A Night of Firsts

Saturday night was the first time I’ve ever hired a babysitter.  Sure, we’ve had family members watch the little ones a couple of times so that Jason and I could go to a retirement party or Christmas party, but tonight was the first time I’ve ever paid someone to watch them so we could go on a real date.   I finally found someone that I totally trusted that I knew the kids would love.  If you look back to Sydney’s ballet pictures from this summer, you’ll see Lynsey.  They were having so much fun as soon as she got to our house that they hardly had a minute to tell me good-bye. I’m sure in times past, I would have been sad about that, but I guess I’m maturing a little. I was just so happy that they were happy.

Another first.. I got to ride in a limo.  I’m sure most of you have already had that experience by now, but not me.  Not at my prom, not at my wedding, nada, nothing. Finally, we had an occasion. It was our friend Brad’s 40th birthday.  His wife, Kristi, pulled it all together with the help of friends and totally surprised him.  At the last minute, she thought he might even be suspecting something, so she told him that they were going to have dinner with Jason and I, but that I had gotten sick at the last minute (which wasn’t a lie… I’ve been sick for several days now). So, he was bummed out and we were still scheming.  We all met up at their neighbors house to pile into the limousine before picking up the birthday boy.

And where were we going?  So happy you asked.  We went on the Royal Argosy Mystery Cruise up in Seattle. I had an awesome time.  The food was really good.  We had my favorite salad (greens, walnuts, apples and feta cheese), steak skewer, prawns over rice and cheesecake for dessert.

Here’s the best picture I took all night. Totally in focus and just how I wanted.  It was an absolutely gorgeous night in Seattle.
 We had several people in our party participate in the activities on the boat.  Well, Brad may have been an unwilling participant, but whatever…. we sent in information about him so that he could be a suspect in the “murder” mystery. And, in the end, Brad was found guilty… along with his mistress, Marilyn Merlot!
 Somehow, I got picked to audition for the part of a pirate in an upcoming show, so I had to walk down the middle of the dining room, dragging my wooden leg, wearing my pirate hat, and say “You haven’t seen the last of Captain J.P. Eye Patches… Arrrrrrr”.  Well, my friends say I was the best, but of course they’re a little biased. : )  That’s what good friends say, right?
 At the end of the show, everyone was asked to come up with creative solutions about who the murderer was and what was their motive.  Jason and Dottie both won for their creative ideas and got little hand-cuff key chains. 

Here are a few more of my favorite pics from the evening. (you’ll see that Marilyn was quite the picture hog!)  I took more bad pictures than good, but I’m starting to notice that I say that a lot.

I wanted a really good picture of the Seattle skyline, since the weather was so crisp and clear.  However, the boat was rocking just a tad too much for me to keep my camera still, so this is what you get.  I’ll just call it “artistic” and say I planned it that way!  You can still see the Space Needle, right?
 I hope you all had an exciting weekend, too.  I’d love to hear about it!