And Then He Kissed Me

Yesterday was the best day of my life.

Well, okay, so maybe THAT day was actually the birth of my son, or any of a zillion days since then (at the time, I probably thought it was my wedding day - but trust me, this day beat that, hands down!).

To begin with, I watched The Boy play soccer. He was AMAZING! Okay, so he's 6 and still has a long way to go, but I am very proud of how his skills have improved this season. He is loving playing the game, and is really getting into it, so I couldn't be happier!

Later in the day, I went to my first book club meeting of the Ladies Loving Literature group. We discussed the book "Passin" by Karen E. Quinones Miller. Awesome book (funny as hell), and what a great discussion! I'm so glad I was finally able to make it to a meetup with these ladies!

From there, I went to Georgetown to meet up with a friend for dinner and some blues. We ate at a french bistro (I didn't catch the name, but the onion soup was fabulous!) took a walk and wound up in Virginia via the Francis Scott Key bridge, then strolled on over to Blues Alley.

David Sanborn was playing. He's a favorite of mine. Since we'd already eaten, we settled in quickly with a bottle of Zinfandel to wait for the show. We didn't have to wait long. The Blues Alley Horns got onstage, followed by his own band - drummer, keyboardist, electric guitar player, and bass player - he did the bass guitar and the actual "bass" instrument. Awesome. Those guys truly love what they do. During the show, you could tell how "good" it was getting by the keyboardist, because he'd stand up every time he couldn't take it any more! Fabulous.

David himself was, of course, simply marvelous. I was well aware that he was a petite guy, but he's truly small! I mean short and thin! Looking at him, you wonder where all the wind for his music comes from! But it did come, and he gave a marvelous performance. Those of us in my corner of the room noted that the length of the performance was not disappointing at all. We had been concerned because the line for our 10:00 show was pretty full at 9:20, and we watched very few people leaving - drawing the conclusion that the show had actually ended even before this time-period. We were concerned. To no avail, however, because the show was good and long!

He played much of his new music, but got the crowd really riled up with some of his classic stuff. St. Louis blues (a ringtone you can download from his site - see the link above) was his starter piece, and Brother Ray got him and the band so riled up that they kept on playing and playing - it must have lasted about 15 minutes by itself! He also did Send Me Someone To Love and I've Got News For You from his new album.

Lovely, just lovely.

Now, and wonderful thing about where he was playing is that the venue is very intimate. Most times, the band/singer will meet with fans after the show. I have played the groupie there before - most recently with Joshua Redman, who was a very cordial artist, signed my album, shook my hand, and then disappeared back into the coat room to finish his chicken and fries (I saw him walk through the room with them in his hand before the show!). Not bad. He is very talented, and must have adoring fans all over the place.

BUT!!!! I must say that David Sanborn truly loves performing and is VERY accommodating of his fans. He, of course, was upstairs shaking hands, signing autographs, and taking pictures with people. I took my CD up, got to shake his hand, asked if he'd mind if my friend took a picture (he gladly agreed). While waiting for the camera to be ready, I told him how much I'd enjoyed the show, and thanked him for playing for us. Next thing I knew, he'd leaned over and pecked me on my cheek!

OMG!!! I was sooooo floored! How awesome! Then I stood there like he was "mine" with my arm around him for the next few minutes while he talked with another fan, and my cool buddy Juan got the camera (and his own CD to be signed) ready.

Wow. I was kissed. By a celebrity. Wow!



:O)

Humble

Before I get to the good stuff, let's get the "bad" out of the way.

I am a yoga LOVER. Early in the summer, I took a class where I pushed myself a bit too far. Bad move. I've been in pain since. For about the last month, I have cut way, way back on all activities, including yoga (which was pretty much the only "activity" period). I decided that was the best route to take when the tingling in my toes set in (it's my hip/groin - TMI? - that suffered the strain). Not a good sign. I went to my family practice doctor and was sent out for x-rays. They showed nothing. Nothing. Hrmph. Guess that means I'd better lay off the yoga for a while.

So, lately I have been doing nothing. HOWEVER! Over the last week and a half, I have taken to being passed on the athletic track by little old ladies. Very humbling.

The Boy's soccer practice was moved to the community fields where there's a football field and a real, live (if old) track. I decided I'd try to walk a mile each night to see if more normal types of activities (read, not stretching) would help to settle things back to where they belong. I think it's working, but I am VERY slow, determined not to over do it. On none of the nights have I raced around the track, and barely broke a sweat at any time. Tonight, however, I also felt some cramping in the calf of the same leg that is over-stretched, and I completely quit when a little old lady wearing an iPod (I didn't even have mine) passed me up as if I were standing still. Sheesh. I'm not this old yet!!! :/

Let's get a little cheery - here are some current projects:



I saw in a WEBS update that they now have the Harry Potter themed Opal sock yarns. My mother brought this back for me last month from Germany - it's a mini skein. I think it has probably 50-75 yards in it. What the HECK can I do with this? It's almost cute enough just to just stick around like it is!


Here's the final gift yarn all spun up and ready to go. Need to find a pretty, pretty box for it as a final touch. One Christmas present down, and how many to go?



Here's my October challenge spinning. The theme is "Alice in Wonderland" and this is my interpretation for the Cheshire Cat. Somehow, I imagine him as orange and black, with a sly pink smile. The movie, however, shows him as pink and purple. Did I get this idea from the original book? Why am I thinking this way? My mind is definitely set, though, so it would be interesting to see where exactly I got the idea, but I'm not changing my mind, so no biggie! He's orange and black. Period. End of story.



Progress as of Sunday afternoon on my Tanglewood Cascading cardigan. Someone in the Sexy Knitter's Club has this as a nomination, and it would be nice to have others knitting with me. I plan to be finished soon, though - the pattern is so easily memorizable, I feel like I'm flying right along!

:O)