Somebody's trying to get out of the doghouse

So Wednesday I busted Reed yet again for having screen time on his iPod Touch in his room when he wasn't supposed to be (see http://nafspac.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-hate-being-bad-guy.html and http://nafspac.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-results.html). We had to institute a new rule, one that's I'm sure miserable for him, but seems like the only logical next step....no more iPod in his room. He took the punishment gracefully. We told him he could earn it back by being responsible with his screen time in the future.

And that brings us to last night. I didn't sleep well and so was lounging on the couch when I got home form work. Reed consulted the week's menu plan (posted on the side of the fridge) and saw it was tortellini soup (it's not so much a soup as it is a lazy person's dinner plan....chicken stock for the broth, and frozen cheese tortellini). Then he proceeded to make and serve dinner - tortellini soup, caesar salad (from a bag, but still!) and cheesy bread. He even put it on plates/bowls for each of us and set it on the table.

First time a kid ever totally made dinner for the family -- a monumental and terrific occasion!

All about the music

Tuesday night was Amy's first big-time concert that she wanted to go to. And it doesn't get any bigger (right now) than Taylor Swift – I really hope it will become one of Amy's fond memories of her childhood.

I picked her up from the Girl Scout camp bus and we headed to the Metro and into the city to Nationals Park. It was a last minute decision to go to the show so we paid a premium to get tickets someone was reselling online – we ended up with great seats and an all-around terrific experience. It was second night Taylor was playing there, so I was able to get some intel from friends who'd gone the first night - travel tips and general info. We stood in a looooong line to take this picture (and really, couldn't they have chosen a more fitting picture to take these fake selfies with?)...

...then we got some dinner and headed to our seats. Detouring first to sit in the wrong seats before being redirected. Live and learn! We listened to the first and second opening acts and then headed out to the restroom and stand in the super slow line to get some ice cream. We knew there was plenty of time before Taylor came on, since she didn't start until 9:30 p.m. the night before (don't these people realize that I need to sleep???). To our delighted surprised, we hadn't been back in our seats for maybe two minutes before Taylor came on, and hour early. Score!! Apparently there was some potentially bad weather coming, so they shortened the two opening acts, dropped the third act entirely, and got right down to business. Show was done at 10:30 p.m. rather than 11:30 p.m., and we got on the super crowded Metro and headed home, making it there at 12:15 a.m., even with a quick stop at the McDonald's drive through for a couple of drinks. Logistically, it couldn't have been better!

And the show was really fun – Taylor is quite an entertainer. As you entered the stadium, each person got a bracelet thingy with instructions not to pull the battery tag until the show started. These bracelets lit up in time with certain parts of the music, and there were different set-ups so the bracelet of the person beside you might be on a totally different set-up than yours. It was really a cool effect and honestly I bet it makes Taylor's concert-giving experience a lot cooler to watch – she must love looking out and seeing all the cool fireflies changing color with the beat! I guess it doesn't take a lot to impress me, because I really loved that.

Doesn't do it justice!

Throughout the night, another thing that was on my mind was that if my Mom were still alive, she would most definitely have been at that show. She may have even taken all three granddaughters by herself!

Taylor played mostly her newer stuff, not much from her "country" days...Amy was sad she didn't play "Fifteen," but I think overall she was happy with the song choices. There were several outfit changes, including a pink light-up outfit which was adorable.

And the special guest....each stop of her tour, she brings out a special surprise guest to do a song of their own. The night before it'd been Lorde (who sings "Royals" and if she has another hit, I don't think I've heard it!). We totally lucked out and got Jason Derulo, who has one of the hits of the summer, "Want to Want Me" – super fun!

Overall I give it two thumbs up, and I think Amy would too. Hopefully she will always remember her first big concert!

But I can't forget to mention that the whole fam-damily went to the sold out Weird Al Yankovic show last month. That was quite an experience! Reed has been a big fan of Weird Al ever since he first heard his Star Wars parody songs - "The Saga Begins" (to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie") and "Yoda" (to the tune of the Kinks' "Lola"). For quite some time, a couple of Weird Al songs were on rotation as Reed's going-to-bed music. He listened to them hundreds of times.

You really can't deny Weird Al's likability. Nonetheless we were a little surprised to see his show at Wolf Trap was a sellout (over 7,000 tickets!). We grabbed dinner from KFC and headed to Wolf Trap for a tail gate. We had seats in the pavilion, and it was quite a thrill as we watched as Weird Al opened the show by walking from his trailer, through the backstage area, behind the building, and then out to the crowd RIGHT NEXT TO US. And believe me, he's every bit as pretty in person.

He and his band put on a really fun show. The entire group does costume changes between every song (!!!). While they're off stage, they showed some video footage and other fun things. It was a really good time and I think the smile hardly left Reed's face the entire time. I still am a little surprised to think we spent $285 for our family to see Weird Al. Money well spent!

Music was such an important part of my growing up. I remember the nights in our townhouse before Mom and Jim got married, when Mom would put the kids to bed and then go downstairs and do whatever it was she did (cleaned? drank wine? both?), with the music always blasting. Emmylou Harris, Al Green, Jimmy Buffett, the Eagles, Bob Seeger, John Denver, the Temptations, the Doobie Brothers, the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. Some of those songs are so ingrained in my brain, I can't even tell you. And I still love most all of that music to this day.

As I got older and was able to choose my own music, my first favorites were groups like Loverboy (I was the only one I knew who loved them! this is a recurring theme for me) and Duran Duran, then Def Leppard, Ratt and Motley Crue. This was the beginning of the music video age...and I must mention that we didn't have cable TV so the only time I could see videos was on "Friday Night Videos" and "Headbangers Ball", VERY late at night. But I played my records over and over and over, and if the jacket sleeve didn't include the lyrics, I'd record the song on my tape recorder and write the lyrics down myself, tediously going back and listening again, trying to get it right. I had a big binder of song lyrics, in fact!

My very most favorite band of all time (well, the teenager edition of me) was Triumph. No one else I knew liked them, preferring that other Canadian power trio instead (Rush). Triumph's music was so important to teenage me. I can't even stop myself from including all of the lyrics to my all-time favorite song, "Magic Power":

Something's at the edge of your mind

You don't know what it is

Something you were hoping to find 

But you're not sure what it is

Then you hear the music 

And it all comes crystal clear

The music does the talking

Says the things you want to hear

I'm young, I'm wild and I'm free

Got the magic power of the music in me

I'm young, I'm wild and I'm free

Got the magic power of the music in me

She climbs into bed

She pulls the covers overhead 

And she turns her little radio on

She's had a rotten day 

So she hopes the DJ's 

Gonna play her favorite song

Makes her feel much better

Brings her closer to her dreams

A little magic power

Makes it better that it seems

She's young now, she's wild now, she wants to be free

She gets the magic power of the music from me

She's young now, she's wild now, she wants to be free

She gets the magic power of the music from me

You're thinking it over 

But you just can't sort it out

Do you want someone to tell you 

What they think it's all about

Are you the one and only 

Who's sad and lonely

You're reaching for the top

Well, the music keeps you going 

And it's never gonna stop

It's never gonna stop

It's never gonna, never gonna, never gonna, never gonna stop

The world is full of compromise

And infinite red tape

But the music's got the magic

It's your one chance for escape

Turn me on, turn me up

It's your turn to dream

A little magic power 

Makes it better than it seems

I'm young now, I'm wild now, I want to be free

Got the magic power of the music in me

I'm young now, I'm wild and I'm free

Got the magic power of the music

I got the music in me

I got the power

I got the magic

She's got the power

She's got the magic

She's got the power

She's got the magic

She's got the power

She's got the magic

You know I'm not sure exactly what troubles I thought I needed to escape from (was there really a lot of red tape in my life?) – normal teenage angst, I guess, but this song touched my heart. I just love the idea of the restorative power of music, and how good it is for your soul. If there's a way to include this song at my funeral, I think I'd love that. Rik Emmett's voice always slayed me – the heights he could reach! And he always did some great acoustic instrumentals on most Triumph records too, and from that I learned that music can be beautiful without being loud ("Midsummer's Daydream"...google it). And honestly I thought he was adorable too (those tight white satin pants!)...ahh, the 80s!

Photo from the internet...I only WISH I'd been this close to Rik!
(and that's him on the left, in case there was any doubt)

Then there's "Fight the Good Fight"...

Days grow shorter and the nights are getting long

Feels like we're running out of time

Every day it seems much harder tellin' right from wrong

You got to read between the lines

Don't get discouraged, don't be afraid, we can

Make it through another day

Make it worth the price we pay

The Good Book says it's better to give than to receive

I do my best to do my part

Nothin' in my pockets I got nothin' up my sleeve

I keep my magic in my heart

Keep up your spirit, keep up your faith, baby

I am counting on you

You know what you've got to do

Fight the good fight every moment

Every minute every day

Fight the good fight every moment

It's your only way

All your life you've been waiting for your chance

Where you'll fit into the plan

But you're the master of your own destiny

So give and take the best that you can

You think a little more money can buy your soul some rest

You'd better think of something else instead

You're so afraid of being honest with yourself

You'd better take a look inside your head

Nothing is easy, nothing good is free on earth

But I can tell you where to start

Take a look inside your heart

There's an answer in your heart

Fight the good fight every moment

Every minute every day

Fight the good fight every moment

Make it worth the price we pay

Every moment of your lifetime

Every minute every day

Fight the good fight every moment

Make it worth the price we pay

Their music was just so positive and reassuring. "Let the Light (Shine on Me)" and "Follow Your Heart" and "Somebody's Out There". I can't even imagine how many times I played these records and sang along. It still makes me happy every time one of their songs pops up on my iPod! 

I went to a few concerts as a kid – the Oak Ridge Boys, KISS (I was SEVEN!) and Jimmy Buffett are shows that I remember, I know there were probably more. But my favorite, by far, was getting to see Triumph, I think it was at the Baltimore Civic Center or somewhere awful like that, and it was either the Stages tour or the Thunder Seven tour (I wish I hadn't gotten rid of all my old concert t-shirts!). My Dad took me. It was so glorious to actually see those three guys standing in front of me (far away, but still...we were IN THE SAME ROOM) playing the music I loved so much, and sounding every bit as good as the records. And they had a great laser light show...I was so happy!

Not too long ago, I thanked my Dad for taking me to that show. Who knows if I acted grateful at the time (seems unlikely), I hope I was. But I was glad to be able to say to him "That meant a lot to me and I am so thankful that you took me." Maybe one day Amy and Reed will say something similar to us, possibly about one of these shows.

It's amazing and wonderful how much the music of your youth sticks with you.

Always remember the great words of Triumph... 

Rock and roll hearts
Just never die....

"Amy does!"

When Amy was little, I think around age 2, if we asked her if she wanted to do something, she would say "Amy does!" For instance, "Who wants to go to the playground?" "Amy does!" "Who wants a Popsicle?" "Amy does!" It was the cutest.

This week Amy is at Camp Crossroads, better known in our house as Harry Potter Camp. Last year she could have done the zip line, but she was a little afraid of it. This year, she did it! She told us "I told myself that a lot of times if I'm afraid of something, but then I go ahead and try it, it turns out that I actually love it!" Such insight! Lucky for us, a friend was volunteering at that station and was able to take a video and pictures.

Amy was SO proud to tell us about it at the end of the day. I was so proud of her for doing something that scared her, I could have cried! She is ready to go do it again.

Just another example of "Amy does!"

Amy's garden

For the last several years, Amy has wanted to plant a garden. We don't really have the backyard space to accommodate a nice garden, plus we're a little lazy (okay guess I'm speaking about myself there!) so it never happened.

During the winter, I noticed Costco was selling these elevated garden beds, they're about 2.5 x 4 feet, not too big, perfect to put on our deck. So I bought it and we waited for spring. Tod and Amy did the plant purchasing and the planting, and soon we saw some growth! We didn't really know what we were doing, so it was a learning process.

 We had plenty of lettuce (too much, really),

and the corn didn't quite mature,

and I pulled up some garlic chives because I thought they were just garlic.

But we got our first cucumbers and some tiny potatoes,

and now some cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes!

I'd say we are very successful gardeners!

The results...

Reed managed to survive his two iPod-free days, with the benefit of the first day being spent at Wanda's, followed by going to Aly's for her 16th birthday dinner. Funny that during those two days, Reed didn't lock the door behind himself every time he went in his room. WEIRD!

Here are the results of his assignments. He hectored me down to just having to write two paragraphs instead of three. Being a (near) teenager is hard.