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March 27, 2005

I Really Do Love My Kids, But...

...this weekend, my husband and I had the unexpected pleasure of getting to be home for almost three days (53 hours to be exact) with no children! My daughter went on a retreat with a group she belongs to, and my son was invited to spend the weekend at the Jersey shore with a friend. This came as a surprise on Friday, because though we knew they’d be gone, we hadn’t put it together that they’d be gone at the same time. This has been a form of liberation that only comes about during one month in the summer when they’re both at summer camp, and let me tell you, we really did enjoy having the apartment to ourselves. For those of you who read my post last week – shame on you for what's going through your mind! I’m talking about dinner at a restaurant Friday night and staying up late watching a Biography special on The Bee Gees.

Which was a very emotional show, I might mention, because not only did I re-live my Saturday Night Fever mania, but I also realized that the Bee Gees were really nice guys who gave millions to Unicef and had cute accents. (Then, at the very end of the show, they mentioned that one of them, Maurice, died very soon after the documentary was made, and I found that incredibly depressing, having just gotten to know him and like him.) TV can suck in that way.

The big event of the weekend, however, was Saturday night. We took a taxi down to see the new Woody Allen movie Melinda and Melinda. We were late, and it was in a small theater, and it was Saturday night in New York on the Upper West Side, so we were afraid it would be sold out. There was a line of about fifteen people when we got there. A nice looking man immediately came up to us and offered to sell us two tickets for that performance. We looked at the tickets. They seemed to be legitimate. They had the right date, time, movie name... I asked why he was selling them. He said, “My friends aren’t coming.” My husband paid him $20 for the tickets. I was making skeptical faces but kept quiet because I didn’t want to seem suspicious and unfriendly. Plus, time was of the essence. We rushed down to the theater. (This one is underground, you have to take an escalator down.) I thought, this is the most dramatic moment of the entire evening. Are these tickets real?

My husband gave them to the ticket taker, who didn’t look at them for more than two seconds before he called over the manager. The manager looked at them and told us they were fakes. Xeroxes! I looked at my husband. I was still silent, but my face was screaming, “You idiot!”

The manager took us aside. I have to say, he never accused us of anything. He asked us how we got them. We tried to describe the man. The manager said this had happened before. He said that if we wanted to see the movie, we had to go buy tickets. He also wanted us to look out front to see if the man was still there.

Like he’d be waiting around waiting to see if we got caught...

So we rushed back upstairs. The man was not there. We got back in line. The woman in the booth said it was sold out. The manager told her to sell us tickets anyway. We were sure we’d end up in the front row. We were amazed the manager even trusted us so much! We ran back down. And then, at the last minute, the manager even offered to refund us the original $20.00. I ran in and got two good seats (making about five people move down so we could get two seats together) while the manager got my husband the money. My husband rushed in. The movie started.

We made it! Happy ending. The movie was only okay, but it sure made Manhattan look beautiful – like the kind of place that would never have a guy selling xeroxes of movie tickets to unsuspecting parents enjoying a childfree weekend.

And, speaking of endings (how’s that for a segue?) it seems that this is my last week blogging with the literary chicks. My month is up! I want to give a huge, gigantic thanks to Michelle, Lani, and Alesia for letting me be their guest this month. I love it that you asked me. I feel honored, I really do. OH. One other thing. Very important. Lani informs me that there is a winner for the drawing for THE ART OF UNDRESSING and that is... drum roll please... Heather McCutcheon! Yay! And I finally got my author copies this week, so I can put one right in the mail. I hope you enjoy it, Heather!

By All! See ya ‘round in cyberspace...

Posted by at 10:27 PM | Comments (1)

Comments

Posted by: Alesia Holliday at March 30, 2005 12:30 PM