Holiday Pops - December 13, 2008

Today I got my holiday wish - to sleep in. We had plenty of time to burn before tonight's adventure - the Holiday Pops at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Today was the coldest day of the weekend - so we decided to keep warm and go visit the mall. Colleen was still recovering from her surgery, so her handicapped plate allowed us to avoid the madness that was finding a parking spot at the mall.

Inside, we went to look at toys, candles (yay- Sun and Sand scent) and get Colleen's ring sized. The salesman seemed a bit disappointed that that's all we wanted to do. He did remind us that you could purchase a plan for lifetime re-sizing. Nice try buddy. Another salesman was disappointed when we walked into the mattress store, only to look at the cute dogs they sell as their mascots.
The American Girl doll store was a trip. These kids looked mesmerized with the life-like dolls. There was even a cafe where the girls could dine with their dolls. My favorite part was the hair salon where the dolls get their hair done as their proud owners looked on.

Later, we enjoyed an Early Bird dinner at Outback. Luckily, we decided to show up around 5 instead of 4:15 as I wanted. I was anxious about making it to the Symphony on time. Luckily, we did by calling another audible. The Bills offensive coordinator would be proud of all the audibles we called this weekend. But, we always got the first down. The Symphony was great. I was a bit hesitant going in. You know, I always get fidgety in formal environments. I was put at ease by the great Christmas carols and the sing-a-long at the end of the night. It was like karaoke!!! The show was so great, I didn't even once think about yelling "Play Free Bird!" I was disappointed at first that we didn't get to see conductor Keith Lockhart. Instead, we got a guy named Gerry who was very animated.

Colleen couldn't watch him, because he was always flailing. But I found him thoroughly entertaining. Santa stole the show by coming on stage and telling some great jokes about the economic downturn and even venturing into some politics.

"You know things are tough. Even Joe the Elf is having trouble making ends meet."

"We just renovated our house at the north pole. It was so small, Mrs. Claus and I were getting Claustraphobic."

"We even had some trees cut down in the yard... and you know what, you really can see Russia from our house."

-The mall, ahem, Natick Collection: B-, Starting a game of UpWords with the word "Logos" - C (at best), Outback Dinner: A, Holiday Pops: A, Saucy Santa: A+
---POSTED BY JON