A Night Feeling Rich

We had a really fun weekend. Joel and I are pretty boring when it comes to going out and doing stuff. Some people often go out and find activities to do and cool places to visit. We don't really do that. But sometimes it is forced upon us, and we end up having a great time.

First, we went to Chik-fil-A for lunch on Saturday. Would anyone disagree with me if I said I think it is the greatest fast food restaurant? Ever? Dane loves their "potatoes and chicken," their age 3 and under toy is a little Beatrix Potter board book, they have a fun little play place...anyway, we like it. This time, they gave Dane a red balloon. And when we got home, he immediately wanted to walk around in the snow. It was such a nice little childhood scene, watching him prance around in the snow with his red balloon.



Heehee

Then, we all had a little snowball fight with the soft, melty snow. Dane couldn't get enough of that. In fact, now if we're reading him a book with pictures of snow, he'll try to grab some and throw it at us.

But of course, none of this is what made us feel rich.

We have a friend who offered us some Jazz tickets. Even though Joel and I have lived here for the better part of a decade, neither of us have ever been to a Jazz game. So, we thought it'd be a fun experience. When he came over to give us the tickets, we knew something was a little different because the tickets were plastic. Like credit card thick plastic.

So we head out toward the Energy Solutions Arena, but we have to stop to get gas. While Joel is pumping the gas, I take a closer look at the tickets. They each say "Price: $704."
Can that be right? That seems crazy. So we check out the seats:
Sec 18, Row B, Seat 20
Row B? That seems awfully close.
Then we start getting paranoid that we unwittingly scored some amazing tickets and maybe we should have dressed up to go to this basketball game, and what kind of people would we be sitting next to? The governor? Pres. Monson? Gladys Knight?
Maybe we sound really lame, but we were seriously kind of worried.

So, we were also given a fancy parking pass that allowed us to park right next to the arena. Then, we were led to Elevator 3, which you had to show your ticket (the plastic kind) to even get on. We got to the top floor, and there was a fancy buffet waiting for us. How can a buffet be fancy, you ask? Well, it had crab, prime rib, caprese salad, manicotti stuffed with pesto, a full turkey dinner, tiramisu, and many other foods. And it was all free! For us!

After we'd eaten our fill, we were escorted down to the basketball court. The game had already started, so an usher told us to wait for a minute or so. Then, they led us onto the court. We had to wait because the players were doing their thing right in our path. We walked along the court to our seats, which were on folding chairs on the court. There was only one row of folding chairs ahead of us. The tickets informed us we were waiving any claims against the NBA in case we were injured or killed during the course of the game because it could actually happen. They could have been grappling for the ball and landed right on top of us!

Okay, so that's enough dragging it on. Here are some pictures:

The lady behind us offered to take a picture so you could see how close we were to the court.
Dane closed his eyes

Again

There we go

Then, the dancers and the Jazz bears came out, passing out little balls, and Dane got one!

In that picture, you can see the players in the background. Man, we were close.

And the awesomeness didn't stop there. I had to change Dane's diaper in the middle of it, so I ventured out on the court again to find a bathroom. No changing tables. But a lady in there took a look at the plastic ticket on a lanyard around my neck and said, "Oh, you're in the 100 club. Go into the private halftime room and tell them Bernie sent you." So I did. And I changed Dane's diaper in the private halftime room. Then, when it was actually halftime, that room becomes a place where you can eat any of the leftover desserts from the buffet, and have popcorn and soda!

It was all pretty much awesome. And the Jazz won. And Dane really seemed to enjoy himself. He was very well-behaved, and as soon as we got to the car, he said, "I want to play basketball."
"Only if you grow beyond the 1oth percentile for height," I said. Not really. But I thought it.

* * * * * * * * *

Then, Sunday night, we enjoyed a sushi and gyoza night with George and Melanee, with whom we always have a great time. The sushi I made was extremely ugly. My Japanese half was filled with shame. But it still tasted good, and Melanne's gyoza was delicious, and the miso soup was good, and George's cake was super tasty. I didn't get any pictures, but you should all feel jealous you weren't there.

Again, a great weekend. Thanks to everyone who made it possible.

P.S. If you go to Chik-fil-A on St. Patrick's Day, you can present that receipt again anytime through the end of March and get all that same food for free! I love Chick-fil-A