We had the first row of the balcony. There was a man down the row from us who kept getting up before the show and as the show started. There is NOT a lot of room for other attendees to pass in front of you. This made me nervous because we were the front row in that section, high above the orchestra, with nothing in front of us. I was worried I was going to fall. That would not be good. Plus, it isn't like there is a huge protective railing in front of you. They want you to see the show, so it is low. So low, you could easily fall over. Well, at least me, the tall girl could. Which brings me to something else. Theater venues are not meant for tall people with long legs....especially the tall people with long legs who chose to wear high heels. I could not cross my legs without doing an uncomfortable and totally unflattering series of movements. Eventually I gave up and sat there, legs uncrossed. It felt weird. The man down the row walked by again. The angry man behind us told us to sit down. Um, we are trying to let someone by. The angry man later turned out to be talkative man who had a girlfriend who chose to sing along to select songs. Good times.
One of the first songs is "The Wizard and I." The teacher in me decided to listen to this song, and then began to obsess about whether or not this was the correct use of grammar. I thought, hmmm, should it be the Wizard and me? The Wizard and I? This took up a good time until I realized I was no longer paying attention to the show.
In case you have not noticed, my mind tends to wander. I have seen Wicked before so I think it wandered a tad bit more than usual. I thought about when I saw the show last, the other shows I had seen on Broadway when I lived in New Jersey, then I began to really miss being able to hop on a train and be in the city 30 minutes later to see a show at any time. I thought about the TKTS booths and the half price tickets. About how we got cheap seats to Grease and although we were in row 5 we were WAY off to the side. I thought about how the guy from American Idol was the Teen Angel when I saw it, which then lead my mind to think about how excited I was for the new season of American Idol to start in January. Seriously, it must be exhausting to be my brain.
At intermission I wanted to get some pictures with my friends. I got a picture with Tracy, and then I moved over to Christy. As Crystal took a picture of us, a mean, angry lady came down to me and scolded me for taking pictures. She said everything was copywrited so you can't take pictures. Um, I am taking pictures of my friends, NOT the actors or stage. We were by our seats during intermission. Really? This put me in a bad mood since I let the little things get to me. Plus I am a total rule follower and felt guilty.
After the show was over we headed to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We took the 16th Street Mall shuttle and let's just say, there are some interesting people on there. Not as interesting as the subways in New York, but interesting people. There were two guys behind Amy and I that were obviously in a slightly altered state. One of the guys said to the other guys, "Dude, I am so glad you are more intoxicated than me. Or high. Whatever." We were glad to make it to the restaurant. The wait was 45 minutes so we hung out in the bar area. Eventually we decided to just eat in the bar area to save some time. Crystal and I both ordered the APPETIZER Caesar salad. I wanted the side salad but you could not get it unless you ordered a sandwich. Well, let's just say, I think the entire table and some other guests could have eaten this one salad. It was huge! I felt like I ate and ate but I never saw the bottom of the bowl. When I finally gave it back to the waitress it was as if I did not eat any of it. *Note to self: You do not like the Caesar salad at the Cheesecake Factory.
At dinner, I learned that the reason the man at the show kept getting up was because he was afraid of heights and was feeling panic. I too am afraid of heights and did not enjoy standing up in that row. I felt bad for him, but was impressed he made it through the show. I would have asked to be moved to another seat (if I was feeling particularly bold that day). Here are some pictures from today. As I get older I have realized I look MUCH better in black in white. I am noticing how I am aging and this makes me incredibly grateful for photo editing software.
After dinner the snow had started (YAY!) and Amy and I were parked by the theater. Her husband Travis is a police officer in Denver, so one of his fellow officers came to pick us up to take us to our cars. You know what that means? Yes, I got to ride in the back of a police car! Being the rule follower I am, I highly doubt I will ever be in the back of a police car again, so this was pretty exciting for me. Here was our ride:
He even held the door open for me. I doubt criminals (alleged criminals) get that kind of treatment! He warned me that there was not a lot of room in the back and he was not kidding. Being in the back of that car made the leg room at the Buell Theater look like first class. There was NO room for my legs. It was so tight and uncomfortable. While back there I checked it out. There are bars on the windows. I could barely hear the conversation going on up front because of the glass in between us, even though it was 50% open. I did think it was pretty cool that he drove down the 16th Street Mall because regular cars can't do that. I thought about asking him to turn on the sirens, but then realized that might be a bit much. I was just grateful for the ride on this slushy night.
I made my way home bummed it was not snowing harder. I love, love, love the snow. As I made it further south on I-25 it became more snowy. Wahoo! When I got home I took this picture of the tree outside my bedroom:
It has just started and it makes me happy. The only negative thing about it is tomorrow is the Diak/Holder Family Thanksgiving. Bryan and I will be in California for the actual holiday so we wanted to do something with all my family beforehand. I have been looking forward to this for weeks now. We were supposed to have it next weekend but my brother in law got tickets to the Broncos game so we rescheduled (understandably so! If I had to chose between turkey or a football game, I would so be at the game). Tomorrow was also supposed to be the THIRD attempt at the family Christmas photo. The first time there was a prediction of snow so my parents canceled it so my sister would not have to drive down from Ft. Collins. Turned out that there really was not a lot of snow and we could have done it that day. My sister agreed not to come down but said if there is a blizzard the next time we tried, she would come down no matter what. Well, the second time we scheduled it, Tyler got the stomach flu so it was a no go. Now it is snowing again, and I am thinking tomorrow will not happen. Plus Bryan's son Camden has a fever. Ugh. That 15lb turkey might just have to hang out in my parent's fridge another week or so. We can get together next
weekend for dinner but my brother in law will not be there because of the game, so no picture. My mom said we could just pick a picture of each family from this year and put it together. Great idea if I had a family. What would I do? Give them a picture of just me? That would be a little weird. Perhaps I could pose next to a tree, like in my senior pictures, minus the bad perm. I hope the event takes place tomorrow but I don't think it will. I love when my family gets together. I love seeing my sister and her family, as well as all my nephews and niece. I love seeing them play together and I love seeing Bryan's boys bonding with members of my family. They loved Quinn and Ethan last time we got together. Bryan's other son Torrin also bonded with his fellow 2 year old (and my niece) Mikaya. They start so young these days, don't they?
Enjoy your weekend!
