I woke up this morning and remembered something oh-so-sweet. My Duke Blue Devils were the national champs!
Amanda was still sick, still hardly able to speak this morning. She was planning on just going in late today, but she ended up taking the day off again. We called her mom and Karen came down to help out with Milly. She’s on Spring Break and was planning on coming down later, but she moved things around and came down today (with lunch in tow). Milly was good though. She’s still a bit snotty, but she’s been in a good mood.
Come to think of it, she was really happy when I got her up this morning. Matt Davis had posted on Twitter that his baby, Penelope, had woken up in the middle of the night upset, and that she must have heard that Duke had won the championship. I told him that was funny, because Milly woke up this morning in a great mood.
Amanda emailed our small group yesterday and said that she’d be bringing Milly with her and she’d be coming alone because I was going to be out of town with the babysitter and the backup babysitter. I emailed back saying that that sounded scandalous. (She actually ended up not going, since she was sick.)
The whole Frazelle clan showed up here a little after 3:00 and Barry, Hannah, Kirsten and I packed up in Barry’s car and set out for Raleigh. They had an extra ticket to see the Arctic Monkeys because Christian, Hannah’s boyfriend, had to take a pass, so they invited me. The show was at a place called Disco Rodeo. We found it then went to grab something to eat.
The place was really close to the office building where Amanda and I met, and wanting to offer something you couldn’t get in Wilmington, I suggested we eat at Bahama Breeze. Well, the traffic light there was stuck on blinking and we were there during rush hour traffic, so after sitting in the turning lane for five minutes the idea was nixed and we went to Applebee’s, which was even closer to Disco Rodeo. Barry paid for my dinner.
After we ate we went to stand in line for the show. None of us had been to Disco Rodeo before and had no idea what to expect. It didn’t seem like a place a band as worldly well-known as the Arctic Monkeys would play (not that they’re Coldplay or anything, but still), but it had a nice size to it. We stood on the balcony, which, as small as the place was, gave us a great view. While we were in line we (mostly Barry) talked to a guy who had a lot of stories to tell about all the bands he’d seen. I don’t mean that in a snooty way- he was a good conversationalist.
The band opening up for the Arctic Monkeys was called Sleepy Sun. Kirsten had listened to a few of their songs before, and they weren’t bad. Kind of bluesy. The Monkeys themselves put on a great, energetic show. The drummer was particularly fun to watch. The guy was fierce.
The place filled up quite a bit by the time the Arctic Monkeys took the stage, and it ended up getting really hot in there. When we left I told Hannah it felt like I’d stepped out of the shower and put my clothes right on. She had actually ended up sitting on the floor (which didn’t hinder her view since we were, as I said, on the balcony).
Anyway, I had a great time hanging out with Barry, Hannah and Kirsten. They’re so welcoming. I mean, I’ve known them for what seems like forever, but Hannah and Kirsten made me feel like they were genuinely excited about having me, their cousin’s husband who is more than a decade older than both of them, along. They’re good family and good friends.
Zach Dotsey