One more day left in October and I'm tallying my month: 16 flights, 15 cities, one hotel evacuation, 12 rental cars, 14 airport dinners, one lost favorite-sweater, one hour in the desert, 2 books finished, 6 living legends, and two small blue lights - which may or may not have been the ghost of the Union Station Hotel.

September ended with my debut on the Grand Ole Opry. I was not properly prepared for the emotions that run through your body while you sing your song on that stage. I will never under estimate the power of such history again. I had two nights on that stage - Friday and Saturday. Saturday is the television portion - called Opry Live, which airs on GAC most Saturday nights. It was helpful to have two nights there - otherwise the moment may have passed me by without me actually catching up to it. It's a fast, clever, thing - that will leave you days later asking yourself "Did I actually play the Opry?" We loaded in for sound check at 5pm on Friday. I checked in with the nice woman at the performers door, she told me I had dressing room number 18 and asked me if I really had 5 kids. I was surprised that she knew that - maybe she could tell from my hips. Backstage at the Opry is a crazy thing. Numbered dressing rooms line the halls. They run tours throughout the evening - so people come through constantly. It's best to leave your dressing room door open though, any given moment - another superstar is bound to walk by, Josh Turner, Dierks Bentley, or perhaps your standard country royalty: Little Jimmy Dickens, Roy Clark, Bill Anderson, to name a few. The sweetest folks.

My family sent a beautiful bunch of flowers for me (all the way from Boston). My husband and kids couldn't make the trip but I was lucky enough to have several friends share the Opry weekend with me. We walked through the sound stage where HEE-HAW was produced for years and years. I had my hair and make up done by a couple lovely ladies who have been with the Opry for 20 years, they are part of the Opry family and it was an honor to meet them. My band mates and I performed "Unglamorous" first and then "Drinkin' Problem". At one point during "Drinkin' Problem" I looked down at my feet standing in the center of the Opry circle - the 6-foot wooden circle that came from the Opry's original home at the Ryman Auditorium - that's when I nearly lost it, a moment of clarity - Lori, you're singing a drinking song on the Grand Ole Opry.

Porter Wagoner introduced me that night. He congratulated me for making my debut. While I was leaving the stage after my set he asked the audience to give me another hand, they did and I couldn't resist taking his and giving him a kiss on the cheek. I think I was standing on my toes. Mr. Wagoner passed away last Sunday. I'm very grateful that I got to see his smile in person and shake his hand.

Now that a few weeks have passed since my Opry debut, I can appreciate and express what that Friday and Saturday meant to me. Someone decided that for two days the Opry would leave the performer door open for a songwriter from Boston, that they would let me sing my own songs and stand in that light, stand in that circle, stand in that history. That's the type of thing you tell your grandchildren. The circle is a glorious thing.

My guitar player Russell Chudnofsky said it best, that once you are inside the Grand Ole Opry - time exists no more. It doesn't matter what day, month, or year it is outside - inside is timeless. We spent two days in that dimension. Sunday - brought a fast food dinner and a bumpy plane ride back into real time and a radio tour.

We flew from Nashville to Denver to Salt Lake City to Phoenix to LA to San Jose to San Francisco and back to Boston in 5 days. Five of us in rented minivans - it felt like we drove 10,000 miles. I don't think I've ever laughed so much, the kind of laugh that keeps you from crying. Road-laugh. But it's a pleasure to get the record out there to people and play these songs for any folks who will listen. I'm proud of what I do, and I'm blessed that I get to do it.

The next two weeks consisted of more radio visits - we hit St. Paul and Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, and DC. We did in-stores and radio lunches, CD signings and on-air interviews. Our route was carefully constructed around my need to go home every 3 or 4 days to hold my babies and wash their laundry. My guitar players split the difference, Mark Erelli coming with me the 1st half of the radio tour and Russell Chudnofsky coming along for the 2nd half of the tour. This was necessary because along with keeping me laughing at all times - these guys keep me going when I break a string on my guitar or forget a lyric. And they are the best.

October may have left me a bit road-weary, but my spirit is always simply renewed by a great show. I started October at the Grand Ole Opry and ended it at the Bluebird Café. The Bluebird is almost as famous as the Opry (maybe more so in some "circles"). I have had a couple of amazing experiences in that room. It is a room that worships songs. I was there to do a benefit through ASCAP for MusiCares. Sharing the stage that night with Lance Miller, The Warren Brothers and Mark Erelli, I love all these boys and we had ourselves such a great time. Although, I couldn't convince Tim McGraw or Faith Hill to sing with me, Jessica Harp came up and sang us a song - her voice is amazing. My manager Amos updated us on the Red Sox score throughout the show (strangely enough Mark and I were the only ones who cared).

The next day was spent at Oceanway Studios in Nashville - that's where we made "Unglamorous" and it felt a bit like home - coming back to that place. Don Was, producer extraordinaire, was tracking songs for his channel on mydamnchannel.com. Don came to the show the night before at the Bluebird and was blown away by one of Mark Erelli's songs. So once again I find myself in a musical moment, a reward, something no one typed into the schedule. A Mark Erelli song called "Volunteers" brought me there and all I intended to do was sit there and support Mark while he played his brilliant song. Then I saw Guy Clark. Seated out in the massive tracking room called Studio A. It was once a church and the stain glass windows remain - letting just the right amount of colored sunlight into the room. Guy was tracking a song for Don and they hadn't finished yet - praise Jesus, we get to watch him work. Better still; I got to see him laugh, which is highly entertaining. People do not become cooler than Guy Clark - it's impossible.

Don Was is pretty damn cool too. Mark tracked a couple of songs - and then Mark and I went in and did one of mine. An unrecorded song I had played the night before called "How Romantic Is That". The whole day was such a gift. Check out MYDAMNCHANNEL.COM when you get a minute - there's some really great music up there.

So I'm back at home now, prepared for Halloween tomorrow. It is our first Halloween in our new home - and the neighbors have warned me that 200 pieces of candy is necessary. Rumor has it that surrounding neighborhoods drop their kids off here - to trick or treat. I am ready. The kids are dressing as superheroes - I have a Bat-Woman and a Red Power Ranger with a clear identity crisis because every other day he wishes he were Spider-Man. Sounds perfect to me.

October 30, 2007. lm