Alltel, especially right now while the streets around the arena are under construction.) Once inside, we stood in crazy long lines for T-shirts and glow sticks for the girls. Then we went to our seats, which were GREAT. They were one level up from the floor on the first row. Better than floor seats, if you ask me. (When I first got tickets in Sept., we got nosebleed seats, but we didn't care because we just happy to have tickets at all -- seeing as how the Little Rock show sold out in eight minutes. Then when more tickets went on sale a couple of weeks ago, Elizabeth's mom happened to get much better seats, so we sold our old tickets.)

*I do want to state very clearly that we paid face value for the tickets. We were not those crazy moms who traded in their daughters' college funds to get into the concert.*

Then the show started with the Jonas Brothers, then Hannah, then the Jonas Brothers came back while Hannah changed into Miley Cyrus, then Miley came out and performed for the rest of the show. (If the Hannah/Miley thing is confusing to you, ask any girl between the ages of six and 14 to explain it to you. When Julia first got into HM, it took her explaining it to me several times before I got it.)

The Hannah/Miley part of the show was choreographed by Kenny Ortega, the mastermind behind the High School Musical phenomenon. It was complete with pyrotechnics and streamers and confetti that shot over the crowd. It was a lot of fun. Julia jumped up and down and screamed a little, but she and Elizabeth mostly stared at the stage with their mouths open.

As a mom, it's hard to watch something like Miley-mania and not worry about Miley Cyrus. She's been on tour since October and is in a different city almost every night. During the day, she's doing sound checks and studying with a tutor, since she can't be in school right now. And she just turned 15. She even admitted onstage Saturday night that she wasn't feeling well. I just hope she survives the craziness that is her life right now. A song from her first album says "It's a crazy life, but I'm all right." I hope so.

Back to the outrageous ticket prices some people paid to get their kids in the door. If I had that much money, I would take my child to Europe or Africa and provide some kind of life-enriching experience. Something that would make her a better person and help shape her character.

The Hannah Montana show was not that. But it was a lot of fun.