Road Trip

Matt is Seth's hero.  Seth has, as a 17 year old, a short bucket list, but Matt was on it.  When Seth saw Matt's videos, he was hooked.  From there, he read the book, watched the videos, and aspired to join him in his dance.  And so he did.

I saw Matt's video, and realized what an awesome thing he had done.  Call me crazy, but I love the songs, and I love the premise behind travelling the world and bringing people together in whatever small way we can.  And the joy of dancing, however badly it is, can never be underestimated.  And so it was that we ended up dancing with Matt.

I had joined the email list, despite the fact that Matt had said in his book that he would not do another video.  So in July of last year, I was surprised to get an email saying that he was working on another video, and would be in Madison, Wisconsin that weekend.  Seth was insistent that we go, despite the 7 hour drive.  Of course, he did not understand the financial situation of being a newly single mom with a father who wasn't paying child support, and another kid in college.  Needless to say, gas money was kind of scarce, so I told him no, Madison was out.  I did, however, email Matt and ask if he was going to be somewhere else in the Midwest.  Imagine my surprise when Matt himself answered, saying that they would be in Detroit on Tuesday.

Detroit is doable.  Detroit is about four hours away, making it a day trip in my world, because I love to drive.  Add to it that the timing was right, because they were going to be meeting at 7pm.  And so it was that I "had a dentist appointment" (wink wink) and left work to drive to Detroit.  Jill originally wasn't going to go, but decided to make the trip, swearing that she wouldn't dance.  We were in the midst of a wonderful road trip when clunk, clunk, clunk, we had a flat, right outside of Toledo.  DAMN.  Fortunately, we were right at an exit, so I pulled of, pulled into an empty lot, and informed Seth that he was going to have the fastest "how to fix a flat" lesson ever given, because if we didn't do it quickly, we would miss the dancing.  Did I mention is was about 98 degrees at the time?

One fixed flat later, we arrived in Detroit.  Got a bit misplaced, finally got parked (parallel, sigh), and got there just in time to watch the dancing from about 100 yards away.  Yep.  We drove four hours, only to miss the dancing by about 30 seconds.  I told the kids to run for it, but they were shy, so when we got up there, I didn't hesistate when Matt asked how long people had driven to get there.  He was gracious enough to do an individual dance with Seth - before anyone else -- and to sign the book we bought for Seth.  Heck, we even got the Tshirt.  But that's not enough, when Seth had dancing in the video as an item on his bucket list.

I heard Matt say that they would be in Cleveland the next day.  The kids were insistent that we go to Cleveland.  The catch?  Jill had something she needed to do the next day, and I had a tire to get repaired.  So yep, we drove back to Indianapolis - four hours - only to drive to Cleveland - four and a half hours one way -- the next day.  We arrived in plenty of time this time.  We were actually one of the first ones there.  Saw a jury for a serial killer's trial leave the courthouse whilst we waited, suitcases and all.  Got interviewed for TV, though I have yet to see the footage, but man, we made it.  And Jill decided that she would, after all, dance.

Matt was a bit amused to see us, and the guy from the Evolution of Dance video was there as well.  (He's from Cleveland, apparently.)   A few dancing lessons later, we danced with Matt.  The whole thing probably took about ten minutes, with NO guarantee that Cleveland would make it into the final footage.  And then we drove home, and Matt left to tour the world.

I've been watching for months, waiting to see if we made the final cut, and hoping for Seth's sake that we did.  It was so fun, and pretty cool to be a part of something that has a cult following.  And so it was that today the new video was released.  And yes, we are in it.  3:27 shows Cleveland, and there we are, doing the Saturday Night Fever dance.  So yeah, it took the better part of a days worth of driving, but we are a part of history, and Seth's bucket list is one item shorter.  I love the video, love the song, and love the premise of Matt's voyages. 

Enjoy.

Say what.................?

So, I'm sitting on the back porch swing with Seth, and we are talking about what a nice night it is, and how comfortable the swing is.  So comfortable, Seth says, that he could fall asleep on it.  Apparently so comfortable that he stops mid-sentence during the conversation.  I wait, thinking he is just formulating a response, then realize he just stopped talking, period.  I said "AND???????????" or something to that effect.  He looks at me blankly and says

"oh, never mind.  I didn't really have an end to that sentence."

No wonder I spend half of my life confused.  I live with a boy who only plans half sentences.