"What goes around comes around..."

I had an "everything comes back to you" kind-of night on Tuesday... It involved my hubby and a UVA dance party, but before I get to the details let me back up a few years and tell you why I had this coming!

One of my best friends Mollie Perez had just gotten married and we all decided to have a girls night for ole' times sake. None of us were big into the bar scene (married or not) but we got all-dolled-up for the special occasion and headed downtown Greensboro. The night included several cosmos at multiple locations (to be honest I can't even remember everywhere we went). What I do remember is we were having a ton of fun and around midnight Mollie popped the question; should she call Tony (her husband) and tell him we were still out??? The group consensus was yes - call him and tell him that if it get's too late you will just stay at one of our places... Mollie made the call, everything seemed good, and we were back to dancing.

Well, next thing I know it's 3:30am and we have invited a bunch of guy friends back to my place. We were playing cards and hanging out, but slowly our wild rendezvous was coming to an end... About this point Mollie decides she really wants to sleep in her own bed, but the question becomes; should she go home this late? After much debate, Nicole and I (both single at the time) wish her luck and she (soberly) drives home.

Wow - bad idea for all married women. We quickly learned that husbands do not like their wives staying out and partying all night long. And, in the rare instance that they do, they definitely don't want you coming home at 4:00am and crawling into bed. (One of those things that looks way worse than it is.) Mollie called early the next morning to say Tony was furious. Nicole and I feared we had (in our un-married lack of wisdom) totally and forever messed up a beautiful marriage.

After a day or so everything blew over with Mollie and Tony - everything except for the valuable lesson: you can't stay out and party all night when you are married.

OK... So back to Tuesday night…

Mike has a new hobby that involves making dance mixes (like a club DJ). His mixes are actually quite good and he gets extremely excited about every opportunity to show them off to friends and family. Some of the guys at UVA decided to plan a dance party in honor of a friend who is about to get married. It was some sort of pre-bachelor, bachelor party only everyone (girls included) were invited. Even though I had an invite, something seemed a little too manly about it for me, so I (like most apparently) opted out. I told Mike to go and have fun and to give me a big hug when he came home.

Ha. Well, midnight rolls around and I wake up to a message on my cell. It's Mike saying they were having fun and staying out a little longer. (Sound familiar?). I get the message, smile and go back to bed.

2:30am, I wake up randomly and look over expecting Mike to be in bed beside me... No Mike.

3:30am, I wake up again... No Mike. I pick up the phone and frantically call but get the voicemail and leave a message. I'm guessing they are still out and tell myself not to make a big deal about it.

4:30am, I wake up again... Still no Mike. Another call to the voicemail. This time I am pissed, but still manage to fall back asleep.

6:30am, My alarm goes off and guess what? STILL NO MIKE! I can hardly believe my eyes. I jump up grab my phone and throw some shoes on. (At this point I was scared to death something had happened). Just as I am running out of the house Mike finally answers his cell. In a voice that was just as perky as it could be he says good morning and tells me he's on his way home. I don't say a word and hang up the phone. Was he serious? He just stayed out ALL NIGHT and apparently doesn't seem to think there is any issue with that...

All of the sudden it dawns on me - the Mollie and Tony story from four years prior... Mike rushes in the door, and, despite his perky intonation, I can tell he is scared to death about what I am going to say.

In all honesty, I did take advantage of the situation. I gave him the silent treatment for a few hours during which he apologized profusely. I heard the whole story numerous times - a group of guys (not-dancing) playing flip cup and then him passing out on the couch. Next thing he knew it was 6:30am…

Some women would call me crazy and naive, but there is not a question in my mind about the truth of his story. It was a valuable lesson on two parts, however… First, Mike learned that you can’t stay out and party all night when you are married. Secondly, I hear some wise sole whispering in my ear, “Ashlie, what goes around comes around!!!”

Thought some of you would get a kick out of that.