Friday, September 15, 2017

Friday, September 15, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2007. It was Mattie's first day of kindergarten. I honestly had no idea what was in store for us, because at the completion of kindergarten Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. On that particular day I snapped this photo, I figured there would be many more "first days" of school in Mattie's life. After all, he looked like the picture of health. Mattie really did not want to take this photo, as he was anxious about getting to school. But I encouraged him to pause for just a minute to capture the moment. I'm glad I did. 





Quote of the day: Chaos in the midst of chaos isn't funny, but chaos in the midst of order is. ~ Steve Martin

Sunny went to his groomer's today. Since we got Sunny a year ago, Mandy has been taking good care of Sunny's teeth, ears, nails, and fur every month. However, Mandy left the company she was working at in August, but joined another grooming practice. In theory both locations are in Alexandria, VA, but her new location takes me an additional twenty minutes to get to, so about 40 minutes each way. Yet she does a great job with Sunny and for the first time Sunny wasn't shaking like a leaf when entering a grooming facility. I actually did not like where Mandy was located before, and only took Sunny there for Mandy visits. Nothing else. As soon as Sunny saw the car heading to this former facility, he would whine and trying to get him in the door was painful! Mandy sent me this photo today of Sunny after grooming. Unlike in the former facility, after Sunny was groomed today he got to walk around freely inside with the three other dogs getting groomed. It was like visiting a house, rather than a kennel!

Tonight our friends invited us to Wolf Trap, which is an outdoor performing arts pavilion. They got tickets to see Steve Martin and Martin Short perform. Before the show, we ate outside on a picnic table. We sat next to another couple, of which the man was a retired US Air pilot and his significant other has been an international flight attendant for United for over 25 years. We all had fun talking together and they were lovely to have shared their table with us.  I cooked dinner, to thank our friends for these tickets. Tonight's menu:

Balsamic Flank Steak
Ginger Honey Glazed Carrots
String Beans with Mint
Quinoa with cranberries, pecans, and apples

We were fortunate to have inside seats, I would say about 10-15 rows from the front of the stage. It was a beautiful weather evening tonight, and literally there had to be 6,000 in attendance. 

I have to admit I knew Steve Martin and Martin Short, but had no idea how talented Martin Short is..... he can do slapstick humor which reminded me of Lucille Ball. He does great impressions of people, and has an incredible singing voice. They both play well off of each other because Steve Martin appears to be the more serious and cerebral one and Martin Short is a ham. You can tell he LOVES and craves the audience's attention. They took no breaks and performed for two hours straight. They had an 8 piece band with them, which was incredible. In fact the "Steep Canyon Rangers" tour and they are releasing an album this month. Steve Martin is part of this group, and plays the banjo. It is hard to believe that Steve Martin is 72 and Martin Short, 67. They have incredible energy and I felt as if Lucy and Ethel had come alive tonight..... just the male versions. 

It was a very telling opening in which they bantered back and forth about Hollywood compliments. Their point was to show us in a humorous way that Hollywood is challenging and delivers only backhanded compliments. Which in a way can be toxic if you think about it because these are born stand up comedians needing positive feedback and validation. I think the psychology of comedians is fascinating and I wish I knew more about their personal lives, because I have a feeling they return to the stage for a purpose. They don't have to do these performances for financial reasons, but I suspect instead to fulfill an inner need.