The Symphony

Well, Jeff and I had a very nice evening last night. It was neat to see how God worked it all out. I know that "date nights" are not an essential thing, in fact, I am sure my great-Grandmother (and possibly my grandmother) may possibly have never had a "date", and so I am grateful for the ones we get - especially now when our lives are so crazy and Time is such a blessing. :) At first, Jeff asked me to find a babysitter and I told him - "Um, you're joking, right?" Both of my sisters are in Colorado as well as our two girls that have watched the kids before. "They are all in Colorado!" That was a bummer as I had just been guaranteed a whole evening with Jeff all to myself! Well, we started racking our brains for other possible babysitters. Since we have only been back a little over a year and really have not needed a babysitter all that often, I don't really know anyone. And any of you who know me know that I DO NOT leave my kids with people I don't know - even if they are wonderful people! I just can't do it! Well, we came up with two girls - one in high school whose mom I know and one in the college group we work in. Well, the high school-er was also in Colorado! Good grief! :) But Sandy was here and willing - bless her heart! Her mom told me today that she was so happy to be able to do that for us knowing we don't get to do this sort of thing often. How sweet! :) Well, she is great and the kids want to know when she is coming back again! :) They had tons of fun.
Jeff had gotten tickets to the Symphony - the seminary gets tickets once in awhile and gives them to students. What an incredible treat! I am so thankful to whomever payed for those tickets! As many of you know I absolutely love going to these sorts of things. :) So, Jeff went right away when he heard they were available and got ours. Then we had gift certificates - from Dad & Mom Niles - for Red Lobster, from last Christmas! Yep - we still had them - hadn't been able to use them yet. So, a very low cost, very nice dinner! (I hope this doesn't all sound horrible money wise. I hate talking about money but also am so grateful when things work out that are not going to break us now while things are tight! I guess it just makes you more grateful when things work out because it reminds me that all these things are blessings from God and He knows are situation and still blesses us beyond what we "need".)
So, then after dinner and the symphony Jeff took us to the place he works for dessert. Well, he ended up getting appetizers too - so I could try some of what he serves all the time! :) Well, when we went to pay the young man waiting on us told Jeff - "There is no check. It's covered." Jeff's manager just covered it all! What a kind thing to do. And another reminder that God blesses us in all sorts of ways - Jeff's manager is not a believer and God used him anyway to bless us. I am overwhelmed by God's great love for me! :)
Well, all that to say - God is so good to us and Jeff and I had a very nice evening. I told Jeff that all of that definitely was worth waiting several months for. Jeff's response was - and to cover for the next six months. What a rat! :)
The symphony hall in Dallas is gorgeous! I have never been in one like that. It was one of their Casual Friday Series they are doing. (We weren't casual - but neither were a lot of the people there so I guess no one would have noticed!) The conductor, Tortelier, is a guest conductor who will only be here this weekend. He was amazing! He obviously loves the music and really "gets into it". :) It was fun to watch him.
The orchestra performed a Berlioz overture and two Elgar pieces. One of the Elgar pieces was a Cello Concerto that was wonderful. My mom-in-law introduced me three years ago to Yo-Yo Ma and ever since I have begun to really love anything cello! So, that was fun. The cello itself was beautiful. They said it is a rare Montagnana Cello that once belonged to the 19th century virtuoso, Piatti.
When we left the Symphony hall there were huge fireworks going off in downtown Dallas! How fun! We don't know what was going on down there but the fireworks were a great bonus for our evening. So - there is our fun evening! Thanks for listening!
Today is a bit cooler here in our neck of the woods and the forecast holds hopes of much cooler weather for this next week. I am so ready for fall! My mother keeps talking of freezing temperatures in Colorado and it makes me ready for cooler weather here!