Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We had the largest Thanksgiving Feast yet at Grandma Marcia and Zaydie Larry’s house – I believe the final count was 28. We were served by the biggest turkey yet too – a full 30 pounds of Thanksgiving bird. It was great that so many out-of-town-based relatives were able to join us – Grandma Sali and Grandpa Steve from Montana, Corey, Monique and Annie from Chicago, Steph from Springfield, and Jeff and Brandi from Houston. Both the food and the company were great!

Now, if the Jayhawks can just pull off a victory over the Tiggers this afternoon . . .

We buried Bubbie today. It’s been an incredibly emotional few days. The words and notes of support from family and friends have been wonderful. Jonathan doesn’t really understand what’s going on – just lots of people around and disruptions in his schedule (though getting to spend some fun time with Aunt Mo this afternoon was a treat). But Mikaela is struggling with all of this. At first, she just tried to ignore that Bubbie had died. She wanted to pretend that nothing different had happened, she even wanted to go to Sunday School on Sunday. But she left Sunday school about 15 minutes early, as the reality of it all hit her, at which point she also decided that she wanted to come to the funeral. After the funeral, Mikaela turned to Miriam and said, “I just want to go home and go over to Cannon’s house to play and forget all of this.”

All of the grandkids spoke at the funeral. Corey and Matt and Greg all spoke beautifully. I had an unusually difficult time figuring out what to say. You can read the full text of what I wrote after the jump.

continue reading "RIP Jean Rittmaster May 10, 1918 – November 14, 2009"

Corey was in town for the Kansas City Improv Festival, so we got together after Sunday School for lunch at Mom & Dad’s house. Amid the usual good food (BBQ, of course) and family fun, Mom dug out Grandpa Sam’s old saxophone. Mikaela tried it first, and managed to get sound out of it pretty much right away. Then it was Jonathan’s turn – and it was love at first blat. The sax was as big as he was, but he insisted on trying to carry it around with him. The easiest place for him to play it was sitting on the hearth. He actually managed to get sound out of it pretty consistently – though I’m not sure most would have recognized the tones as a saxophone.

When it came time to leave, Jonathan did NOT want to give up the sax. When Grandma Marcia told him it was time to put it away, he responded by hugging the saxophone and saying, “But I loooooove it.” After finally being convinced to give it up, Jon laid down on the floor and cried over his separation from the sax. Overall, Jonathan has become completely music crazed. He watches Sesame Street Peter and the Wolf every chance he gets. When we only have time for something shorter, he asks for an episode of Jack’s Big Music Show called “Jack’s Big Orchestra” (one Friday night, while Mikaela and I were having a “campout” in the basement, Miriam and Jonathan watched “Jack’s Big Orchestra” six times in a row). He walks around the house with a plastic guitar slung over his shoulder constantly, and he’s recently taken to prentending the plastic hangers are various wind/brass instruments (sometimes it’s a French Horn, sometimes a saxophone, sometimes a trombone, sometimes a bassoon or clarinet).

Happy Passover, 2009 everyone! One Seder down (at Aunt Judy & Uncle Lloyd’s) and one more to go (here at our house). First Seder was a big (28), fun (entering the Seder through the “Red Sea” door), night. And, of course, Uncle Lloyd shared his rendition of the Four Questions in Yiddish (Margo handled the Hebrew, Mikaela did the English). It was great Corey, Mo, Annie, Steph and Jeff could all make it in from out of town this year, though we missed having Steve, Sali, Gabe and Eli with us too.

In this picture, Mikaela, Samantha and Margo perform the annual Ten Plagues puppet play.

Tonight will be a much smaller crowd. But it’ll still be a Seder with all the fixins. Cooking is already underway. We’re going to wait on the charoset until Mikaela gets home from school today, so she can help make it. Now I’m off to get furniture put back where it belongs, after yesterday’s carpet cleaning.

Jonathan amuses himself to no end with his very own knock-knock joke. Here, he shares his joke (the only one he knows) with Aunt Mo and Uncle Corey.

We had dinner at Grandma Marcia and Zaydie Larry’s, so that Corey and Mo could have some time to play with the kids. Mikaela and Jonathan were in rare form. Jonathan introduced Aunt Mo and Uncle Corey to his

“hand” puppets, Tweety and Snacky. Mikaela gave a preview of her dance recital coming up in May, followed by about 15 minutes of a song she made up as she was singing it. But I think my favorite part of the evening was Mikaela and Jonathan together singing the signature song from the Blue’s Clues episode “Blue’s Big Musical.” Well, that or Corey and Mikaela eating cupcakes with amazingly vividly-colored icing.

Corey & Mo’s comedy duo, The Union, got a terrific review for their performance last week at the Milwaukee Sketch and Improv Festival. The Shepherd Express reviewer Russ Bickerstaff said:

George Burns and Gracie Allen. Harry and Bess Houdini. Siegfried and Roy. Bonny and Clyde. Chicago sketch comedy pair The Union is the next in a long tradition of performing couples. Corey and Monique reached for comic brilliance in a number of skits. Sharp writing was delivered impeccably. In one skit, they’re discussing the genetic flaws in their family in anticipation of a baby. In another, they play dummy and ventriloquist in a piece that is tastefully twisted on many levels. A husband and wife comedy act runs the risk of being extremely cloying and tacky, but Corey and Monique stay a comfortable distance away from anything like that. There wasn’t a good enough rhythm to get the recurring pet homicide segments to work all that well, but the dialogue-less comedy bit featuring two nervous kids at a high school dance was delivered in a way that made it seem remarkably fresh. Again, it’s it’s the simplest stuff that ends up working the best . . .

Congrats on the great notice Corey & Mo – I hope I get a chance to see the show soon.

Monique’s salon is now open for business. She got a great website describing her services, complete with a portfolio of examples of her work and glowing testimonials from clients. My favorite testimonial comes from Kathleen O’Shaughnessy, who says, “When I’m rich and famous, I want her in my personal entourage.”

I think that says it all. If you’re looking for a stylist, and you’re going to be in the Chicago area, give Monique a call!

No, really. She’s got a new gig. She starts rehearsals next weekend with a group that does improvisations of fairy tales for children called Hogwash.

Mo’s doing “theater work” (acting, hair, and makeup) full time now. Her new daytime availability is perfect for work with this group.

Happy 36th Birthday Corey! When you were born, the US was singing “Joy to the World” (that Three Dog Night song was top of the charts in the United States when you were born).

You share your birthday with Jack Klugman, Casey Kasem, and Ace Frehley.

On the day your were born, Apollo 16 returned to Earth. For your 1st birthday, Royals pitcher Steve Busby threw a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers. On your 18th birthday, the 50th Annual Barbershop Quartet Singing Convention was held in Michigan. And on your birthday in 1995, Coors Field opened in Denver.

Hope you have a great birthday!