Good Times with Billy

Not sure if I'm allowed to post anything non-Eliza related, but I'm going to go ahead with it. However, just so you won't think I'm completely callous, the little one is doing great. They have her under the lights again, but she is growing and consuming lots of milk. I plan to post an update on her Sunday to cover the preceding week.

As for today's post, it's all about yesterday, which was a very good day. Many may not know, but I basically work entirely out of my house these days. That has had some serious benefits with the recent family issues. I've been able to be home for the kids and now to support Brenna as she continues getting better. I love the commute (rolling out of bed), and I find that I am pretty effective. All of my colleagues are scattered across the US (as well as UK and Australia), and none of them are in Colorado, so it really doesn't matter whether I'm in the office or not. At any rate, that lengthy preamble explains why I was able to go to Parent-Teacher conferences yesterday. I have to tell you what a pleasure it is to go to these conferences. I enjoy seeing the kids' classrooms and watching their faces light up as they get to show dad and mom all of the things they've been working on. You can't beat that. Plus, I really enjoy the teachers my children have had--they have been such amazing influences and right on top of everything. They give great feedback as to what we can do to help the kids, and I can tell by their actions that they love what they do and that they love the kids they teach. So, to Mrs Haile, Mrs Beard and Miss Duskis--thank you! You know you are loved at our house.

Anyway, in conjunction with the conferences, the school has a book fair. I'm thrilled that Savannah has inherited my love of reading and that Hunter is showing real skill in that area as well. There are few things I would rather bestow upon them than a love of reading. So I enjoy going to the book fair and picking out a few books for them. They all went to the Children's Museum with our friend, Teri, yesterday so I was alone at the book fair and was able to bring the books home and put them on their beds for a bedtime surprise.

Unfortunately, I wasn't there for bedtime last night, which brings us to the reason for my post title. I have loved Billy Joel since high school but never been to one of his concerts, so a few months ago when Brenna and I saw he was going to play Pepsi Center we bought tickets. Brenna encouraged me to get expensive tix, but I told her, "Look, Billy isn't all that handsome a man and I'm sure I'll be able to hear just fine wherever we sit," so we bought tix in the nosebleeds. Well, as you know Brenna is in no position to be going to a concert so I had to resort to alternative measures. Not a problem as my dear friend Paul is a big Billy fan as well.

Paul picked me up last evening and we headed downtown for some grub and chatting before the concert. Paul and I have been friends for almost 20 years now, and we never lack for things to discuss. I truly cherish the time I'm able to spend with friends in such situations because the opportunities are so few and far between these days. I'm grateful for the reasons that cause the scarcity of these opportunities, but being a husband, father, and contributing member of society does pretty much minimize the quality friendship time! So, when the chances come along I enjoy making the most of them. Conversation ranged from books and movies (No Country For Old Men was the subject of quite a conversation--I having read the book and Paul having seen the movie, so we could compare notes) to sports (shocker) to children to friends to work to politics. Pretty standard fare, but thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks, Paul, for your good insights and the food for thought you provided.

Eventually we headed over to Pepsi Center and got to our seats just a few minutes before the concert began. Billy had some pretty funny moments mocking himself--his age, his looks, his past indiscretions, etc. He was lighthearted and seemed to be enjoying himself. He played several songs I'm not familiar with, but the bulk of the concert was his quality stuff from the 70s and a few from the 90s with a bit of late 80s sprinkled in. The crowd did a respectable job singing along and it was fun. It cracked me up to look around that 20,000 seat stadium and see so many basically middle-aged folks sitting in their seats and crooning along with the piano man. I don't think I've been to a concert since high school, so this was quite a departure from my previous experiences. A few folks were up and dancing, but for the most part we all kicked back and soaked it in. I love Billy because he does such a great job telling stories through his music. He really evokes mental images and emotion through his lyrics. I appreciate that. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, Piano Man, and The Entertainer were great examples of that last night. A couple of my all time favorites from him in that regard are Leningrad and The Downeaster Alexa. Sadly, he didn't play them last night. But all considered, it was a night well worth the time. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

There was one very disorienting moment during the concert. About halfway through he invited one of his stagehands up to perform. Apparently the stagehand had been passed over by American Idol because he "didn't fit the format." Hmmm. Hard to see why. Billy introduces Chainsaw and this very large man (both muscular and overweight) strides onto the stage with a wifebeater, shorts and combat boots--heavily tatted and looking for all the world like he was meant for nothing else than to be the poster boy for the song he was about to sing. The band bursts into a cacophony of noise, and at first I thought we were in for AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long. Well, not far from the truth. Instead we got AC/DC's Highway to Hell. Interestingly enough, the crowd was really into it. Pretty funny to watch this guy stomp around the stage and scream into the microphone. What that had to do with anything related to Billy Joel is still a mystery to me. As I said, disorienting.

After acting like the concert was over no less than three times Billy closed with Piano Man, the house lights came on and everyone went home happy. When I walked in the house, I went upstairs and gave Savannah a hug and kiss that partially woke her up. She rolled over and gave me a hug, too and then promptly fell back asleep. I checked on Hunter and Maddie and gave them kisses as well. Then I went to my bedroom to find a note from Savannah:

Dad,

Will you try to wake me up, and if you can't just give me a hug and kiss while I'm sleeping ;)

I (heart) U!

Love,

Your daughter Savannah

P.S. I missed you while you were at the concert.


Man, you just can't beat that. Good times with Billy. To borrow from U2--a beautiful day.