Q: What's a girl to do??? A: Shake her booty!!!

I am so glad it is Friday!  Getting back to work this week was good, but my sleep was all messed up.  I finally got a good night's sleep last night... a good night's sleep that extended into the morning... later than it should have... Mental note... when setting alarm for 5:45... ensure that it says a.m. otherwise you may roll over and wake up and think to yourself, "Wow... I feel good, surprised the alarm hasn't gone off yet..." then glance at the alarm clock that reads.  6:47 a.m.!!! Oh yeah... Nothing like a panicked feeling to get your butt out of bed in the morning!   Oh well... I rushed around and was quite proud of myself for remembering to pack my clothes for the gym and yes, got to school on time! The day went well.. had a few laughs including one that was the kind that had me crying.. because a kid had told me that the Maine state bird is the chicken!  Now.. in the kids defense... she has some processing deficits and... our state bird is the chickadee... so... I can see where she came up with chicken.. but in that moment it struck me so funny.. picturing a license plate with a chicken on it... oh man... good times... then after work I turned down the Friday gathering at the local watering hole with my coworkers and opted instead to hit the gym... This was the 7th day in a row for me of being active for at least 30 minutes.  (Including last night where It took me an hour and a half to walk 30 minutes on my treadmill... story later...maybe!)  So I came home and sat on my couch and was quite content.. then I checked my email... and had a couple of pics from Michael who was seizing the day, going skiing, something he loves.  And I thought of recent exchanges with him and with an online chat with Jill last night... both have encouraged me to enjoy things... do more things for me, just because I enjoy them... to 'branch out' in Jill's words.  (Had to mention Jill more than once so her ego does not suffer from feeling slighted, especially since I mentioned Michael... oh no that's twice for both names.. Jill Jill Jill Jill Jill...)
So... with those two in my head I thought to myself.. Hmm.. it's Friday.. what should I do.. I thought about calling some friends..but kind of didn't want to be responsible for maintaining a lot of conversation.. but wanted to be out... and remembered it was Friday... which means the Art museum was free tonight.  So I thought I would go in to Portland and enjoy the museum and maybe grab a bite to eat at a new place.  As a last minute preparation I had looked online to see if there was anything special happening in Portland.  I checked a webpage I check once in a while of a place that brings a lot of cool and upcoming acts to town... and there was a picture of a woman and the description said she had a baritone/bass voice.. Hmm... piqued my interest... and made a mental note that her show began at 8:00 and tickets seemed to still be available.  But I figured I would focus on the museum and dinner...
I drove into Portland and quickly realized it was the First Friday.... meaning there are lots of people out and about...many local galleries are open and serve wine and snacks... and I was excited, the energy on First Fridays is incredible.  I decided somewhere along the way that I wanted to go to the singer thing... feeling like a little music...So I drove around for a bit trying to find a place to park that would be close to the performance space, thinking of safety for after the show... but also wanted to be close enough to other parts of town to get some food.  Eventually I found a lot that cost $5 but it was a good spot and well lit.  (Yes, Dad, I do try to be aware of such things!)
I felt all cute, bundled up for winter... wore a sweater with a down vest over it with a pretty aqua scarf fixed in a pretty cool way... and my new winter boots...which were very nice and warm and have good treads by the way!  I walked around a bit, people watching and checking out some of the restaurants... and saw one I had been by before but had never been to.  It's a little Mexican place, so I knew I could get something fairly healthy if I ordered right and went in.
Remember that Seinfeld episode where George does the opposite of what he would normally do? Well... the host asked me if I wanted a table, a booth, or if I wanted to sit at the bar... normally I would have asked for a booth, but.. decided to sit at the bar and have dinner.  The bar was empty except for the bartender, a waitress sitting and reading the paper and one of their apparent 'regulars.'  A few other people came while I was there... I had a good meal... not good enough to bring me back to that place for their food mind you, but good enough for having a night out solo... So time had passed and after dinner it was 7:30... so decision needed to be made.. the singer or the museum.. I couldn't do both.  I opted for the music.. and maybe the museum will be next week's activity... maybe... I got to the performance space at the right time... and as it turned out, right in front of me was a former colleague, Steve.  Steve was a student teacher during my first year of teaching in this district.  He was GREAT with the kids, so creative and got kids motivated.  I said hello to him.  He was there with one of his coworkers and that man's wife.  We struck up a conversation as we walked into the stage area and I began to sit down.  Steve asked if I was waiting for someone else (kind of nice that he didn't assume I was solo even though I was...) and when I said that I was flying solo he asked me to sit with them, which was nice.  We were able to catch up.  Steve is adorable.  (And for the record the only Steve I have ever known who I like... that does not include Stephens by the way...) I admit that I had a crush on him back in the day.. he is older than me... probably 8 years or so... and he is this little, compact, fit athletic man... with amazing eyes... he is just so cute!  And his passion for his work with kids makes him even more attractive.  When I knew him before, he was recently divorced.. He's a sweet heart.  It was really nice to see him.  He left the show at intermission, saying he was pretty tired, he has been travelling back and forth to his hometown taking care of his sick father.  (My heart went out to him.)

So... the show started... and it was cool.  I really had no idea what to expect... Steve's friend had said it was a blues type style, which I thought would be fun... but blues doesn't really describe it... I would say SOUL... soul music... with some blues and some gospel style to it... let me tell you, there were a couple of songs that made me feel like I was in a church, the kind of church I wish we had here... I would go... and sing!!!  This woman, Alexis P. Suter, was wonderful.  Her voice is very low and unique.  I loved it.  Her energy started out a little slow.. but by the end, man... everyone was up on their feet and dancing.  One of her songs was called the hip shake... so you all know I shook what my momma gave me!  Check out this video, click here, to get an idea of her style.

She had a lot of interesting things to say between songs too.. she said that the ultimate expression of love is a smile... that when you walk down the street and you smile to a stranger it's because of the love of mankind, the love of one another...and said that your smile may save someone's life.. if you see someone walking down the street.. maybe they are on their way home to harm themselves...and perhaps your smile gives them hope and strength enough to make it one more day... food for thought for sure...

Well, she sure did make me smile... And... for the first time in a long time... I was out, by myself, and really smiling... I felt free as I was dancing like a crazy lady in the middle of a room full of strangers... except Steve's friends who were also dancing fools!  I felt free and joyful... I loved it!

Of course there are things that I will think about... the lovely lessons of branching out... I used to be much better at that...at just going out by myself and seeing what there was out there to do that I would enjoy... I had gotten away from that... I think partly because some of the people I have gone out with  recently are people who suck my energy.. and I feel like I have to lead and maintain the conversations and manage their negative emotions.... I have started not going out because of not wanting to manage other people's behavior and energy... so... that tells me I need to be doing things...with different people... or solo... I have missed that time and fun....and need to go back... I thought tonight, on my way home, of another show I saw at that same venue several years ago... I was still living with  a man I had just broken up with and needed to get out of the house.  It gave me a similar feeling as I had tonight, free and empowered... that show, was a hip hop dance crew here from Philadelphia I think... and one of the girls in the crew was not a typical dancer.. she had a plus size body and was an amazing dancer... aaaamazing!  I left that night thinking that I could do anything and for that night, on my drive home .. I was a bad ass hip hop dancer... dancing in my truck had never, before or since,  been so animated.

I also find it interesting that I took a chance on going to this show... I had no idea about what it would be... and it was an amazing surprise!  Perhaps there are other areas in life that I need to approach and just let it unfold...

This booty shaker needs to hit the hay... meeting a friend to go to the gym in the morning... oh yeah... gotta share the treadmill story.... but not tonight.. I need to sleep.

Thanks to Jill and Michael for their encouragement and inspiration.