BUT...
Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that require you to do things you never thought you would have to do.
Tonight we had plans to go to our friends' house to exchange Christmas presents, have dinner, and just hang out. Someone had mentioned Karaoke, but I've been to those kinds of parties before and I can almost always manage to slip under the radar and leave the spotlight to all those other people who don't mind it.
I pretended to be excited about the evening, but I was a little nervous. I can carry a tune. I can sometimes even sound good, but the thought of doing that into a microphone surrounded by people who are REALLY good isn't the slightest bit appealing. But I LOVE these people. And they are so warm and relaxed and comforting that I probably would have even agreed to jump into a game of charades if they had asked. (They didn't...phew!!)
We had incredible food, great conversation, and hilarious stories...and then...they brought out the microphone. (ugh...) These people are SERIOUS about their music and their technology. They had one mic on a stand that was plugged into something, and another handheld, cordless mic that could be passed around. They also had their AppleTV connected so that any of us who happened to have music downloaded onto our iPhones could just use that as the musical accompaniment to our singing. AND in case the 150 karaoke CDs and the personal music collections didn't offer enough choices, they also had the capability to pull up ANY song on Youtube. Did you know that there are karaoke versions of just about every song out there. The selection was limitless. (There was no possible way to use "I can't find a song" as my excuse for not singing.)
These people are amazing. They jumped up first and sang a few easy songs, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, You're So Vain, and Jingle Bell Rock. They sang in small groups and by themselves.
Even Andrew sang...Jason Mraz I'm Yours
Jacob and Johnny (Andrew's backup singers)
The Scout Master was brave and started in his comfort zone...Rhinestone Cowboy, which broke the ice for the girls.
Spell Girl and June did a duet of Airplanes which was AMAZING.
And TCD did Forget You.
I could avoid it no longer. I had held Baby Sofia for as long as I could get away with, I had hidden behind my camera, and I had gone to the restroom a few times, but the inevitable was upon me... the microphone came around to my side of the couch. (EEK!)
TCD and June bailed me out of a solo and sang For Good (from Wicked) with me. (Sorry I don't have pictures for proof.) And all of a sudden it wasn't a big deal anymore. I didn't sound horrible. No one threw things at me or complained. And I did it. And it was over. (I can do hard things!) All 14 of us continued to sing and when the microphone came back around to me, I sang a couple more songs...Mele Kalikimaka (duet with Mack) and Love the Way You Lie (duet with Spell Girl who did all the Eminem rapping perfectly.)
Disclaimer: I would NOT suggest using that song (or any other Eminem song) at any parties or karaoke nights in the future, because unlike the version we have on our MP3's, the Youtube ones out there are embarrassingly NOT CLEAN! That's just the impression I wanted to leave in front of our friends...having my 13 year old rapping a song with way too many four letter words in it! ugh!!
I was just feeling comfortable enough to start requesting some Carpenters and MCC when we looked at the clock and realized it was 11:15pm and we had been there for 5 HOURS! Holy cow! How time flies when you're having fun! We stayed just long enough to hear the boys demonstrate their beat boxing skills...AWESOME!
I am constantly amazed at the talent that flows from this family. They are kind and generous and humble and SO much fun, and they just quietly do all these really cool things. I'm so glad they keep letting us hang out with them so that we can discover all this stuff. We all had a great time...as usual. We love the Rodriguez family.
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