Day 160: Father's day and AAR on the concert

So it's Sunday and Father's day. What I remember most about growing up with my father is that he acted like a father, like a parent. I'm sure he wanted to be a friend as well, but his first priority was making sure that I grew up to be a responsible man. A good man. A caring and loving man. I know he reads this blog so I just want to say you did a good job, Dad. I know I've made mistakes in my life, but I always learned from them and worked at making myself better. I've gotten hurt in the past, but you were always there if not to clean up and bandage the wounds, to listen to me when I really needed someone to listen. You gave me the example I needed to raise my own child. So thank you for everything, Dad.

Now let's put the tear-ducts on simmer. On to the report of the night at the concert.

Candace and I headed out about 3 hours prior to the concert. I figured an hour for the drive, and an hour to get situated, pick up the tickets and get something to eat. Then an hour to get seated. I called all of that about right. On the way out we saw a billboard advertising the concert and she said, "Dad, I think he's hot!" Not exactly the kind of thing you want to hear your 10 year old daughter say, especially about a 61 year old man...

We got out there about 6 and rode the monorail over to the Arena and went to get something to eat. Of course, she wanted pizza from one of those horrible little pizza by the slice places at the food court in the casino. I ate about half of mine and let her have the rest and then we shared a large lemonade which we managed to nurse throughout the time we were at the concert. Prior to getting seated, she really wanted to buy a shirt and some souvenirs and she dropped 40 dollars doing just that. She got a black and red Rick Springfield thermal shirt and some buttons. Then we got in line and she put the shirt on and had me put the buttons on her shirt. We got seated and then I had to deal with her whining for almost an hour about "When is the concert going to start?" every 5 minutes. I told her the time each time and how much longer it would be. I just had to ride it out, no matter how annoying it was to deal with.

Then the concert started and everybody was on their feet whooping and hollering. Unfortunately, our seats were at the floor level, so the only way she could see anything was by standing on her chair which was uncomfortable and a little scary for her, especially when the Bass would pulse through her chair. About an hour into the concert. She sat down and didn't look like she was really enjoying the show anymore so I asked her what was wrong. She said her feet were hurting from standing on the chair and she couldn't see if she sat down. Well, I may be a die-hard Rick Springfield fan, but I wasn't going to make her suffer through another hour (at least) because I'm a fan. She clearly wasn't enjoying herself anymore so we left. On the way out, she wanted to get a couple of more souvenirs, a guitar-shaped magnet and a keychain. Then we got on the monorail back over to Primm Valley and started the drive home, listening to Rick on my Zune. We might not have seen the whole concert, but she'll remember this first one as a great concert.

See y'all later!