Sunday, May 1

7:30 pm
Living Room

Last Sunday of Normal for awhile, Dammit.

Cate's cooking dinner, I'm watching hockey.  Well, kinda, anyway.

Got home from NOLA late last night.  Normally I would have stayed the weekend, enjoyed the festival and the city.  But this year my heart just wasn't in it.  Neither were the guys'; we just wanted to get that gig done and get out of there.  Hopefully things will be a little easier when we're back on our own stage.

Phil did a great job.  He's an incredible guitarist and a consummate professional and just a fantastic guy.  I felt really bad putting him in the position he was in, but Thank God he could step up and bail us out.  His was the first name out of Richie's mouth when I asked him who could handle this task; took Richie about a half-second to respond.  And he was right.

As expected, there were some people who just have to be assholes about this whole thing.  I heard some boos when the show opened, when Phil riffed the opening of Blood.  Me expecting it didn't make me any less pissed about it.  But I had to put on my game face and go out and sell the band, maybe a little harder than usual.  I think it worked.  And it only took Phil a couple songs to silence the boo-birds and prove what he can do.

Richie would be proud.

But it just wasn't the same up on that stage.  I knew it, Phil knew it, the guys knew it, everybody in the whole damned city knew it.  I felt like I was missing my right arm.  But I still got a job to do.

Don't know how I woulda made it without Cate there.  Just being able to sneak a look at her between songs, to see her smile... it gave me strength.

I think the first show's the hardest.  We'll see if that holds true when we head up North this week.

Had a blessedly normal Daddy Day today.  Which means it was about 75% fucking chaos, ha ha.  Picked up the Chuckleheads and took them to breakfast and to the Park.  Then we went to a movie, that Hoodwinked animated thing.  It was pretty fucking funny.  The Boys loved it.

Then back to D's to hang with the big kids for awhile.  Steph showed me what she and D and Nikki came up with for her prom dress; Nikki has been texting Steph photos and videos of it being constructed.  Jesus, you'd think we were building her a fucking house, as nitpicky as my daughter is about all the details.  Guess it's a girl thing.

Hung out with Jess a little too, finished up his little song for Bridget.  He was practicing it on his guitar when I left.  Not sure when he plans to roll it out.  I guess I'll find out; he promised to text or call me and let me know how it goes.  It's not a bad little ditty, as apologies go.  But he ain't gonna win a Grammy with it.

Or maybe he will.  I betcha if we made up a bullshit hip-hop-rap-shit artist name like J-Jezz and submitted it the so-called "critics" would fall all over themselves and proclaim it the best thing since fucking sliced bread.  I can just see it now -- my 16-year-old wins a Grammy for a song I not only helped him write but created the necessity for in the first place, ha ha.

Fucking Grammy committee would do it just to piss me off.

Anyway, while we were at Dorothea's Jess and D asked Cate for a favor.  Well, it was more D than Jess, but he really was hoping Cate would go for it.  Seems Jess has his class trip down to DC next week to visit Congress and the White House and do all that high-school-government-class stuff.

Dorothea was going to chaperone but now she can't because some carnival thing for Jake and Romeo's school got rescheduled and she has to work that.  D and I agreed Jess probably doesn't need to be turned loose in a hotel with a bunch of cute girls available, so we needed somebody to go.  Since I'll be on the road, Cate was the logical choice.

Thank God she said yes.  In fact, she got this big smile and said "absolutely, I'd love to" without even a moment's hesitation.  I think she may be more excited than Jesse.  Who better to chaperone a DC trip than a bona-fide Fed?  Pretty sure those kids are screwed if any one of them puts a toe out of line, ha ha.  Cate has that city wired.  She'd know in a heartbeat.

I'm sure it will all be fine, though.  I hope they have a good time.  I love that Cate and Jesse seem to really have bonded.  Ever since she took him to the Giants game when I was Down Under they've had a good relationship.  Plus I think Jess sees Cate as the only thing keeping his Old Man from being bat-shit crazy half the time, ha ha.  He ain't wrong, my Son.

I'm gonna miss my kids these next few weeks.  When I get back it will be all about Steph, her birthday, prom, graduation.  Gonna have to figure out what to get Jakey for his birthday, too.  I need to do something special for him since I've been paying so much attention to his brothers and sister lately.  I'll be gone on his actual birthday, so I gotta make it good.

I'm gonna miss Cate too.  I hope she'll be able to come meet me for at least a few shows.  She's of course coming to Mohegan and Nassau with me, but maybe a couple more too.  We gotta keep in practice for the baby-making.  Plus if I'm not horny I'm less of a sonofabitch to the band and crew, or so I'm told, ha ha.

It's gonna be hard out there without Richie.  But he'll be back soon, better than ever.  I know it in my heart.  He's gotta take care of himself, exorcise those demons again.  And I know he's there with me, with all of us, every night on that stage.  We carry him in our hearts, just like I know he does us.

He's the one I'm gonna miss most of all.

11:40 pm
Bed

Holy Shit.

We finally got Bin Laden.

Watching President Obama confirm the death of the personification of Evil, chills running down my spine.  Another day we'll never forget.

Cate's crying.

I'm so proud of her.  So proud of all of them, those who serve so we can live free.

God Bless America.