"it's paying for the room..."

That’s what we kept telling ourselves last night.

Naw, it wasn’t that bad, especially once the “technical difficulties” were worked out and the interminable keynote speaker finished (WAY past the scheduled time). It was so late by the time we took the stage for our second set (the first was background – when they could hear us, anyway) that we had to cut our set from nine songs down to five. Which meant that we did a solid set – no filler, all good tunes and, except for some minor lyric improvisations, well-performed.

With the help of some pharmaceutical magic from Buffy’s medicine drawer (pseudo-ephedrine ROCKS in emergency snot situations) and some alcoholic magic from Elizabeth’s office (coffee liqueur mixed with hot chocolate and only occasionally sucked out of the bottle), I did manage to have a good bit of fun. A few minutes before we sang the second set, we were standing outside the hall listening to the speaker who was giving an award, and he was quoting someone as saying “if you want to get kids’ attention, talk about sex, drugs, and alcohol.” At that point, I had a hard time restraining myself from running into the hall and screaming “ROCK AND ROLL!” in front of 150 college health care professionals. That image gave me a horrible case of the giggles and I had to remove myself from the hallway so that I didn’t pull focus from the speaker. Or pass the giggles on to Buffy and Elizabeth.

Husband suggested the other night that when I’m in front of a microphone I tend to hold back – or at least, that’s what he was hearing on the demo cd. He suggested that the next time we use microphones, I could get mine turned way down, which would force me to really let loose and sing from the gut. So I had the tech guy turn my microphone way way down, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t work like a charm. As rough as my voice was, I had to really belt to get out the higher notes and stay on pitch – there was no way I was going to be able to hit them softly. So when those higher notes came up, I took a step back from the mike and let fly. It was awesome – I could sing as loudly as I needed, and I could worry about the pitch and the words, without having to freak out about throwing the blend out of balance. Very cool – kudos to you, Husband, for the idea.

I got home around midnight (two hours past the original plan.) Husband and Duckie were curled up in her bed, so I took the opportunity to shower off the layers of makeup and hair spray before going to bed. And --- ooooh, shaved my legs, too! This becomes important when I got to slide into new navy blue soft cotton jersey sheets. I laid back in the bed and felt all the tension of the week leading up to last night’s show melt away completely. Tinker (the big cat) took up temporary residence at my feet, and Duckie (who had woken up towards the end of my shower and come looking for me) snuggled up, too. *Sigh* What bliss.

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No discharge from Duckie’s ears last night according to Husband, so I held off giving her the drops this morning. Thinking maybe it was just excessive ear wax. I don’t want to medicate her unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Husband said that when he went to pick up Duckie yesterday, the day care lady just about asked him for a DNA test. (I think she made him show her his driver’s license.) I guess she didn’t recognize him with his hair short, or maybe hadn’t ever met him. It’s not as if you can’t tell whose daughter it is if you look at them together – the resemblance is at least as strong as the resemblance between my dad and me. He said she ran to him when he came in the door, which I was very happy to hear. There’s nothing quite like being a kid’s hero, even if it’s just until the next time you thwart their will.

Ah, Friday… movie night, relaxation, maybe some pizza? I think a beer or two might be in order as well, although one usually puts me out these days. And I need to stay awake at least long enough to reclaim the living room, kitchen, hallway and baby room floors from their ground cover of blocks and books.

Looks like I might be seeing The Pacifier tomorrow with Sam and Jen and possibly Buffy and the girls too. Yeah, I know it’s probably going to be a terribly silly movie – but it’s VIN, and hey, that’s enough.

Hope you have a great weekend.

P.S. Will, if you’re still keeping up with this, please know that you are at the forefront of my thoughts lately. I am heartbroken over the latest news and I am hoping that there’s a good reason that might justify the choice (you know, benefit of the doubt and all that garbage). I’m planning to holler atcha sometime this weekend. I love you.


"I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music."
George Eliot (1819 - 1880)