Wrestling Mama, Writing Papers, & Wicked

Yesterday I packed up my schoolwork & laptop & headed to my son's wrestling meet. I had several papers to write but I really wanted to be there for my son. Boy Teenager had worked hard all season to get to this point, this was the match deciding who went to sectionals, & he had studied his opponents' moves & was confident he would make at least second place there. Everyone was confident in his abilities.

Until Friday. Unfortunately there was a wrestle off within the team. When he lost the first wrestle off for his own weight class (because of some things that shouldn't have happened), he had to wrestle off for the weight class below his. He had already talked with a friend of his a week before, before the wrestle offs were even thought of, & they'd decided his friend would wrestle in that weight. Then suddenly they had to wrestle off for that weight class; one of them would have to wrestle up & one would wrestle down. Obviously it'd be easier for Boy Teenager to wrestle down a weight class than to wrestle up 2 classes.

My son did the most honorable thing he's done yet. He told his friend that no matter what happened, who won the wrestle off, their agreement would stay. Boy Teenager would let his friend keep that weight class & he'd go up 2 classes. I cried when I found out he'd done that for his friend. He knew that doing that meant he wouldn't place at all, but his word means more than winning. For that, he will always be a winner to me.

I was angry over the circumstances & Boy Teenager having to make weight in 1 night for the 152 weight class & wrestle guys so much bigger than him, when he's maintained 138 weight all season. We joked Friday night about him getting to eat 2 1/2-pound burgers, a pizza, a steak, fries, & my special ice cream, the most he's eaten in 1 sitting all season.

I felt that his spot, the spot he'd put everything he had into, should have been his, but rules are rules & if the other guy requested the wrestle off, it had to happen. We knew Boy Teenager wouldn't be able to place yesterday, having to wrestle guys so much bigger than he is. I was angry, I was sad, I was hurt for him, I was battling a lot of emotions yesterday morning as I sat in the bleachers with the other parents & grandparents from our team, 90% of us wearing our matching wrestling shirts. I didn't tell anyone how I felt but as Boy Teenager wrestled these guys, not getting pinned & working hard against them, there was a lot of talk from everyone around me about how he was holding his own. He made everyone proud.

When he lost his matches, I cried. It was all of my emotions colliding & not being able to control them, as well as how I wanted to run down the bleachers & grab Boy Teenager & tell him how awesome he is. I didn't do it because I want to live & the look he'd give me if I babied him would definitely freeze my heart on the spot.

I'm proud of my son. He is honorable & he worked hard with the hand he was dealt. The guy who got his weight class lost all his matches. It was hard to watch.

In between our team's matches, I worked on my papers, highlighter & pen in one hand, juggling a pile of books & notebooks on my lap. I was surrounded by people in a packed gym & I still managed to get the papers written. Yay for being used to a lot of noise & activity on a daily basis & having to tune it out 'cause that came in handy with all those shouting people next to me. I had to multitask while there because as soon as I got home, I had to get ready for my big date night with the hubby man.

First off, I have the  best Sister (in-law) ever! She took the kids overnight yesterday so that the hubs & I could have some time alone. I've been so stressed out lately & overwhelmed with the amount of work I have each day, that a break was much, much needed.

We went to dinner and then saw Wicked. It was the second time we've seen it & still my favorite. Actually, long ago, I crossed the line from favorite to obsession.

At intermission, I went into the restroom because that's what girls do at intermission. I decided to quickly check my phone to see if any of the kids or Sister had called. As I was sitting there, phone in hand, I look up to see an eyeball in the crack on the stall door. An eyeball. There was a face surrounding it & the face was attached to a body, from what I could see through that crack, but I mainly focused on the eyeball. Looking at me.

I sat there, embarrassed that she caught me on the phone while on the toilet. Who does that? Then I realized I'm not the one that should be embarrassed. She should be embarrassed for watching me on the phone while on the toilet. Who does that?

I continued to sit there 'cause I wasn't going to get up with an eyeball watching me. I kept looking back at this eyeball, clutching my pants a little bit closer to my body, when the owner of said eyeball backed away. I saw that it was a nicely dressed woman & she at least did look ashamed. A lot ashamed.

I wanted to ask her if she makes a hobby of restroom stall crack peeking or if this was a first time offense, but when I walked out, she wouldn't look at me. I decided that with that level of shame on her face, this was a first time offense. I let it go 'cause I wanted to get back to eating my cookie & drinking my Emerald Elixir.

I caught up with hubby, who was holding our drinks & the money to get my new Wicked merchandise, making sure the woman that owned the peering eyeball wasn't following me.

There was a table where season ticket holders could vote for Elphaba or Glinda. You put the pink or green stone in the vase, get a sticker for which team you're on, as well as a sucker to match the color. Of course I didn't hesitate. Team Elphaba all the way. She's my idol, yo. I got my sticker & sucker & turned to see hubby slowly picking up a pink stone & putting it in the vase. I felt like I was in slow motion. "Nooooo" came out of me all drawn out & in an oddly deep voice. I reached for his arm but I didn't get there fast enough & I watched his hand slowly open. That stone fell in slow motion until 3 seconds later I heard it plink on top of the other stones.

Slow motion ended & I watched him get his sticker & sucker. He happily stuck his sucker in his mouth, ignoring my glare.

How dare he cancel out my vote? And that's exactly why he did it. He knows Elphaba is far superior to Glinda. He knows.

He laughed about cancelling out my vote & I reminded him that in the last election I cancelled out his vote then too. Hubby smiled & said, "That's why we're perfect for each other. Together we net zero."

Leave it to my hubby to analyze our relationship with math.

Naughty, naughty hubby.

Mr. & Mrs. Net Zero. 

While taking our pictures, the elderly guy working the Information Desk across from us asked, "Selfies?" Hearing an elderly person use that word, & use it correctly, kinda sorta made me giggle inside.

After talking to the guy, he told us that we had to make sure to be in our seats a few minutes before the second act started, because there's a 12 minute holding time for it. Of course, I wouldn't want to miss a second of my favorite show, so we got in there well before intermission was over. I'm not gonna get locked out of it for 12 minutes!

This guy said that it's the show's rules, not their rules. He said, "They're setting up a mood & don't want it interrupted. It's like when you're in the [2 kissing sounds, complete with hugely puckered lips] mode and then someone comes in & says, 'hey, can you fix my truck?' Now that mood is gone. They don't want that to happen."

We told him we have 6 kids so we can totally relate to the theme of his analogy. Dude, a teenager coming home late at night or a child with a bad dream are way better mood killers than any request about broken vehicles.

Knowing that we had the house to ourselves when we got home, did we run home to frolic around our empty house in all our naked glory? Uh, no. We went to the store 'cause we were out of trash bags & fabric softener sheets. Yeah. Go us.