The Perfect 24 Hours

State College is a great place to live.  Really, it's been ideal to raise our kids--good schools, safe neighborhoods.  However, my art-loving spirit has had a hard time finding anything very inspiring there, and as a consequence, I'm always traveling other places to feed my soul.

I thought that I would be able to stay put for most of the month of December.  It's a busy month for a family of musicians, and yet, on one of my trips to Ann Arbor, I noticed a flyer up for The Kings Singers, and I saw that they would be coming to Hill Auditorium on the second weekend of December.

I seriously put it out of my mind a million times.  A six hour drive there just to see a two hour concert, and then a six hour drive back through the night because I had a Gospel Doctrine lesson to teach the following day?  Was I crazy?

Four days before, I texted Rebecca and Beth (John's sister), and asked if they would like to make a girls' night out of it all.  Thankfully, they were on board and actually excited about it.

I could hardly believe it as I packed the car, thinking how crazy it was that I was driving so far.  If I hadn't already bought the tickets, I probably would have just stayed home.

And what a loss that would have been!

As soon as I got there, Ethan, Rebecca, Baby and I headed to Smokehouse 52 for dinner.  Delicious.

Then Ethan and I walked around the streets of Chelsea for a few minutes, and drove by the hospital there.  It's all so new and nice and perfect.

Then Ethan and I met up with Mark, and we needed to run out for milk and mouthwash.  Turns out, there's a CVS down the road from their apartment in Ypsilanti.  I sent them in with $20, and they returned with 0.43.  Give some boys a Jackson, and they'll return with Pokemon cards :-)

We then had a fun night of playing games.  Goodness, I miss playing games with the boys.

The next morning, Mark and I drove to Northville to meet Allison for breakfast at a delightful, local place called Rebecca's.  Allison was running a few minutes late, but there was a line for the ten odd tables, so Mark and I began recalling all of the embarrassing, crazy moments we've had as musicians.  There's nothing like talking shop with my boy.  It always makes me happy.

Then, in a beautiful moment, Allison walked in and all seemed right with the world.  I do believe it's the first time I've been with just Mark and her (and no gaggle of other Kennedys).  Sitting across from them, it hit me full boar:  they are just perfect for each other.  Their cute glances at each other, the way they hold each other or playfully interact, it's just the best thing to see.  It was relaxed and charming and a great way to spend breakfast.

Then, in a huge turn of events, somebody actually did something for me.  Allison pulled out the most delightful box of a Christmas gift.  Supposedly it's for John and me, but c'mon, when it's filled with all things good from Michigan, we all know who it's really for!  But the best part?  My actual, personal gift:  a red t-shirt with the words emblazoned: It's called POP, not SODA.

At the moment, I couldn't stop smiling and feeling incredibly happy about the gift, but at this moment, I'm extremely touched by their thoughtfulness and generosity.  Even though it was from both of them, it had Allison written all over it.

And to be honest, not a lot of people do many things for me.  I'm usually the one doing the giving, and the paying, and the buying, and the sacrificing, and it gets tiring after a while.  But to stand in the parking lot of Rebecca's diner, and to be given a completely unexpected gift that was perfect for me, was so generous.  I'm still rather overwhelmed by it all.

Anyway, Mark and I had an appointment, so we bade Allison a quick farewell.

Turns out, Allison had given Mark a gift certificate for a massage at a massage studio in Northville for his birthday back in June.   Knowing that my boy would never find the time to schedule that massage on his own, I did it for him.  And as a bonus?  They had time for me too :-)

And afterwards, Mark and I had time to drive around Ann Arbor, doing some Christmas shopping, followed by an hour long nap back at his apartment.  Such a great way to spend an afternoon in my opinion!

Finally, the moment had arrived for the whole reason I was in Ann Arbor:  The Kings Singers concert!  I picked up Rebecca, and then picked up Beth, and we were off!  First dinner at The Blue Tractor in Ann Arbor, and then we hoofed it over to the concert.

I miss having friends.  Good friends.  That's another thing State College hasn't given me.  It was so nice to go out as women and to talk and laugh and share our thoughts and feelings with each other.  It filled my tank.

We then walked a couple of blocks to the concert.  I wasn't honestly sure what Beth would think about it all.  She hasn't been exposed to much culture throughout her life, and she doesn't have the money to spend on experiences like this.  But after the first song, she turned to us and said, "Those men must have been the angels who announced Christ's birth."

I knew it was going to be a wonderful evening.

And it was.

It was everything I expected.  The voices, the songs, the happiness.  For me, it's one of those moments when I can just forget the world and feed my soul.  And as usual, I can't really describe the experience in words.

Afterwards, we had the opportunity to meet all of the men, and it was the funniest part of the weekend.  Seeing how nervous Beth was to meet them made me laugh!  Too, I had to snap a couple of pictures for Hannie of her six future husbands :-). Beth even got a kiss from one of them #luckywoman

I didn't want it all to end, but a Gospel Doctrine lesson was waiting for me in twelve hours, and little did I know, but a snow storm was moving through.  It was a harrowing seven hours, driving through the night in the snow, but my memories of a perfect weekend kept me sane and happy.