you can't take me anywhere {or why i should never be allowed out in public}

last saturday, mr. b, isaac and i had the pleasure of attending the open house of the new studio for the business of one of my oldest and dearest friends. {he's the one with the scissors, cutting the ribbon above.} my family {especially my twin sister and i} have known him and his twin brother {on the far left} for about twenty-five years... since going to the same church youth group together.

after high school, mark {who owns and runs the business} and i went on to the same college and had several classes together, as we were pursuing the same degree. we've remained friends through the years... he came to my wedding with his then girlfriend... now wife. a couple years later, we went to his wedding {and catered the ten gourmet cheesecakes for the reception}. he and his wife are two of the most caring and giving people we have ever known.

but none of the above facts are what i first think of when i think of mark. you see, what many people don't know about this guy is how zany he is {in a good way}... how funny he is {i don't think i stopped laughing once throughout every single animation class we had together in college}... how much he likes to laugh at others' mishaps and blunders {in a good way... never letting them live it down}... how goofy he is and how he is capable at laughing at his own mishaps and blunders.

so whenever i get the chance to see mark, it just wouldn't be a getting-to-see-my-old-friend encounter unless i did or said something dumb or clumsy or goofy or embarrassing to remember it by... for him to remember it by {or rather, never let me forget}. and in my usual style, i did just that this last saturday night.

in the past, these sort of things happen in the context of a small group... or among people i know well. but in this case, there had to be over 100 people attending this very impressive event. and among those 100+ people was the mayor of the city... he's the one in the gray suit jacket next to mark.

speaking of the mayor, before i knew he was the mayor, i was standing around talking to mark's wife inside... just chit-chatting and mingling, as was everyone who was there. i was holding isaac in my arms, and i suddenly needed a napkin for isaac's runny nose. so i somewhat briskly {and obviously not carefully} started to make my way over to where the napkins were. mr. mayor happened to be standing right next to me, deep in conversation with someone {though, like i said... i did not know who he was yet... not even mark's wife knew at that point}. if it had been just me trying to get by, everything would have been fine. but with isaac's body appended to mine, i misjudged the amount of room i had to weave my way around. and in true georgia fashion, i knocked some part of me or isaac  {my arm? or his butt or leg?} right into the arm of this gentleman in the nice grey jacket with the nice crisp white shirt underneath... and not just any arm... the arm that was attached to the hand that was holding a glass of wine... not just any wine... red wine. red wine that leaped out of his glass and right onto his bright white shirt. mark's wife ran to get napkins for him and to wipe up the floor, while this calm and cool man acted like nothing even happened {although, he wouldn't even look at me as i tried to profusely apologize}.

gulp.

i was so embarrassed.

and this is while i still thought he was just any old person {like me} attending the open house.

but nope. i was to find out, about a half hour after the incident, that he was the mayor {who my friend mark had not yet met in person until this event} right after mark's wife came in from the ribbon cutting and shared this info with me. 

i thought i was embarrassed before. but no... that was nothing compared to how i felt after hearing this news from sweet aimee. we had a good laugh, though. {luckily, the wine did not get on the part of his shirt that was visible where his jacket was open.} i didn't go outside for the ribbon cutting, so had she not told me, i most likely would not have realized who he was. she figured i'd get a kick out of knowing. and i did. but what i really got a kick out of was when mark walked up seconds later. he didn't say a word... he didn't need to. his smile said it all... one of those very smug "oh, you are never gonna live this down" smiles.

to which i said... "i'm actually glad this happened."

he just looked at me and slowly and emphatically said with a grin, "soooooo am i!"

yep. this will be what i am remembered for for the next several years... until i do something else ridiculously embarrassing again, that is.

and that's exactly what mark meant by his "soooooo am i!"

but what i meant by my "i'm actually glad this happened" was that it made an already memorable night {it was such a lovely party and so nice to catch up with old friends and plan an upcoming cookout get-together as a result} that much more memorable. only i would run into only him at such an event. {i wonder if i'm ever welcome back in that city.} it's something i'll never forget and i'll always look back on with laughter. and of course, now that i have a son, i don't have to take the blame for my klutzy ways anymore... i can now blame everything on him! *wink*

anyway, even though this was something i'll not soon forget, i had to write it down just in case. mark is one of those people who makes you feel like it's okay to laugh at yourself... who somehow turns mistakes into one of the best parts of living.

i wish i had brought my camera that night. not just to capture how nice of an event it was, but to get some photos of my old friends and isaac, too. they have a little girl who is about isaac's age, and we joked about how we would draw up a contract that night to arrange a future marriage for them, as they seemed to like each other very much upon first glance. nothing would thrill me more than for isaac to end up marrying someone like her with parents like hers. of course, that's not how life usually works out, but it's still fun to joke about.

anyway, isaac was loving the party... live music, delicious food, so many people to observe. the photographer {who took the above photo} even captured isaac out on the "dance floor" wiggling his tiny butt to the music. i had hoped to get a copy of that photo and use it for this post. but it was not in the album. it's one of those rare times where i didn't bring my camera with me and ended up very much regretting it. when you have special people in your life, it's a good thing when you can capture their big moments on camera.

but i have to say, it was nice to just sit back and enjoy the event for a change, rather than trying to get pictures of it. although, maybe if i had had my camera, i would not have been holding isaac, and thus would not have, quite literally, run into the mayor.

*smile*