In case you didn't know, Shawna is a HUGE fan of Sting. She refers to him as "her baby", pays exorbitant ticket prices to see him whenever he performs within a 200-mile radius, and has a framed picture of him displayed in the house. I'm not kidding.

 

So when she found out that he was coming to town with his hugely famous pop band "The Police", who are together after 25 years for a big reunion tour, you can bet we were out of bed at 8:45am on a weekend morning to buy tickets the second they went on sale; and it was a good thing, too, because the entire stadium sold out in a mere 20 minutes. (Although they later decided to play a second night in Seattle due to the ridiculous demand.)

 

Now, I don't have quite the crush on Sting that Shawna does, but I have been a Police fan since early childhood: I can clearly remember belting out the lyrics to "Every Breath You Take" while playing on the swingsets in the first grade (well before I figured out it was a creepy song about a stalker). I have to admit it was pretty great to belt out those same lyrics along with a sold-out crowd in Key Arena, and accompanied by the original band members.

 

Obviously the guys looked a teensy bit older than they do in those early '80s album covers, but I can assure you they rocked just as hard; in fact, their performance was damn near flawless and Sting's vocals were so clean they may as well have been straight off of a CD. I wish modern-day performers had half as much raw talent or ability to connect with an audience -- even an audience of 17,000 people. The attached clips will do it little justice, of course, but if you're a fan of The Police you might enjoy taking a peek!

 

- Jas

 

 

Our nine-year old kitty cat, Boobie (or "Boobster", for those afraid to call the name "Boobie" out the front door in the evenings) is no longer with us. He died last Wednesday, May 30, at around 3:30am.

 

After having gone missing for two days which was very out-of-character for our little cat, we began to worry and printed up some "Missing Pet" posters to place around the neighborhood. Within a few hours, a neighbor called my cell phone and told me the sad and fairly shocking story of how Boobie died: he was killed by a full-sized mountain lion in the woods bordering our street.

 

We miss the little bugger so much. He had so much personality! He would run out to the driveway and greet us every evening when we came home. He would instantly start purring when we looked at him, even from across the room. He liked to curl up on our feet while we watched TV, which comforted him and kept our toes warm. He wouldn't eat fresh salmon when we tried to feed it to him, but he would chow down on yogurt or ice cream. He would lick our toes and hands when we were petting him, just like a dog. He would cheerfully tolerate it when Shawna did "mommy hugs" or "squooshy face" with him.

 

We miss having him around the house and interacting with him every day. Boobie was Shawna's first pet, and she had raised him from a scrawny five-week-old kitten up to the full 13-pounds that he usually became in the winter when he sported his "winter blubber layer" (even when we had him on special "weight control for mature felines" food).

 

He loved his family, we loved him very much, and we'll miss him for a very long time -- there will always be a little hole in our hearts for our favorite kitty.

 

- Jas & Shawna