Expensive but Worth It

Friday was a special day. Amanda and I bought tickets to a local play "Funny Money", and made plans for a girl's night out. She had to see two plays this semester fo fulfill her theater class requirements, and this was play #2. The first play we saw was "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf", so we decided it was time for a change of pace and "Funny Money", being a British Comedy, was certainly that.

To be sure I would have enough energy, I 'saved my spoons' all day, just resting and being sure to stay on my O2 constantly. By the time I picked Will up from school, I felt like I could squeeze in a trip to Wal-Mart (riding the scooter of course), to get him some warm clothes. We've been talking about it for about 3 weeks now, and he was way overdue. It is such an unexplainable simple pleasure of parenting to take the kids clothes shopping. It's such a joy to see them get excited about a pair of pants, a sweatshirt, to see their smile, to know you have a small part in making them happy and caring for their needs. I'm always so grateful for the blessing of having enough money to take care of my kids. Anyway, towards the end of our shopping, my scooter ran out of battery juice, and Will had to push me in the scooter full of clothes up to the front of the store, so he got a good work-out.

We got home about 5 minutes before Amanda, and so I dressed and took about 30 minutes of Oxygen before we started out for the play. We had never been to this playhouse before, so we left early to make sure we could find it on time. It turned out to be easy to find, and not so far away. Although it was in Marietta, it was on our side of Marietta, just down Sandy Plains Road. Amanda Drove, so I got to rest and use my portable O2 during the ride. After we found the playhouse (Centerstage Theater, I think), we went over to a nearby shopping center for a quick bite to eat. The choices were a Pizza/Pasta place, and Jersey Mike's Subs. Amanda urged for the sub place, but I prevailed - I really wanted to try the Pasta. Turns out she was right. The pasta took way too long to come and we had to pack it up in go boxes almost as soon as it arrived so we could make it to the play on time. I made a critical mistake - I ordered Angel Hair with fresh garlic, forgetting that I would be sitting in close proximity to a lot of other people for the next 2 hours. By the time I realized this, it was too late, so I pulled out the tic-tacs and tried my best not to breathe on anyone. Amanda had Fettucinni Alfredo, and it was totally yummy! She hesitated to order it because with Fettucinni Alfredo, it's either really good, or really bad. It's like a 50/50 chance with a new place you haven't tried before. But fortunately, it turned out to be good.

The play was fast moving and humurous, with only a couple of real belly-laughs. The theather ws smallish- and like a black box theater. We got seats right on the front row. We sat next to an elderly lady (Amanda was next to her - lucky for her she didn't get too close to my garlic breath!). When she sat down, she asked Amanda to help her with her sweater. It was obvious she had very bad Arthritis. Amanda was so kind and respectful to her and helped her off with her sweater. Then she arranged it around her shoulders to keep her warm. They struck up a conversation, and it turned out that this lady is a founding board member for the Alliance Theater. Of course this gave them something in common to discuss, and they talked until the show started. At the intermission and again when the play was over, Amanda helped her with her sweater. Her hands were knarled and swollen and she said she had been suffering from Arthritis for more than 20 years.

Since we went to the play on opening night, there was a gathering afterward to meet and greet with the cast and have desserts. They had this most awesome carrot cake and it was like a magnet drawing me to it, but Amanda helped me resisit. After we got home, I thanked her - I felt a small victory in resisitng the temptation.

Saturday morning the bill came due. Great pain, so much stiffness, I couldn't get out of bed. Just reached over and took my pills plus breakthrough pain pills and laid there. Never even turned on the TV, talked to anyone on the phone - nothing. I finally woke up at 2:40 PM and thought it was still morning. So, I missed a day. But it was worth it. I would do it again.