"Aren't You Tired of Being the Strong One?"

Tonight, I saw "Wicked" for the third time.

My love for musicals is big. But "Wicked" and I have a special relationship. It's how I fell in love with musicals. I guess it's like shopping for wedding dresses - no matter how many you try on, how many fit, how many you like or love, even, it's usually the first one that sticks.


It doesn't get old. I still physically shake every time I see "Defying Gravity" performed live. I cry every time during "For Good." Every time I sit and watch it, I think of how it all started - the soundtrack that I got for my 13th birthday. The next year was the trip to Chicago to see it, which I consider to be one of the best days of my life. My 15th birthday when my parents got me tickets to see it in Cleveland. Last birthday was pretty "Wicked"less, but we did see "Legally Blonde," which was fun too. And this year, seeing it with the grandparents birthday eve.

It's been a while since I listened to the music, and I totally forgot how much I love it. I love the characters, I love the complexity of the story line, I love the costumes. I love the idea that there's always two sides to every story, just like there's two sides to every coin.I love that there's a little bit of Elphaba in all of us, maybe some more than others. And I love that tonight when I walked in there, I felt the strongest connecton to her character that I have ever felt. I don't know why. But I loved the feeling anyway.

I'm old now. It has officially been my birthday for 43 minutes. I'm exhausted. I've been up for nearly 20 hours with Black Friday shopping and all. I think it's time for me to sleep now that my eyes are starting to cross and I'm seeing double of everything.

Nite. :)