Roo and Sher Welcome the Worlds

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A couple of years ago, while I was watching a figure skating competition on TV, a notification came on the air that the International Skating Union's World Figure Skating Championships would be held in L.A.  Oooohhhhh.... I wondered if I'd be able to go, but at the time, they were only selling full packages that included all of the events, as well as lodging and all that.  So I waited.  Then CA hit a financial crisis, and I thought I wouldn't be able to attend anything.  But good things do come to those who wait, and Goldstar.com sent an e-mail showing that tickets were available at half price.  OMG!  I bought a pair of tickets, and texted Rudy to see if he would be available to get to L.A. on March 24.  No response.  I texted again.  Finally, a couple of days after my first text message, Rudy called and apparently he still hadn't figured out what was so important about March 24.  I said to him, "I have tickets to Worlds."  Silence.

Then, in true Rudyness, all I could hear was him saying a lot of words in excitement, and I pictured him either jumping up and down or running around the house.  I was like, "Rudy, I really have to go right now.  Can you make it?"  Well, of course he could make it.  Silly Sherry.

Anyway, fast forward to two weeks later, and Rudy, in all of his excitement, thought that the event was on the 17th, so that day, he started to get ready, before checking online and seeing that he was, indeed, a week early.  He called to confirm such.  I said yes, he's wacky, and the event was next week.  Thank goodness he checked before driving all the way out to Monrovia prematurely!

Yesterday, I was able to get off of work early, texted him to make sure he knew that it was that day.  He met up with me, and we were on our way.  It's a good thing he was early, because the official website said that the time had been changed to half an hour earlier than originally scheduled.  

We got to the Staples Center, and Rudy jumped up and down a little bit before realizing that he was doing so and stopped.  He's so funny.  I just love making him happy like that.  We found a nice guy to take a picture for us.  Which I immediately deleted by mistake and realized it as we walked away.  So we had to ask the guy again, who originally said, "Sure, anytime!" anyway, so he had to live up to his promise.  Lucky he was still nice about it.  So here's the second picture we took, which the guy actually saved FOR me to make sure that my craziness wouldn't disturb him again.  Here we are, happy-go-lucky.

We picked up our tickets, and got in line with a bunch of other people.  The staff guy said that we needed to be in the other line, which turned out to be the VIP/Premium line.  NICE!  It was much shorter, and brought us up to the level that had access to the suites.  Our seats were below those.  We checked out our seats, and decided to get our merchandise and snacks.  After being largely ignored at the kiosk on our level, a very nice lady allowed us to walk with her to a different kiosk that had more variety, and where the employees actually paid attention to people that were trying to give their money away.  We had a bit of an obstacle course getting there because they had a stupid barrier up (which was taken away before we returned), but we found it.  I ended up getting the last blue fleece zip-up sweater in my size, which was the display model.  Rudy got a shirt.  We both got very nice programs.  We then realized that the little things we wanted were not at this very nice kiosk, so we went back to the ignorer and got a magnet for Rudy and a pin for me.  After getting some wine (Rudy proposed that we needed wine to calm down all of our excitement), we went back to our section.  The usher advised us that we had been sitting in the wrong seats, so she moved our jackets, but we were welcome to sit up closer until the ticketholders showed up.  She said that the section was going to be pretty empty, so it shouldn't be a problem.  So we found better seats and were never asked to move.  Cool!  We giggled a lot as we ate our dinner and drank our wine.  We're at WORLDS!!!

We had missed most of the opening ceremony because we were walking around, but the guy singing the National Anthem wasn't that good anyway.  The guy at the kiosk (not the ignorer guy) said that the singer usually performs at Kings games, and he was tired of his voice.  I told him that Rudy and I were professional singers, and that Rudy had such the better voice than the dude in there.   He told us to audition.  Well, we just might!  We did get to see a group of skaters do one number, and the head of the ISU declared the competition open.

Our event was for Pairs Short Program.  We saw a LOT of pairs.  The guys behind us talked like they knew about the activity, so we eavesdropped a little bit.  Rudy wished that he could speak Tagalog just so that we could bring some International-ity to our area.  I told him that our goal was to find a pair that would best suit our style, if he and I had been a pair of ice skaters in competition.  Our very nice programs had pages to write down scores, so I was able to write some notes.  They won't be very technical and probably won't be accurate, but here goes!

Top 20 pairs advance to the Free Skate

Ivanova/Balevski  -- Bulgaria

They wore blue and pink, and this was their first time at senior Worlds competition.  Hey!  I was wearing blue and pink, and this was MY first worlds, too!  

Score: 34.58 -- 23rd place

James/Bonheur -- France

Ooh, I like them.  They're dynamic, and they used Hans Zimmer's music.  They're energetic, and they had nice unison.  I see them being in the top 10 in a couple of years, if not next year.

Score: 44.10 -- 17th place

Denney/Barrett -- USA

Their music seemed to be the Zales commercial music, so I told Rudy that the guy was going to give her a ring or a necklace or something at the end.  He didn't.

Score: 52.74 -- 10th place

Ozorova/Enbert -- Russia

I felt bad for them because they fell on their butts.  The audience "aww"ed.  Rudy said that when he would watch on TV, he wondered why people on TV reacted like that.  He did it here, though, so he won't wonder anymore.

Score: 34.06 -- 24th place

Morand/Dorsaz -- Switzerland

They skated to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."  Rudy liked their uniforms because they had "just enough bling."  Not too much, not too little.

Score: 48.50 -- 12th place

Della Monica/Kocon -- Italy

They skated to "Bolero."  The woman fell.  Awww.  Too bad, because they had speed and nice spirals.

Score: 41.18 -- 18th place

Aganina/Zobnin -- Uzbekhstan

Oh, that woman fell HARD.  Rudy said that the guy looked like Ashton Kutcher.  Ashton Kutcher in inexplicable suspenders.

Score: 33.00 -- 25th place

Sokolova/Sokolov -- Israel

These two were NOT brother and sister, as Rudy had initially thought.  (He missed the "a" at the end of one of the names).  They wore very PINK outfits.  Nice, big throw.  Her hair touched the ice on the death spiral.  I love that.  Rudy has decided that there needs to be a competition just for what I like in ice skating, and can actually judge.  One is the hair touching the ice in a death spiral, but this does not count if the dude has let go of her, and she has fallen down.  Second Sherry rule:  Not Ugly Costumes.

We had an intermission at this point.  I had noticed the flags on one of the light boards.  I drew my favorite flag (besides USA's) in order to look it up later.  Then I found it in our program.  It's Hong Kong's flag.  See?  Pretty.

Sunyoto-Yang/Sulindro-Yang -- Taipei (why did they call it "Chinese Taipei"?)

They skated to "Scheherezade," one of my favorite pieces.  The woman fell, and they had trouble with their unison.

Score: 37.04 -- 22nd place

Crenshaw/Tsagris -- Greece

They skated to "Paint in Black, " "Appasionata" and "Colossus."  Nice exit out of their lift.

Score: 39.70 -- 20th place

Hausch/Wende -- Germany

Nice speed, but her hair didn't touch the ice.  Rudy likened them to a Hydrox.  Not quite Oreo, but really close.  You know, wanna-be great ice skaters.

Score: 46.58 -- 15th place

Sulej/Chruscinski -- Poland

They skated to "Scent of a Woman," so there was a little bit of tango and attitude.  Too much pink for me, though.

Score:  40.88 -- 19th place

Around this point, we spotted Scott Hamilton in the press section.  Yay!  I wish we could hear what he was saying.  It's weird that Rudy and I have to give each other our own commentary, without people who actually do it for a living.

Kemp/Kline -- Great Britain

That dude is tall!  Nice one-handed lift and exit.

Score:  47.74 -- 13th place

Brodeur/Mattatall -- Canada

The woman fell and touched the ice during the spin: oops.  It was going so well up to that point!

Score:  50.44 -- 11th place

Duhamel/Buntin -- Canada

Nice big throw at the end of their program.  Her hair touched the ice!  Great all-around.  They knew it, too, and their excitement reminded me of Rudy and me.  He had actually decided that this was our pair before they even started skating, but didn't want to jinx them by telling me until afterward.  This is the Rudy and Sherry pair.  We hope they do well.

Score:  61.28 -- 8th place

Sergejeva/Glebov -- Estonia

Their music was "Polish Movie Soundtrack."  Rudy asked if that was like "Scary Movie."  We giggled as we wondered what a spoof of all Polish movies would entail.  You just can't lose your partner if your costume is THAT pink!  So are all Polish movies in pink?

Score: 46.14 -- 16th place

McLaughlin/Brubaker -- USA

The guys in back of us yelled out "KEAUNA ROCKS!!!"  That's their two first names, kinda.  They skated to "Malaguena."  The day that somebody actually uses a drumcorps arrangement in their program, I'll be way excited.  This was not that day, but I was excited anyway.  They opened with a cool spin.  Nice lift.  I think it was a Star Lift, but that might be wrong.

Score: 53.62 -- 9th place

Zhang/Wang -- China

Rudy thinks that their musical selection was just weird.  They skated to Abba's "The Way Old Friends Do."  I'm not familiar with that song.

Score:  46.68 -- 14th place

Rudy got really excited about this next bracket (3 pairs).

Zhang/Zhang -- China

Everything was beautiful and WOW.  She just didn't touch her hair on the ice, that's all that was wrong for me.  They received a standing ovation, the first one of the night.

Score: 67.42 -- 3rd place

Mukhortova/Trankov  -- Russia

Beautiful position by the woman during the lift, and their spins were very close to each other.  Great arm position on her landing after the throw.  Very nice.

Score: 66.88 -- 4th place

Pang/Tong -- China

Big throws!  They need to not travel on their spins, though, because they slowly spun farther away from each other on their side-by-side spins.  The guys in back of us marveled at the "Dead Lift," where the guy just basically picked her up and threw her and she spun in the air with a great landing.

Score: 65.18 -- 5th place

Dube/Davison -- Canada

I liked their costumes: she wore cream with a burgundy belt, and he wore a burgundy top with black pants.  Rudy said that they were gutsy because their side-by-side work was right in front of the judges.

Score: 61.80 -- 7th place

Kavaguti/Smirnov -- Russia

Their music was Camille Saint Saens' "The Swan."  She wore white, with a swan on the front, and he wore black, also with a swan on the front.  No, not like Bjork's swan dress.  GORGEOUS everything: spiral, music, lifts, expressions...our favorite tonight, and yes, a Standing O.

Score: 68.94 -- 2nd place

Volosozhar/Morozov -- Ukraine

Nice speed, even during the lift, during which he rotated as he lifted her and they glided on the ice.  

Score:  64.10 -- 6th place

Savchenko/Szolkowy -- Germany

Their music was "Lost in Space," and it was rockin'!  So were they.  I thought that their spins started to go a little off, but they recovered nicely.  I also felt that their pair spin was slow.  I don't think the judges agreed with me, though.  

Score:  72.30 -- 1st place

We couldn't believe that it was already 11:30 when we left.  It went by quickly, but we wondered how late people would need to stay for the Free Skate, because that would be more minutes on each program.  

Today I watched part of the television coverage from last night's event.  The 1st place winners had the highest starting score, and when they showed the throw, I understood.  She was flying!  And every landing was spot on.  They need to work on those spins, though.

It was a great night, and I wish I had the time and money to watch all of the competitions! Ooh, gotta go.  The Oxygen channel is starting the Pairs Free Skate broadcast!

Thanks, Roo, for coming with me.  Since you are the one that I most enjoy watching ice skating with over the phone, I was glad that you could witness this event with me in person.  

Hamm ... Mmmm... Yumm

I love to distrust him in "Mad Men." 

I loved his spoof of his MM character on SNL.

I loved him as Liz's love interest in "30 Rock."  

And now, I love him as Lex Luthor.

Enjoy.   

"Lex Luthor Bailout" with Jon Hamm from Jon Hamm

DLR LotD 03/16/09

 Disneyland Resort Line of the Day

Monday, March 16, 2009

"I'm jealous, I hate you ... and I'm going to sleep with your brother." -- Ryan, at Catal, quoting his co-worker's reaction to the new pen 

Someone needs to have a Pen Blog.  Seriously.  Then we can post a video of a Rock'em Sock'em pen fight.

No Day But Today

RENT: The Broadway Tour 

Pantages Theatre -- Hollywood, CA

Friday, March 6, 2009

When I received an e-mail showing that Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, the original leads in RENT, would be coming to Los Angeles to perform the musical that put them on the map, I immediately called up Liz and somehow convinced her to go with me.  OK, it didn't take THAT much convincing, once we realized that we could get some inexpensive seats.

We decided to have dinner beforehand, so we agreed to arrive early.  I was early enough to line for lottery seats, so I signed up.  (Front row seats are given out for $20.00 each in the lottery system.  I don't know if that goes for every night of every show, but I do know that they did that for Wicked).

Unfortunately, I didn't win front row seats for us, but at least we still had tickets for the show!  Liz found me and we took the Metro to Hollywood/Highland.  We ate at Koji's, where we enjoyed our sushi rolls and other stuff.   (Thanks to hubby Joe for treating us!)   Liz then saw what she terms "The Mother Ship," and we both ended up walking out of Sephora with purchases.  We returned to the Metro station, and waited for the train as we listened to a talented musician.  If I had some change or single dollar bills, I would have given him some.  We arrived at the Metro station across the street from the Pantages, and I complimented a woman's shoes as we all stood on the street corner.  I couldn't help it.  They were cute!

When Anthony Rapp (Mark) and Adam Pascal (Roger) took the stage, the theatre hushed.  Once Mark started the narration, the audience cheered LOUDLY.  Oh, this was going to be a fun night!

Liz and I had seen the special screening of RENT's closing night on Broadway.  Some of the actors from that cast were also in this touring company.  I recognized Justin Johnson, the actor who played Angel in the closing cast.  Funny how I didn't need to see his face to recognize him:  I saw his drummer moves and figured it out that way.  Yeah, that's the drummer-lover in me.  

I enjoyed listening to the gentleman behind me after each song, because he had apparently never seen the show before, and was amazed by each number.  At intermission, I overheard him say, "A lot of people here have seen this show!  They all start clapping right when the songs start."  I smiled.  Yeah, we've seen it before, and having Rapp and Pascal here makes this particular tour extra-special.  Here were the voices that I'd been hearing every time I play the CD set.  Here were the voice inflections that I would mimic every time I speak or sing along.  OMG, it was AWESOME. 

The entire cast was fantastic, the audience "mooed" where they were supposed to, and the show was as amazing to me as it was the first time I saw it at the Ahmanson.  Maureen was outrageous: Nicollete Hart did a great job during "Over the Moon," although I really didn't NEED to see her jeans fallling down half the time in the "La Vie Boheme" segment.  Lexi Lawson was great as Mimi: great voice, great dancing.  The aforementioned Justin Johnston was fabulous as Angel, and I'm glad that I can watch his performance again whenever I can on the DVD.  I really liked Haneefah Wood as Joanne.  Her "Tango: Maureen" with Anthony Rapp was wonderfully hilarious and well done.  I also really liked Telly Leung's voice.  He played "man with squeegee," and I really loved the way that he started the song "Will I?" before the rest of the company joined in.  Gwen Stewart, who played "woman with bags" was from the original cast, and now that I know that, I realize that her voice WAS familiar.  ;)  Adam and Anthony?  Well, DUH!  They were awesome.  I loved them.  The commanded the stage, which is not easy considering that this cast was already comprised of great talent.  I love the passion that they and the rest of the cast bring to their performances.  Even 13 years after the show opened on Broadway, these two guys bring forth everything that I imagine Jonathan Larson hoped that this show would be.  I wish (along with many in the theater community) wish that he could have seen what a following this show has created.

Liz and I had a great time.  We each bought the DVD from the closing night screening.  I don't know when I'll be able to watch that, but I do know that at this moment, I don't ever really want to see it live again.  Because, really.  What could possibly top this?  The entire original cast?  Hmmm...okay!  Sign me up!

RENT:  The Broadway Tour is scheduled for a nationwide tour through September 2, 2009.  If you're a RENT fan, this is not to be missed.

Sweeney Todd at the Lewis Family Playhouse

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Pella Posse members Wendy and Jeff kindly got tickets for me and Linda to see Sweeney Todd at famed Pella venue Lewis Family Playhouse in Rrrrancho Cucamonga.

We went to the matinee show, and the theater was quite full.  It's really nice to see that the arts are still being supported by the community, even in these tough economic times.

I had only seen the movie version of this show, and I'm sure that many people in the audience probably had the same exposure to ST as I did.  Linda, though, has known this play for a long time, and this is her favorite Sondheim musical.  

I enjoyed this rendition of Sweeney Todd.  I was told by one of the cast members that different shows have their ways of showing the bloodletting, ranging from red lights to actual liquid being shown on the stage.  This rendition was of the latter.  The special effects were actually quite well done.  The set was mostly comprised of a rotating portion of the stage, which was pushed by different members of the cast.  This rotating portion was Mrs. Lovett's shop on one side, with the inside of her house on another side, and the basement on another side.  The stairs up to the barbershop were on the 4th side.  Since the barbershop is meant to be upstairs, it was actually on top of the cube.  I wondered how all of the people felt sliding down from the chair into the chute.  The oven made me giggle.  I told Linda that it looked like Domo.  It was a big brown box, and the top vents were triangle shaped, and were positioned so they looked like evil eyes.  

The costumes were well done, although the lace penifore under one of the dresses started to unravel during the opening number, and cast members tried to help pick it up or at least try not to trip over it.  I was worried about that for a bit, but they did fine.

The cast did a great job of conveying the difficult music.  They had the advantage of having a live orchestra, wherein many of the performers played different instruments at whatever part of the show they were needed.  I think that live orchestras bring forth much more from the performers, as they can play with the style a little more, and this orchestra did not disappoint me.  

Sweeney Todd was played by John LaLonde.  With his first note, I had no doubt that he could carry this cast.  It was a nice, big, booming voice, and he handled his role quite well.  Linda and I were sitting in the front row, so we could really see the stage makeup on everyone, so it took me awhile to get past the CHEEKBONES that were on his face.  Hmmm...maybe that's the influence from Johnny Depp there.  Or maybe Depp was cast for his cheekbones.  Whatever.  Mr. LaLonde was great throughout, and I really liked the one smile he gave when he finally understood what Mrs. Lovett was talking about when she sang about the disposal of Pirelli's body.

Debbie Prutsman played Mrs. Lovett, and she was a riot.  When I saw that she has also played Mrs. Thenardier from my favorite musical, Les Miserables, I knew that she must have been a perfect fit for that role.  She was outrageous, had a great voice, and I just loved watching her every time she was on stage.

The rest of the cast did a good job, and I liked Jonathan Hawkins' voice.  He played Anthony, and I love the song "Johanna," so I'm glad he did well.  Another standout was Nathan Monks, as Beatle Bamford.  The only voice that I didn't really care for was that of Johanna, played by Jamie Hartmann.  I'm sorry, Jamie.  The voice was too shrill for me, and I wanted to hear the lilting melody of what I call "The Bird Song," but is actually called "Green Finch and Linnet Bird."  I prefer a floating soprano in that part.

My favorite performer, though, was Gary Ablard, who played Pirelli.  I'm biased anyway, because Gary also works at the theater and was the guy that was going to help me with my Pella Goody Bags.  He was very nice to me, and was actually the one that got me excited about seeing this show.  But really, he did a great job.  He was hilarious, his voice was great, and I wished that he could have been on stage longer.  Isn't that one of the big goals of a performer?  Leaving the audience wanting more of you?  He was clearly one of the crowd favorites, so it wasn't just me.  Maybe we're all biased. ;)  I didn't get a chance to talk to him after the show, but hope to see him in June so that I can tell him at that time how much I enjoyed his performance.

Overall, we enjoyed the show, and I was glad that we were able to go, thanks to Wendy and Jeff!

Here's a pic of me outside the theater.  I had never seen this sculpture there before, but I'm thinking of taking one every time we're there, just to show off different Pella outfits.  "Shakespeare, my dear, I taught him how..."  Name that Rockapella song!

A Day in Tempe 2/11/09-2/12/09

I had a free flight that I needed to use before February 15, so I decided to celebrate Lincoln's birthday by going to the Bro's place in Tempe, AZ.  

I flew out to Phoenix after work, and realized that I was going to be leaving AZ right before NBA All-Star weekend.  I looked around to see if I could spot any NBA players and such, but didn't see anyone I knew.  I saw some tall guys, but I don't think that was any of them. 

Bro, V and Brady picked me up in the designated area, and we were all perplexed by the stupid airport vehicles that were situated in places that made it inconvenient for people to actually be picked up.  I guess they were trying to prevent traffic jams, but it was actually just lame.  I was hungry and was craving McD's Sweet Tea, and Bro was happy to oblige, addicted as he is to the cold version of Liquid Crack.  So he got, I think, 6 of them.  We laughed when the gal paused when she heard our order of one value meal plus 6 teas.  

As I ate my dinner, Brady played Uno with Bro before getting ready for bed.  They had sweetly designated that night as Tita Sherry Reads to Brady night, so I read about 3 books to him, including a hippo Boynton book.  Brady seemed to enjoy my animated readings, and cuddled up next to me.  It was utter cuteness.  After Brady went to sleep, we watched that night's episode of "Lost" and laughed at tons of stories, including my mom's coupon story at Lowe's.  OK, I'm giggling again.  As did V half an hour later when she had already gone to bed, she told me the next day.

In the morning, Brady and V got ready to go to school, and I showed him the Lincoln sticker book that I had brought him from DC.  He already knows Lincoln from all of the pennies he collects, but I wanted to show him where I had gone.  Brady's pre-school is on the campus at ASU, where V works, so Bro drove them to work as I got ready.  

When Bro returned, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, because I was really craving their pancakes.  I didn't even care that I wasn't that hungry.  I wanted CB pancakes.  Bro informed me that he didn't really like pancakes.  I didn't understand this at all, and suggested that he try CB's, just to see if he, indeed, disliked even the best pancakes I've ever tasted.  We shared my huge breakfast plate and he ordered some baked apples for himself as well.  The pancakes came to the table, and I was happy.  And so was Bro!!!  Yay!  I got him to like pancakes again!  Now, if only I could get him to like Filipino food without tricking him, that would be an accomplishment.

We went to ASU, since V only had a meeting and actually wasn't supposed to be working because it was her furlough day.  Yes, ASU is having furloughs, too.  Sucks.  Anyway, we met up with her at her cool new office, and she showed me her lab.  The guys in there were just about ready to go to lunch, and after they left, she shared with us the fact that a couple of drawers had misspelled labels, like "Plyers."  It had been bugging her, but she didn't have the heart to tell them after they were so excited to get the lab organized.  So we hurriedly made new labels and were only able to place one of them on there before we heard them returning.  It was just pure comedy with us trying to quickly put everything away, and trying to hide remnants of labels in our pockets.  I realized that the scissors still had label backing attached to them, and sneaked over to take that off, too, in order to hide all evidence.  It was difficult to stifle our giggling at the silliness of the situation, too.  So V ended up putting the other correct label in her pocket and changed it at another time.  

We walked to the student store and I got a cute ASU top.  We walked to the main boulevard by the university, and ate at Ra Sushi.  I ordered a Bruce Lee-Chee cocktail, hoping to get the taste of the Lychee Liqueur that my friends and I enjoy, but there was too much gin in the drink and I just ended up getting dizzy instead.  V enjoyed her drink, The Grape Escape, which I would like to have when I return there.  It was yummy.  Bro liked his Okinawa Iced Tea, but The Grape Escape won.  Bro and I ordered sushi while V had a combo of salad and CA roll.  Look at the cute bowl that it came on/in!

We had the Fried Banana with Kahlua for dessert, and polished that off rather quickly, as the server noticed and laughed because she hadn't been gone that long before she came back to an empty plate.  Bananas.  Kahlua.  Yum.

After lunch, we walked around, passed by the old Flour Mill, and went to the dry Splash Zone.  Brady, of course, loves the place when the water is flowing.  Bro wanted us to walk up to the big Yellow A on the hill, but I vetoed that hike because I wasn't really feeling all that well that day, which kind of pissed me off, because I wanted to really enjoy the day.  I did, but I would have been happier if there were no ailments.  We returned to the campus and watched Brady awhile from the one-way mirror before picking him up.  He wasn't feeling all that social with the kids that day, but we were told that it was because they were playing with Play-Doh and he's not that fond of the stuff.  He happily held my hand as we walked back to V's office to get our stuff.  We were surprised to see one of V's co-workers step out of the elevator with his family.  His little boy hangs out with Brady, so it was cool that they saw each other.

When we returned home, V and Brady killed me in UNO.  Brady is very good at memorizing his cards (he loves the game Concentration), so he doesn't need to hold them in his hands.  He places them face down on the table.  I also got to watch him dance to one of his favorite songs.

We had some dinner, and thought that Brady was going to stay home with one of his parents while the other one brought me to the airport.  He asked his dad where I was going, and why.  Uh-oh.  I had even kissed and hugged him goodbye.  But he decided at that moment that he was coming to the airport, too.  He had been very tired at this point, but we didn't want to argue, so we all got in the car and took the short trip to PHX.  

When we got there, I hugged Bro and V, and then Bro asked me, "Did you kiss Brady?"  I said that I said goodbye before I got out of the car, and had hugged him back at the apartment.  He whispered to me, "He's crying."  Awww....there he was, silent, a single tear rolling down his cheek.  My heart broke, but I didn't want him (or me) to completely lose it, so I gave him another kiss goodbye and we said our "I love you"s.  So I quickly walked into the airport to avoid crying, which I ended up doing anyway when I sat down and thought about it.

It was a nice day, and I'm glad that I put that free flight to good use.  Thanks, Southwest!!! Thanks, Bro, V, and Brady, for your ever-enjoyable hospitality!