Last night TallHusband took me out as part of a celebration of our anniversary this week. Plan: Drop the kids off with a friend, head to the theatre downtown, see the opening night of The Addams Family musical, possibly grabbing dinner on the way.

Instead, the fire alarm went off at the theatre, evacuating the audience until the situation was determined safe. During our evacuation time we ran to the bar at the hotel across the street to get out of the chilly wind. We sat next to each other, each having a drink and sharing a baked brie appetizer. We held hands and laughed. We called the kids to say goodnight before they fell asleep on our friends’ couch. We met new people, also escaping the chilly wind during our unplanned intermission, who were fun and friendly and all from different backgrounds than us.

After an hour they finally opened the doors to let people back in. At that point we couldn’t stay and inconvenience our friends watching the kids for an extra hour (putting us at their house well after midnight) and had to ask the box office to reseat us for another show.

By the end of the night all we could do was laugh at the silliness of it all – the fire that wasn’t (it was simply smoke from the fog machine setting off sensors), the ridiculous $50 tab for drinks and a brie at that hotel bar, the $10 parking for the show that we never saw, and it all happening on the one night we man-up and ask a friend to watch the kids for us.

So today, on this 2nd of November, I am thankful for my good fortune.  I am fortunate to have a husband I adore, good friends to help us out, and the extra money to go out occasionally, even when it doesn’t quite work out as planned.

Tags: laugh it up, thankful list