Ticketmaster still sucks but I got my tickets

The bottom line is that I got the tickets. But not without some anxiety.

When I first logged onto the system I had the same problems as yesterday (none availible). But eventually I got good seats and was all ready to order them but had problems with my password. This exceeded the two minutes I had to order so my tickets were released.

I tried again. Found good seats, paid for them, and realized after the fact that I bought the wrong quantity.

Tried a THIRD time. Fortunately found good seats and bought the correct amount. As for the extra tickets, we'll put them on Craigslist or Ebay and make our money back and then some.

If Noah didn't like these guys as much as he does I would so not bother. He'll love the show. And if you ask him who the new Wiggle is, he'll say "Sam." Who is pictured above in the yellow shirt with the rest of the group.

Why Ticketmaster Sucks

For those living under a rock, Noah is obsessed with The Wiggles. They came to town last year and Noah had a blast at the show. Given my lack of a job we went back and forth over whether or not to go this year but in the end we cracked. Yes, I know Noah will not know the difference if we don't go, but Dan and I took so much joy in his excitement last year that we wanted him to have that experience again this year.

But I digress.

According to Ticketmaster, the pre-sale was to begin today at noon. I was at the computer, ready to go at 11:55. Noon came, I logged on to Ticketmaster, entered the pre-sale password, and was promptly told that there were no tickets available. So I tried again. And again. And before I knew it I had been at it for 30 minutes. We're talking about THE WIGGLES, not the Superbowl. So I called Ticketmaster and they told me that there were no tickets available and the show was sold out. Let me get this straight. . .The Wiggles are coming to Phoenix and the show sold out in like a nano-second? I've been buying tickets since I was 15 and have never had a problem like this. So I called the theatre where the show is being held and the nice woman from customer service told me that 1/3 of the tickets were released today as a part of some pre-sale that no one knew about, another 1/3 will be released at 10am tomorrow (this is apparently the Ticketmaster pre-sale), and the remaining 1/3 will be released to the general public on Wednesday. I've talked to other moms through my Hadassah listserve and visited the Wiggles message boards. And no one got tickets. And we're talking about resourceful moms and rabid fans. The only people who got tickets today were brokers. I know this because Stubhub.com is selling them for upwards of $570 a seat. I kid you not.

I refuse to believe that I can't get tickets for Noah. I'm on a mission. I will not let Ticketmaster and places like Stubhub deny my precious child of a Wiggly experience. Which is why I will be sitting at my computer with my game face on at 9:45am, ready to get those damn tickets. Now it's about principle. And pride.

For those of you with a wicked sense of humor (NOT Noah related)

Sarah Silverman is a comedian with a new show coming out on Comedy Central and Dan and I think she is hysterical. Her comedy is pretty raunchy, and you have to have a good sense of humor to really appreciate it. Well, on youtube.com there is a video of her song "Give the Jew Girl Some Toys." Dan showed it to me tonight and like the title implies, its about a Jewish girl begging Santa for Christmas toys. If anyone is interested, here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40qTXlNJj9s

A brag about Noah

Periodically, we get Happy Gram's from Noah's teachers telling us when he has done something positive at school. In the past we have received them when Noah has shown good behavior, because for a while all we received were notes that he was biting other kids (yeah, I am the parent of a biter).

Today we received perhaps the sweetest note of all.

"I am happy to tell you that on January 25th your child said the cutest thing. While on the playground I asked Noah if he could hear the birds sing. He said yes. I asked him what they were saying and he answered 'the sh'ma.' I am so proud of you!"

Dan and I melted when we read this. The sh'ma is one of the most basic and most central prayers in Judaism and part of the reason he goes to Jewish preschool is to reinforce the traditions and values that we are teaching at home. Not to mention the fact that we pay a small fortune in tuition each month and it is reassuring to know that he is learning the things that we want him to learn. I know that every parent thinks their kid is a genius but Noah really is an incredibly verbal and bright little boy. Makes his mommy and daddy proud.

THEY DID IT!!!!

Oh yeah baby. . . .the Indianapolis Colts are going to the Superbowl!

It's all because Noah, Dan, and my dad wore their lucky Colts shirts today.

Breakfast in Bed/Lost Child Alert

Saturday mornings are kind of a lazy time for us as a family and we are VERY lucky that Noah sleeps as well as he does because he often sleeps until 8'ish on Saturday mornings. Pretty good for a toddler. Last week he crawled into bed with Dan and and I and this morning he did the same. Only this time he stayed in bed with us for two hours. It was a cold and rainy outside and frankly we were all pretty content to stay in bed. Noah cuddled with us for a few minutes and then got comfortable watching cartoons and the last 40 minutes of a wretched live action Barney movie. Since he was having a good time we made him breakfast in bed that included toast with jam and milk/yogurt. As you can see from the picture, Noah and Dan were clearly enjoying themselves.

Noah also initiated his first "Lost Child Alert" at Barnes & Noble this evening. There are two things that people need to know about Noah. He can run FAST and he is very friendly and will talk to just about anyone. That said, the children's section at the bookstore was really crowded tonight and Noah was having a good time looking at books, running around, and talking to other kids. . . many of whom had no idea how to respond to our gregarious two year old. The next thing we knew, Noah was gone. There was a saleswoman next to us as Dan and I began to panic and she quickly alerted the store management that there was a "Code Adam" (missing child). Just as it was being announced on the loudspeaker that there was a lost little boy in a red jacket named Noah, Noah (in the flesh) comes running from the front of the store with this crazy grin on his face. The "you can't catch me mommy" grin. In all honesty the entire incident lasted about two minutes, but it was scary in the sense that literally one second he was in the kids section screaming for Dora and the next minute he was gone and lapping the magazine section. We love Noah to pieces, but somehow I doubt this will be out last child alert.

How Noah Eats an Oreo cookie

Dan was watching football yesterday with my dad and Noah (GO COLTS!!!) and my mom and I hit the movies and Big Lots where we found Dulce de Leche Oreo cookies for $1.60. They are amazing so we bought a box and gave Noah a few cookies. There are two ways to eat an Oreo. The first is to just bite into it and eat it like a cookie. The other way is to twist the cookies apart and eat the filling first.

Then there is Noah's way.

Noah twisted apart the cookies, ate the creamy Dulce de Leche filling, dropped the cookies on the floor for the dogs, and then asked for another one.

Zoo lights and New Year's Eve! Happy Noodle!

The last week has been a whirlwind for us since Dan's brother and mom have been in town visiting. On Saturday night, all of us including my parents, took Noah to Zoo Lights. This is the third year we have been and Noah had a ball. He loved the lights, but he also loves the Merry-Go-Round. This is significant because for the longest time you could not get within 20 feet of a Merry-Go-Round without Noah going ape shit with the screaming and crying. Within the last few months his fear has waned a lot and now he can't wait to go on them. He had a blast riding at the Zoo and went on the Merry-Go-Round twice, once with mommy and then again with Dan and papa (grandpa). Meanwhile, Noah's grandma, nana, and Uncle Jeremy enjoyed watching Noah giggle as he went round and round. He capped the evening off with HOT kettle corn and dinner at Uncle Sam's (it's where we go every year after Zoo Lights.

New Year's Eve. . . .Noah did not disappoint. We were invited to a friends house and while I brought pajama's for Noah I did not bring his "b" (pacifier) or taggie because I honestly thought everyone would leave when the kids got tired. Wrong. Noah is a great sleeper at home and at daycare but no where else. Dan and I think it is because he is worried that he will miss something. Well, all the other kids eventually went to bed in various bedrooms but Noah was like the Energizer Bunny running around. We tried putting him to bed at one point and when Noah fussed Dan said, "what's the point, you and I both know this won't work." So we gave in and let Noah stay up. Which he did. Until 12:45 a.m. Everyone was amazed because not only did he stay awake but he wasn't particularly fussy. He played with toys, played with our friend's dog, had apple pie, sat on my lap, and just goofed around. He also could have cared less when the ball dropped (he was still eyeing some chocolate cake which wouldn't give him). We left about 12:15 a.m. and Noah chatted with everyone in the car, came home, got in his crib and went to sleep. He woke up briefly at 4 a.m., and again at 10 a.m. Napped from 2-4:45 p.m. and then went to be for the night around 8 p.m. Simply amazing.

Happy Noodle to you and yours this year. Why are we saying Happy Noodle? Because on New Year's Eve we told Noah to say "Happy New Year" and instead at looked at us and replied "Happy Noodle." No particular reason. But for the last few days he was been wishing EVERYONE a Happy Noddle.


The people in the pictures include: Noah and me, Noah and his papa, and Noah with both his grandma (Dan's mom, on the left) and his nana (my mom, on the right). Now that pictures of BOTH of my mom are on the Internet for all to see perhaps they will now read my blog.