Revitalized

I decided to revitalize myself and go visit my girlfriend in the city! Just one night away from the kids, construction and household responsibilities. Dylan laid on the guilt bright and early yesterday morning.


"Now I know you are really leaving...because you even packed your bag!" The kid can lay it on thick but I wasn't falling for it. I held back the urge to tell him if I was REALLY leaving, my bag would be a lot bigger, and comforted him by explaining I would pick him up from school the next day.

There is something about having 90 minutes of nothing to do but sit on a train that only a mother can appreciate it. Although I was anxious to get there, I enjoyed the flashes of scenery and rhythmic sounds of the train on the track.

Upon arrival the chatting began and didn't cease until well into the night. We went to dinner, grabbed some drinks and laughed with old friends. It was so good to catch up with her and I had a blast.

But I also had a hidden agenda. Bon Jovi just happened to be in the city performing on the Today Show. And I was NOT about to miss an opportunity to see him, especially for free. My girlfriend couldn't be convinced to do anything that resembled tourism...so I was on my own.

I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and hailed a cab to Rockefeller Center, where I stood in line for 2 hours and made some new friends. Then we were herded into the viewing section where I was stuck behind a wall of women standing on a barricade. When he came out to warm up, I couldn't see a thing. I was disappointed that I waited so long to not even catch a glimpse of him. I debated leaving, but had come so far I wanted to stick it out.

After another 2 hours of waiting in the crowd, the boys finally appeared on stage. The crowd went wild and all eyes were on them. So I squeezed my body through the barricades and ended up in the VIP section, much closer to the stage I rocked out to "You Give Love a Bad Name" and even had a cameo on TV.

My adrenaline was pumping after the show as I walked back to her apartment. Luckily, she was heading home to her parents house for the weekend so I got 2 bonus hours of quality time with her in the car. We hopped into her Mercedes convertible and her 3 month old Bernese Mountain dog cuddled on my lap.

Fifteen minutes into our drive, that cute little puppy threw up all over me. With no where to pull over, I had to stomach the sight, stench and feel of it for 15 more minutes. I passed the dog into the backseat in case it happened again. Which it did, this time all over my bag. We pulled off an exit into a parking lot of a country club. I got out, grabbed my nasty bag and squatted between two cars. As I was changing my pants, she was flinging dog vomit out of her car onto the pavement with a rag. Of course, 10 old men came driving by in their golf carts, right at that very moment. Their expressions were priceless and the incident was forgotten.

I had a fabulous time and am definitely revitalized. But seeing how excited the kids were to see me, solitified the expression: "There is no place like home!"