Tuesday, May 01, 2012

40 To 40? I'm on the flip side now!

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing for 40 days straight. Yes, even the lazy, post-a-youtube-video ones. I haven't posted in two days now and I found myself missing it! I guess that means maybe I'll keep on blogging away. :)

I had talked about how I feel emotionally about turning 40, but I didn't talk about what I actually *did* that day. Well, other than on twitter and Facebook. I all ready had my official party a week prior, so the day started out pretty normal. I took Allison to soccer practice. I picked up Allison from soccer practice. I had to make an small emergency run to the grocery store right after we returned from practice. Then I scrambled to get ready to see American Idiot: The Musical with my friend Scott.

I knew I wanted to see this musical since it premiered in Berkeley in 2009. I've been a Green Day fan since before their Dookie album, and of course I love the middle finger that the American Idiot album gives to societal norms. The ultimate goal was to see it on Broadway in New York City, but alas it closed just a few short months prior to my visit last summer. So the moment I saw it was on tour, and coming to Tempe the week of my BIRTHDAY- well, nothing was going to keep me from seeing it. Birthday or not.

Side note: The second track on the album is "Jesus of Suburbia"- and it's 9:08 minutes. I have a goal of running a mile while listening to this song.

I knew I would love this show before I saw it. I know the music, I know what it stands for. I know it was originally written as a rock-opera, with all songs connected. What I was trying to figure out is how they could put a story around it. To me, they succeeded. It was pretty intense and they packed a LOT of music into that 90-95 minutes. The only things I didn't like was the voice of the guy who was Tunny, and how they made me all mad at GW again. Dammit.

I was definitely spoiled by Scott, and it was a great birthday present. Sometimes I wonder how we ended up being such good friends. I met him in 2007 thanks to our mutual friend (and really, she is everyone's friend!) CJ. He has an interest in politics, so he checked out my show. Before I knew it, he was a frequent guest, and we've had some great discussions. From there we discovered mutual loves of The Beatles, Green Day, and acting like immature adolescents. Scott is a unique individual, and only a few people really understand him. I'd like to think I'm one of those people. He's like a little brother that I wish would grow up, but secretly happy he doesn't because it keeps me in touch with my silly side. Then suddenly we're talking about regrets in life and it turns into this crazy philosophical discussion. He's a cool dude, and I'm so happy to call him friend.

That evening the rest of the family, Scott, along with my sister and nephew ended up at Cheesecake Factory for dinner. A nice way to end the day!

Now all of our company is gone, and I've started getting things back to normal around here. I've put a lot of my volunteer duties on hold over the past few weeks, and today was the first day that things felt like they were back on a normal routine. I'm playing a little catch-up, but I'll be back on track soon enough. It's only a few short weeks until the kids are out of school for summer vacation too! It was a nice break, but now it's time to get back to work!