everyday is halloween: serious labor

i've had to take a pause in my Halloween posts because we are in the middle of renovating my backroom.  first was the painting.  this weekend we started to install new shelving & flooring.  nick is doing the shelving & anna is installing the new floor.  i get to be their gofer.  last time we did this kind of work we were 20+ years younger.  now!  at our age this kind of work hurts!  also, we went to a couple of shows this weekend.  first up on saturday was Squeeze & the Psychedelic Furs at the Hard Rock Casino located in Wheatland with our great friends B & C.  it was a great concert.  Squeeze was fucking great!  our seats were something special.  we sat above the area that controlled the sound & the lighting, dead on to the stage.  we could look down in that space & see the crew with their dials, doo-dads, computers & monitors.  during the Furs set band members of Squeeze sat in that area to watch the show.  & on the Furs' last song, 'Heartbreak Beat', Glenn-fucking-Tilbrook was right below us dancing along!  oh shit!  that was great!  you bet i took a couple of pics!  & last night anna, nick & i headed west to Berkeley to see the 20th Anniversary Tour of both albums, Translanticism by Death Cab for Cutie, & Give Up by The Postal Service.  this is our third time seeing Death Cab for Cutie at the Greek Theater, & the second time for The Postal Service.  the latter band, comprised of Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Jenny Lewis, and Jimmy Tamborello aka Dntel, made one album, Give Up, in 2003 which has become a classic of its kind.  anna & i played that record on the way to the hospital to usher nick into this world.  we played it on the way home from the hospital with nick tucked safely in his baby seat.  Give Up was on heavy rotation for the first few years of nick's life in this world.  so when The Postal Service performed a 10-year anniversary tour, at the Mondavi Center at U.C. Davis in 2013, we had to go & take nick.  now they are on their 20th anniversary tour, & you got it, we had to take nick.  it was a great show.  my emotional state shimmied from euphoria to tears of happiness.  i fucking love live music when 10000 people are also caught in the same emotional arcs as you, & me.  if there is anywhere on earth not to feel self-conscious, & feel utterly free, is at a live music event.  needless to say, it's been both a physically draining, & emotionally exhausting weekend.  we should have the major work done by this weekend.  the flooring is installed - great job anna!  & tomorrow nick & i tackle assembling the new bookshelves.  if you've done any kind of home improvement project you understand how disruptive to your ordinary day to day life it is.  but once it is finished you enjoy the hell out of it & forget the pains it caused.  even so, this is, again, my very favorite time of year.  at my age i am not sure that two concerts plus serious home improvement work is advisable.  next time we might hire some pros.  but at the moment, resting my aching bones, & having a beer, i think it is all so worth it.  

boo!