some clown car!

The girls knew they were going to see Wicked this past Sunday, but what they didn't know was how they were going to get there.

Adoh very generoulsy gave everyone tickets to see Wicked for Christmas-eight people in all. Uncle Mike had the idea of taking everyone in a limo! He really wanted to surprise the girls with it, so we kept it a secret. The night before, "discussions" led the girls to believe that they would have to take three separate cars and coordinate who was going with whom. K suggested that they all cram into the van like a "clown car."

Well, K was first to see the limo in the driveway, but was totally confused as to why it was there. We told her maybe the neighbors were having a wedding or something. She was grabbing everyone in the house and making them come see the big cool limo out front. Eventually, Mike asked if maybe she might like to use that limo to get downtown. She and E flipped their lids! They were over the moon excited.

Apparently, they were super stoked the whole ride and especially liked riding "backwards" behind the driver.

one less resident on e street

The first Bruce Springsteen song I learned the words to was "Hungry Heart." I remember sitting with Laura- can't remember the year, reading the lyrics from the record sleeve. Record sleeve?! Good lord I feel old. Might as well say we put the record on the Victrola. But I digress...We read and repeated the lyrics till we had them down, then sang along with the record, belting out the best use of double negative in music history:

"Don't make no difference what nobody says
Ain't' nobody like to be alone."

Right in the middle of the song is a great organ solo that makes you feel like you're in a skating rink waiting for "Ladies Choice." That solo and so many other subtle, yet genius musical moments in the E Street Band catalog was performed by Danny Federici.

Danny died yesterday after a battle with melanoma. I highly recommend clicking on Springsteen's official site , scrolling down a bit, and watching the video clip of Danny just a few weeks ago performing "Sandy" on the accordion. The end, when Bruce kisses him and they all come to the front of the stage, is very moving. I think they knew that he didn't have much longer to play with them.

Laura and I have been very fortunate to see the the band perform many times. We hope to see them many more, but it's going to be a big keyboard to fill.

high brow humor

The latest joke around the house goes a little something like this:

Straight man: Hey, how are you feeling today?

Laugh getter: Better... Better get a bucket.BLAAAAH!!!!!!

I don't know how this started exactly, but I believe Uncle Mike and K were the first two comedians. Once they had their act down, with K giving a perfect delivery, first saying "Better" in a very serious contemplative way followed by the boisterous "Better get a bucket!" followed by, well, the sounds of mock-zooking. Then E got into the act. So funny.

Then J started running around saying "Better get a bucket!! BLAAAH!!!!" "Better get a bucket!! BLAAAH!!!!" "Better get a bucket!! BLAAAH!!!!" "Better get a bucket!! BLAAAH!!!!"

He has since refined his delivery to actually being the straight man. Sweetly coming up to me and saying, "How you feeling today Mommy?" He doesn't care how I feel, he just wants me and everyone else he asks to give the punch line.

I feel sorry for everyone he is asking who are not in on the joke. He is so disappointed when people respond with, "Oh, just fine, so nice of you to ask."

Because his response is : NOOOO! You have to say "Better get a bucket!! BLAAAH!!!!"

I do love that their delivery and timing are spot on.
And It's a good thing we don't have any state dinners to attend.