Bicycles and 08.29.89

Today was the day that I think I officially became a dad. I put together a bike for my seven year old, Lizzie. She still wants the training wheels on it, but rides it like the wind. She takes that bike out and rides it just how she likes. It is a pink and white bike named "Twirl." Remember how great life was when little things like that used to make our day? She is so happy and proud of that bike. She gave me four hugs for putting it together. I really was happy. I was listening to 08.29.89 at Townsend Park. The Divided Sky > YEM > Possum is just dazzling. It is not nearly as polished as I like it, but the jamming and tweaking was definitely there. Having a few extra minutes in my car gives me a chance to listen to the nearly 1000 shows that I have on my ipod. I don't get the same chance to listen to music at home. Eliz just doesn't like listening to music that much, so my solace is in my car. I have about 50 or 60 shows on video and I watch those sometimes, but nothing is as great as The Clifford Ball. I have tried all of the other official releases and even the HQ recordings of 2009, but they all fall short. From the beginning Chalk Dust all the way to Amazing Grace, the first night is without compare.

Anyway, today we went through tons of baby clothes and sorted them out by age. My wife is totally nesting lately. We put a bid on a house today and so we are hoping that it goes through. Otherwise, we will stay in our rented gigantic house for a little longer. We found such cool baby stuff today. Yesterday, the pack n play came from Amazon, as did the video monitor. The pack and play is really awesome and it is pretty portable. Something we will definitely use on tour a lot. Granted, Eli will sleep with us while Eliz breast feeds, but we will give him some room in his own little bed. Oh, and we got our Merriweather tickets for Sunday in the mail today. It still burns me how that thing with Ticketfly.com went down, but I need tickets for Saturday. Ticketfly couldn't handle the pressure and the whole thing fell apart. It is totally lame and I have no idea how I could never even find the option to purchase tickets until an hour later--long after pavilions were gone.

I am getting psyched for the next few months. I can't wait for Eli to be born. I can't wait for tour. I just have to ask myself if it is best for Eli. I guess that I have thought about this a lot. It probably is not the smartest move, but I am not a bad parent because I want to see Phish. It will be much worse trying to take him anytime after this until he is at least 13. By then, the band might not even be together. I am not justifying this in saying that he will remember it or be better for it. I am not. There probably is nothing good that can come out of it. But, this blog is the outlet I will use to tell you of our tales on the road. As for today, I feel great. My wife is so beautiful pregnant and both my girls are very happy playing together. Now, maybe I will have to find my highend earphones to listen to some prime Phish tonight. Maybe she'll be in the mood to listen to a little "Halley's Comet" or even a classic "Disease." See ya soon!!