A DAY IN "THE LIFE OF RILEY"

Other than seeing the show, we’ve had an eventful week:

Ant’s buddies from Momentum Education (www.momentumeducation.com) – Ruben and Raul – did the transformative work with him. They are a couple. And Ruben asked us to join all of their families and friends for a surprise marriage proposal to Raul. Ant nor I had ever participated in such and were excited to do so. They had pink and blue T-shirts for everyone adorned with lovely words and declarations around their relationship. We gathered at East 102^nd Street and 5^th Avenue at the entrance of the North End of Central Park. Of course, I'm excited as it's been 25 years since Diana Ross was in this very park on The Great Lawn that inspired her Diana Ross Playground that is the very entrance that  Ruben and Raul used to come into the park at exactly the opposite end from where we were (Bon Jovi - by the way - is continuing Diana's tradition of free Central Park Concerts this weekend). Ruben’s friends set up their picnic at the North End Ravine which was just gorgeous as the waterfall served as a backdrop to this moment (http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=virtualpark_northend_ravine). After we’d all gathered and waited (and waited… and waited), the moment presented itself for us all to walk lovingly towards the site. A boom box blasting love songs began to play and soon Raul got that this wasn’t just any picnic. He began to cry as the 50 or so of us revealed ourselves to him (holding beautiful pictures of them throughout their relationship. Mine had the caption “Will you marry me?” on it). Then, Ruben went in to pop the question and there was a resounding “Yes!!!!” from Raul. By this time, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. And given it doesn’t take much for Ant or me to make it about ourselves, it became a bit of a rededication for us as we cried and held each other lovingly for quite a long time. But more than he or I, this was a powerful message of love and support for two amazing guys, who we are happy to call "friend". It was truly our honor to be a part!

Ant's and my love for each other has come in handy during some challenging times for us both. And we do what we can inside of love to keep each others' morale boosted and stimulated. This, when we're not just getting on each others' nerves. Fortunately, we have some great distractions to keep us joyful and light when we can't generate it from within (since it's gonna be a while before that ‘Password’ money comes. SMILE!). I have been feeling more immobile during my little freelance breather, despite some great, albeit less profitable projects I’m working on right now. And I’m not talking overtly flossy sacrifices (though I do miss my car service and my Houston ’s), but some basic bills that need to be paid (because I’m not used to being behind). This, as my Ant takes care of the core things (like mortgage, electric, cell, cable, etc.) to keep things as comfortable as possible. But it’s a lot to manage. Still, we try to keep each other up:

Tata and Jules joined us on one night (via the holiday weekend) for some “Red Robin” (www.redrobin.com/). Then, we got the luxury of another night with them at the Meadowlands State Fair (www.njfair.com/). Ern came along too. Nothing like some rollercoasters; a little woman named Tina (and another with eight spider legs) - both of whom gave me the heeby-jeebies; and some greasy comfort food to cheer me up. We got lots of laughs and a welcome celeb sighting: Miguel Perdomo (tagged as the first Dominican Supermodel). I’ve blogged about him many times before. He was hanging out with his family.

On one night, amidst the lazy weekend (lots of folks were home this holiday), we joined our girlfriend Mara Schiavocampo who is responsible for my “Pound” impression on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (on-line edition) – still clicking near a million between MSNBC.COM and YOU TUBE.COM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXc6x5JlJuw). Ant, Ern, and I hung out with her at her Harlem brownstone (as her husband Tommie is out of town). We then went to our karaoke spot (www.karaoke17.com/) and sang the night away. Then, we went up to Washington Heights and hijacked Ern into a nightcap at “No Parking” (www.noparkingbar.blogspot.com/) – owned by my friend Brian, who is always the host with the most when I come in. This time was no exception. We call it Chelsea North. Then, Amy Ruth soul food soaked up whatever needed to be soaked up at 4:00 am or so in the morning (www.amyruthsharlem.com).

Suddenly, there were no worries. Just time to go to sleep and have some sweet dreams - trusting that the sun will come out tomorrow..."... there (may be) mountains in our way, but we must climb a little higher everyday..."