Wild, Wonderful Wednesday

Wednesday was quite a day for the Colvins. It started off as usual - Natalie went to school, Gary went to work, and I did work around the house and got ready to take Natalie to Seattle for a rehearsal at 1:00. Natalie got out of school at 11:00 because it was Fair Day, and she was supposed to come right home, but she decided to go through the drive-thru at McDonald's first. She then parked the car by the Rodda Paint store nearby to eat her chicken nuggets so as not to endanger the driving public. She turned off the engine and listened to the radio. When she was done eating she attempted to start the car, but it wouldn't start. So she went into the paint store and called me. I was somewhat frustrated that she had gone to McDonald's instead of coming right home, because we needed to leave by 12:00 at the latest to get to Seattle on time. I didn't think there was anything really wrong with the car, and I suggested she make sure it was in "park" and try again. She asked me to just come down there and help her. Thinking it was possible that there really was a problem, and because we were short on time, I agreed to come pick her up. When I got there she was gone. Then she called my cell phone from home! The car, as I suspected, had not been in "park" when she tried to start it earlier, and when she corrected the problem, she drove home. She said it would have been embarrassing (and we can't ever be embarrassed) to go back into the paint store and ask to use the phone again to call me and tell me I didn't have to come. Needless to say, Natalie will likely never forget to put the car in "park" again before starting it. I have insisted that she carry her cell phone at all times from now on.

We drove to Seattle so Natalie could rehearse for the Women's University Club event on Friday. It went well, and as we were talking afterwards about the current 5th Avenue show, "Shrek," the musical director asked us if we would be interested in free tickets for that night's show. Of course we were. So I tried to call Gary, who works in downtown Seattle, to let him know about the tickets so he wouldn't get on the train and go home. He didn't answer his work phone or his cell phone. Natalie and I began walking to the car, and I tried Gary's phones again. When he didn't answer for several minutes, Natalie suggested we go to the Betsy Johnson store and look around for a while and then try again. We love any excuse to shop at Betsy Johnson. So we walked two blocks and crossed the street, exulting in our great fortune at being able to see "Shrek" again. Natalie opened the door of the Betsy Johnson store, and nearly crashed into...Sutton Foster! She is the star of "Shrek," and Natalie's favorite musical theater actress. She was coming out of the store. Natalie's jaw dropped and was hanging loosely on her face, but she did manage to squeak out the word "hi" as Sutton squeezed past her through the door. We continued into the store, where Natalie said, "Mom, I think that was Sutton Foster." A store employee who had just shown Sutton a pair of $295.00 ankle boots confirmed that it was indeed she, whereupon I said, "Come on!" and pulled Natalie back out onto the sidewalk. We saw Sutton about half a block away and chased after her, calling out, "Miss Foster!" She stopped and turned around, and, between the two of us, Natalie and I managed to say every stupid thing every fan has probably said to her in less than 30 seconds. She was so nice and didn't seem to mind. We got a picture of her with Natalie. Sutton noticed that Natalie was carrying Broadway music books and asked her if she was performing somewhere, so we got to tell her about the event on Friday night. I guess she thought Natalie was a 5th Avenue regular, because then she asked if Natalie was going to be at the party that night after the show! If only! As Sutton was walking away (she had to get to a rehearsal) Natalie asked her what her favorite role was. She thought for a minute and then said "Fiona. And after that, probably Eponine (Les Miserables)." What a thrill it was for Natalie to talk to her idol like that. We spent way too much money in the Betsy Johnson store after all that excitement, but I told myself I had really SAVED us a lot of money by getting those free "Shrek" tickets.

We tried calling Gary again, but still no luck. I finally called the receptionist's extension and found out Gary was in a meeting in the conference room all day. So we decided to take the bus over there and surprise him with our news. When we arrived he came out of the meeting to see why we were there - and fed us cookies (icing on the really-great-day-already cake). We explained everything that had happened and showed him the picture of Natalie with Sutton Foster. He was very excited about seeing "Shrek" again. But he still had to work for at least another hour and a half. Natalie and I went to the office kitchen for some free Cup o' Noodles and juice.

While we were eating, Spencer called from school to tell us more good news. He was in his Guarani Language and Culture class when someone from Church headquarters came in to see if any of the students were willing and/or able to translate some of the talks for General Conference from Spanish to Guarani. Spencer talked about wanting to do that long before he got home from his mission, so he volunteered to try it. He was given a sample of an old talk in Spanish, and he was told that if he could translate it, he would get the opportunity to translate two conference talks! It looks like he will be able to do it. He said he was the only one in the class that was both willing and able to translate for this conference.

Our wonderful Wednesday ended after "Shrek" when we waited at the stage door for the actors to come out. Natalie had purchased a poster for them to sign, and she had her camera for pictures. By the end of the evening we had autographs and pictures of Shrek, Lord Farquad, Donkey, Pinnochio, the Sugarplum Fairy/Gingerbread Man, and the Shoemaker's Elf. (We had met the Sugarplum Fairy earlier in the Betsy Johnson store, and she was wearing the shoes she had bought there). Sutton Foster came out last, but she didn't pose for any pictures or sign any autographs because she was running late to the party - the one to which she thought Natalie was invited! Her limo whisked her away, and we were very thankful we had already gotten a picture of her.

What a great day!