Life in the Key of J.T.

Right there, right there, let the groove get in!

Right there, right there, are you comfortable?

~ Justin Timberlake

In my quest for work-life balance, I often strive to do some things that push beyond the everyday fun-o-meter. Not every single day. But just sometimes I do. Because I deserve it, man. I do. The kinds of things that require a little sacrifice of either time or scheduling or those things that you often say to other people "Oh man! I would have loved to have done that!"

Especially when you're somebody's mama.

And so. Several months ago I was talking on the phone to one of my Ruths named Frieda (aka Free Free) and despite our many years of friendship, a striking realization occurred during that conversation.

"I love Drake," Frieda said.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was putting the dinner pots away and wiping down the stove. I had my wireless earbud in and my phone in my pocket so I could have full use of my hands.

"Drake who? The music artist Drake?"

Drake

"Girl, yes. Love me some Drake."

"Ick. Not even feeling him. You can have him," I replied. I was now on to filling the dishwasher and was trying not to make too much noise. Then I added, "But girlfriend, I might have to cut you if you start trying to push up on my main man Justin Timberlake."

That's when the epiphany happened. Frieda kept trying to start her reply but kept stopping on the first syllable. She was just too excited.

"Gir-! Wha-? Ju-?! Gir-!" And then she just let out a big long, "Giiiiirrrrrrrrrrrl, please. I will fight you over some JT."

And that's when the plot started. Free Free and I learned that we had more in common than just being nerdy internists with connections to Grady and two school aged children a piece. We discovered that we had the Justin Timberlake connection. Yes, baby! Which took us to a whole 'nother level of friendship.

Chile please.

Two weeks later Frieda calls me in between her patients on a week day. She's talking fast like a crazy woman and quickly saying in my voice mail that "our man" was coming to Atlanta in December. And that we were going. Period. End of story.

Now. Here's one of the things I love about being friends with Frieda. She does a good job of just stepping on out and planning to do those things that normally I'd say, "Awww! I wish I had gone to that!" She does it. Plans it. Or at least tries.  My friend and fellow Grady doctor Stacy H. is super good about things like that, too. As a matter of fact, she was the one who nudged me to buy a ticket to do the most fun thing I did in 2010.

But I digress.

So as the story goes, Frieda got the tickets and being Frieda, she didn't get us nosebleed seats. No ma'am, no sir. Free Free got us tickets on the floor, baby. VIP, no less. Close enough to rub Justin's suit and yank his tie. 

Gi-!! Wha-?! Gir-?! Yes, ma'am.

So last night, I met Frieda at Emory Hospital Midtown and she jumped into the passenger seat of my car. And the rest? All I can say is that some parental guidance should have been suggested. Me and Free Free? We took back the night, baby!

Let me get you in the mood with this. . . .



Sorry, I had to dance with that. Whew. I'm back. Had to nurse this blister on my finger from all that finger snapping. Ha ha ha.

Okay. So before we go any further, I am sure some of you are wondering what's up with the JT fascination? I mean, other than him being super talented and all? Well. It's simple. The man can dance. And he dresses well. And he's cool about the way he dances. That? That does it for me every time.

Mmmm hmmm.

Gir-! Wha-?! Jus-! Gir-!

That man moves in a way that clearly intrigues more than just me. 'Cause the VIP section y'all? It should have been called:

Bwwwaaah ha ha ha ha.

Yeah, it should have. I figured out that the people with resources to actually be able to get those tickets were all over 40. But let me tell you something: The cougars know how to TURN UP!

Ha ha ha ha.

So before all that? A delicious steak dinner at a delicious steak house walking distance from the arena. Nice and medium rare with the perfect wine pairing. Because we are grown-ass women, remember? See? There are perks to being over 40. Over 40 is the point where you actually consider buying a bottle of wine versus just asking for 8 tastes until you feel tipsy.

Oh. Y'all didn't used to do that in your twenties? Ha ha ha. My bad.

Yeah, so in full grown-mom splendor that wine meant red, red, wine. Yeah baby. I'm not sure if you knew or not but red wine is the official beverage of moms over 40 that still have kids under ten. Or at least it is when those moms have girls' night kid-free days. In moderation, of course!

Mmmm hmmmm.

 

Now. The older you get the lower your tolerance is, so we decided to forgo the full bottle. But that doesn't mean that we didn't fully enjoy our lush reds by the glass. You bet we did. And we were even careful not to get those creepy burgundy leprechaun teeth, too. (Why I call them leprechaun teeth I do not know.) Ha ha ha.

Bellies full complete with perfect wine pairings, we booked it out toward the arena for some J.T. time! Woooo hooooo!

Gir-! Wha-? Gir-! 

 Now, seeing as we're GROWN WOMEN and all, our VIP floor seat tickets had to be picked up in the special red carpeted trap door on the side. Mmmm hmmm. You know how WE do it. 

We got bags and shirts and all kinds of goodies. Here's our buddy from the VIP who gave us a good laugh. She said, "You two are up to no good--I can tell!"

 

And we told her she was absolutely correct in that assumption.

And I am serious about it being cougar town. Here's a few women we met on the way in. Everyone had left the kids at home and were having inappropriate thoughts about this former boyband member turned GROWN ASS man with gyrating hips.

Okay, and maybe some of them weren't full on cougar-age, but if two or more are, by default you all are cougars. Ha ha ha ha. And honestly? Any woman old enough to be your older sister's BFF and who has left her kids to come and see the ex lead singer of N*SYNC technically meets cougar criteria if you ask me. Plus we were all on the prowl, man. Which cougars usually are.

I mean, I'm just saying.

Oh there were a few cougar-husbands who were there taking one for the team like this guy. 

Ha.

Free Free was feeling the rhythm of the pre-concert DJ from the minute we walked in. This picture doesn't capture how hard she was grooving. It put me in the perfect, perfect state of mind!

That and the AMAZING seats Frieda snagged us. OMG. Can I just say that Frieda got these tickets as a gift to me after winning a big teaching award last year? And man. What a gift it was!

More of our cougar brigade met up with us on the floor and it was ON!

 

Tanya and Heather (pictured above) work together. Heather is a former Grady doctor and an absolutely KICK ASS breast surgeon. But on top of that, the woman has some serious dance moves to boot. No wonder she's such a great surgeon. Ha ha ha ha. 

The DJ was so awesome that we just danced and danced. Especially me. I was out in the aisle getting my GROOVE on and waiting for Justin T. to take the stage.  I think I burned about a thousand calories in that thirty minutes!

Oh! And funniest thing EVER. Why was I dancing so hard in the aisle that the security officer had to come over to tell me to move over toward my seat?

 

But the really funny part was that she kind of secretly reminded me of one of Martin Lawrence's characters on the Martin show.  

Just a little bit. I mean, she was nice though! And ended up dancing a little bit with us so it was cool.

Ha ha ha ha *cough* ha ha ha ha

And then. . . . .sigh. Maaaan, them cougars went crazy when that child took the stage. I'm talking full on bananas, man. Think Beatle-mania but with the people from the carpool lane. Ha ha ha.

Gir-! What-? Gir-!

Bwaah ha ha ha. It was so much fun. And technically I think there were a lot of younger peeps there, too, but they were so far up in the nosebleed that we couldn't see them from Cougar town.

Ha.

 

Can I just say that this dude sang his FACE off and danced his BUTT off? And he sounded just like the albums which was awesome. We sang right along on every song and the Martin-show security lady didn't even hit me with that billy club when I started dancing in the aisle again on "Bringing Sexy Back." 

Chile please.

But like all great things, this night eventually had to come to a (late) end. We had the most amazing time together. Not just because we both love Justin Timberlake but because there is just nothing like a really good time with your really good woman friends. There just isn't. 

I was also glad that I'd gone ahead and planned to allow myself this time, you know? Long before I knew it was a gift, either.  I'm especially glad for a friend like Frieda that gave me that nudge to do something a little indulgent like this. It's just so easy to keep denying yourself and coming up with excuses why you can't do things. But even something like buying some pricey tickets to a concert that you really, really want to attend are doable when it's six months in advance. You just have to decide that you deserve to go, you know?

And I have to say that Frieda teaches me how to do this more. My sister JoLai does, too, and so do my friends Stacy H. and Julie J-M. They're all planners that allow themselves and their loved ones magical experiences. The kinds that make people say, "Oh man! I would've LOVED to do that!" Except they aren't saying that because they're the ones DOING IT.

Yup.

So Justin Timberlake had on his suit and tie and the cougars left it all on the floor last night. And you know what else?  We showed ol' Justin a few thangs. . . . .

Mmmm hmmmm. Yeah, we did.  (But shhhhhh, don't tell nobody.)

***
Happy HUMP DAY! Shout out to the daddies--Harry and Terrance--for giving the mommies a fun break and license to ILL!

Image totally jacked from Facebook! Ha!

Here's a picture of my BFF Lisa and one of her good Ruths from last weekend--she's also a mama and an internist but she carved out time to go to Chicago to see BEYONCE (!) at what I am sure was great sacrifice. So inspired by this, too. We all deserve a little fun. But when your plate is full it has to be planned. When it is, though? Man. Good times.

Students. Residents. Parents. Grown folks. Take heed! Take some time for you. To do some things that involve nothing but having fun without any excuses and that DON'T center around your children. Yeah, I said it. Fun things. Silly things. Memorable things. For YOU things.  Like hurting your left knee from attempting to "drop it like it's hot" only to learn that at this point it has to be warmed up before it can be dropped like it's hot.

Ha.

Take back the night, y'all!! Woot!

Now playing on my mental iPod. . . of course. . . 







and my number one JT jam. . . .