Mama who bore me

This weekend has been jam-packed, holy cow...

Friday, I left work early and got home around 4. Tony had already dropped Ari off with my parents, so we had the house to ourselves. We had a few gift certificates for a few different restaurants, and decided to try a new-to-us place downtown, just a couple blocks from the theater. Tony called to make a reservation, and we were set to go.

The restaurant was great... cozy atmosphere, great food, even valet parking. It's right across the street from a huge park, so it would be even lovelier in the summer, I'm sure.

The service was so fast that we found ourselves with lots of time to kill before the show. So we both ordered dessert... he got boring vanilla ice cream, while I got this decadent chocolate truffle that I couldn't even finish.



Then it was time for the show, "Spring Awakening." I didn't know much about it, but a co-worker of mine saw it in NYC (starring Lea Michele, the girl who now plays Rachel on "Glee") and she raved about it. I knew the show dealt with the topic of teenagers experiencing their "sexual awakening," but I had no idea that was the entire focus of the show. It was a powerful show, with a huge range of emotions--sweet and funny in parts, totally raunchy in others, and heartbreaking in others. I don't know that I'd rank it as a fave, but I enjoyed it.

I managed to sneak a pic of the stage before it started (shh, don't tell)...



On our way out of the theater, I managed to pull a stupidly clumsy move. We walked into the wrong parking lot, and there was a drop, marked by a short wall, between that one and the one our car was in. Rather than walk back out to the sidewalk and all the way around, we decided we could handle the short jump down from the wall into the next lot. Tony jumped first, then took my hand to help me. I jumped, and landed on both feet, but somehow my leg gave out and I went down, hard, on my right knee. Tony held on tight to my hand, and if not for that, I might have injured myself even more. So now I have a lovely bruise on my knee.

We got up on Saturday, picked up Ari from my parents (they said she was perfect for them--yay!) and headed off to see "Nickelodeon Presents Storytime Live!" Moose and Z hosted it, just like they do on Nick Jr, and there were stories with Ni Hao Kai-Lan, the Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, and Dora. Ari had various reactions, ranging from total involvement and complete excitement to boredom to being scared of the most random stuff. Silly kid. But when we asked her in the car how she liked it, she said, "I laughed and I laughed and I was scared and I was scared and it was really funny and I liked it."

We came home and put her down for a nap, and I decided to take one too, since I was suddenly not feeling well. Later in the evening, Matt and Kristin came over, with all their kids in tow. We had a nice visit with them....ordered Italian food from a nearby pizza place and played Mario Party after all the kids were asleep.

Then today was church, which always makes for a crazy day. We had to be there earlier than usual, since Tony's teaching a class before the service for the next few weeks, and then we had a ministry leader's meeting after the service--at our house.

So now the guys are over, watching TV, and Ari is in bed, which means I finally have a few moments to breathe and relax. Tomorrow starts another week... and we're going to dinner with my parents and brother and his family to celebrate my Mom's birthday. And so begins March, the Crazy Birthday Month in my family... And then before we know it, it will be spring! Can't wait.