A Very Karaoke Birthday

Great news—the karaoke party was a huge success! Who knew so many of our friends in Jerusalem were aching for a chance to unleash their inner rock stars? I can safely say that our friends, coworkers, and students have now seen a side of us they've never seen before. Guess there's no going back. We kicked off the night with "I Love Rock and Roll." The singing is pretty painful, but Nick said I don't sound much worse than the original version (sorry Joan Jett). If you look closely, you'll see Moira is clapping along with us. Moira was around for the beginning, but she went to sleep before it got really good.   Friends and teachers at the school: Anna, Suzana, Elise, Emily. You can always count on the girls to bring good food and come ready to sing. Nothing like ABBA's "Dancing Queen" to get all the women up on stage. Even some students from our school got in on the action. I taught Yazan (little guy on the right) two years ago. Bet he never thought he'd be singing karaoke at his 2nd grade teacher's birthday. You can tell they're singing "Bohemian Rhapsody," right? Just look at all that passion. Backup singing for "Staying Alive" with Basma and Chrissie. Those Bee Gees really do have crazy high voices. The crowd was very supportive. "Dream on. Dream on." Gotta love Aerosmith. Finalists for the Best Dressed award—Jeff wore eyeliner, Anna rocked the shoulder pads, Shireen perfectly matched the decorations, and Suzana wore those cut-off gloves like a true 80s pop star. Moira was also in the running for Best Dressed, but she pooped out before the judging. And the finalists for Best Performance—all had their own personal charm. Can't go wrong with Oreo truffles for party favors. It was a great night. Just wish our loved ones from back home could have been there, too! Especially the ones who share our love of singing and making complete fools of ourselves onstage.