stones

mick jagger is an animal. seriously. an animal. the man is 69 years old, i am 31...and i was tired just watching him. it is quite clear, though, why he is still rocking after all these years (and doing it well, i might add). it's because he loves it. i think if you love what you do, it doesn't matter if you are 31 or 69...you are gonna be good at it. i wonder how many times he played the songs that he played last night. thousands maybe? however, he played them like it was his first concert. (just awesome.) i also couldn't help but wonder how much ass this guy has gotten in his lifetime. (a lot, i'm sure.) i heard on the radio one time that researchers did a study and found that music can alter your mood. well, no shit. they had to do "research" for that? just turn on your favorite tunes and the proof is there. (music rocks.) anyway...no shortage of shenanigans out of our experience. first of all, we parked in a maze of a parking garage and met up with a bunch of other stone heads that were going to the concert. when we climbed onto the elevator...they were cracking jokes about how they were actually going to a justin bieber concert. all of them were chuckling. maybe they were making fun of me?...who knows. (or cares.) then, we were paying for parking and a woman said to me, "is this your very first stones concert?!" i said, "yes! yours?" she was proud to tell me it was her fourth. she was eyeballing my dad like he was robbing the craddle. i said, "this is my dad." (i am not dating him.) she looked relieved. (easy lady.)

as we emerged out of the parking garage, my old man turned to me and said, "you do have the tickets, don't you?" shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. (um. nope!) i told him to stay there and i would run back down to the car. he looked concerned and acted as if i wasn't going to come back. (houdini. i have been known to do this from time to time.) luckily, i found the car without any issues (had to hit the lock a few times to honk the horn to find it) and we went to a pizza joint across from the venue to have some beer and food. it was at this point that i started to get a little wound up. i wasn't hungry because it was like 4 thousand degrees outside. however, he forced me to order food and when i said, "i'll have a slice of pizza." he said, "just ONE? i'm NOT carrying you out of there (pointing at the concert center) so you better EAT!" (31. still getting lectures.) fen and her cheerleader boyfriend were also going to the concert, so they met up with us for some beers. i rushed everyone to the door at 7pm, even though the concert didn't start til 8. so instead of paying $12 for a pitcher of beer, now we were paying 16 dollars...for two. they were pissed.

an hour later, we got to our seats. and although i paid a pretty penny for them...i'm pretty sure i saw jesus float by. i could've had a private conversation with him. (we were that high.) also, it was steep up there in the nosebleed section. (really steep.) after a few beers, i know my dad feared that i would topple right down over the edge. (i'm very graceful.) it was right before the show started that he decided we should try to get closer. i am also a rebel and like decisions such as these. (apple meets tree.) so we went down 3 floors and had several failed attempts...then we found an opening and i darted. we made it down below. i wasn't close enough to lick mick's face or anything...but i would now have to yell (rather than whisper) to jesus. most of the people at the concert were my dad's age...except for several people on motorized scooters that whipped by me while waiting in the lobby. (not even kidding.) the guy that was sitting behind us told me that it was his tenth (TENTH!) time seeing the stones. he also mentioned that his legs and back hurt just standing there and he had no idea how jagger does what he does. (me neither, pal.)

the concert itself was epic. i grew up listening to my dad's music. (good music.) bands like the stones, led zepplin, the who, CCR, lynyrd skynryd, the list goes on. jagger did not disappoint. this 69 year old man threw. down. his energy is palpable and so was the energy in the building. he was just as pumped to be there as the people who came to see him. one of the encore songs was you can't always get what you want. (one of my all time favorite songs.) as my dad and i sang and danced along, i couldn't help but wonder if my own children would be able to have the same experience with me someday. not with the stones (cause he'll be dead), obviously, but something similar. (and not bieber, either.) it is an experience i will never forget. we made our way back to the parking garage after the show...and i pulled up my map app in my phone. (george prefers map quest printed directions.) he was driving, i was navigating. at that point, i couldn't navigate my way out of a paper bag. (terrible idea.) i got us lost several times, but on a scenic note, we saw the washington monument...three different times. (yes!) he was getting angry with me, but the $8 beers were making me think this was funny rather than a big deal. i laughed. a lot. (he was not laughing.) he was rubbing his head and highly irritated. somehow we made it out of DC and home. but not before i had him pull over so i could pee on the side of the road. (honkytonk woman.)

and so, back to life and back to reality today. ella started her first day at the local preschool (a couple mornings a week). where the hell did the time go? seriously, i can't take how big she is getting. you blink and your kid is going to school. (or going to a stones concert with you.) also, carrie has a 102.2 fever and won't stop crying. (poor thing.) pretty sure it's her teeth, but it's hi ho hi ho it's off to the pediatrician i go. i told butch all about the concert this morning and he then told me that he didn't feel like making dinner last night for himself...so he just ate about 30 blocks of cheese instead. (he said thirty.) he also said that he "cracked the code" for redbox and we can now get free movies whenever we want. he "rented" one for us tonight...for free. (he's pumped.) however, pretty sure i will be up most of the night with carrie...pumped about that. (not.) motherhood gives you the good, the bad, and the ugly...whether you want it or not. quite certain at some point, i'll be talking to jesus tonight...too bad it won't be from the nosebleed section at the stones concert. however, whether it be singing with jagger or talking with jesus...you may not always get what you want, but you always get what you need. true story.