I saw Rod Stewart on Friday night. My dad called me in the morning and said that his friend had 2 tickets he wasn't using, so Tim and I got them. I thought thae show was good. He's a good entertainer, and his backing vocalists were great. Most of his classics in the first set, then took an intermission. For the second set he came out in a tux, and the stage looked like the big band era stages, with the little things in front of the musicians (all in white jackets) with the initials on them. Obviously that's when he sang the songs from the American Songbook albums. Then he changed again and did some of his other hits.

My Grandma's Birthday

Yesterday was my grandmother's 80th birthday.

Over a month ago my dad called and told me he was planning a suprise birthday party for her at Via Bella. Just a few people. We were all supposed to get there before they did.

A few days ago he called again and said that I had to come up with an excuse as to why I wasn't coming out to the suburbs to see my grandma on her birthday. So I called her yesterday morning and talked to her for a bit. I was really happy that she sounded upbeat, and was excited about going to dinner with my dad and Bette that night. I told her that Tim and I were going to Indiana to visit Tim's family, but that maybe on the way back on Sunday we would stop by to see her for her birthday.

She totally bought it. I had told my mom that I was telling my grandma I was going out of town. Sure enough, later when my mom talked to my grandma, my mom played along with it. I left a voice mail message for my dad telling him what I told my grandma. I don't know if he got it or not, but my grandma said when she told Bette that Tim and I were stopping by, Bette said, "Oh, I don't know if I have enough food for that many people," to make it sound like she didn't know we might be coming over.

We were all at the restaurant before my grandma got there. First she saw Bette's brother Frank and his fiancee Tammy, and just thought it was a coincidence that they were at the restaurant at the same time. But then she came in and saw the big table and all the other people, and I guess she was particularly surprised to see Tim and I there. She started crying and was very happy.

My dad made a really nice toast to my grandma. He said he thought they were rich when he was growing up because he always had a brand new baseball glove or the newest bicycle. It wasn't until he was older that he realized his parents never went on vacation or anything like that so that my dad could have the things he and all kids wanted. And he talked about how good my grandma is. She was very touched and started crying again. It was very nice.

The food was great and we all had a great time. I'm glad my grandma had such a nice birthday party.