When One Door's Open, Another Door Closes

After attending an assembly to honor our very own middle daughter as Student of the Month, the husband and I had a hot date Friday night.

That is, until our babysitter canceled on us and we had to make alternate plans.

Still, we had a hot date. We just took 3 extra little people along.

We enjoyed an evening of ballet under the stars. It truly was a lovely evening once the evening air finally cooled off after a day of 105 degree temperatures.

We spread our denim blankets and hunkered down for an evening of pirouettes, jetes and plies.

As we waited for the ballerinas to take the stage, a trio of women claimed a little lawn space near our denim-claimed area. The husband politely moved a corner of blanket out of the way so the women would be allowed a bit more footage. One of the women pulled the blanket back her direction and plopped her little backside right down on the denim- inches from the husband's lap. And there she remained- sharing our little denim blanket for the duration of the ballet. Never mind that we could have used the space she occupied.

The dancers were beautiful and the children sat at attention, noting each leap with sheer pleasure. Oldest daughter's only lament was that she didn't wear that tutu that she originally thought to wear. Middle daughter spread out on her cute little tummy facing the stage, her face in her hands and thrilled with each graceful dancer. And she kept reminding us that it was our pleasure to have the Student of the Month in our presence.

Once the last ballerina had taken her final curtsy, the husband and the children ventured out to see if they could discover a little geocache treasure hidden right behind the stage. As they treasure hunted, I laid on the blanket and gazed up at the stars. Because, who wouldn't take advantage of a night under the stars? And I could see just about 15. Darn those city lights!

But, while I was laying there, I heard little feet running up to me and expected that my little family was returning. The closer the footsteps got, the less they sounded like any of my little footsteppers. And sure enough, a little girl ran right up to me, looked in my face and turned and ran the other way, realizing I was not her mommy.

Following an unsuccessful hunt, my brood returned and we made our way to the sea of cars in the parking lot. As we got nearer and nearer to where we parked, we could see a white van- its sliding door wide open. Could that be ours? Um, yes it could. And it was.

After inspecting the car, we found everything to be intact- right down to the checkbook in the glove compartment. And decided that we must have left the door open. Who does that? And we decided that it was a good thing that the ballet took place far away from our side of the valley, because had we been in our neck of the woods, that car would have been stripped clean. Plus, I think we were blessed.

Once we pulled in our garage and began unloading the car, I went to the trunk to retrieve the blankets. I had an armful and decided to take in half of the load and return for the rest. On my way in the house, I cautioned the children to leave the garage door open because the trunk of the car was still up.

No sooner had I made it inside the house than I hear the husband yelling something with voice elevated at unnatural decibels. And I didn't have to guess twice what the situation was. Our very own Student of the Month had pushed the garage door remote button and the door had crunched against the trunk.

And to make matters worse, I also sternly scolded middle daughter.

I don't know why I did that. I'm fairly certain she understood that she had done something wrong. I should have left it alone. Lesson learned: no need to harp on the children- they know when they have done wrong.

The garage door was bowed a bit, but there was no mark on the car. All was ok afterall- and truly- the car is just a thing. Nothing with lasting significance. I'm pretty sure that our relationship with little daughter will far outlast that of our relationship with the white people mover that is our van.

Another lesson learned: when one door's open, another door closes.

Tune in Tuesday for another awesome guest poster!! You know you can't wait. And neither can I!

Wicked Good Time

I had a hot date last night with the husband and another couple- who just happen to be my parents. We ate some good food, shared a few laughs, my parents gave me a sack of potatoes, and then we were off to see Wicked.

And can I just tell you how awesome that show is? I love, love, LOVED it!! It was awesome! I wish I had listened to my inner voice and purchased two sets of tickets for different nights- because I would love to go again.

I have listened to the soundtrack for a few years now and have all the music memorized- as do the children. It was a different experience to see a show that you have already tried to piece together the storyline just from listening to the music. I was pretty much spot-on for the first act, but the second act contained a few surprises that I was not counting on. And I loved it!

It was a great date. And now I just have one question for the husband:

Will you please accept this rose?

I think I'd like to keep you around for one more week.

into him

last night i had a date. on a school night. with a hottie. and now i can't get him off my mind. i'm like totally following his twitter feed and everything. i wonder if he knows.

i had to pick him up for our date- mainly because i had to drop some children off at some people's house. but after the children were taken care of, i met him at his office. where i brought clothes for him to change into. and he changed into them- right in front of me- in his office. and i tried not to watch. but i couldn't help it. and i did. (please don't tell my mom)

then we went to the lake and boated out into the middle and sat and talked- and stuff. it was a beautiful night. but there were some mosquitoes. and they got to me a little. but i still enjoyed our time together. the city lights on the lake were breathtaking as they danced across the water. and the headlight went out on our boat. but that's ok- it made us more inconspicuous. and he assured me he would use his cell phone light to let other boats know we were there if one came near us. it was romantic. not his cell phone light. the lake.

after we boated we got some dinner. and- hey, shannon- we totally saw greg. did you know he was in tempe last night? he ignored us- pretended like he didn't know us. that's ok. there are probably a lot of people out there who would love to pretend like they don't know us. we just carry on. no biggie. don't feel sorry for us, k?

while we were walking to the restaurant a group of high school kids were totally infatuated with my date. i know. like i said, he's a hottie. and he was MY date. they totally asked him how tall he is. and he told them. and it made my heart melt. cause he's like 6' 6". that's tall. and then they asked him if he played basketball with michael jordan (yeah, michael jordan. i didn't know that high school kids know about michael jordan. do you think they were insinuating that we are old- my date and me?). he doesn't (play ball with mj), but he totally could if he wanted to. and then they asked him for his autograph. he gets that all the time. all the time. and he was MY date. but, he just chuckled at the autograph thing and we kept walking.

then after dinner he took me to the temple. it was beautiful. the christmas lights are on. they are still putting them up- but the majority are up and on. i love the lights. they remind me of all things good. like dates to the temple grounds in high school with hottie boyfriends. and now, here i was at the temple grounds with an eternal hottie. full circle.

we had a lovely time at the temple. so renewing. and recommitting. do you know what i mean? after the temple we had to make sure we took care of those children who were at those people's house. and then we made our way home. and i did get a goodnight kiss. and that's all i'm gonna say.

anyway, i can't stop thinking about him. do you think he'll call? i hope so. i'm just going to carry my phone with me all day- both phones: cell and home. and then i will check email all day. and his twitter feed. cause he might tweet about me- but probably in code so it won't be obvious. i wonder if he'll check my blog. i kind of hope so, but a little of me is kinda shy to let this all out. i wonder what he will tell his friends about me. do you think he'll catch on that i am into him?