72 Hours of Insanity, More Commonly Known as My Life As I Know It

I knew before the weekend started it would be crazy. No, I wasn't going to any Black Friday sales (see previous rant). Friday night we had plans to take J to his first rock 'n' roll concert. We took him into Boston to the Orpheum Theatre to see the Brian Setzer Orchestra. We planned on going in early to have dinner at Fajitas & Ritas. Good plan until we got in, parked and realized we couldn't find the restaurant. This restaurant is on the cusp of the Downtown Crossing shopping area. The same area that night that was having their tree lighting ceremony with a chorus of angelic children singing their little hearts out before Santa arrived. Luckily the Gods were smiling down upon us when we accidentally found the restaurant. No sooner were we seated and placed our drink order when the giant influx of cold, tree lighting observers came FLOODING in. Yay us, we got a table! After filling ourselves with nice hot food we headed to the Orpheum. Now even though it's not the greatest sounding venue, it is by far my favorite place to see a show. It's small with red velvet seats, gilded relief images, a balcony and box seats. It was a great place to see the BSO and we all had a rockin' good time! Saturday morning despite being tired, J & I went to my high school alma mater, Algonquin Regional High School for a tour of the improved school. The National Honor Society student who took us around was very sweet and indulged me in "When I was here, this corridor was the ...... department." I ran into classmates on the tour, including some of my fellow reunion committee members. But I ran into one fellow who I used to be sweet on in eighth grade. Little did I know then that he was gay. He's a love of a guy and he gave me the biggest hug, shook J's hand and said he couldn't wait for the reunion that evening. Saturday afternoon afforded us nap time. Knowing J would be sleeping over at Mum's house, I figured it would be best to have him rested from his wild concert exertions the night before. Right, 4PM, drop him off at Mum & Dad's. Now it's time to get beautiful and look like a grown-up. I had touched up my hair colors after we got back from the tour of The Reeg. So now it was time for spackle, paint and a fun dress with my (bitch) boots. The reunion was a blast. Here it is 2 days later and I still have the sore, swollen feet and knees to prove it. We danced, partied, nibbled bad appetizers and drank extremely watered down drinks but it was great. I saw friends that I hadn't seen in years.

Me, Kimmy and Joe dancing with the crowd!

But what truly touched my heart was a woman who came up to me and said "Hi Jenn. Do you remember me?" I looked into the hopeful face knowing that we'd met before, but my brain failed me when it came to saying, "Of course I do! How are you........?" Instead I pleaded insanity and said I knew the face, but my brain was addled by the warmth of the room and the alcohol. She said, "I'm Rhonda from elementary school. I am so glad that you are here tonight because I've been wanting to say something to you for some time now." Now that's the sort of lead in that you can take one of two ways. One is "Really?" The second is, "Where's the nearest exit and do I have room to defend myself should this get ugly quickly." It turns out that we were in kindergarten together. She had not originally been on the beginning of the school year bus route, but was added in later on. We were sitting together on the bus and the bus driver apparently had forgotten her stop. She was so painfully shy (by her own admission) that she was afraid to go tell the driver and she begged me with tears running down her face to go say something to the driver. And I did. Then I went back to my seat and held her hand to tell her it would be all right. She says growing up she always thought I was a nice person, but it wasn't until she became a mother to a very shy girl herself that she fully appreciated what I had done for her. As she told me all this, my eyes filled with tears and I got a lump in my throat. Heck I'll admit that as I sit here typing this, it's hard to read the screen for the tears that I've got in my eyes. Rhonda gave me a kiss and a hug and thanked me for being such a sweet person who cares about others. That will stay with me for a long time. As will the sore knees and feet from four hours of dancing like a maniac.

Me & My Sweetie

Sunday was a quiet day. Mum & Dad brought J home just after 9:30 AM. He had a wonderful sleep over at their house. He was good as gold and had 10 mini pancakes with 4 slices of bacon for his breakfast. The night before he tried 3 new foods and declared them all delicious. The one real downer of the day, I woke up with a migraine. Never a good thing to wake up with one. Those are the ones that I can barely bring under control, if at all. Steven on the other hand he was starting to feel achey and cold. We were both among the walking wounded. I did manage to go out to the market and pick up a few things, but that exhausted me to no end. So much so, that despite the fact that the Patriots were on, I went to bed around 10PM. I was vaguely aware of Steven coming to bed, but more aware of him tossing and turning than anything. Finally at 2:00 AM he woke me up because he wasn't feeling right. He said that his neck was real stiff and that he felt like something was wrong. Not, "Call 911" wrong, but just wrong. So we wake up J and the three of us head to the emergency room. We spent a little under four hours there with labs and a CT scan to show that he probably has a virus, but because his right ear had been aching for nearly 2 weeks, here are some antibiotics just to cover the bases. We got home this morning at almost 6:30 AM. Oy vey. We all went back to bed with J lobbying to go to school late--yeah, like that was going to happen after missing the last three days of school before Thanksgiving. I set the alarm and got him up later than normal and knowing it would be a tough sell to go to school on time, had stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for a box of Munchkins to have for breakfast since he had been so good at the hospital all night long. Got him off to school, got Steven's prescription filled, bought some yogurt to keep his stomach settled and went home to crash for three hours. This is my life. It's insane. It's fun. It's touching. And it's filled with wonderful people. I am truly blessed!

The Insanity of Black Friday

I just don't understand why people would want to line up in the middle of the night in the name of a bargain. I'm all for saving a few bucks, but people seem to be losing their bloody minds over this stuff. Yes, the economy isn't great and rising gas prices are eating into people's disposable income, but is that reason enough to forget decorum, manners and a good night's sleep? Not in my mind.

They Still Got It After All These Years

Even after all these years Duran Duran still has it!

The Holidays Are Upon Us

The last few years I've let the holidays overwhelm me. This year I went back to my "old" ways and started my Christmas shopping early. My shopping is nearly done and it's less than a week before Thanksgiving. What I haven't bought yet, I've at least planned out and that makes me feel good.

Thanksgiving will be low-key this year with Steve's family celebrating it in Florida. But with my 20th high school reunion that weekend, we're staying put. Plus we're taking J to his first "real" concert next week, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. They are a band I've wanted to see for over 10 years and for one reason or another, I've not been able to. J has loved their music since he was a toddler. I can't wait to see his face when we get to the venue next week.