Tagged with " rick springfield"
Mar 19, 2011 - About Whatever    No Comments

An update from the long lost blogger

6 months ago I blogged about what would have been my 13th wedding anniversary. Then I stopped blogging. I spent the last couple of months of 2010 being enveloped by a dark cloud mostly consisting of anger and depression. It really hit me on Mike’s birthday in November and then didn’t let up until after the 3rd anniversary of his death in January. Truth be told, life isn’t much different than it was 3 years ago. The only difference is that the sting of his passing isn’t as painful as it once was, I am no longer shocked to know that he’s gone and I don’t expect him to come walking through my door anytime soon. Honestly, my day to day living doesn’t include sitting here pining away for him. Part of that makes me sad because I want to hold on to that part of our marriage that was wonderful. But part of me is relieved. It’s exhausting to mourn. I’m tired of it. I am sick of being sad. And I’m so wanting to be over being mad at him.

So… I have been putting my energies elsewhere. I am still at home helping my mom. Her recovery from her stroke has been long and difficult – mostly for her, not me. It has taxed my patience though. There are times when I feel like I have none. But I have to remember she’s starting many things over from scratch. She is frustrated and angry too. It’s very hard for her to resign herself to the fact that things can’t get back to the way they were and she needs someone here to do the basic necessities because honestly she’d just forget to do it otherwise. So, I’m it. She gets her medicine, breakfast and her bathing from me. From wake up to lunchtime it’s just us. Then Dad comes home and takes over – just in time for me to pick up the kid from school and do a different kind of mothering.

Speaking of the kid, she’s grown – A LOT – this year. I hardly recognize the little girl anymore. She’s turning to such a young lady. She’ll be a flower girl in her first wedding this May and is very excited. This morning we went to a bridal store to pick out her dress and get it pinned for alterations. She’ll have shoes dyed to match too. I got a brief glimpse today of what it will be like to go prom shopping and someday, wedding dress shopping with her.

Let’s see…what else is new?? Well, the weight loss thing… I started on this journey in January of last year. I was doing really good until about Mid-May when Mom got sick. By that point I had dropped about 42lbs. And then things just came to a screeching halt. I stopped going to the gym as I couldn’t leave Mom alone for extended periods of time and finally by the time I could, I had gotten out of the habit. I was fortunate that I only gained back about 5lbs but I knew that when the new year got here again this year, I would really want to step it up again so I can at least reach my goal by this May. Will it happen? I dunno. As of this morning I am down about 11lbs since the first of the year. That’s good but not GREAT. I see-saw give or take about 2 lbs. The good news is that when the rubber band stops bouncing, I am usually lighter than I was before. It’s just not by a lot. But I’ll keep trying. I am drinking water and trying to not eat a lot and I am going to exercise. I HOPE that I can be where I want to be by the wedding in May. No. NOT MY WEDDING. Ugh! As if! Look at that picture above? That wedding the kid is in, I am in too but I am a bridesmaid and I want to look good in my dress. Seriously I didn’t even try this hard for my own wedding. Hmm.. wonder why that is? *shrug*

Okay so the big BIG news of this year is that I will be going on the Rick Springfield cruise in November. Hence the reason for the new look to the site. I intend on blogging from the ship (if I can get an internet connection) and sharing my experiences with the world (and the family back home). This is a mega-big deal for me so be happy for me! I am pretty excited and so is Michaela who will be my companion. Mommy & Daughter are going on an adventure and we couldn’t be more excited!

Between now and then, however I have a wedding in May, front row (!!!!) tickets for Rick Springfield in June, a trip to California with Michaela to visit with some friends in July, a possible trip to Mike’s family in August and Michaela’s 9th birthday to look forward to. It’s going to be a busy 2011.

 

Apr 29, 2009 - About Whatever    1 Comment

Rick Springfield Concert

A year ago, my sister took me to see a Rick Springfield concert. Tickets for the concert went on sale shortly after Mike’s funeral and in an attempt to lift my spirits and give me something to look forward to, she got us admittance to the concert in Wendover, NV. The venue there, although removed from the casinos, in a separate stand-alone building, still does not offer admittance to anyone under the age of 21. Michaela was quite disappointed that she wasn’t going to go. That night was pretty exciting. It was the first time we had seen him in about 8 years. At the last concert, we had 2nd row and he managed to find Debbie and give her a face full of somethin’ somethin’, much to her dismay. It was almost a scandal and a memory that we won’t soon forget. At the Wendover concert, Rick did is signature move into the audience and again found Debbie’s chair and in a split second I managed to capture her wrapping her arms around his waist. It was amazing and I couldn’t believe her luck! TWO TIMES! What would the concert this year hold for us? The odds were good, especially since we had the Rick Magnet (my sister) going with us. 
This time, Michaela could go. For months we have been listening to his live CD in the car going to and from school. Michaela knew his songs pretty well and would often ask me about his concerts. Will he sing Jessie’s Girl? Of course. How about Kristina? Maybe. It’s not a song he sings at every concert. Think I could sing with him? You never know! And so it went like this nearly every day for 4 months. We about reached critical mass this past weekend as the show drew closer and finally we could hit the road and head to St. George. 
We reached St. George by 2 in the afternoon. The concert didn’t start for 6 hours so we had lots of time to kill. So, we headed up to Tuacahn to see where it was and get the lay of the land. Mom is mostly wheelchair bound so we needed to know what we were up against. For what it’s worth, we…I mean, I was up against a hike – a steep one  - to wheel her up into the amphitheater. By dinner time, I was getting that funny butterfly feeling I used to get as a teenager when I would go see these concerts. I was feeling pretty silly about it. I was actually excited! I was excited for Michaela to see her first rock concert. I was excited to see Rick in a really cool place and I was nervous about getting a camera into venue. In fact, when the time came to go to the concert, we came up with a plan to wheel mom in and then I would take her wheelchair back to the car and retrieve my camera, my jacket and blanket. Despite having called the venue and being told that cameras were ok, I was paranoid. This wasn’t some little point and shoot camera. This is a professional grade camera with a zoom lense. I stood at the van for awhile debating how I’d sneak the camera in…wrap it in a blanket? Put it in my camera backpack? I rehearsed each scenario and finally settled on wrapping it in the blanket and stuffing the blanket into my backpack. :-) Then I trudged back to the amphitheater, hoping that I wouldn’t have to open my bag. And I didn’t have to. They do things a little different there and seemed pretty lax in any rules. I made it to my seat with out anyone questioning my bag but for safe measure I kept the camera hidden for a while longer. It seemed like NOBODY had a camera as big as mine. I love Rick but I think I love my camera more…or was it the $1400 I spent on it? That’s probably it. I just didn’t want it taken away! Soon I spotted a couple people with big cameras and figured it was safe to introduce mine. Wow. That zoom lense really zooms!
So, the concert started about 15 minutes late. No biggie. We had 5th row center which were REALLY awesome…until the groupies sat in front of us. And then in front of them was a person that I affectionately called the Boobie Woman. Her breasts were not human. Nor were they God-made. But the dude she forced into taking her to a Rick Springfield concert didn’t seem to mind. His hand stayed firmly on her bottom all night. I am sure he was staking claim or at least reminding her that she must have promised him a little something post-show. I wonder what the promise was if he danced and actually sang along? I’ve never seen a guy sing along at one of these concerts but this guy did. Anyway, these people gave us an eye full in many ways but mostly because we were subjected to their wiggling butts and concrete breasts for the duration of the concert. I don’t think they sat down once. In fact for the first 10 minutes of the show, I don’t think I saw Rick’s face for more than 2 seconds because between them and the groupies in front of us, we couldn’t see a thing. My poor mom couldn’t stand up because of her leg and the people behind us were seething mad more than we were. And I was pretty mad!! Finally a lady a couple seats down invited Michaela and I to sit near her. What luck to have empty seats there and we ended up having a good view for the rest of the show.
Poor Rick was sick. He apologized for being “froggy” but explained that he hated to cancel shows. I was thankful for more reasons than one, namely because we had driven the 4 hours to see him and I was glad I wouldn’t have to explain to a disappointed 6 year old that she wouldn’t get to see him after all. Disaster averted! Rick’s cold made for a couple difficult moments with his singing but for the most part he really pulled it together and gave a highly energetic show. It’s very difficult to take pictures of the man because he moves constantly. But I snapped away feverishly hoping that maybe I might get at least one good one. My camera is tricky. I am still very much a novice and trying to figure it out. The automatic setting would allow for seeing the setting of the venue which was spectacular but he was out of focus most of the time. So I kept it on manual and fiddled with the settings some more until I found one that would work. I got lucky. By the end of the evening when I peered down at the camera to see the final total, I noticed I had taken 278 pictures. Whoa!
So, the big news of the night came when the intro to Don’t Talk to Strangers started. I quickly whispered in Michaela’s ear to remind her that this song was usually a sing-along. And sure enough, Rick was already off the stage at this point and entering the seats of the first couple of rows. Debbie motioned for Michaela to come closer as Rick climbed over seats and through the outreached arms of overaged women trying their best to be teeny boppers and cop a feel. Yeah, ok..so I was one of them and I admit that I tried! But I am not as brazen as some of these hussies women. I respect the guy enough to know that there should be boundries! But I digress… Back to Michaela…he found her standing there with eyes as big as saucers. He stood like a giant over her, standing on the back of the chair in the row in front of us. Meanwhile, I was struggling to capture the moment on camera. #(!&*(#&*! zoom lense!! Otherwise great for distance, at two feet? Not so much. I fell to my knees. No luck getting far enough away to get little Michaela in the shot. I sank to my butt. Close but no cigar. I leaned back…WAY back, pushing the lady next to me away as I struggled for more room to get the perfect shot. This moment was going fast and I was going to miss it!
What is your name? He asked. Michaela. Michaela? I have a niece named Michaela. How old are you? Six. Six years old? Will you sing with me? Michaela nods her head. Yay!! I lined up the shot just as he put the microphone out to Michaela to sing. To cheers of the crowd and to Rick’s delight she didn’t disappoint. She sang out strong to which Rick exclaimed, She’s just too freakin’ cute! 
The rest of the concert was a mass of controlled chaos after that. The crowd went bizerk. Michaela was in awe. By the time he came out for his encore and wrapped up the show with Kristina (yes!!!), I thought she’d reach her emotional boiling point. The first notes of Kristina started to play and I quickly darted a look her way and she glanced back with her jaw dropping to the floor and yelling to me, “This song’s for YOU, Mom!” :-)
I didn’t think I’d have this moment with Michaela for maybe another 8 years or so. But now that I think about it, I guess by the time she’s a teenager and has formed her own taste in music, she probably won’t be interested in seeing my old teenage heartthrob with me any more. So I guess I had better jump at the opportunity while I still can. As we left the venue, Michaela was a jumble of nerves. She exclaimed that she had tons of energy and she could feel it in her tummy. Welcome to the post-concert adrenaline rush, kid. Feels good, huh? So this was an exciting night for all of us. What great fun it was to recreate that moment from 27 years ago when I first got to see Rick Springfield with Debbie and my mom. This time Michaela was there and it was like seeing him for the first time all over again. 
I found that the easiest way to share the photos from the concert would be to put them together in a slide show format. You can view the pix via the link below. The file is a little big (40MB) so give it some time to load. Enjoy…
Photos: Rick Springfield at Tuacahn (Ivins, UT 4/27/09)
Dec 5, 2008 - Disneyland    No Comments

Christmas at the Mouse House

What will this be – the 6th trip to Anaheim this year? I’ve lost count. What can I say, the Magic Kingdom beckons again and we leave this afternoon. The flight benefits that we enjoy with Southwest only have another 3 years left. I am going to cram as much Disneyland and Disney World and anywhere else I can get away to into those 3 years as I can. It just so happens that Disneyland is one of the easiest destinations to escape to, even if it’s only for a day or two – which this will be. So, it’s just Michaela and I again. We’ve got a room at the Sheraton and no other plans but to just soak in the Christmas spirit that Disneyland is so good at providing this time of year. Of course a trip to Anaheim wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Roundtable Pizza. So, that is what is on our agenda tonight when we get there. I can almost smell the pizza now. Hmmmm!This will be the last trip to the Mouse House this year. I am not sure when we’ll get back to California but knowing me, it will only be a couple of months. Michaela has a spring break coming up at the end of February and we haven’t figured out what we’ll do during that time. We’ll see.One thing that we DO have something to look forward to next year is a girls night out at a Rick Springfield concert in April. Tickets just went on sale and Debbie got them today! YAY! This will be Michaela’s first rock concert and it will be the first time in a really REALLY long time since Mom has seen him. How weird it will be to go to this concert with my daughter. HA! Oh well. It should be a blast. Also, we’re in the fifth row – dead center…so, if Rick has any plans of standing on Debbie’s chair this time, he’ll have to climb over several people to do it. This may be the catalyst for buying my camera…who can resist the opportunity to take some cool concert pictures?