second chances

Have I shared with you that heart wrenching story from my childhood, the one where I didn't get to go to Disneyland? If so, I'm sorry, if not, here goes.
Once upon a time there was a girl.  

A girl with no musical or artistic ability whatsoever, and a desperate need for some art credit so she could graduate high school.

Now this girl had a lot of friends, she wasn't popular by any stretch of the imagination, so by "a lot" we are talking 10-15 people she associated with on a daily basis.  But she was part of a fun group she ate lunch with, and hung out on weekends with, etc.

Anyways, practically ALL of these friends were in choir, and the Senior choir was going to be going on a trip to Disneyland, and she was the ONLY one of the group of friends not going.

So, at the insistence of her friends, ("You TOTALLY have to try out!... It will be so much fun!... Mr Wendel lets ANYONE in, you should hear the girl next to me....The girl next to me is totally tone deaf, you should be in for sure....It will be so sad if you can't come...") and the fact she was desperate for an art credit, she tried out for Senior Choir.

So, she rehearsed for several minutes by singing along with "Phantom of the Opera" in her bedroom that weekend, then went in to (very literally) face the music.

It wasn't pretty.

But let me tell you what the worst part was. It was not how the teacher said, "Not only can I not put you in Senior Choir, I can't even put you in junior choir.  If you still want to be in choir, the best I can offer you is SOPHOMORE Girl's Chorus."  No, the disappointment in learning that she would not get to go to Disneyland with her friends, and facing a whole year as the only Senior in a class full of Sophomores, wasn't the worst part.  The worst part was the teacher's look of pain on his face as she sang.  He'd been the choir director for years, the school was a pretty big one, and choir was pretty popular, so you'd think after all these years, and the possibly thousands of auditions he'd sat through throughout the years, he'd get pretty good at keeping his emotions in check while listening to people like me, I mean, uh her, step out of their comfort zones and try something new.

And then she spent the year enduring questions like "Uh, aren't you a Senior?  Why are you in here?"

Stupid art credit.

Fast forward almost 20 years.

I realize it's not really the same, but I am finally making it to Disneyland on a field trip with a bunch of highschoolers.  Nick's orchestra is heading to California tomorrow, and it worked out that I get to be a chaperon.  And believe it or not, Nick is super happy to have me come. 

Yes, I still wished I could have been there with my friends, making memories and having fun, but I think having a front row seat to one of these experiences in my kids' lives comes in a close second.

how I snuck in to a Beatles concert

Ever since I was little, I've had a dream, a fantasy- I wanted to go to a Beatles concert.

Really, and truly, if you had asked me if I could go to any concert, I would have said the Beatles.

Of course, I knew this couldn't happen cause the band broke up and two of them are dead, so that kinda puts a damper on things, but still, a girl could dream.

And then one day it happened.

John was to attend a big computer conference in Vegas, and the end of the conference party included a concert with none other than Sir Paul McCartney.

We hit a couple snags in getting me the actual ticket though.

The tickets were for conference attendees only.  We could buy me a guest pass, but that would cost $500.  (I still would have paid it, it totally would have been worth it to realize a lifetime dream come true, but that's a lot of money to cough up.)  I guess the steep price tag is cause it comes with a reception with an open bar, and all you can eat crappy conference appetizers, so clearly I wasn't gonna get my money's worth there.

To get a ticket, you had to stand in line, show your conference badge, and picture ID, and they gave you a sparkly bracelet which you had to put on right then and there, and your ticket.  If you want to sit next to a particular someone (in this case your spouse) you had to stand in line together.  It was looking like we were gonna have to cough up the dough and pay for it, plus, by the time I got into town, ( a day after they started handing out tickets) I was certain any decent seats would be long gone.

Anyway, as it turns out, being married to a well liked guy has it's perks.  One of John's friends who wasn't going to be attending the concert anyway, was happy to give me his ticket.  (and seeing how the ticket was included in the price of his convention pass.... it would have been a shame to waste it) John's helped him out on more than one occasion, and he was happy to return the favor.  He even stood in line with John, obtained the ticket

and bracelet,  jimmied open the locking mechanism on the bracelet with an eyeglass screwdriver,

and let me borrow his convention badge.  Actually I wore John's cause just in case anybody was paying attention (they weren't) we could say it was a misprint, and my name is really Joan.  (you needed all three to get into the concert)

That guy is so getting caramels next time John sees him.

Anyway, BEST CONCERT EVER.

John even said so.

I felt a little guilty saying it was better than Harry Connick, jr, who puts on a great show, totally entertaining, but wow, start to finish-

 A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

I don't even know where to begin?

The venue was small, so there really wasn't a bad seat. 

First off, I have to mention that when Paul stepped out on stage, I heard a guy behind me make some joke- "Hey, I thought we were here to see Paul McCartney? Who's that old guy?" 

I think he ate his words pretty quick- because for an old guy (he will be 70 next year)- He Still Has It.  You could just tell he loved his job.  He loved performing.  He was funny, and amazing, and talented, and he shared stories, and he rocked. Really Rocked. 

In fact you could tell his whole band thought they each had the best job in the whole world.  Especially his drummer.  He was hilarious.  He oozed personality and joy.

We heard Beatles songs, some Wings songs (his group after the Beatles) and even some new stuff.  Even a tribute to John Lennon, which was really touching. 

The pyrotechnics were awesome, John said they were the best he's ever seen, and he grew up going to 80's rock concerts, so I am assuming he's seen his fair share. 

And the computer graphics, videos, images, were awesome too.  Apparently the amount of storage space used impressed John, and storage is his specialty.

I confess I was a little worried before going,  Worried he wouldn't live up to my expectations. (life long dreams have generally come with high expectations) Worried that it was just a paycheck for him, that he might not give his all as he played a bunch of tired old songs for a bunch of drunk computer geeks who most likely just there cause work paid for it.   (of course afterwards I did a little research and in 2010, he was one of the richest men in the UK, which means he doesn't need to work-I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he still performs because he can, because he loves it)

But wow,  did he ever more than meet any expectations I ever had.  John even agreed- Best Concert Ever.

Challenge #6

Put your ipod on shuffle- first ten songs that play.

1. I wanna - All American Rejects
2. Stuck in a moment you can't get out of - U2
3. The Attack - Les Miserables soundtrack
4. Change Your Mind - All American Rejects
5. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
6. Cold Cold Heart - Norah Jones
7. The End - Blue October
8. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning - Carly Simon (Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack)
9. Dancing Through Life - Wicked soundtrack
10. 8 Days a Week - The Beatles

Les Mis Love

The 25th anniversary edition of Les Mis just came out on DVD and blu-ray. I also have the 10th anniversary on VHS, but without a VCR, it doesn't do me a lot of good.

Anyway, we've been enjoying it. Except for Nick. He has lots of past due home work to do so he isn't allowed near the TV.

Zach surprised me when he sat down and wanted to know which one was Jean Valjean. Apparently he'd been paying attention.

Madison is loving the fact that Marius is played by Nick Jonas. I've read a lot of criticism about that, but I personally think he did ok. He looks the part, and the boy can sing, but it is a little obvious at moments that he's not quite the vocalist some of the others are.

Madison informed me that when she grows up she'd like to play the part of Eponine in the show because Eponine doesn't have to kiss anyone. Cossette and Marius kissed, like 3 whole times. Of course the devil's advocate in me couldn't leave that alone.

"What? I thought you liked Nick Jonas, don't you want to kiss him?"

"Duh, mom. He probably won't be in it when I am."

"Well what if he was? Would you want to be Cossette then?"

(silence followed by a sheepish smile)

"maybe."

Homework I like

I don't mind helping kids with math, studying for spelling tests, or proofreading papers.

What I am not such a big fan of (I believe I've mentioned it before) are the projects that involve a lot of parent involvement. Those projects where the parent does 90% of the work and it usually takes hours and hours, and usually several trips to your local craft store or even better, Wal-mart, because no one else is open at 1 in the morning.

However, I am really excited about the current topic Nick is studying in American History.

Music!

All year they've been making their way up through the decades, and you can't talk about the 50's without talking about music.

And I love music from the 50's. 60's too. (Oldies music from the 50's and 60's was the only kind of music allowed in our home for years. )

He came home with a list of songs that he needed to recognize and know the title of and the singer or band name to.

So naturally, I was the supportive mother, and have been dutifully downloading songs from itunes so Nick can "study."

Then of course, I would be all "Why did she pick that song?!?! This one is better. You should know this one too." In the name of education I went over and above and downloaded several more songs.

Oddly enough, I only actually already owned only one song on his list. 'Wake up Little Suzie' by the Everly Brothers (I saw them in concert once- just sayin') But I think we'll be pretty well covered when we hit the 60's.

And then I impressed my whole family by singing along to each and every song.

Of course I knew we had a lot of work ahead of us when Nick said "Tomorrow we're gonna learn about Elvis. I didn't know he sang rock n roll, I thought he sang rap."

"What's your favorite song?"

Madison asked me this question the other day.

Is it possible to really answer that question?

My favorite song on the radio right now? From a particular decade? Rock? Hymn? Classical?

There are way to many possibilities. And of course mood and other such things cause my "favorites" to change almost moment by moment.

I'm not even sure I could pick a favorite song from a particular artist. Maybe from a particular album, depending on the album, but that's pushing it.

Take Wicked for instance. Popular, Dancing Through Life, What is this Feeling?- Love those songs. But then again Defying Gravity is awesome, and For Good makes me cry, so how do you pick just one?

But when it comes to Christmas music, I've managed to pick that one song. And more recently a particular version of that one song. Michael Crawford's O Holy Night. Josh Groban's is good too, but Michael Crawford's voice just has an unmatchable power to it (Hello? Phantom of the Opera). And I love the addition of the children's voices in it. Additionally, I think it's a great CD to play on those days when Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman or Rockin around the Christmas Tree feel a little too commercial and you want a little more "True Meaning of Christmas" playing over the airwaves. (Don't get me wrong. I love me some of that other stuff too. )

In other musical related news- Nick wakes me up in the morning. I don't even hear my alarm anymore. I turn it off in my sleep and roll over. This morning, he kinda rubbed my arm, then broke into a song from the Disney movie "Robin Hood". Complete with finger snapping. Then he proceeded to say "Studies show that people who are woken up by being sung to, wake up happier."

I'm sure he made that up, but it still worked on me.

Harry

When I heard Harry Connick, jr was going to be in NYC for a two week stint on Broadway, I begged John to find a reason to have to go to NYC. (Sometimes he has control over these things, mostly not though.)

Unfortunately those two weeks coincided with the two weeks we would be in Europe. (And even if I had a choice, Europe would have still won)

So, with a heavy sigh, I pushed it out of my mind. I'd been to his concerts before, and I was sure I would get another opportunity.

Fast forward a few weeks. Our travel plans changed slightly, and we ended up spending one night in NYC before going our separate ways. (John had to fly off to some other city for work)

I was excited to be in NYC for a night until I realized it was Monday Night. If you are a fan of Broadway and you are going to spend only one night in NYC, Monday night is the worst night to pick. Most of the shows are closed that night. I hoped we might get lucky and find SOMETHING, but probably not one of our top choices.

And then,

In the cab ride from the airport to our Hotel,

It hit me.

"I think Harry is in town!"

Could I be that lucky? Could he still be in town, AND be playing on a Monday night, AND the tickets NOT be sold out?

Yes! Yes! and YES!!!

We actually got pretty good tickets to boot.

It was such a good show too.

I could go on and on about it all. How he just randomly started up a conversation with this 80+ year old guy a few rows in front of me who happened to be a former professional football player, and ended up convincing the guy to sing while Harry accompanied him (he got a standing ovation). How he made his shy teenage daughter come out to say hi. How he pulled out a trumpet and started playing. Um, hello! since when does he play the trumpet? And then of course he totally rocked the piano. And the singing. Oh, the singing. (Big Sigh)

After the concert I think I like him more than ever. And I didn't think that was even possible.

It was a good night. A really, really good night. (thanks, John!)

Life is like a jumprope

Been meaning to post this for awhile. Figured today was a good day to do it. It's the lyrics from the song Jumprope on my "gym" playlist by Blue October. It's a cute little upbeat song. I don't know if I like it cause I used to love to jumprope as a kid- regular, double dutch, chinese.. (why don't kids jumprope on the playground any more?) but it makes me happy when my ipod randomly plays it. Not that I'd normally suggest music from Blue October- I think several of their songs have earned the "Explicit Lyrics" warning, but this is a good one.

Remember how you used to say
You couldn't wait for tomorrow for a brand new day
No fuss when ya had to ride the school bus
You just add a little blush
to paralyze your school crush

Now you're older and the weight is on your shoulder
Make the world a little colder
No more hiding in the old day
Be strong
Don't you give up hope
It will get hard
Life's like a jump rope

Chorus:
Up down
Up down
Up down
Up down, yeah
Cause it will get hard
Remember Life's like a jump rope

There'll be a bump and there will be a bruise
There'll be alarms and there will be a snooze
There'll be a path that you will have to choose
There'll be a win and there will be a lose and

You gotta hold your head up high and
Watch all the negative go by
Don't ever be ashamed to cry
You go ahead
Cause life's like a jump rope

(Chorus)

I want to tell you that everything will be okay
That everything will eventually turn itself to gold
So keep pushing through it all
Don't follow, lead the way
Don't lose yourself or your hope
Cause life's like a jump rope


(Chorus)


You stomp your feet so hard you make it pound
Raise the bottom to the top
and now we're never coming down

Up down stomp your feet spin around
Clap hands to the rhythm
Then you slip down

You stomp your feet so hard you make it pound
Raise the bottom to the top
and now we're never coming down.

(Chorus)

Passing the torch

This was my mug when I was younger.

I've had this thing for about 20 years. I love it. It's one of those "it's funny cause it's true" kind of things. But it's time for me to pass it on.

Poor Nick.

There's a line in a popular song ♪♫Your brain gets smart but head gets dumb♪♫. Nick can relate. Alot of the time.

For instance- (and this was the deciding incident for me to pass on the mug)

The other night, for whatever reason I was singing that YMCA song. The tune was in my head, I was feeling tired and a little punch drunk, I was trying to get the kids' attention, or d all of the above. Take your pick. So there I am singing the song, doing the little dance and Nick makes the comment that he could never figure out how to do the arm movement things. (this isn't what earned him the mug) We have a quick tutorial and I send them off to bed.

A few minutes later I am in Nick's room doing the tucking in, listening to prayers, saying good night thing, and I bust into song again. Only I change it up a bit (tune is still stuck in my head) and instead of singing ♪♫Y-M-C-A♪♫ I sing ♪♫N-I-C-K♪♫ and try to make the letters with my arms. (N is hard)

Anyway, Nick looks at me with a confused expression, and says "What's that?"

I stare at him with an incredulous look on my face, and after a minute or so, the realization hits him.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Don't you dare put that on your blog!"

I'm so sorry dear. But when my 13 year "gifted" child doesn't recognize his own name, it's definitely too good to pass up.

(in related news, I think I figured out why he has such trouble putting his name on his homework)

high and low

You know that high and low game where people list their high points and low points of the day?

Here's mine for yesterday-

Low- finding out Christopher has pink eye and having to cancel my appointment at Catz to go to the doctor.

High- Listening to Christopher belt out ♪♫♪ "Jesus ah me a Sun-beam! Jesus ah me a Sun-beam!"♪♫♪ at Target while we waited for his antibiotics.

Evolution

Once upon a time there was a little girl.

She was not allowed to touch the radio in the car or in the house. The only music that was allowed was 50's and 60's music. And she was okay with that. She didn't know any better. She liked it that way. It was all she knew and there was no need for change. She enjoyed listening to the radio when her daddy turned it on when he came home from work. She learned to love groups like the Beach Boys, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and the Mamas and Papas. She loved to sing along with Neil Diamond, the Eagles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Then one day, she received a present. An alarm clock radio. And she discovered that if she were to move the little wheel on the side, she would hear new and strange music. Some she liked, some not so much. And so continued her life long love affair with music. And while the music of her childhood was practically engraved upon her DNA, she learned to expand her horizons and seek out new music to love. And with the guidance of her friends and peers, she found new music to love and sing along with.

Time went by, and the little girl turned 16 and got a job and a car. Suddenly she had money to purchase music and not be solely dependant upon the radio. She could choose the kind of music she wanted to. Since her car only had a cassette player in it, she used her hard earned money to buy a box to hold all her cassettes in. Some cassettes she purchased, some she "borrowed" from her dad, and some she copied from her friends. Now while all this was swell and dandy, the girl had to remember to put her tapes under her car seat whenever she parked the car for any length of time, or else she would come out to her car at the end of the day during her summer internship at the country club and find all her tapes a warped mess in the windshield of her car.

A few years later after the girl had amassed a ridiculous amount of CD's because she worked at a music store, and finally got a car with a CD player in it, she purchased one of those ginormous binders to hold an obscene amount of CD's. That way, wherever she went, she could listen to whatever music she felt like, whether it were Simon and Garfunkel, or Depeche Mode, or Phantom of the Opera. This quickly became an irritation however, because it was difficult to drive and look through the binder for a particular CD, and you had to worry about someone breaking into your car and stealing hundreds of dollars worth of CD's. The huge binder was replaced with a couple smaller ones, and then only used on longer car trips.

And so the CD's started to gather dust in the back of her closet, and the radio with it's commercials and lack of control, became the standard again.

Until now.

She didn't notice whether or not her previous car had this little hole in it, and wouldn't have know what it was for, but when she asked the car salesman whether her new car could play mp3's he pointed out that little hole.

And guess what? She can download all of those CD's gathering dust (okay not all of them, but a good amount) into her ipod, and she can listen to whatever she wants. Whenever she wants. And there are no tapes to melt and warp in the heat of the Arizona sun, and there are no CD's to lug around, and if anything gets stolen or ruined or lost, she has a back-up at home.

And although she sometimes misses the little upgrades her last car had, like the leather seats that cleaned off so much easier, or the heated seats, (oh yes, this may be Arizona, but those winter nights can get pretty chilly, and those seats are sure nice when the temperatures dip down into the 40's) she thinks this little hole will make up for it.

The End

EVYS

Just a little shout out congratulatory to Nick who auditioned for and was selected to play the viola in the East Valley Youth Symphony. He's very excited about it. Way to go, Nick!

Madison ♥ Nick Jonas

A few months ago we bought tickets to the Stadium of Fire on the 4th of July to see the Jonas Brothers. Madison has been totally ga-ga over them in recent months. Especially Nick Jonas. He's the love of her life right now.

For whatever reason I decided to keep it a secret from her, and see how long it would take her to figure it out. Even though I informed Nick he would be coming with us, (I didn't want him to miss out on the fireworks display because his male ego wouldn't allow him to admit he likes the Jonas Brothers, even though he totally enjoys watching their show on the Disney Channel) we still managed to keep it a secret from Madison until the moment we showed up at the Marriott Center at BYU yesterday. She noticed the big banner with the Jonas Brothers on it, and although it said "Stadium of Fire July 4 2009" I don't think she even noticed that because she let out a big sigh after staring longingly at the poster and then walked off. Leaving Nick and I totally stunned that she still didn't get what the big surprise was. (I had hinted that it might just be the best day of her life that day) She couldn't stop smiling and squealing when she figured it out. "Mom, I know, I KNOW I am the happiest girl in the world right now."I bought her a concert program.

I bought Nick some $1 earplugs. He was very grateful.

Madison must have thanked me a dozen times and given me a half a dozen hugs and kisses throughout the night expressing her thanks for bringing her.
The only downside to the evening was when they retired a huge 90 foot by 150 foot 26 year old flag. It was retired with military honors. Madison burst into tears when she found out they were going to burn it. She's such a sensitive little creature. It was a lot like attending a funeral. But a really neat funeral with a procession of military service men. And fire. Not something you get to see every day.
It was my very first "boy band" concert ever. And Nick's and Madison's first concert as well. There were more screaming girls than I could ever imagine. I enjoyed it, but it was hard to avoid the fallout from Madison's excitement.

Nick said he liked the concert, but thought the fireworks and the fly-bys were amazing. (Which they were). He also amused himself playing with the binoculars we brought (our seats weren't the worst, but they weren't great either.)

Party like it's 1989

That was the theme of this year's Cisco Live! Customer Appreciation Event. I thought it was pretty cool.

I got to go as "a guest" which in geek world means I'm not cool.

So, I figured being one of 2 people out of 10,000 who put any effort into 80's-ifying their appearance couldn't make me less of a dork. And let's face it, I'm guessing not many of these guys won any popularity contests back in 1989.

So how awesome is my "I'm the geek's girlfriend" t-shirt? Pretty nifty, eh? I've been waiting for two years to wear it since I bought it back when John first passed his CCIE and I threw him a party. Also my hair is crimped. Even though it's hard to tell in the picture. I had to borrrow the crimper from a friend (and hi, Tricia- I'm not sure when you'll be getting it back -I am having way too much fun with it)

Right when we walked in, they gave us "Devo Hats" or "Energy Domes" if you're a real fan. (I had to Google it) Which was like, pretty awesome, except believe it or not I actually spent quite a bit of time on my hair, and was a little disappointed to cover it up. (my lack of skill with hair requires an incredible amount of time for mediocrity)

The Devo Hats kept our heads warm. The party was out on an island in the middle of the bay, and it was freakin' cold and windy. Holy Cow.
The food was so-so. The soda selection stunk (Tab or Shasta) but as usual, there was more than enough beer to go around. There were also carnival games and rides. Oh, and it was all free.

But I wasn't there for any of that stuff- I was there for the concert- Devo (of course- why else would we be wearing these silly hats?),

B-52's, the Bangles, Howard Jones, the guy from Tears for Fears, Tone Loc, Sugarhill Gang, and a guy from Flock of Seagulls (we were late- we missed him. Apparently he just played the one song "And I ran, I ran so far away" and then got up and walked off).

We had fun. The music was pretty good, given that most of these artists were well past their prime. And my shirt got a few laughs.

On my own

On my own

view of Alcatraz from the ferry boat

pretending he's beside me
On Alcatraz

all alone
Inside Alcatraz. Really interesting stuff.

I walk with him 'til evening.
Inside a jail cell

without him,
burnt out building on the island (the Warden's mansion- I think)

I feel his arms around me
view of Golden Gate Bridge from cruise of the Bay (so stinkin' cold)

And when I lose my way I close my eyes and check my map
Another view of the Bridge

In the fog,
Cable car on a turn-around. Rode those a lot. Also got pretty good at traveling by bus.

The pavement shines like silver
Museum of Modern Art. Normally not too interested in modern art, but they had an Ansel Adams/Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit.

All the lights are misty in the river (uh, I mean the bay)
Coit Tower

In the city, the streets are full of panhandlers
View of the city from Coit Tower

and all I see is him and me forever and forever.
Tutankhamen exhibit at the de Young museum. Just FYI, Tut isn't actually there. Just a bunch of his stuff. I was a little disappointed.

And I know it's only in my mind
The de Young Museum.

That I'm talking to myself and not to him
Pretty rose garden in the park. The smell was amazing.

And although I know that he is at his conference,
Legion of Honor (another museum)

Still I say there's a way for us.
"The Thinker" by Rodin.

I love him,
A Monet painting.

But when breakfast is over,
A view of Lombard Street (the crookedest street in the world) in the distance

he is gone,
Sourdough bread creatures at Boudin Bakery.

The river's just a river (I mean, the bay again)
They had these hearts all over the city. Different artists designed them as a benefit for a children's hospital. Pretty neat.

The trees are bare, and everywhere, the streets are full of panhandlers... (Bonus ponts for whoever can tell me what that sculpture by Rodin has to do with the song lyrics in this post)