He's here, the Phantom of the Opera...

I'm a happy girl. Tuesday, March 23, Nathan and I went to see Phantom! This was my fourth time to see it and Nathan's second. We had great seats - the eighth row! It's always a great show, but when you're close to the stage, it makes it so much better!

About a week before the show, I realized that I didn't really have anything appropriate to wear. I'm still old-fashioned enough to believe that evening events at the theater require dressing up a little, and my closet contains a mixture of teacher apparel and overly casual Mommy clothes. No dresses, really. So, I was on a mission: find a dress that is nice enough for the evening, but also practical enough to be worn on other occasions.

Shopping is difficult for me. Have you ever taken two toddlers and a baby to a clothing store by yourself? Basically, it's close to impossible. God forbid I have to try anything on, because there is no way I'd be able to keep all three of them corralled in the dressing room. Nicholas would probably run out while I was changing, and I'd be forced to chase him around the store half-dressed or something. Anyway, this problem forced me to wait until the last minute to go shopping.

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kids off at the Alexanders' and sped into Austin. I hit the first store and started grabbing every dress I could find that I thought would work. The third dress I tried on was perfect. The price was a little high, so I found an employee and told her, "I have to have this dress, but it needs to be a lot cheaper. Can you make it cheaper?" She thought it was funny, but she figured out a way to give me a discount. Just to be sure, I asked her to hold it for me, and ran through a few more stores to make sure I didn't see anything else I liked better. No luck, so I headed back. I ended up getting a $95 dress for $65. Still pricey, but totally worth it. I found some not-so-expensive shoes, and hopped back in the car.

Talk about timing. I left the Alexanders' around noon, and I got back around 3:00. I am the shopping master. (Applause) Thank you, thank you. Sharon (my mother in-law) just looked at me in shock and said, "How did you do that so fast?!"

Anyway, Nathan and I got all dressed up and left the house at about 6:30. I was so excited! We got to Bass Concert Hall a little early and spent a few minutes wandering around. When we were finally seated, we just looked at each other in shock because we were so close to the stage! I knew our seats were pretty good, but when you actually sit down, it's just amazing.

The show was outstanding! Of all the times I've seen it, this was the absolute best. The musical talent was beyond incredible. We had such a great time!

I'm so sad that the US tour is closing, because that means that this was definitely my last time to see the show. I keep hoping something will change, because I really would love to see it again (and again...and again...). Thank goodness they made the movie (finally), and it is really good, because I'll just have to settle for watching that instead.