Greatest Husband Ever, Greatest Song Ever, Greatest Night Ever!

Seven months can pass you by pretty fast.  How I've managed to let seven months come and go without having a full night out to myself isn't so much of a mystery (I've only recently been successful in training our son to go to sleep without me as his personal assistant) as it is astonishing that I've survived without one!  Ken and I did manage to go out for coffee one night after a parents' meeting at Kaycie's pre-school thanks to my mom, but aside from that it's basically been night after night of trying to convince a baby to sleep - apparently against his "better" judgement.

But tonight... tonight I tasted freedom.  Sweet freedom!

Don't misunderstand.  I love my kids more than anything.  I would throw myself in front of a moving bus to save them.  Same goes for my husband... love him to bits and would do pretty much anything for him.  But every once in a while there is no better pick-me-up than a night to call your own. 

As far as nights out go, it was a really nice evening.  Had a fun time with some girlfriends out for my friend Tracey's birthday... dinner and a movie.  We gabbed over sushi and caught a chick flick.  We all agreed that it wasn't the greatest movie ever made, but I must say... it was soooo great to see a movie in a theatre again!  I really miss going to the movies.

One major contributing factor to this being the greatest night ever was that my husband didn't bat an eyelash when I asked him if he'd mind staying home with the kids so I could go out - even with Knolan being so irritable these days.  He seemed genuinely interested in me having a stress-free, enjoyable night out.  Greatest husband ever!  I can't tell you how much easier it is to relax when you don't feel like you're "on the clock".

But I have to say, the one thing that I did learn tonight is that it's not possible to hear the song "More Than a Feeling" by Boston too many times!  Take a listen:

The moment I hit the road and put this song on repeat and turned up the volume, I was insanely happy.  I may be getting old, but I love this song... and darn it, it was my night out!  If I wanted to hear this song 50 times in a row it was my prerogative!  I sang out loud with unbridled verve... lyrical accuracy be damned!  And that was just on the way to meeting my friends.

(Incidentally, that reminds me of the time I was living in residence in university, and my friend Irene's cute guy friend needed to borrow a computer to type an essay and came by to see if he could type it out in my room.  I happily obliged, forgetting - and apparently not noticing at all - that I had put "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil on repeat.  After about an hour he turns to me and says, "I guess you really like this song, huh?"  I was mortified.)

My trip home still had an unending loop of "More Than a Feeling" on the agenda, but this time it was fueled by caffeine and a renewed sense of self!  After a pit-stop at Timmies to grab a coffee to warm/wake me up for the trip home, my rock-star air-clutches were 10x more passionate!  I held that high note longer and stronger than ever before ("she slipped awwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!")!  My steering wheel drumming was poetry in motion!

There is just something about a dark night, a long stretch of road, and a really great song that is completely liberating!

The by-product of listening to this song so many times in a row, however, was that I slowly realized that I have been - for many years - singing a seriously butchered version of this song.  To illustrate just how far off I was, here are just a few comparisons of my version vs. Boston's version of this rock classic:

What Boston wrote:  

"It's more than a feeling, when I hear that old song they used to play."

What Kirsten has been singing:  

"It's more than a feeling, and I'm here by my sooooomething."

What Boston wrote:  

"I see my Marianne walkin' away."

What Kirsten has been singing:  

"I see my variant walkin' away."

What Boston wrote:  

"As clear as the sun in the summer sky."

What Kirsten has been singing:  

"I clean up my eyes in the summer sky."

Don't ask me how I ended up singing lyrics that make absolutely no sense... when I'm engrossed in a song, it's got nothing to do with lyrics... it's all about the nostalgia and the melody.  Apparently most of the population strives to hear the lyrics, but as you may be starting to figure out, I sometimes find myself off the beaten path.  :-)

Anyway, this may be nerdy, but the best part was that I pulled into our driveway in perfect timing with the end of the song.  I love it when that happens!  It was a perfect night with a soundtrack-to-your-life kind of ending.  Fistpump!

Having said all this, I just got up to feed Knolan and it was sooo great to have him cuddled up in my arms again.  I think there may be something to this "going out" business, as I feel like I can tackle the world again tomorrow.  :-)