A Wicked night off

Way back in November when I attended the Silicon Valley Moms Blog holiday party I met the lovely PR rep for Wicked. Just meeting her would have been enough. I read Wicked way back when it was published and I've been dreaming of seeing the musical since it first hit Broadway. Getting to meet someone who works with the production was way cool. But we didn't just get to meet her. We also got vouchers for tickets to see the show.

SWOON.

Considering the fact that the party was back in November and that the tickets had to be redeemed before the middle of March, you'd think that someone who had been waiting for years to see this show would have gotten her act together, but there was the never ending rash, and the holidays, and work, and life, and so I didn't get around to it until last week.

I know! Madness.

Luckily it all worked out. We got tickets for Friday night, my beloved in-laws were available to watch the girls and even offered to take them overnight. Then at some point on Thursday night I realized that there was no reason for us to come home after the show. No sitter waiting for us. No kids needing our attention in the morning.

No reason not to jump on Orbitz and scout out hotels near the theater.

Which is how M and I found ourselves walking back leisurely towards the Westin after the show instead of jumping into the car to drive an hour home. We were able to chat about the show, about the set, the music, the story. We took in San Francisco at night, something we'd never seen together. And then we slept like babies in the Westin's Heavenly beds.

Wicked was great. Not the best musical we've ever seen, but great nonetheless.  All it was missing was some truly catchy tunes to take it to Les Miserables or Miss Saigon levels. The set was amazing, the actors were awesome, and the story is still as thought provoking as I remember it to be. I can completely see why people go see it multiple times. It's wonderful to have the reminder (in song no less) that first impressions can be wrong and that how people look doesn't dictate who they are inside. And there's always something heartwarming about seeing a good story about friendship that overcomes every obstacle. I do love a good friendship story.

We didn't have much time in the city the next morning. Just enough for a mediocre breakfast and a lovely walk around Union Square and Market Street. But it was enough. We felt rested and restored. Having just 17 hours to ourselves, away from home, was heaven.

Theater tickets or no we'll be heading to the city for more nights off. Because it was truly wicked as they say in Boston.

More and more the days are all happy

I walked out of work tonight and I realized that I was happy. Not just content, but truly happy.

It was a weird moment. Not because I'm a generally unhappy person. I'm not. I'm little miss Pollyanna. I always find a silver lining everywhere. But because for the longest time I left work sad, upset, or downright defeated. Work was just a means to an end: a paycheck. A painful, soul and dream crushing means to an end. (You think I'm exaggerating. I wish I was.)

Things are so different now it's hard to wrap my brain around it. Tonight I left work feeling fulfilled. It was a great day. I got a lot of work done and as I headed to my car I actually found myself humming. I turned up the car radio and I danced my way to daycare. I love my job. I love what I do. It's fun to work in a place where we deal in happiness and joy. I love putting my passion for social media to work.I love feeling heard and being encouraged to be creative. You wouldn't think those are extraordinary things, but to me they truly are.

I had forgotten what it was like to really believe in what you're doing. I had forgotten that it was possible to enjoy what you're doing when not working for yourself. But that's the beauty of my days. Not only am I working for an awesome company, promoting feel good products, but I'm also still working for myself, letting my writer's soul sing and grow.

So I hum and I dance my way through my really busy, but really fulfilling day. It's a good way to live.

A new home away from home

When I was four months pregnant with C I realized I'd have to do a little research to find a daycare. I started right away, combing the online listings for local home day cares, checking their credentials and licenses. Then I met someone who mentioned that their next door neighbor ran an in home day care that I should check out.

It was the first day care I visited. It was also the last.

As soon as I walked in I felt, well, at home. I watched the children play, listened to the caregivers tell me about their day, and I wanted to stay. I wanted to spend my days there. And I knew that this was the place my baby would go when I went back to work.

When I was researching preschools I looked for a place that gave me that same feeling. The school we started at was convenient and good, but I just didn't have that "we're home" feel to it. When I toured the school C is at now I instantly felt it. I followed the director through the classrooms, listened to her rave about her teachers and students, and I wanted to spend the whole day there. Again, I knew that this would be the place C would go.

When I started out looking for a Kindergarten, that's what I looked for. I'd been spoiled and I wanted a place that C could call her second home. I wanted her to feel nurtured and loved as well as get a good education.

I didn't realize that that might be too much to ask for, so after weeks and weeks of searching for that perfect Kindergarten and finding nothing that came even close I had almost given up. I was starting to think that you just don't get to feel at home in elementary school. It's school. I assumed I'd just have to focus on good academics, good class size, decent arts programs and hope that she'd be happy enough.

But today I found it.

The perfect school. The "I feel at home here" school.

It's a tiny school. Doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside it's just perfect. I adored the director, loved the teachers I met, and wanted to come spend my days in the classrooms. It's exactly the place I'd want to go to school.

And if all goes well it's where C will go starting in the fall.

There are no words to express the relief of not having to settle for "good enough," of being able to stop looking. We've found C's next home away from home.

Playing catch up

Between our endless (and so far fruitless) Kindergarten search and a couple new ventures in the pipeline I've spent the last two days rushing around and not doing so much writing or editing.

I've been going to Starbucks as usual, but I've been focusing my attention away from my novel. It calls to me when I open my computer, mocks me from the "recently opened" documents tab, toys with my brain as I get through a to do list that seems to grow rather than shrink.

The good news is that my last Kindergarten tour is taking place in the morning and that I'm in a good place with most of my side ventures.


Tomorrow after my tour ends I'll be heading for my favorite table, cracking open the laptop, ignoring the undone things on my to do list and letting myself finally focus on my book.

If you hear a sudden breeze, don't worry. It'll just be me sighing in relief.