Thank you E Street Band!

This year, almost as soon as Bruce and the E Street band packed their bags and departed our beaches, the world changed for me.

When I saw Bruce Springsteen in 2013, something changed in a massively positive and awesome way for me.  Then, somehow at the end of February this year, having taken an epic 4 week and 9 concert holiday around 5 states of this beautiful land, life just started nosediving.

The theory I like the most is twofold. One, after sooo much Bruce and E Street Band, I felt invincible and instead of taking on only a single thing (my health / weight / fitness), I started tackling ALL THE THINGS. I was like  the blogger who decides to be an adult and CLEAN ALL THE THINGS.  It was taxing. I collapsed under the strain a little bit. This combined with the fact that travelling if not 'with' a huge group of people outside of my normal 'bubble' was a bit of a rude shock. Travelling in such proximity to such a large group for such a long time, certainly threw me for a six on a number of occasions. I was spent before leaving, the tour was to recharge my batteries (which it did), but I found it difficult to take on a whole new group of strangers, I just didn't have the emotional gusto at that time.

And thus, life post tour has been quite odd. Weeks go by when I don't feel any of the empowering inspiration that lingered for so much longer post-2013 concerts. There are days when it all feels like a dream.  

And then there are precious moments like today, when putting my son to bed, when my phone is out of batteries (no Bruce setlist!) and he says to me "But Dad's phone has Dream Baby Dream!" and then "Doesn't Dad have Wrecking Ball?" The cute, it burns.  He fell asleep listening to Cadillac Ranch from a youtube clip of Sydney in the end :)

Which reminded me of just how grateful I am for the E Street Band, so I'm writing this thank you for them.

This was my view of the concert in Adelaide with my beautiful daughter, and delightful friend. We had the most amazing time!

To Eddie, thank you for the down to earth facebook posts, and your sense of humour. Thank you for thanking us in Perth.  Perth was so special for me, I met some wonderful people and you played such a big part in making it all feel lovely.  It was in hindsight quite funny to see you in Sydney, well, to barrel past you with my crazy loud family and not recognise you, not that I could think at all clearly at that point, a common state when running after 3 energetic kids. Next time, please jump in front of me and say "boo!"; I'll keep a lookout for men without saxophones leaping out from behind their beautiful wives. You continue to be an inspiration to me, your posts remind me that hard work is what achieves goals, what keeps us where we want to be in life, my thanks. I am glad that you have visited and enjoyed my country.

To Charlie, thank you for the winks and smiles in Perth, what fun! It makes such a difference to know that we're all having fun together :)

To Soozie, thank you for playing the Violin. You inspire my daughter whenever she sees you onstage.  Thank you for being friendly, for smiling, for not looking crossly in my direction when my poor tired, overheated daughter (same one who cheerfully survived 43 degree heat and insisted on staying up till 12:30 to see Bruce leave in Adelaide, who begged to be allowed to come to Brisbane too!) looked miserable and wilted. Thank you for smiling, not frowning!

Max, thank you for being the incredible backbone of the band. Last year you blew me away and I spent hours watching you mesmerised by the way you work your magic.  And I have a new respect and appreciation for drums, everywhere. You've opened up a whole new way of listening to music for me.

Stevie Van Zandt, thank you for being you. I was only on your side of the stage a few times, but your energy and cheekiness is amazing and so much fun. Thank you most of all for standing with Bruce and singing to my daughter. Thank you for waving to us in Sydney when we were way up behind you.  And thank you for Lillehammer! I have not yet watched it,and look forward to the chance to watch it all!

Roy, you legend. Thank you for every note played, including the ones played with Bruce's head. Thank you so much for the beautiful music.

Everett, thank you for those incredible drum-offs :)

Michelle, Cindy & Curtis oh my thank you for the fun! My girl and I thoroughly enjoyed waving to you during the Sydney show and she loved seeing how you work together at the back of the stage to give us such a wonderful night of music. The waves and smiles made her feel so special, thank you xxxx

Barry, Clark & Curt I love it when you all get to the front of the stage, your sense of fun is infectious, thank you!

Garry, you are such a dark horse hiding quietly behind your bass. Thank you for the moments when your smile lights up the room. 

Nils, like Eddie, you have been and continue to be, such an influence on me as a person. Musically I'm challenged, but your happy outlook, and the incredible vibe from you in 2013 especially made a huge impact on my outlook. Your accessibility to fans as people is incredible. You made me feel welcome on twitter, for which I thank you. I have enjoyed immensely learning from your example on stage and off, and wow, I love watching you play Because the Night. Thank you!

Jake, I have not sufficient words. I came to see the E Street Band for the first time with you already filling those big shoes. I think that not only do you do an amazing job, but you bring a young energy with you. Blessings and thanks!

And Tom, again, for me you are a part of the E Street Band as I know it.  But what a new and exciting influence on amazing.  I love to watch you, the juxaposition of your energy and personal styles with some of not-quite-so-Tom songs! Your face is a picture!  Thank you for standing up for those who need a voice! Thank you for the hours of fun in Perth particularly, your smile is infectious. Thank for for your contribution to The Ghost of Tom Joad, which now makes me cry. 

Bruce Springsteen, thank you for singing to my daughter, so very much. It means so much to her and made my night to see her shine with happiness both in Adelaide and Sydney. Thank you for meeting her, and for the hindsight-object-lesson-in-parenting that sometimes Mums just need to shut up and listen!  That one is going to be a challenge for me.  Thank you for the challenges! Since seeing you in concert for the first time in 2013, my life has changed. You are this person who opened the door into your soul in a concert and who in doing so exposed my own inner self. The magic has rubbed off a little differently this year, but I'm sure it is still there, no excuses to be so sick, no excuses not to exercise, no excuses for not being the best of me in this life. All that matters in the end are our family, our health and the little piece of us we pass along to others through our actions. Have a good time in this life right now, because it is the only one we have! Thank for, and the whole E Street Band for that lesson.

Most of all thank you for the chance to share this experience with my daughter, we have the happiest memories together!  Be warned, next tour my son insists he is coming along too!

Happy New Year

The past weeks have been a time of celebration, but also for me, a time of great changes. Adjusting to life without my adult-life-long companion has been emotional. We've also had 2 groups of helpx backpackers now, both absolutely wonderful experiences.  And then there is a Christmas with Dad that we never expected to get, twice over during the past 12 months. And he's seen in another year, 2014 is here, and so is my Dad, against all the odds. Bless him for hanging in there for me and the children.

Today was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the changes I've made in 2013.  They are not noteworthy perhaps, to anyone but myself, and my noting them here, I may not convey the importance or relevance that I feel these changes have, but I'll give it a shot.

Today started off on the wrong foot. My husband and I were not seeing eye to eye and together were on a collision course to ruin each other's New Years Day.  So instead, as soon as we both realised the futility of trying to stay in the same place and be civilised, hubby went off to check on Dad and look after him this morning.  We've done this before, it is the perfect solution in our household to those moments of stupid bickering that lead nowhere pleasant, and fast.  Rather than  bicker, we separate and go in different directions, each doing valid constructive work, so that when we are reunited, we are both grateful to the other for their contribution and any bickering is forgotten. It works a charm.

So while hubby was gone, without interference from a second opinion I launched into a quick cleanup, with a timer from UFYH giving me some structure - cleaning each room for approximately 1/2 hour, allowing me a little time to manage children around that. In two hours I had swept downstairs, finished the Christmas present devastation cleanup and made a tiny dent in the laundry.  The important thing was that it felt good, the house felt cleaner, more loved and I felt calmer than I had in days. 

I feel we have also perfected the 'visit to Grandad' with all children now responsibly behaved in a very boring nursing home, and a habit of watching kids TV with Dad in his room. 

Beneath these changes runs the vein of having first changed my whole attitude to a single-task focus, doing one thing at a time, enjoying and living in the moment. I'm still working on it, but it does make a more hassle-free existence.

In 30 days I will mark 12 months of blogging, something I never thought would happen, I am grateful for all I have learnt from the blog this past year.

What will 2014 bring? Firstly I'd like a magical ability to make a budget from my very unrealistic finances! 

some days you can look at the bright side...

Yesterday was one of those days. Nothing could wash away the sunny skies for me. This is the facebook status update I posted:

I had an absolutely wonderful day today. My darling hubby rescued Dad by making sure he got his  injection that was written up for him despite the nurse attempting to not do it, then returned home with our elder daughter. In the meantime I got a ton of washing done. My boy had his best mate and Mum over for a swim and play and us adults spent a lazy Sunday morning eating fruit salad! This afternoon went so lazily that I don't remember any details! Tonight finished with moving smallest ones clothes into the new bedroom, erecting a halloween spider's web, my little boy reading me a book and getting almost all the words and 3 happy little kiddliwinks and 2 tired parents!

What I could have posted about was:

Waht a frustrating day with a slow start, I'm too embarrassed at the state of the house so we need to collect my daughter from the sleepover, we don't want her friend's Dad seeing our place. My boy's friend is late, what took them so long, the playdate will be ruined by the big sister arriving home, oh NO!, now my boy has broken a light fitting by not listening to me and playing on the stairs! What an unproductive afternoon, nothing done and moody eldest child to boot! Got nothing done tonight, tomorrow will be a write-off. 

This was a different, yet equally accurate version of yesterday as well. It was not the way I chose to record the day in my memory, nor on Facebook.  I'm glad about that. I'd rather remember the lazy morning's visit with friends than the broken light fitting.

Some days, like today however, have parts in them that are beyond my understanding to mentally change.  Even if I set aside the total waste of my time and frustrating incompetence of Dad's nursing home staff, there remains the 'husband and younger siblings miss the primary concert night' debacle.

As far as I'm concerned, the whole thing started and finished with the utterance at 3:30pm of the words "we've got plenty of time" about a performance that started at 5pm sharp, and is a 35 minute drive away.

I leave it with you to figure out the details for yourselves. I'm glad I got to see the performance, that my daughter had someone to watch her. I'm sad that her father missed out and that because of him, her little  brother particularly missed an opportunity to see live music.