My Birthday

For the first time since I have known him, my sweet husband pulled off a birthday surprise for me. He bought tickets to Sarah McLachlan and told me about it hours before the concert started. We had a romantic evening last night with no kids and amazing music.

Spontaneity really doesn't come easily to John so I was so impressed that he was able to pull it off babysitter and all so that I could have a romantic night out for my birthday and Valentine's Day. (It better be both because we spent a small fortune)

Sarah is amazing. It was at the Comerica Theatre which used to be called Dodge theatre which is an amazing venue (yes, this is where I attended a concert in a wheelchair to get front row seats for a Coldplay concert. I will have to tell that story one day)

Other than the Chatty Drunk Lesbians in front of us who "whispered" i.e. shouted into one another's ear the entire time to the point that it was hard to hear the music, it was an incredible musical feast. Sarah did a lot of her old favorites and deep cuts that I thought I was the only one that loved them, and she answered questions from the audience which made it really intimate and entertaining. Her voice is absolutely flawless. She sounds every bit as good live as she does on the albums. Few artists can really pull that off. I have seen her in concert many times back in the day before I had kids. Sarah took a ten year hiatus to be a mom too so it really felt like connecting with an old friend. She is very authentic on stage and her songs are so relevant and powerful. She has one of those voices that just instantly soothes. John loves her too so we both had a great time. Whenever I see live music like that I think "I gotta do this more often" It made me feel like Staci. Not mom, or wifey, or Sister Kramer…Staci. I think "Oh yeah, I forgot that I love music. Oh yeah, I'm fun! I'm an individual outside of all of the roles I fill at home." Not that I don't love filling those roles, but it is easy to get out of touch with who I am as a person. For that reason John's gift to me was genius. He even leaned forward and asked those drunk lesbians to shut up during my favorite song.

One of my favorite moments of the night was signing up for a program called World Vision. It is one of those programs where you sponsor a child living in poverty. They had a table set up at the concert with all of the available kids for sponsor. It was heartbreaking. I of course saw the face of Jack or Abe in every one of them and I couldn't imagine one of them getting their picture taken and then waiting for word that they had been selected. I plan on corresponding with the child so I was looking for one that is Jack's age so that he will get into it. I was scanning for a boy born in 2004 and then I found Nara. He is a Cambodian boy born in 2004 and his birthday is today. Of course I felt a connection to him since we share a birthday and I thought it would be a lovely birthday present for both of us. I cried when I thought of him finding out he had been sponsored. He is so cute. There is a picture and a little profile about the kid's situation and personality. His parents are farmers and he has tons of siblings and his favorite thing is spelling. I love him already.