Have A Nice Dave.

I am woozy and sluggish and cross-eyed with sleep deprivation, but it was all, entirely, worth it.
Big Liver Girl and I went to Toronto The Good yesterday and enthusiastically enjoyed a dinner out, a few beers, and an evening with Dave Matthews ,our Rock and Roll Boyfriend. We are sated: a grown up 18 hours, off duty from our usual responsibilities.

We skipped out of town at around 2 pm, and made our way down the highway to Toronto, some two hours away. We checked into the hotel and walked to Jaime Kennedy Wine Bar for a fabulous dinner. It was so nice to not only have Big Liver Girl all to myself for a couple of hours over a nice dinner, but made all the more delightful that we had no one to answer to but ourselves. ("Let's have another beer!", "Yes! Let's!")

When we got to the venue for the concert, an outdoor venue right down by Lake Ontario, we couldn't believe our luck when we approached our seats. The usher had our tickets, and just kept going farther, and farther and farther towards the front, until we found that we were about 4o feet from the stage, raised above the floor seats, in the front row with only a railing to impede us. Best seats ever at a concert! Not only could we see the band, they could see us! (We were ridiculously delighted with that.) We enjoyed another beer, while gently critiquing the clothing choices of our fellow concert goers.

Then the band came on and we sang and danced and clapped for two and a half hours, until we were thoroughly Daved out. It was a beautiful evening, we had our beer and Our Boy and each other's company and all was well in our world.

Since there are 500 taxi cabs in Toronto after a concert, but 501 riders, we found ourselves without transportation, but happy to walk the almost hour back to the hotel.
After dropping ourselves into bed, it felt like we got up almost immediately, but did, in fact, get a few precious hours of shut eye. Impressively, we were up at 5:25, showered, dressed, made up and packed ready to go with coffee in hand at 5:45. Our ruthless efficiency was somewhat alarming, actually, I'd have hated to see what we would have been capable of if we'd had to get our various children out the door so smartly. (We vowed to only use our powers for good.)
Two hours back down the highway (with a quick stop for an Egg McMuffin) and I got home this morning in time to see the two Things off to school. I got to work on time, and there was nary a ripple in the equilibrium of my family. I was able to enjoy my Off Duty time thoroughly, and everyone barely noticed I was gone.

I'm paying for it today, but never was a debt so gladly owed. Off Duty time is worth whatever it costs.