Wow! What a week it had been! I fully intended to blog earlier but I have been so very busy I haven't had time to do anything except one interview after another to promote my opening at the Mirage. Guess what? Tickets for my Mirage engagement have officially gone on sale! Can you believe it? It's not a fantasy anymore, it is a reality!!!

I want to thank all of you faithful Fator Tots who barraged the call center at 6 AM Wednesday morning and bought tickets to my upcoming Vegas shows at the Mirage. I can promise you all that I will do everything I can to make sure the show is as good as it can get!
Can you believe all this is happening? You know how it feels when you have something to look forward to but it is months and months away so it feels kind of like a pipe dream. But as the days and weeks and months fly by the long-awaited day begins to loom ever closer and you feel the excitement welling up inside you like a geyser getting ready to shoot thirty feet in the air, but you must still contain yourself because you don't want to make a scene. I think the first time I ever felt that way was when I was eighteen and I was going on a trip to England with some friends. It actually felt like my insides were actually buzzing I was so excited. I'm feeling that way now.

Oh my goodness, the countdown has begun! Not only do I get the joy of the holidays to experience, but as of Sunday the old (gigantic, I might add) marquees out front and back of the Mirage come down, and within a few short days will be replaced by my enormous mug!
Now I realize that I have had billboards and marquees in Vegas already and it has been very cool (in fact, I still get all excited and point and say "There's one of my cabs!" whenever a taxi with my ad on it drives by) but this is different. This time they won't be taken down after my performance and replaced by whoever was coming in the next week. They will stay!
Now what this means is that every one of you Fator Tots who visits Vegas will be driving down the strip and will see me smiling at you from fifty feet above you! Gulp! That is a frightening thought! I guess that's what it must feel like to be on the big screen and see yourself towering above you. Again, I do have billboards now, but it is just different since it is right in front of the Mirage and it will be permanent.

*Sigh* That means that I can wake up each day refreshed because I slept in my own bed, shuffle bleary-eyed into my kitchen and make coffee (unless I hire Mr. French, then I'll say, "Hey French, can you get me some coffee? Hehehe.) then I'll curl up on my man room couch and either watch TV or play a video game for a few minutes, breaking every few seconds to take a sip of my morning joe.

I'll putter around the house a bit, Melinda will wake up and then I'll ask if she wants breakfast. Of course she will and I'll get the eggs and bacon out of the fridge and I'll commence to cooking breakfast for her. She'll putter around herself until the whole condo is filled with sound of sizzling and the smell of bacon drifts to our nostrils. I'll fry the eggs perfectly (I am very particular about how I fry my eggs), and we'll sit at our little breakfast nook overlooking the strip, I with my coffee and she with her orange juice and we'll eat breakfast, wondering aloud at how strange life has become, and being thankful for the blessings that God has given us.

And it won't even be Thanksgiving!

I have had so many people tell me they think I'll stop signing autographs and going out to meet my fans and take pictures with then after a while, but I am here to tell you that it won't happen. One of the highlights of my day is going out after shows and meeting you all. If I hated it and dreaded it I might get tired of it, but I truly enjoy meeting you, and I never want to get that cut-off feeling from you all. I want us both to remember that we are in this together and your way of being a part of it is to come laugh and afterwards a picture together or an autograph.

Anyway, the point of this blog is to tell you that my tickets are officially on sale at the Mirage, and I am so looking forward to being there and putting on the best show you've ever seen!

Thanks so much for all you wonderful kind words and all your support. And don't forget that I will be at the Las Vegas Hilton three more times, November 30, December 21 and 22, and those shows will be my Christmas shows. You just have to come out to hear Winston and me sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as Louie Armstrong and Kermit! And we will be making those shows into real parties because they will be my final shows at the Hilton. I can't begin to express how bittersweet it is, having to leave behind so many new friends, but I know we will all be richer for having known one another and our friendships will last beyond my engagement at their hotel. Come out and see the show if you can because we are going to make it very special!

I hope to see you at a show in the future. Until then, have a very happy holiday season! Don't eat too much turkey (yeah, right, even I can't promise that!) have a very merry Christmas, and if you celebrate a different holiday, happy RamiHanaQuazsas to all, and to all a good night!

P.S. I'll blog soon about what I gave Melinda for her birthday and Christmas. It is sooooo cool!

P.P.S. Don't forget, my book is on sale! It is being shipped to the bookstores this week, so grab a copy and be sure to let me know what you think. Or maybe write a review on Amazon. I'd love to get your feedback!

I am, as always, your Terbear