Speechless

This is the story of how I was rendered speechless and should have remained that way....

Not only have I shared my love of BNL here on Funky & Delightful but I've apparently shared it at work as well. Thank God I did. I'm even more thankful that one co-worker in particular was actually listening to my ramblings. She thought of me last week when, on the radio, she heard the announcement of a BNL visit to a local Barnes & Noble for a Snacktime mini-concert and CD signing.

I'm sure you can guess what happened next. I took that afternoon off from work and dragged the dudely with me to Barnes & Noble three hours before the event. He was less than thrilled but I tried to explain, as calmly as possible, our need to get a good spot. Well, three hours wasn't quite early enough. At 9am they started handing out green wristbands which entitled you to a seat and first in line for the signing. Luckily there were still plenty of pink bands to go around.

Pink bands meant you had to stay behind the blue painter's tape line and couldn't get in line for the signing until after the green people. No big deal. I gathered some craft books from around the store and staked out my position in the children's section, directly in front of the stage yet behind the tape.

For two hours I stood and read and waited. Then with mere minutes left before showtime B&N staffers came over to the crowd now gathered around my prime real estate and started taking people out of the pink section and into the coveted green section. Unfortunately they seemed to be focused on those with children and I was passed by. The sadness didn't last long.

There were the Ladies on stage. Just like their concerts they were singing and cracking us up. They quickly surveyed the audience to determine who had skipped school for this special kids' event. Ed and Steve went on to tell us how they had regularly skipped school and, well, it worked out for them. In fact that's when they wrote "If I Had $1000000". It was at this point that a mom behind me revealed herself for the phony fan she was. "I didn't know they wrote that song!" Please! What kind of upbringing could she possibly be giving her kids?

So it was after about 40 minutes of music and laughs that I found myself in line to get my CDs signed. I spent about 30 minutes trying hard to come up with something to say. That's when I found myself face-to-face with Ed. He looked up, smiled, and said hello. Desperate for more conversation, what next tumbled out of my mouth is unbelievable. "Uh, thanks. These will make great Mother's Day gifts." Nothing about my undying love. Not the cute story about my niece, the closest thing I have to a kid, dancing like crazy to "Intermittently". No, I immediately tell him I've giving these away.