Oops! Let's Party May14th We're now two weeks into the tour and everything has been going pretty smoothly, with the exception of Natalie saying, "How are y'all Kansas City?!!!!" when we were in St. Louis. Oh No! After a quick recovery and a few boos we think the crowd forgave us. There were a couple women in the audience who had a big sign that said Kansas City on it and we had been there the day before, so that might have had something to do with it. For the record, we really did know we were in St. Louis, but that doesn't mean much when a brain fart happens. So another big ol' "How Do" to all the St. Louis fans again. Our first big party of the tour was in Ames, Iowa on a day off. I know, I know, when you think PARTY, you think Ames, Iowa right? We rented out a bowling alley and had the first all-tour-personnel bowling championships with trophies and a cash prize for the overall best score. Emily's best score was 147, Martie's was 109, and Natalie's was 90... nowhere near good enough for the trophies. Natalie has the very unique bowling style of two hands throwing the ball between her legs. Martie is a lefty, and throws her whole body into it, so she looks like she's throwing a shot put. Emily has the ever popular Fred Flintstone tippy toe approach that seems to work for her. We will keep you updated on our improvement through the tour. We better wrap this up for now, because we're about 2 hours away from show time in Ames, Iowa...we'll see if THEY know how to party!? Be Back Soon,! The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************* Back to Work... January 11th - 17th Well, "maternity leave" and the holidays are over and we find ourselves jumping right back into a hectic schedule but, this time around we have little Gus on Emily's hip wanting to eat every hour so we've had to make some adjustments. We spent the week in Austin preparing for the Super Bowl (...Oh what will we wear)? Doing a photo shoot and interview for the cover story of People Magazine at Natalie's house and auditioning musicians for our upcoming "Home tour" that starts in April...more details to come. We also welcomed back our friend and Road Manager, Mindi, who's been spending the last year on tour with Bonnie Raitt. For those of you who came to the any of the meet and greets on the Fly Tour, you would have met Mindi backstage. ************************************************************************************************************* Super Bowl, SNL and More... February 17th The Super Bowl was amazing. We didn't think we'd get so emotional down there on the field while singing The National Anthem, but we were all a bit teary eyed as the end of the song crescendoed and the jets flew over. People always ask us if we get nervous before we do big events like this and the best way to describe the feeling before you go out and sing in front of almost a billion people is - not nervousness, but anticipation. The kind of anticipation you feel at the beginning of a race or on Christmas Eve as a kid. We've had so many inquires about a recorded version of The National Anthem that we're now thinking about how to make it available to people...we'll let you know what we come up with. Now backstage (or back stadium) was another story. They put all the "talent" (Celine, Shania, No Doubt, Sting, etc... out in the parking lot in trailers that had no running water so every time you had to go to the bathroom, you first had to take the walk of shame past all of the screaming fans to what was a little more than a port-o-potty. If we were lucky we'd pass someone like Bon Jovi or Gwen Stefani coming back the other way and give the nod. Ahhh...the glamour of it all. After the Super Bowl we had a couple days off before heading to New York to do more promotion and rehearse with our new band for Saturday Night Live. Yes, this is another milestone for us. We've wanted to do the show for years. For those of you who are interested, here's our new band for the upcoming "Top of the World" Tour: David Grissom - Acoustic & Electric Guitar Robbie Turner - Steel Guitar John Gardner - Drums John Mock - Pennywhistle, concertina, percussion, guitar, etc... Brent Truitt - Mandolin Roscoe Beck - Bass Brian Sutton - Acoustic Guitar We think they sounded pretty awesome on SNL! The Cast of SNL were so nice to us and Jimmy Fallon was charitable to let us crash his Jarred's Room sketch. We thought we handled our one word of dialogue pretty well, "Haaaaaayyyy". We were definitely the envy of all our girlfriends as we snuggled up to Matthew MacConaughey and on several occasions (I repeat on several occasions) got to see him with his shirt off. There's no question that Matthew likes to have his shirt off. Did we mention Matthew didn't have his shirt on? Now it's Grammy time!! "Home" is up for 7 Grammys total and we're hoping to walk away with at least one to add to the award shelf... although the biggest achievement would be to be pleasantly absent from the worst dressed list this year. Wish us luck!!! Stay tuned, The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************** Storms, Red Carpet and Joan..... February 24th The week before the Grammys we found ourselves snowed in in NewYork...beautiful but a bit frustrating. The sidewalks were piled high with snow, so going shopping or taking the babies for a walk in the park on a day off was nearly impossible. Luckily the snow melted before we had to make the walk down the red carpet at the Grammys. Oh the Grammys! How can we ever put into words what the Grammys are like? Hmmm, well we got to talk with Paul Simon backstage, James Taylor came to say "Hi" and Faith helped babysit Gus while we were in the press line. It's a great hang because you get to see old friends and meet your musical heroes all in one place. Before the televised show even started we won two Grammys for Bluegrass Instrumental and Country Performance by a Duo or Group, so we felt the night was a success even before the show started. The only drawback to winning is that we missed most of the show doing press right after we won and we got to our seats about 20 minutes before the show was over, just in time to see Eminem and the tribute to The Clash...very cool! Oh, and yes we did run into Joan Rivers and, for the first time ever, met with her approval...not that we care...ha. Someone should have a show on E! that devotes the entire time to critiquing her plastic surgery choices. What do you think? But all that aside, she did rave about what we were wearing, so I gDon't read everything you believe... February 26th Well, we made it to the tabloids. According to the Globe, we were quite the Dixie Divas at the Sony after-party showing up late, kicking people out of their seats, demanding a velvet rope be put up around us to keep people away. WHAT A CROCK! First of all there is no such thing as being late to those parties; they run all night and people come and go as they please. Secondly, we had friends from our management company go early and save us seats...no one was kicked out. And lastly, there was a velvet rope that divided the room in half and we were on the side with the rest of the Sony Artists and industry folks (around 200 people)...no personal velvet rope. But, it's probably so much more fun to believe all the juicy stuff, right?uess she gets a few brownie points for that. ************************************************************************************************************ Across The Pond March 24th We write to you from London where we continue to promote the new album and hopefully break some new territories. We'll hit England, Ireland, Sweden, and Germany before heading off to Australia for a couple weeks. It's like starting over a bit when we're here because people really aren't that sure who we are. It's kind of a fun challenge to try and convert people all over again like we had to do in the States over the past few years, but it's exhausting!!! Speaking of exhausting, it's 3:30 a.m. and we have to be up early (jetlag is a pain in the arse) so we'll catch up later and fill you in on all the adventures from across the pond. Until then... Stay tuned, The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************* It's been awhile April 27th Hey Y'all, so sorry it's taken us so long to get back to the diary, but we've been a little busy lately (if ya know what we mean!). We'll try and catch you up on some stuff we've been doing amongst all the controversy. We will assume you saw and read the "Entertainment Weekly" story. People ask us why we did it nude (although we were actually wearing nude colored underwear and bras that got removed in touch ups...We're close, but not THAT close) and the reason was because we felt like a strong attack on our character and patriotism warranted a strong response. We were stripped of our identity and labeled by America, so why not show the absurdity and range of what we had been called by people who had no idea who we are. We now know that a lot of people didn't understand how huge the whole thing had gotten. The Diane Sawyer interview shed some light on that and educated a lot of people to the fact that the American media can get so out of control and lead a story that might not really be there...more on that in a minute. Diane was tough but we were true to who we are, and we hope that came across. Lastly, we addressed our country fans and and the country industry in an unedited interview with Bob Kingsley. It was important for us to speak directly to the country audience, because y'all are why we are here today. For those of you who never wavered in your support, regardless of your politics, thank you! Remember, we don't always have to agree with one another to love one another. So with all that said, let's PLEASE move on to something more fun and leave this crazy thing alone. Thanks, The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************* Top Of The World May 1st So, it's May 1st, first day of the tour and we are sitting back stage at the venue, a little more nervous than a first night of tour would usually be because the anticipation for crowds of protesters weighs a little heavy on our minds. 3:00 p.m. we do a sound check....no protesters have arrived. 4:00 p.m. We have a little early dinner and start hair and makeup.....still no protesters. We are perplexed because over 40 media trucks have been sitting outside all day. Where are the protesters? 5:00 p.m. we send a friend outside with a video camera to see what's going on because we can't believe what people are telling us. When he gets back, he breaks the bad news to us...7 negative protesters have shown up. BUT...there are 20 Pro-Dixie Chick protesters, protesting all the anti-Chick ones. We were without words. First of all, Y'all ROCK! Whoever that was who stood out there and took the time and energy to stand up for us, you get our gratitude. Let's count that again. 40 Media trucks, 20 pro-chick demonstrators, 7 anti-Chick demonstrators. Hmmmmm, that's interesting. It looks like just a few squeaky wheels were getting the grease. The next show in Orlando had one protester. Once again we scratch our heads. As we kicked off the first song in Greenville, we didn't quite know what to expect from the crowd, but as soon as we looked into everyone's eyes, we realized we had the greatest fans in the world and you all were there for us the whole time. Being in the round is allowing us to see so many more of you close up. The connection is there...we see the support in your eyes. Thanks! The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************* Oops! Let's Party May14th We're now two weeks into the tour and everything has been going pretty smoothly, with the exception of Natalie saying, "How are y'all Kansas City?!!!!" when we were in St. Louis. Oh No! After a quick recovery and a few boos we think the crowd forgave us. There were a couple women in the audience who had a big sign that said Kansas City on it and we had been there the day before, so that might have had something to do with it. For the record, we really did know we were in St. Louis, but that doesn't mean much when a brain fart happens. So another big ol' "How Do" to all the St. Louis fans again. Our first big party of the tour was in Ames, Iowa on a day off. I know, I know, when you think PARTY, you think Ames, Iowa right? We rented out a bowling alley and had the first all-tour-personnel bowling championships with trophies and a cash prize for the overall best score. Emily's best score was 147, Martie's was 109, and Natalie's was 90... nowhere near good enough for the trophies. Natalie has the very unique bowling style of two hands throwing the ball between her legs. Martie is a lefty, and throws her whole body into it, so she looks like she's throwing a shot put. Emily has the ever popular Fred Flintstone tippy toe approach that seems to work for her. We will keep you updated on our improvement through the tour. We better wrap this up for now, because we're about 2 hours away from show time in Ames, Iowa...we'll see if THEY know how to party!? Be Back Soon,! The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************** Time Flies... August 21st Dora, Dora, Dora As we wrap up the North American leg of the tour, we are a bit sad that the show as we know it will be no more. Playing in the round this year has definitely been a fun challenge. The miles we have put on our high-heeled boots have yet to be tabulated, but I guarantee each of us has put close to a hundred miles on them. I think the comment we hear most after the show is – "You were great, but how do you get around the stage in those shoes?" So, now we head off to Europe and Australia at the beginning of September and hopefully we can wow them just as much with our footwear balancing abilities. Unfortunately our diary has been a bit behind lately, but time flies when you’re having fun and it’s hard to slow down long enough to put all the action on “paper.” So, We thought we could do a “Best Of” re-cap of the last couple months on tour. You have been asking about the kids. Well, you might regret that ‘cause there’s nothing more a mom likes to do than talk about her baby. Gus is a whopping 26 lbs. at 9 months old (big daddy!) and he loves to dance. Put on a funky beat and he will dance like nobody’s watching. You might have seen him on the side of the stage with the big earphones on, clapping to the fast Bluegrass songs. It’s kind of scary how rhythmic he is. Slade (2 1/2 yrs.) is a little ham and talks a mile a minute, but baseball is his passion. (More on that in a minute) Slade and Gus see more action on tour than the rest of us combined. While we’re in the bowels of the arenas sound checking, working out, having meetings, doing interviews, and getting ready for the show…the normal stuff, they are out on adventures in whatever city we happen to be in. Gus and Slade had front row seats to Dora The Explorer in Phoenix (swiper no swiping, swiper no swiping!) And they danced and sang the whole time. We mommies are huge fans of Dora too. We find ourselves singing all the songs annoying Martie who has yet to discover the wonders of this clever girl and her adventures. She’ll know soon enough. When the weather was good enough we’d drop everything and head out with the kiddos to local zoos and aquariums, but baseball games were the mainstay of this tour. The Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, L.A. Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and the New York Mets were all nice enough to set us up with a box where we’d scarf hotdogs, meet the mascots and root on the local team. As mentioned before, Slade is obsessed with baseball and is now throwing a dead-on-target fastball with help from Atlanta Braves pitcher, Russ Ortiz, who came to the show and made his way back to meet Slade and work on his pitching game. Next up, the gang went to Six Flags where Slade conquered the Midway, breaking all the plates with the baseball and winning 7 huge stuffed animals. We might have a major leaguer on our hands! To make use of our days off, we took a number of field trips to local museums such as the John Deer Tractor Museum in Ames, IA (don’t knock it ‘til you try it), The Louisville Slugger Museum in, you guessed it, Louisville, KY (back on the baseball theme), The Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, AL (life changing), and The Harley Davidson Museum (great clothes). In Cleveland we made our way over to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just to find our music blaring inside (for our benefit of course). It was a bit embarrassing to hear “Ready to Run” and watch other people looking around like they were in the wrong place. It was a nice gesture, but REALLY!!! Water Log Denver was a blast…for some of us. We had a day off before the show and Mindi, our road manager, set up a fun day of water-skiing and then an evening with John Mayer (that sounds so intimate. Really, we just went to see him at a local amphitheatre). -Back to the skiing- Martie and Emily decided to go for it while Natalie worked on her tan. It took us a few laps to get up on the skis, but finally we prevailed only to feel so sore the next day that our arms and shoulders had to be worked on before we could go on stage. POOR BABIES. Boo Hoo. Our makeup artist, Dean, was the one who got really hurt. He saw “the ladies” getting up on skis relatively easily, so he thought it would be easy for him. Well, well he thought wrong and tore his hamstring up by his butt, turning it black and blue all the way to his ankle. He spent the evening in the emergency room screaming at doctors who just kept making him bend his leg, but was back in good form the next day thanks to some strong painkillers. The moral of the story is – Boys, don’t always assume that because a girl/woman can do it, that it will be easy for you. Right ladies? We were so excited to get to see John Mayer live. He is AMAZINGLY talented and it’s always good to see/hear artists who can blow you away live as much as they do on their albums. John was sweet enough to spend some time with us before he took the stage (Emily’s nanny Robin was about to pee her pants with excitement). What an insightful guy. For someone so young, he truly “gets it” and it was interesting to pick his brain about his experiences in the music biz. Have we gushed enough yet? No? Oh, by the way, he’s also a babe! We had another day off in Vancouver, BC and took advantage of Adrian’s, Natalie’s husband’s, sailing abilities and took a boat out on the bay. It was beautiful and everyone came back alive. Good job Adrian! Seattle found us on the water again…canoeing this time WITH ALLIGATORS!!! Ecstatic to make it back to the shore, Natalie did a celebratory cartwheel on the grass. When in Phoenix, you MUST Phoenician! We took over the pools at the Phoenician resort, went down the water slide like we were 12 years old all over again, played water volley ball, and made much needed trips to the spa...paint those toes! We had a great time. Name Drop-Ins Throughout the North American tour we had a few notable names drop in and say “Hi” Backstage…. some came and went without saying “Hi”…ahem…Prince…. ahem, but the rest were fun to meet…. we still get a little star struck sometimes. We were gonna try and find a clever way to intertwine a story with everyone in it, but that would take too much time and probably end up not that funny anyway, so let’s just get the name dropping over with, ok? Here we go – James Taylor, Britney Spears (Gus got a photo with her…if he only knew!), Stephen King, Sandra Bernhard, Rob Zombie, Demi Moore (and Ashton of course), Cybill Shepherd, the entire Yankee pitching crew, Bonnie Raitt, DB Sweeney, Julianna Margulies, Michael Moore, Britney Murphy, Carrot Top (Hot, Hot, Hot), Leif Garrett (ask your Mom), and the piez de resistance…Dennis Haskins (a.k.a. Mr. Belding on Saved By The Bell). Whew! What, no Toby? Stay tuned for the next diary entries in the next few weeks. You won’t want to miss Nannies Gone Wild, Vegas Party, Eat Beef Not Chicks, Oh Canada, and Kenny Rogers In The Hawaiian Shirt…got ya interested don’t we? Until then….. Merle Haggard Rocks! -The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************* *What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...sometimes September 03 Fortunately, Vegas was a two show town which allowed us a little time for some sun, gambling and a pre-end-of-tour party for the whole gang. We always love to be in Vegas and what better way to show some band and crew camaraderie, than to celebrate together! We Chicks rented out a restaurant at Mandalay Bay casino, hired some showgirls (Gus was simultaneously scared and entranced), made sure there was a DJ, a dance floor, an open bar and plenty of food and the rest took care of itself. The way people dance says a lot about their personality, don't you think? So, we got to know a lot of our touring group MUCH BETTER! Unfortunately for some, they dance like Elaine on "Seinfeld." Then there are the others...the shy types who don't say much, get their work done and pretty much keep to themselves, but once "Brick House" starts playing, we have John Travoltas on our hands. It was quite a sight. The only bad part about the evening was the next morning. About 80% of the band and crew got the squirts and we think we tied it back to some crab cakes. Let's just say that backstage at the next day's show was very "interesting". Of course that didn't stop anyone from gambling and when Emily headed home to get a day off with Charlie before the San Antonio show and didn't get a chance to go to the tables, she entrusted Natalie with her gamblin' money (Natalie claims to have a "system" where she can't lose) in good faith. This could have been a huge mistake, but when we caught up with each other in San Antone, Natalie handed over her winnings . Now THAT'S a good friend! -The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************ Sacramento Savior September 10 We want to thank Shawn Colvin once again for coming to the rescue on such short notice, putting on an incredible opening set and just being extremely cool to be around. She is a hero of ours (We actually first met Patty Griffin when we went to see Shawn play at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville six years ago, and Patty was opening the show) and when a scheduling mishap found us without an opener, we were so honored when she agreed to fly up to Sacramento and help us out. By the way, have you ever checked out her arms? She is a tri-athlete and is incredibly buff. Enough to make these 3 chicks incredibly jealous! -The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************* Open Wide September 17 Until the Grateful Dead whisked Joan Osborne off to be in the band, we had a blast sharing the stage with her every night for the first half of the tour. Her songs are amazing, and her voice is so haunting. We would get the video guys to wire her performance into our dressing room TV every night so we could watch her over and over. We miss her and her band dearly...thanks again y'all! Next up on tour was Michelle Branch who is sooo hot right now, that we can't believe we got her. To be 20 years old, that talented and that successful is humbling. As Martie put it one night on stage -"When I was 20, I was working as a hostess at a restaurant and failing college algebra." On top of her talent she is as sweet as can be and really seems to have her head on straight...no prima Donna b.s. here! Her mom and sister met up on tour with her and we got the chance to meet them as well. Actually, her younger sister looks so much like Michelle, that Emily talked to her for a few minutes at the Vegas party thinking that it was Michelle. She was so embarrassed when she realized her faux pas. (fox pus...as a guest on Jerry Springer once called it). -The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************************* Dixie Chicks Wing Clipped As y'all heard by now we were in an accident in Glasgow, Scotland, but we are fine. However, we wanted to share with you the actual photo... we are off to do our show in Glasgow tonight! -The Chicks **********************************************************************************************************************************   Oh Sandy September 25 A lot of you have been asking about the bus accident that made the news not too long ago. Thank you for all the concern for Emily, Gus and the others involved. Emily is fine; Gus was home with Charlie that night. And thankfully, neither Robin (Emily's nanny) nor the bus driver was hurt. The bus on the other hand..... Had a bit of a dent. Sandra Bullock heard about the unfortunate mishap as well and called us the next day offering up her bus and bus driver, "Showtime", no questions asked. Now we always thought she looked nice in the movies, but what a sweetie pie!!!! It must be a Texas gal thing. We gotta look out for each other ya know. Thanks again Sandra! -The Chicks ***************************************************************************************************************************   Me, myself, and my shadow October 2 Unfortunately we have had to deal with some security issues this year in the wake of the "incident." Before all this nonsense happened, we prided ourselves on not having a "posse". We were posse-less, and it was certainly not im-posse-ble to find us out by ourselves. But, things change and there are some freaky deaks out there who wish you harm if you don't subscribe to their point of view. So, we found ourselves having to get personal security...thus the posse began. This can be so embarrassing at times because we are just normal people who want to do normal things and you find yourself in a position of looking...shall we say...rapper-esque. We had one bodyguard apiece, each with their own special talent. Emily's was a martial arts specialist, Natalie's was ex-L.A.P.D., Martie's looked like a professional wrestler and his self-proclaimed claim to fame is surviving a plane crash....this sounds like a really bad sitcom doesn't it? Chick Squad on TNT, Thursday nights at 9:00...right? Anyway, these guys were our shadows. They watched us from morning 'til night. They treated our kids as their own, they put up with lots of shopping, car seats, girl talk, trips to Starbucks, sushi, and opinions, opinions, opinions. They know more about us than our mothers do, and by no fault of her own, Martie knows a little more about Larry than she bargained for. On a typical morning you'd find Martie waking up at the crack of noon, and heading down stairs at the hotel for some breakfast. Well, one morning, Martie's husband Gareth was in town with her, so she figured she'd be ok without security. She knocks on Larry's door, hears him rustle around and eventually he makes his way to the door. He cracks the door and hides behind it only putting his face in the space to talk to Martie. She guesses that he must be about to get in the shower because he's hiding behind the door, but unbeknown to him, there is a vanity mirror casting a perfect reflection of Larry's 6'5" naked-wrestle mania-physiqued ass right back at Martie. I think she is still in shock. Good going Larry!!! This brings to mind that song, "Getting to Know You." -The Chicks *****************************************************************************************************************************    Nannies Gone Wild October 8 This is the first tour with the kids obviously, and with those kids come nannies. Now Natalie and Emily have great nannies. They're both Lubbock gals and maybe that explains the strange phenomenon that happens when we have a day off and the nannies are left to their own devices. Everyone has to let off some steam on the road; It's hard to explain, but there is a sense of being claustrophobic even though you are going places and seeing things (I think it comes from the repetitive schedule, no windows in the venues and life on a bus). So with that said, it is natural for these gals to want some down time. BUT, it's always the next day that we hear of "the big night on the town in Cincinnati", a.k.a. "Kentucky Thunder", "closing down the dance clubs in (insert city name here)", "swimming in a fountain on a $20 bet in Kansas City", to name a few. Who would have thought the nannies would be the wild ones? -The Chicks ************************************************************************************************************************ Oh Canada October 16 The most relaxing time on the tour, by far, was the three days we spent in the Canadian Rockies while we waited for our trucks to make the cross continental drive that last week of the extension. Once again our super-hero road manager, Mindi, set up a retreat in Jasper at a wonderful golf resort/spa nestled in the mountains of a Canadian National Park. We fished for trout in glacier fed lakes and cooked them for dinner that night. Natalie and Emily took a golf lesson together (it looked more like batting practice to be perfectly honest), the band golfed and rented bikes to ride around the lake and into town. We hiked and canoed and just generally became one with nature. There's something in the air up there that changes you. We can breath bus fumes and arena dumpster juice only so long. When the sun went down, the whole gang convened in our big cabin, listened to music, played cards (money exchanged hands of course), and played the most cutthroat game of charades you've ever seen. We're WILD! Wheeee Hooooo! You might have wondered what the rock stars do when the sun goes down? Well, it's charades, my friend; don't let the rest of them fool ya. It's the best-kept secret this side of the Mississippi...we're not quite sure what side we're referring to, it just sounds cool. Let's see you try and act out Glen Gary, Glen Ross! Next...."Eat Beef Not Chicks", "Kenny Rogers in a Hawaiian Shirt" and more! -The Chicks **************************************************************************************************************************   Update on the Twins! January 20 Hi everyone, I am now 23 weeks along in my pregnancy and my belly is growing at an astounding rate. We found out that we are having two wee girls. Gareth and I were thrilled with that news. We know that one of them will be named "Kathleen" after his younger sister who sadly passed away in a car accident 7 years ago. As for the other little girl, we are playing around with all kinds of names, especially the Irish ones. (Any suggestions from you guys would be greatly appreciated). This is such a fun time in our lives right now. The girls went to their first concert last night at a local club here in Austin. Joe Ely was playing with Natalie's dad, Lloyd, and our very own David Grissom in the band. The music was amazing and I could feel the baby on my right side kicking the whole time. The best part about this whole process so far is definitely feeling the babies' movements, it's very fun and reassuring. I must say, it's been so nice having this down time to get out of the critical public eye for a while, relax, watch the twins grow and practice my fiddle for the next record. Well, more later. Be good to one another and be informed. This year is a very important one for our country. I'm so happy to see the growing number of young people getting involved. Love, Martie *************************************************************************************************************************** '04 January 28 Happy New Year to all of you Thanks for all your support last year and as we look forward to a year of healthy babies and further musical inspiration, we will keep you updated on our lives and what might be the next chapter of the Dixie Chicks. We firmly believe that music cannot be made in a vacuum…we have to go and be normal people without the stage and lights and the screaming fans. (Although the thought of a big crowd cheering us on as we pick out vegetables in the grocery store would be awesome). Here's the latest news: Something in the Water Well, it must be contagious, or maybe it’s just the fact that we’re off the road and back with the hubbies, but yes, Natalie is pregnant! Don’t believe any rumors that it is John Ashcroft’s lovechild; they simply are not true. Adrian and Nat are ecstatic about the news and Slade is preparing to become a big brother. Can you imagine the next tour for us? Five kids (or more) back stage? Oh, the THOUGHT is just exhausting. But, as they say, it takes a village, right? Boob Tube Has anyone been catching Nat’s hubby Adrian on Judging Amy? Adrian landed the part of a lawyer that just might end up being Amy’s new love interest. Tune in Tuesday nights at 10 pm on CBS to catch him. Natalie might have to endure watching her husband smooching somebody else on T.V. for a while, but hey, it’s just part of the job, right? The Good Fight Our manager Simon Renshaw was honored at this year’s ACLU dinner and awarded the 2003 Bill of Rights Award from the ACLU for his continuing fight for first amendment rights for artists within our industry. We are so proud of him and thank him again for his unwavering support of us. Simon is special in that he never once asked us to compromise our beliefs or convictions in order to “make things go away” or make things easier on ourselves or him….you wouldn’t believe how rare that is in this business Congratulations Simon, we are so proud of you! Baby Boom Our manager was also awarded with a bouncing new baby boy. Congratulations to him and his wife Sara who gave birth to a beautiful son, Maxwell Grant Renshaw, on January 9th at 6:35 am weighing in at 7lbs.2 oz and 18 .5 inches long. Trip to Mars We have just been informed that President Bush intends to ask us, the Chicks, to head up the “manned” mission to Mars! It is our understanding that there are no hard feelings for last year’s remarks and that he fully intends to let us take the maiden voyage to the red planet. Of course this will mean we’ll be gone from our planet for over a year with the chance that we might never come back from this dangerous expedition, but wow, what an honor! As we close this diary entry we would like to make a wish for the new year and that is for progress on the road to world peace, comfort to those who have lost loved ones because of the lack of it, and the hope that our troops come home and come home safely. All our best in the New Year, -The Chicks **************************************************************************************************************   A little down time February 5 The tour is over and we are having a little time away from the craziness of being a Dixie Chick… you can imagine how relaxing that might be. We see there have been some mock entries by fans in the interim…very creative and funny, but nonetheless we’ll give you the real scoop. Since we have been on hiatus, our diary will be a bit more personal and less about band events, since we see each other mostly socially these days. After a year like ’03, it has been good for us to get away from “the biz” for a little while. Holidays found us hanging out with our families and keeping things fairly low key. Martie’s in-laws and Natalie’s sister’s in-laws (I think we’ve explained this before, but for those of you who weren’t present….Martie’s husband’s brother is brothers to Natalie’s sister, Kim’s husband…Martie and Nat’s sister are sister-in-laws. Got it?) came over from Ireland with the whole Irish clan for the month of December and Emily came up from the Ranch a couple times to see everyone and let Gus and Slade play together. The best part about the Holidays was getting to see Martie fill out with the twins…. she looks so pregnant now and to think it’s only a few months left until they’re here. Of course it’s totally sickening that her ass is the same size as it’s always been. February will be filled with events for Martie like showers and girls’ spa days to celebrate her impending motherhood. Although she’s not due ‘til May, twins usually come about a month early and we figured we should get all the celebrating started early so she doesn’t get too uncomfortable to enjoy it. More later... The Chicks *************************************************************************************************************** Nat Chat: "My Tivo's Season Pass List" February 10 Hello everybody! I am starting up what will hopefully be a weekly blurb about anything I feel like talking about. Oh boy, you never know what I will say, it could get interesting. This week I think it will be pretty safe though, as I am going to fill you in on what my Tivo is set to record. I am a little embarrassed to admit how much TV I have had time to watch. I can't seem to get enough reality TV lately. So here you have the shows I don't miss during a week, all made possible by the wonderful invention of Tivo. Monday My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance - Now this started out really good, but I didn't love last week. I figure I will give this one more week, but it might be out. Average Joe:Hawaii - This I like, but I don't know how real it can really be. I like some of the geeks but don't like any of the hunks. Tuesday American Idol - Now I watch this whatever night it's on. I personally think you can't tell a star just by the voice, but it's a good place to start. The best part of the show is always the first 6 episodes when all the bad people are on. I also have to say that Simon knows what he is talking about. People get on him for being so matter a fact, yet these people are not listening to him. He might say "you should never open your mouth to sing again" and they will still walk out of that room insisting that they are the greatest thing on earth. You know that he is not the first person to have told them this. It is very sad, but what are you going to do? Judging Amy - I never watched this until Adrian was on it, and now I really like it. Trust me, I am not the kind of wife that thinks everything my husband does is gold just because he is my husband. I think the show is really well written and I love all the actors in it. Wednesday The Newlyweds - Well, I love this. It is one of my favorites. Thursday Survivor - Can't wait to see what is ahead. The Apprentice - I like this. My favorite part is Donald Trump's hair. Wow! What is going on there? Friday Real Time With Bill Maher - I Love It! I Love It! I love It! Bill Maher is one of those people who dedicates his time to sifting through the crap from the government and the corporate media and finding the truth. Unfortunately we are living in a time where the truth is not something that is given, it is something that must be researched and found. Whatever side of the political fence you are on, this statement is true. Sunday Sex And The City - Watching to see who Carrie ends up with. Curb Your Enthusiasm - My favorite comedy on TV, but not as good as past seasons. I liked it better when it seemed less scripted. Well there it is. Isn't it sad? This is what my time off has come down to. Until next week, Natalie *************************************************************************************************************** Que Paso? February 19 I write to you from the beautiful beaches of Ixtapa, Mexico where Charlie and I have been on vacation for the last 2 weeks. I was in desperate need of some sun and exercise after Christmas. For some reason I don’t really feel in the Christmas spirit unless I eat ALL the cookies I baked…I know it might be hard to picture me in the kitchen, but try your best. Anyway we’ve been boogie boarding, surfing, deep sea fishing (I caught my first sail fish and am having him/her mounted), tanning, playing tennis, riding bikes, catching up on books I’ve wanted to read, walking on the beach, dancing to Outkast (they’re new album is so addictive…I highly recommend it) and just generally relaxing. Gus is just so happy to be able to run around naked and swim. He started walking around his first birthday in November and hasn’t stopped moving since. Nothing is more pure and wonderful than little naked baby buns running on the beach! Charlie is just so happy to be able to run around naked and swim as well. No amount of protest seems to matter. I guess I am just jealous that he doesn’t have tan lines…or shame. We of course brought the guitar for late night sing-alongs and Charlie has been writing for his new album that he starts in February. Lloyd (Nat’s dad) will be producing the project. I’ve been working on my Spanish but I might have gotten a little too confident in my abilities. I just realized that I’ve been telling waiters I was “handsome” when asking for the check…oops. Adios amigos, Emily *************************************************************************************************************