The Big 3-0

I officially have three decades under my belt - not literally of course.  Ask me in another decade or two and there may be more under that belt than I'd like to admit.  But I'm not gonna get ahead of myself.  I have the glorious thirties to look forward to - ah!  The thirties are the new twenties, right?

Robert swept me away to North Carolina for my birthday weekend.  As I was nodding off to sleep Friday night he shakes me and says, "Go pack a bag.  We're leaving at 7:30 in the morning."  At that exact moment I realized that I'm definitely not the person I was five years ago.  That person would've said, "Awesome!  Let's just go ahead and leave right now!"  Instead, I began having an anxiety attack.  I thought to myself...well, what about Evan?  I don't have anything packed for him.  His clothes aren't even washed.  I don't have any snacks to take with me on the road.  And how long will we be on the road anyway?  What is the weather supposed to be like?  Is there gas in my car?  Do I need to take a shower tonight or tomorrow morning?...and the thoughts kept rapidly coming.  It was exhausting.  Robert told me to chill out and promised me everything was under control.  hmmm?

I pretty much figured out that we were heading to North Carolina.  So at least I was able to pack without being completely in the dark.  I also assumed Evan would be staying with my parents so that put my mind at ease too.  I was finally beginning to accept this act of spontaneity until Robert informs me that we are behind schedule and that I would need to drive since I'm guilty of putting the pedal to the metal.  Again, anxiety took over.  Punctuality is one thing that Robert and I do not see eye to eye on.  I MUST be on time - Robert on the other hand - well, he just takes his sweet time.  His infamous line is, "we'll make it."  It doesn't matter if we have to go 90 mph down the highway or park in short-term parking at the airport - one way or another, we'll make it.  Let's just say the drive to North Carolina was not a relaxing one.  But once we arrived in Durham all of that quickly changed.

We started off at the University Club where our friends, Jessica and Kelly, work.  We stepped off of the elevator and as I scanned the lobby I see my friend, Sarah, briskly walking by.  I call out her name and she not so elegantly darted behind a potted tree.  After a few seconds I think she realized I blew her cover.  It was a fabulous surprise to have her there to start off the night.  We were seated at our table where Sarah's husband, Dan, was also waiting.  Being that we were behind schedule, we were only able to throw back a quick appetizer and a glass of wine.  Robert was whisking me off somewhere else for another birthday surprise.  Dan and Sarah agreed to meet up with us later.

We got in the car, which I was starting to grow a dislike for and drove for another 15-20 minutes.  We approached a beautiful glass building new to Downtown Durham.  With Performing Arts Center written boldly across the building I now knew we were seeing some sort of production.  And to my very pleasant surprise Robert purchased tickets for The Phantom of the Opera.  I LOVE this musical! Something comes over me when I hear the music from this production.  I knew this would be emotional for me.  Not only is the music phenomenal, but the soundtrack was a favorite of my brother, Jonathan.  We used to attempt to sing the duets - sounded miserable - but still loved to do it.  Needless to say, I cried through the entire performance.  Tears of both joy and sadness, but mostly joy.  The cast was FANTASTIC!  And Robert scored "the bomb" seats.  We were second row, dead center.

We ended our night with a visit to our old restaurant hangout where several of our good friends were waiting to greet us.  I coerced Dan and Sarah in to spending the night in Durham to spend more time with us.  I love y'all!  The whole night brought back great memories and created new ones.  This trip was well worth the anxiety - Thank you, babe, for being so thoughtful and making this trip seem so effortless on your part.  I know it took a lot to make this happen.  I love you.