Saturday, October 10, 2009

Just call me “mommy”

not my kid with my bass drum mallet :: ucmb alumni day, the rent :: september 26, 2009

I use the term, “my boys” a lot - the UConn hockey team were my boys, my coworkers are my boys, the Storm hockey players were my boys, my friends in Instrument are my boys. It’s not really as possessive as it sounds, though. It’s not like I’ve lifted my leg and marked my territory to the exclusion of all others. I share. Honest.

Certain events in Cincinnati proved that, on some level, the boys in Instrument really are “my boys”. In this case, it is a wee bit more possessive.

Sometime during the day and a half the four of us hung out, I did become the band’s “mom”.

Yeah. Those of you who know me well are shaking your heads. I can see you. Quit it.

I think it started when I booked my hotel room. I just knew that they hadn’t considered where they were going to spend Thursday night. D had, but I knew the others weren’t going to be cool with it. I decided to book a room with double beds. Within walking distance of most of the bars involved in MPMF. Just in case. (You see where this is going, right?)

I had Aaron, Ben and Dave crash in my room. (Jonah’s left the band to spend more time with his family. He will be missed.) Of course, having the three boys stay with me couldn’t be easy. Nope. After the show, they came back to the hotel with me to drop their stuff off and then went out to an after party. I was exhausted but I was afraid to fall asleep because I knew when they got back they would wake me up. I don’t sleep as it is, so I really didn’t want to get woken up when/if I managed to fall asleep.

When they got back, they were all drunk and hyper. At 4 in the morning. I was not amused and at one point I yelled at them, “STFU! Mommy wants to go to bed.” (Yes, Peanut Gallery, I can’t believe I said it either. Stop laughing!) But I did and they really enjoyed making fun of me for it.

I was told to “not be cute” and say things in a “not so secret way”, but I can’t resist telling you that I woke up with a boy in my bed. Wasn’t a band member, though. I REALLY would have preferred it. But nope. I woke up with my traveling companion, Mr. Headache. The next one to wake up was Aaron, followed by Ben. For the longest time, I thought Dave was dead. I really wanted to go poke him and see if he’d react, but I refrained. Once he joined the land of the living, I had to corral the boys and feed them lunch. I do not recommend trying to corral three hungover boys. Especially when you have the killer sinus headache from hell and aren’t supposed to take Sudafed (the only thing that works) because of your broken ticker. Honestly, there are a lot of things I don’t recommend doing with three hungover boys… there was a field trip and a discussion about something so disturbing that it will not be repeated on teh interweb. Don’t get me wrong, both activities were enjoyable and funny as hell, but in retrospect, I don’t think I’d be present for either event if I knew then what I know now. Boys are gross sometimes. Wicked gross.

When it was time to go our separate ways, we stood outside the band’s van and waited for my car to get fetched by the valet. (I normally wouldn’t have, but it was a lot safer looking than my other options!) We talked for a bit and I asked them what they were doing for the rest of the weekend. (They had a show Friday, were trying to get one on the way back on Saturday night, and had one in CT on Sunday.) With that kind of schedule and the 16 hours drive, PLUS being stuck in the van together, I was a little concerned and I made my concerns known.

Not my best move. If you’ll remember their amusement with my “mommy wants to sleep” comment, you might be able to figure out what happened next. I was so floored by the comment that I don’t remember who said it. I think it was Ben… Whoever it was, they looked me square in the eye and told me I’d make a great mother. I’m pretty sure it was Aaron who said I’d make a good JEWISH mother because I know it was Dave who started acting like one. He was spot on in his impersonation, which of course, cracked me up and softened the blow. Of all the words in the english language, mommy is right up there after Tammy and groupie when it comes to things I hate being called.

Sunday, I went to the show in CT and did my normal stuff… helped the boys bring their crap to the stage and back again. Took my pictures. Got yelled at for helping someone else and got guilt tripped for not helping them with the same stuff. It was a little rough because I want to help, but I don’t want to do too much for them. My biggest fear is to smother them and piss them off. I know I go above and beyond when it comes to going to shows, but I like live music and I like supporting them. So anyways, awkward!

Dave and I were talking a bit about what I do for the band, since I’m not the manager (even though someone asked me point blank if I was. No, but it is my goal… even if I’m still not ready to admit it yet. Oh wait, I just did. Crap.) He ended up calling me the “marketing mom.” Meh. Honestly, I’m still not sure how I feel about being called that, even though it did lead me down the path of clarity, closure, cookies with a side trip to the land of boys of st00pid.

So, to get back to my point, the boys in Instrument are “my boys” now, for better or for worse. Like I said, it is a wee bit possessive, but more in a motherly way. I do take care of “my boys.” (In the mothering sense of the word and not in the take care of them sexually sense. I am The Married, after all. They are definitely the dessert cart in the diet of my life: wicked fun to drool over, but so off limits it’s not even funny.)

In other news, BU raises the National Championship banner tonight and I’m beyond impatient. I can’t believe how slow time is going this afternoon! I am thankful that they are doing the banner raising at 6:30 instead of during the game because I have to leave early and head to Hartford. It’s Soup’s birthday and they’re playing at Up or On the Rocks. I probably would have blown off the hockey game since it’s just an exhibition, but because of the banner raising, I’m going to stay for the first period and then bolt. I’m meeting Michele in Hartford and I’m really looking forward to the show. (See? It’s not just Instrument that I’m hell bent on seeing at every opportunity. I support my friends and after getting to know All Crazy, I definitely count them among my friends.)

OK. It’s time for lunch and then it will be time to leave for Boston. It’s the braids’ last night out. They’re getting chopped off next Saturday, so they better have fun tonight!