Geezer's Night Out

Last night was the long awaited U2 concert at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The concert was originally scheduled for June of last year but Bono had surgery in Europe and the band had to postpone their American tour until this year. I wasn't sure I even wanted to go. The timing wasn't great - it was a school night, the weather was predicted to be stormy and we live over an hour away from the venue. We debated about going off and on in the week leading up to the concert and eventually just decided to do it. The kids had a sleepover at Nana's house (as did we, although we didn't roll in from the concert until well after midnight) so that problem was solved. The weather looked promising and turned out to be lovely, if a bit chilly. The fact that we are old and grumpy gave us pause - did we really want to lose out on sleep for this? Would it be worth it?

The answer was a resounding YES! It was a fantastic concert. They played a nice mix of newer music, lesser known songs and the classics. The only song that they didn't play that I missed was Desire, but they played the heck out of everything else that I really wanted to hear. The show was a nice mix of entertainment and social awareness. We had a wonderful time. We even managed dinner out with Andrew and Melisa, which was a nice way to start the evening.

Here are a few pictures:

So hooray! Jay and I had a grown-up night out. We stayed out late. We splurged.

Just don't call us tonight after 9 pm, because something tells me that these 40-somethings will be asleep. Gotta pay the piper after all.

Dancing Queen

Tessa's dance recital was Saturday night. The boys weren't thrilled to go sit in an auditorium for 2 hours and watch 38 dance routines, only two of which featured their sister. They complained more than I thought they would beforehand, actually, and it really bugged me. I pointed out that over the years Tessa has spent more hours than I can count at basketball, soccer, baseball and cub scout activities and she rarely complains. Oh, she'll complain about having to sit out in the rain during a soccer game, but I'm right there with her on that one so I can't blame her. And I believe she got a little antsy last fall at Henry's 4th grade class poetry reading. Again, I kind of can't blame her; watching 31 4th-graders read two original poems each wasn't the most exciting hour-plus I've ever spent either. My point was, however, that she has gone to plenty of their activities so once a year they can suck it up and watch her dance, darn it!

Her class did two dances. The jazz/ballet number was to True Love's Kiss, from the movie Enchanted. It was really cute and they did a good job. During their tap number they got a little confused. It was to a song called April Showers and they had umbrellas that they had to put down and move around and pick up again. Apparently it was a little too much for them because they got confused and just ended up grabbing random umbrellas to finish the number. Again, however, cute. As soon as I get the DVD I'll try and post the videos. Until then, the only picture I got of her that day is below:

She looks flushed because the finale involved all the classes on stage at the same time, doing sign language and dancing to a song that was pretty long. With all the bodies on stage and the lights, she was really hot.

After the recital the boys were good and told her that they liked her dances and had a good time. I didn't sit by them (I had to sit by Tessa in the back with her class so Jay, the boys, Nana, Great Nana, Laura and cousin Boston sat closer to the front) so I'm not sure how sincere they were but they were nice and sweet to her so that's all I care about.

She's already talking about taking dance next year, which is just fine with me. It's fun for her and gives her a fun activity outside of school to enjoy. Henry and William are already gearing up for next year's dance review, I can tell.

Pinkalicious

Tessa, like many 5 year old girls, loves pink. So when she requested a pink bike for her birthday, I took it in stride. Jay commented that it was "awfully pink" but she loves it so what can you do. When she's in full pink mode, however, it's truly spectacular:




The day I took this picture she was riding around the cul-de-sac when our neighbor came home. Tessa was trying to ride her bike while looking backwards, which is a recipe for trouble, so I tried to explain to her why she had to look where she was going when riding her bike. Her response - "I was worried that she wouldn't see me on my bike." Not to worry, I told her. I'm fairly sure that astronauts on the International Space Station could see her in all her pinktastic glory.

I personally think that the bejeweled sunglasses are the best part!

The Taste of Crow

I'm eating crow this week and I have to say it doesn't taste as bad as I thought it would.

Let me explain. I've never been a technophile. I like technology, don't get me wrong, but I don't salivate at the latest and greatest innovations. I still have the same iPod Shuffle that I bought a few years ago. It works fine for what I use it for (to pass the time on the treadmill). I have no desire for a newer/bigger/more expensive MP-3 player. Our computer is older than Tessa. My cell phone is probably the most basic model you could ever own at this point, but it's fine. It makes calls and texts - what else do I need?

Jay, on the other hand, likes his technology. Every so often he gets new stuff via work and he's typically exposed to the latest and greatest. He got a new phone a while back and it reminded me of that commercial where the woman asked her husband if he needed to be alone with his new phone - he spent the entire weekend fooling around with it. I teased him about loving a phone (or an iPad or iPad or whatever). And now we come to the "Rhonda is eating crow" part.

Because I now have a Kindle. The perfect techological innovation for a reader. I've been snobbish about them in the past. I like reading "real books". And I still do. But can I just say how nice my Kindle is? I quickly downloaded a bunch of books - lots of them were free, although I have to say that I'll have to watch how much I spend on this thing because it's waaaayyyy too easy to click "BUY". And although I only read one book at a time (just my preference) I love having a stack, or in this case a list, of books ready to go as soon as I finish what I'm currently reading.

Plus there are games. I've become addicted to this game where you have to find all the words possible with a group of letters - I can't remember the name of it. But last night when Jay went to bed he said, "Don't stay up to late playing with your Kindle". "OK", I said as I kissed him goodnight. Then I triumphantly found the longest word that I needed to fine (GADGETS) and unlocked the next level. Let's just say I was up for a while longer.

So I love my Kindle - a great surprise for Mother's Day for me. I also loved the homemade cards that my kids gave me, the bouquet of flowers from William made of pipe cleaners and cupcake liners, and the "#1 MOM" shirt from Henry (that I have threatened to wear to all his baseball games). It was a good day.

Now I just have to learn to continue to be a good mom while I balance time with my Kindle. Because believe me, it's more fun to read or play games on it than it is to play checkers with Tessa.

Sakes Alive, Tessa is Five!

How did this happen? Almost exactly 5 years ago today - she was born just before 3 pm - she was born. We were so happy to have her join our family. She wasn't exactly easy as a newborn, but we've had harder (I'm looking at you, Henry). She was just beautiful and had a headful of hair:



Now she is sassy, sweet and opinionated. She is pretty easy to please, actually, and although a big part of me is looking forward to having her in kindergarten next year - I will have almost 4 hours a day to do....whatever I want - part of me will miss the time we spend together. Oh, and she still has a lot of hair:




She's had a nice birthday. Actually, she's had a nice string of days devoted to her birthday. On Monday we opened her presents and had her cake because today Henry has a soccer game out in Timbuktu, I mean Newton. She was thrilled with her Tangled-themed cake and her gifts. She got a new big-girl bike; it's pink and has tassles on the handlebars and she adores it. Did I mention it's pink? She got a few other things as well, including some books, a new pair of sunglasses, a Rapunzel Barbie and a unicorn pillow pet.

Today she took treats to dance class and the other girls sang Happy Birthday to her as she passed out brownies. Jay and I took her to lunch at A&W (my least favorite place to eat, yet the first choice among my children of places to eat out). Tomorrow she gets to be the Special Friend at preschool and take birthday treats to share. By the time Wednesday evening comes, she will have had a few days of celebration dedicated to her. Hopefully those memories will ease the pain of her Thursday doctor's appointment, at which she is scheduled to get her kindergarten booster shots. That'll be fun.

Happy Birthday, Tessa. We love you!