Hey, fiddle-dee-dee, an actor's life for me... well, for Kel, anyway

Our daughter Kelly made the trip west safely and quickly, I am happy to report. My friends and I have been having a ball reading her blog (click on the link to Kelly’s blog on the right to see why). She took an oversized key-chain I gave her of a rat dressed as Ole’ Blue Eyes. If you press his hand, he sings “New York, New York”… very funny. She used Frank Sinatrat, as she named him, as a sort of roaming gnome traveling companion, and her pics of him are a hoot in and of themselves.

She celebrated her 34th birthday alone in San Diego, but Dave and I had laden the dining room table with birthday goodies, so she was alone, but not forgotten nor neglected.

I cannot believe my little girl is 34. I remember 34; the thirties are great. If I could age backwards, I wouldn’t go any further back than 30. I hope Kelly’s are as rich as my 30s were, but I really have no fears on that account. She was back in San Diego only two days when she was cast in yet another play. San Diego loves our girl.

Just to embarrass her as much as possible, I am posting some pictures of her. Here is a picture of Kelly and fellow thespian Warren Gore taken a few years ago. I love this picture of Kelly, because it really showcases how beautiful she is and how elegant she can be, though there is no convincing her of that fact.

I am adding a couple of shots of the scrapbook and scrapbook cover I made for her. The original cover started off as plain wood. I used acrylic paint to create a pickled effect, then decoupaged photos and other embellishments to make what I thought was an interesting and unique cover. Only one problem: due to a design flaw, you couldn't turn the pages of the scrapbook after the first couple. So I bought a traditional cover and embellished it for her pages and left the wooden cover for her to use for the photos of her trip west.

The second cover was colorful to begin with, so I just added text and star embellishments and Kelly's picture.

I could really embarrass her and publish some of her baby pictures, but I won't... because she if I do, she will knock me to a peak and kick the peak off when I return to San Diego. Just take my word for it, she has been gorgeous at every age.

She is also a bit OC- she has sent me pictures of her reorganization of the pantry.... and the kitchen... and the computer room... and the balcony. I won't be able to find ANYTHING when I return, which, I must add, will delight her immensely.

On the home front in Tullahoma:

Re cats:

Hobbes has recovered from his surgery and if we thought denaturing him would calm him down, we were sadly mistaken. I have learned that Patches is extremely possessive of the litter box, because when I filled it with shredded paper for Hobbes, she had a conniption fit and bit me on the leg. She forgave me after I showed her the new box filled with her favorite litter just for her. I'd bite her back, but a mouthful of fur doesn't appeal to me, and Hobbes bites her enough for the both of us.

Re My Woman's Club:

The GFWC Centennial Woman's Club had their international dinner at my house on Tuesday, and honey, it was a feast. We had an Italian theme, and we were inspired. Sandie Simms made her minestrone soup (to die for), I made chicken cacciatore and rice, Renee Keene made chicken spaghetti, Taffy Cayce and Johnnie Hill brought antipasto plates, Ida Smith brought a pasta salad, Ann Waggoner made something wonderful with puff pastry, Kathy Orr brought lasagna, Marcia Kribs made from- scratch Italian bread, Nancy Hale made an INCREDIBLE tossed salad, Shelia Burton brought pizza, and Yvonne Gilliam made a Bacardi Rum Cake that was the perfect ending to a most excellent meal. We Southern ladies know our way around the kitchen, let me tell you. Sandie Simms was our featured speaker and gave a wonderful talk on her native country and the small town where she was born. Her photo album was fascinating. Great time! But then, that fits our club's motto "Good Women, Good Works, Good Times". We always have a good time. I love these ladies. They really enrich my life. Here's a picture of Kelly and I and some of the good women of GFWC Centennial at 2004's fund-raiser. I am the rotund one on the far right in green gingham. Kelly is the beauty in the white hat and lavender dress.

Re Mama:

The big screen TV died while we were in California, and Mama did NOT kill it. She just made resuscitating it an experiment in terror. Constant readers know that Mama refuses to answer her phone, so coordinating the arrival of repairmen and the removal of the TV involved convoluted, triangulated phone calls between me, my son, and my housekeeper. We THOUGHT we had it handled. Stephanie was going to get to the house the day before the strange men arrived, and have Mama call me so that I could explain what was going on. I was also going to ask Mama to pay the repairman with the understanding that I would pay her back when I returned. Jake was going to be there when the repairman came so she wouldn't be uneasy about a stranger in the house. It is a plan that should have worked. Except- Mama was mad at me and wouldn't let Stephanie call me and refused to listen when Steph tried to explain what was going to happen. Any mention of the TV triggered indignant cries of "I didn't break it!" and temper tantrums. Poor Stephanie. Jake went ahead and made arrangements, but the repairman got to the house before Jake did and Mama wouldn't let him. When Jake arrived mere moments later, expecting to find a fully prepared grandmother, he found instead an irate banty rooster who first would not let the man remove the TV from the livingroom, and then refused to write a check because, as she so vocally insisted "It's not my fault. I'm not going to pay, it's not my fault. It's not my fault." Poor Jake had to write a check, and poor me had to over-night a check back to him to cover it, which cost me $50 just for the over-night mailing. The TV is back in good working order, and some good may have come from this, because Mama refuses to touch it now.

Gotta go. Gene Autry is on.