Elton John and Billy Joel

So, Elton John rules! He may be 65 but he can still entertain like he was 35! This may be his last tour, who knows, but if it was, it was one to remember.

This concert was supposed to take place in November but Sir Elton was hospitalized with I think pneumonia or something like that. He is back now but I don't think he was 100% yet. It didn't matter because what he did have, was all he needed.

The evening actually started off in the afternoon with the three of us walking our assess off to get from the parking at Key Arena to the waterfront. We ended up at Anthony's Bell Street Diner for dinner. The food was excellent but unfortunately the waitress not so much. We continued on to Red Robin for a drink and an update on the Cougar game and then got into a taxi to get back to Key Arena, it was downhill to the waterfront so obviously we weren't going to go back uphill. The taxi driver graced us with his own middle eastern music which has me laughing to the point of tears.

We got into the concert and of course had to stand in line for T-Shirts, overpriced as they were. When we got to our seats, there were no pianos on the stage. Very odd. We took pictures of us waiting with anticipation for the concert to begin and then, when the lights lowered, the pianos rose from under the stage, very cool!









Elton John and Billy Joel came out on stage and it was a great welcome from the concert crowd. Our seats were pretty far away but we had a great view of the close up screen and could still take in the whole stage. It was terrific! They both played a set of songs, some Elton John, some Billy Joel and the combination of their performances was something to remember.

But the highlight of the night for me was the one hour set by Elton John by himself. I am admittedly not an avid Billy Joel fan but after a slow start, his set turned out good. It's just that he did not compare to Elton John, for me.

They ended the night with Piano Man, a fitting end to a great show. If Elton John does tour again, I am going to find a way to go see him again. It was that good.

For Love of the Game

For those who know me it is well known that I love baseball. This passion began for me when I was very young, my brother whom I idolized loved baseball. He knew every stat from every player on every team. One summer, our cousin Craig came to visit and they spent the entire time playing a baseball game, the name escapes me, but I remember being in awe of just how much knowledge they both had.

In University Place, girls couldn't start playing softball until they were 8 years old. But I couldn't wait. Luckily my best friend Pam, who was two years older than me, played on a team coached by her dad and he ignored the rules and let me play when I was 7. I will always remember my first at bat on that team at the dirt field at University Place Elementary School. It was a hit up the middle and I got to first base safely. I don't remember what happened after that, I was just so happy.

There was no organized high school girls softball when I was there. It's probably a good thing because that's all I would have wanted to do and then I wouldn't have sang in choir, the musicals etc. But I played every summer, most of the time on Mr. Pollen's team. It wasn't the best team but it always made me seem better than I actually was. One year, I decided to move up and play for the "good" team coached by Mr. Gilmore. Yeah, we won lots of games but it wasn't fun. If I had not learned it already, I learned it then. Winning isn't everything.

I continued to play when I could. I loved intramurals at WSU. What a blast! I played in the summers at home with a team named RAMCO, some construction company sponsored it. At some point I stopped playing but never stopped loving the game.

When I finally had boys old enough to play baseball I, of course, had to get into coaching. I coached T-ball for four years then Gig Harbor started up the Little League. Now that was serious so I stepped back thinking that I would let better coaches than me take over. That first year was a nightmare with one son playing for a coach who had a little bit of problem with the bottle, if you know what I mean and the other playing for a coach whose philosophy for those 9 year olds was to let them learn by making mistakes, not by coaching. I had to step back into batter's box so to speak and start coaching again. This wasn't an easy task in the "Good Ole' Boys" club but I managed and eventually took my team to the championship without sacrificing the fun. Go Angels!

Now, I obviously don't play anymore but I still love the game. My husband is not quite the fan I am but he goes along for which I am truly grateful. And now, he has given me the best gift of all. I get to live my dream and go to Peoria, Arizona for Spring Training! This is something I have always wanted to do and my only regret is that I didn't do it when my dad was alive and take him. It was as much a dream for him as for me.

So, there you have it, For Love of the Game.

Angst

Angst is a German, Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word for fear or anxiety. (Anguish is its Latinate equivalent.) It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of strife.

Lately, I have been feeling a vague "Angst" and I can't really define it. I think I am just at a point in my life when I have realized it is there. It has probably always been there to some degree but for some reason, it haunts me now.

The funny thing, I don't think my "Angst" has anything to do with me but rather with my thoughts and worries about those I love. This is certainly understandable thinking about my in-laws who are 90 years old. I love them dearly and I have to realize that everyday with them is a gift.

I so want my sons to find their own happiness but to also know that sometimes you have to work for it. Their future is always in my thoughts. For some reason, I feel an urgent need to tell them that.

I worry about my husband who hates his job and I can see it weighing on him. Is the material world and "saving" for retirement so important that he has to suffer in the present?

I feel, for some reason, that I have been trying to be strong for so long that I am losing my grip on that. Thus the "Angst". Can I fail? Is it possible that all I have wanted in life, my loved ones to be happy and secure, won't happen? I have to push this feeling aside and get back to where I am comfortable enough to keep going, keep moving on.

So, for this brief moment in time, I will give my "Angst" its time and then it will be gone. Thank goodness for that!

Phases of friends

Last night a group of us got together at The Beach ostensibly to celebrate the 55th birthdays of two but in actuality, it gave us a reason to make time to see each other, something that is not always that easy at this time in our lives. So, this got me thinking about all the friends I have had in my life and how lucky I have been to have so many.

First of all, there are many friends from the past with whom I have no contact, not because I don't wan to, but because I have lost touch and even the internet has been unable to locate them for me. The first person that comes to mind was my neighbor, Pam Lange. She was one of two girls and four boys in the family who lived next door to me until we moved when I was 10. Even though she was 2 years older than me, we had very memorable times together. I remember dressing up in costumes made by one brother to serve food at her other brother's birthday parties, having funerals for bumble bees that accidentally got stepped on in the yard, have lime-aid Pig Parties in our attic and because of our friendship, her dad let me play softball on his team when I was 7 even though the starting age limit was 8. A combination of Pam moving on to Junior High and me moving to Day Island separated us and that bond but those memories are great.

When I moved to Day Island, I didn't have many "human" friends choosing instead to spend my days on the beach with Darby, my dog. Now that was a bond! I don't have many pictures of him which is sad because he was such a big part of my life then. The one friend I do remember for a short period of time was Robert Mauer. I have no idea what became of him after his family moved off the island. We used to spend hours making forts in the woods, swimming, beach combing. His sister even dated my brother for quite awhile.

There were lots of people who were my friends in grade school, Junior High, High School and college with whom I no longer have a connection or, if I'm lucky, a Facebook connection. But there are a special few with whom I will always connect, with whom I will always share a lasting bond and I will always strive to see and hug them in person, at least occasionally, for the rest of my life.

Pam P. We were born a month apart, our moms were in the hospital together for a time and we have always remained friends since then. There were times, I am ashamed to say, when I strayed (let's just forget our senior year) but I was her maid of honor and she was mine. Our lives have ebbed and flowed and our relationship too but we always seem to come back to the fact that we are, and always will be, connected to the core.

I was lucky enough to go from Kindergarten through graduation with a large group of people who were really all friends, as well as boyfriend/girlfriend at one time or another. There was Cliff and Susie, Pat and Sue, Wendy and Pat, and so many more I am certain I don't remember. We had a group of girls though, a group I must admit I was a little on the outside of, that always managed to become close from about March through November when we were in Junior High and High School. You see, this was the time when "The Roof" was at its prime. My house on Day Island had a roof that was not peaked toward the sky but dipped in a "V" and then surrounded by walls so that as long as the sun was shining, it was warm and we were able to subject our bodies to the rays of the sun, caring not one bit what it might do to us. Our conversations during those times were sometimes fun, sometimes healing, sometimes serious and always to be remembered. Now, that group still meets once a year for a girls weekend which is something I look forward to from the time it ends to the time it begins the next year. These are friends with whom I will always be connected.

My list of friends would not be complete without including Spin and Marty (that's what my Dad called them), Scott and Mike in real life. To be honest, I'm not sure how this friendship started. All I know is that they were important to my happiness my senior year. While we explored the boyfriend/girlfriend thing we all found that we were best as friends. We still are. Amazingly, we are all still happily married and even our spouses get along well when we get together.

When I went away to WSU to college I had friends who wanted me to room with them but I elected to go for the unknown and in doing so, I met Jill. Jill is still one of my bestI went away to WSU to college and while some friends wanted me to room with them, I chose friends, even though she only stayed at WSU for a semester. She is an artist and went to an art school after that. She married her highschool sweetheart who turned out to be a best friend of Mark and two of them thought I should meet Mark and lo and behold, Mark and I ended up getting married, even though Jill and her husband ended up getting divorced. There have been times since then when I haven't seen or talked to Jill for years but then when we do reconnect, we pick up where we left off. She is truly special to me and always will be.

I will always treasure every friendship I have had, lasting or not. But the one that is most important to me is the one I have now, with my husband. He is the one who knows me the best, puts up with me, and I with him. No matter what, he has my back and he gave me the greatest gifts of my life, my sons. Our life has had its ups and downs, it hasn't always been easy but every moment has deepened the bond we share.

A long post, but a necessary one. To each and every friend I have had, I say thank you for helping me become who I am.