Just Perfect

Yeah, it's Friday at 10:00 and I'm at home blogging and I couldn't be happier.  I was out EVERY night this week fulfilling mommy duties and Steph the Friend, Steph the Music Lover and Steph the Marathoner duties.  Damn, it's hard being me.  I mean, I only made it to CP once this week.  The sky is falling!

Monday night my mini Me had her talent show and Amelia being so much like her mom, didn't give photo approval of the pics I took so sadly I can't share.  My little pumpkin shook her booty off though!  Tuesday after being confined in a room with 23 kids who had been writing all day, the fourth grade team headed out to Tempo, home of the polenta fries.  Okay, why I didn't take pictures I'm still not sure but Heidi and I ended up having The Holy Trinity of beverage consumption; martini, wine and beer.  She is really becoming one of my favorite people.  We had a great dinner and I went to the bathroom and when I came back she was the only one left.  She looked at me and said, "I kind of wanted to go out."  Like she had to say another word.  I was having diner's guilt from Sunday night when my dining companion's meal came out resembling a bird's nest that had drowned in murky water.  Not my fault I know, but the me in me felt the need to help rectify that meal so I had made plans to drop off some polenta fries (what else?)  We ended up meeting him at Bison County for a drink and as always with my friends, laughed and laughed.

On Wednesday after being stuck on a bus with 50 fourth graders sining "I'm going to grind you on the dance floor baby" I gladly headed out to meet some CP friends for some dinner and then to see Ryan Montbleau.  I met them at the bar (OMG, yes, the bar) at The Border Cafe and was relieved to see that MOST of them had a drink.  Take one wild guess who didn't?  In fact at one point, a certain U2 addict had not one but 2 Pacificos in his hand.  All that mobility and flexibility work is sure paying off.  Now during the meal, Tony was recalling doing a total PMS moment of eating a pizza and pint of Ben and Jerry's and Michelle said something like, "Dont' shit with those shaningans" or something like that.  It was pure brilliancy.

Ryan, Ryan, Ryan.  Some chick from Brooklyn named Brandi opened for him and she sounded like a young Suzanne Vega; she was pretty cool.  Then the voice came on.  He started with Variety (a fave) and a couple of songs later sang Stretch (my total fave.)  I know I used the word charming a lot in the last post but he truly is just delectable and charming.  He's got this great banter with the crowd and his sound is crystal clear.  About half way into the show he asks does anyone have a request and before any other RM fan can get a word in I blurt out, "Perfect."  He replies, "Such a sad song." And then he sings it!  I look at everyone at my table and say, "OMG, I can't believe he's going to play it!"  Ryan's right it is a sad song but with all of Ryan's sad songs, there is some element of hope and lightness in it.  I mean I sing out loud to that song in the car.  It's not slow, it's got some chutzpah to it.  After the show Tony and I buy a tee shirt, the same one of course (I told him if he ever wears it when I do, he's the one that has to take it off.)  I love the fact that he got an extra large and I got an extra small.  Michelle and I then stalk Ryan and I tell him that I was the loudmouth who made the request and he thanked me.  I seriously wanted to pick him up he's so cute.  I bet I could have too........

Now each of these mornings I was rising at 5:00 to run and by Thursday morning I knew there was no way I could do this.  I slept in.  That's if you count 5 hours of sleep sleeping in.  I had promised Amelia I would take her to American Girl to book her party.  After 30 minutes of pure hell, the party is booked for an obscene, and I mean obscene amount of money for she and 7 of her closest friends.  We headed over to Nordstroms to pick up my Citizens and of course only I would somehow manage to spend a couple of hundred dollars on lingerie essentials in 20 minutes.  Once again the bra size has changed (and if you think going jean shopping with a brutally honest 7 year old is bad, try bra and Hanky Panky shopping.)

Mom:  Amelia, take that bra off the hanger.

Amelia:  Hmm, I don't know about this one.  It's just not you.

Mom:  Amelia, take the bra off the hanger.

Amelia:  Okay, okay.  (Looks at my chafing wounds from the 20 miler which the scab is now falling off and SCREAMS, "Mom, your boob is bleeding.  No wonder you need a new bra; your boobs are too big for your old ones.")

Note to mom; leave the girl home next time.  Although she did pick out some killer Hanky Pankys-only my mini me would find ones with a rhinestone heart.

I headed into Boston to attend a marathon fundraiser for my friend Bill.  I scored street parking right across the street from the Garden (and there was a Bruins game too!) and headed to the bar.  Now I know Bill from L-S.  He was and still is good friends with one of my exes.  I say hi and Bill tells his wife Karen, "Stephanie dated Rob and pulled one of the greatest pranks ever on him."  I look at him with a blank face, I mean blank face.  He looks at me and asks, "Don't you remember?"  I have not one clue.  So he says, "It's the best story."  I'm looking at him like, "I have no clue."   So he starts telling the story and I'm seriously excited and slightly scared to hear what I did.  Bill starts off, "I'm not sure if you had just broken up or were in a fight."  I tell Bill, "That was pretty much our relationship.  Breaking up, fighting, broken up."  I must say though that our making up was in a totally different league than the breaking up.......sorry, I digress.  So apparently I stormed into his house one morning (as a pissed off teen girlfriend) and storm past everyone, go up to his bedroom, wake him up, tell him off?, then grab his pillow, walk to Bill's and am victorious about my pillow caper.  I know, that makes no sense.  I mean Rob had awesome taste in music (big shock I know, my hs boyfriend had great taste in music.)  Had a lot of rare imports etc.  So I leave behind the U.K. imports and take the pillow?  Makes no sense so you know that I actually did do that.  I met some other marathoners and it was fun to get psyched up about the race.  I also raised some money for Bill and his friend Brooke by getting some guy at the bar to donate (you know me, I talk to anyone) to their raffle and what do you know?  The guy won it!  One happy drunk dude right there.

As I get into bed on Thursday night, I'm thinking, I need to do something nice for Aquaman who has been SuperDaddy lately.  He loves The J. Giles Band so this morning I'm going to get him tickets for the show.  Saturday night I'm going with a bunch of people to see my friend Mark (another L-S alum) and his friend Miskatonic play in Harvard Square.  I promised Aquaman (who at first said he wanted to go but then after his week was like, "I'm exhuasted; you go.") that I have nothing next week.  Unless a certain college basketball team wins Saturday night, then I'll be headed into Sommerville on Monday to witness firsthand an almost 28 year old grown man who own his own facility, has written books and has a dvd, cuddle up with his UCONN blankie.  Oh, they so better win so I can document this.

I leave you with Just Perfect by Ryan.  It's fitting because with the exception of my left glute, I'm feeling that everything in my life is Just Perfect right now.