Christmas came early for me!

That's because Christina Ann came and spent the day with me!

Just her... the girls were with their Grammy.

Woohoo!!!

What did we do?

Whatever we wanted to!!!

Specifically, we went to a free movie and dined out for dinner!

What a rare treat for both of us to have time together that isn't interrupted by the need for "Miyah, stop that" or "Chloe, leave that alone" or such utterances.

What a relief to not have to do that!

Of course I love my great-nieces, and of course she loves her two daughters, but it's good to be able to behave like adult women every so often, n'est-ce pas?

To be able to have real grownup talk with no little ears to hear - 

thank you, Melinda!

(smile!)

So, another movie, just three days after the last one - incredible! 

This time was different, though, as it was just we two.

And what did we watch?

"Wicked, Part 1".

We both grew up watching "The Wizard Of Oz", thanks to my Mama, her Grammy.

That means both of us had some trepidation about this new take.

However, I happened to catch the TV special, "Defying Gravity", last week, and that had convinced me to see the new musical the first time.

Since then, I read an article about Gregory Maguire, the author of the book on which "Wicked, Part 1" is based.

That has driven me to see the it - or, rather, parts of it - several times since then.

 

Now, I had the opportunity to share that new perspective on our beloved land of Oz with my first niece... and to do so for free, thanks to a Comcast reward of two free tickets!

Thanks, Fandango, for helping to broker that deal for us.

And guess what?

She and I sang along with parts of the movie!

And, because we were at the screening with subtitles, I was able to understand some of the lyrics in 'Galinda's' songs, when Ariana's voice gets a bit too high for me.

What a nice bonus that was!

 

Then we went to dinner at Red Lobster, a place I like and that she hasn't been to for several years, and they had beaucoup shrimp dishes to try!

We both had the '3 for $20' deal.

I got the Scampi, the grilled, and Walt's favorite.

She had the Scampi, the Dragon, and the Parrot Isle Coconut.

We both ate every bite, too, as we sat and talked for two hours.

I mean talked, too, without phones or kids or craziness from others.

(smile!)

As I told her mom when she called as Christina was dropping me off at home, I regarded this as my Christmas present, come early!

She completely understood.

(smile!)