Last weekend was the 19th Anniversary of my 29th Birthday!!!
I had a fun filled weekend!
Festivities started on Friday night when Huck took me to The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner. Despite looking at the menu for 30 minutes, I wound up with the salmon, as usual. Huck quickly decided that he wanted the calamari appetizer, but given it is covered in gluten-laden breading, he had the whole plate to himself.. When they sat the plate in front of us, he gasps
"Oh No! GLUTEN!'
Bless him, he is learning.
He selected some sort of pasta dish with chicken as his entre.
After several failed attempts to get a decent selfie, we asked our waiter to take one.
We were so full after dinner that we both had to pass on their trademark cheesecake.
After dinner we strolled among the shops and peered in windows. Afterward we went back to Huck's to watch a movie, but wound up watching several episodes of "Botched," a plastic surgery reality show that he had on his DVR.
Saturday was the day I had been eagerly anticipating since somewhere around March.
The Tesla, Styx, Def Leppard concert!
A little birthday present to myself.
Originally I was to go with the Divine Miss K, but at the last minute she suggested that I take Huck instead.
The weather forecast for the week was sunny all the way up until Saturday, at which point there was a 50 percent chance of rain. It jumped around the forecast all week, first all day, then half the day, finally settling on the morning. It briefly rained in Moody Saturday morning and I thought that we were done. But I packed my 99 cent rain ponchos from Walmart, just in case.
We made our way to Pelham early to beat the traffic and found a great parking spot. We strolled over to the venue, hand and hand.
We chatted about things people were wearing, and queued up in the first line we came to at the entrance. This is where security checked bags and patted down the concert goers. The ticket scanners were just beyond that.
We were so distracted by our own conversation, that I did not notice the personnel checking bags, until it was too late. I had been so excited that I had not given it any thought before now. Before I knew it, I was face to face with the woman my husband left me for just over a year ago.
The Homewrecker.
Close enough to slap her.
As she checked Huck, I had a little time to get a good look at her. She looked far worse in person than the pictures I had been shown. She was overweight, short, dumpy, built more like a man than a woman. She was somewhat unkempt, with her stringy. multi-colored, hair pulled up in ponytail. She was covered in tattoos, crudely drawn and fading. She had no make up on her masculine face. Her smile revealed a mouth full of crooked, yellow teeth. She was sweaty, from standing out in the heat, I'm sure.
The thought that the man I had called my husband had been attracted to this ....person... was not only a mystery, but a miracle on her part. She was not attractive in any sense of the word. One could barely discern that she was female. He had always preferred pretty, shapely girls, who knew how to take care of themselves. I doubt this person had even had a bath.
But as Julz's daddy was always fond of saying, if you turned us upside down, all women were the same.
I braced myself for the worst, but took a deep breath and presented my bag to her for inspection. I don't know what I expected to happen. My face grew hot.
. I said that all I had in it was my lipstick and my i.d. She leaned in close and looked into my Coach bag. In my other hand, I held the rain ponchos, to which I drew attention. She chuckled said that I might have to use them at some point that evening.
She looked me dead in the face and smiled. She never gave any indication that she knew who I was.
On the other side of the gate, Huck asked if I was okay. I asked why he had asked and he said that my face was very red. I did not tell him what had just happened.
We quickly joined the line for souvenirs. I chose a black tee, that he purchased for me as a birthday present. We made our way to our seats, that were in the middle of the second row of the second section. Just in front of us was a large screen. Tesla was already on stage. I was surprised that I remembered so many of their songs.
Between sets, a dark cloud blew up. The atmosphere cooled considerably, making what was usually a muggy time of the year, very comfortable. We had gone to find a frozen lemonade stand, like the one that we passed on the way in, but there was not one on our side of the amphitheater.
We made our way to the other side and stood in line so long that Styx started before we could get back to our seats. It seems that the crowd had the same idea we did. With so many people moving around, a bottle neck soon formed in the walkway. It was at that time that I spotted D/H "guarding" the stage. Right where he had always wanted to be. So bad enough that he got his former best friend fired from this position two years prior.The distance was short and he was easily recognizable. He had not changed I am not certain that he saw me as I stood there at the top of the stairs, but his expression indicated that he very well may have. I know that he knew Def Leppard was my favorite band, so for him to be surprised to see me would have been stupid on his part. He started fumbling for his phone in his pockets. The bottle neck cleared and we moved on to our seats.
That was the very last that I thought of either of them.
The rain started just before the end of Styx's set. I handed Huck his poncho and pulled mine over my head. He tucked it into the pocket of his cargo shorts. Styx rocked the house. All those around us sang along with all their classic songs. The drizzle ended enough for me to take off my poncho.
The crew dried the stage and set up for Def Leppard. We chatted with those around us. The couple seated to our right knew Huck through his sister's husband. We chatted with them and the couple to our left. Huck pointed out all the mother/daughter attendees. They were easy to spot. The aging "rock vixens" with their progeny in tow.
When Def Leppard too the stage the sky had darkened and the drizzle started again. Joe Elliot mentioned not wanting to fall and have twenty thousand people put it on YouTube. I pulled my poncho back on. Huck offered his poncho to the young lady to our right, who took it appreciatively. The crowd sang along to the Def Leppard catalog. I completely forgot about taking pictures. Huck filmed a few songs and put them on Facebook.
A high point came when Joe Elliot donned an acoustic guitar and played "Sweet Home Alabama" The crown hooped and hollered in true Southern redneck fashion. He said, "Hey, we are in Alabama. What the %&&* am I supposed to do?"
The rain picked up considerably. People in front of us left. When it slacked off again there were less people on our row so we spread out a little. Luckily I dropped a pony tail holder in my bag. I slicked my wet hair back to get it off my neck.
On the other side of the couple to our left, a severely drunk woman was getting rather rowdy. She was rubbing all over the woman in front of her, who promptly left. The drunk woman's male counterpart forcibly sat her in her seat, where she moaned and carried on for the remainder of the concert.
We managed to get this picture before we left. I posted it to my Facebook wall. Nearly all of my friends commented on how happy I looked. Finally.
As we walked out the gate that we entered, we decided to eat a late dinner in Hooter's. We were seated and it was immediately apparent that we were not the only concert-goer's with a hankering for hot wings. The place was soon packed. Our waitress, a young brunette, also celebrating her birthday. She was wearing the traditional black uniform with a tiara and a banner that read "Birthday Girl"
The sudden influx of customers seemed to overwhelm some of the staff. It took a while to get our food. Our waitress seemed to forget about us, and when our food finally came, she forgot Huck's fries. I had the chili cheese fries, which were very spicy. I had to get my own tea refill. Despite the service, Huck left a generous tip. "It's her birthday" he rationalized.
The traffic had cleared as we left the restaurant. We made it to the truck easily, again strolling hand in hand. .
"So what did you think of your birthday?" Huck asked, kissing the back of my hand.
The answer came easily.
"The Best One Yet"
