Southern Charm

I left Atlanta with such a fondness for that part of the country, and the people I encountered.  There's something very special about children saying, "yes Ma'am"  and the adults apologizing with heartfelt, excuse me please.  I think we on the West coast have forgotten some of our manners and could take a tip from the Southern way of life.

I was so amazed by all of the white dogwood trees in full bloom.  There were lots of tall and skinny trees that hadn't fully developed their foliage yet, and in the midst of these would be several white dogwood trees popping up.  Add enormous vines of purple wisteria growing up trees and hanging gracefully down.  I never had the opportunity to take any photos of these, but oh...I did love them, and hope I can maintain the memory in my mind.

Saturday of my trip was a shower being given for Sasha by several of her friends.  What a nice group of young women.  All so accomplished!  Masters, Olympic athletes, families, and just an enjoyable afternoon getting a peek at where Sasha came from. 

The bride to be had such a good time.  Fabulous food, friends, and the games were absolutely hysterical.  Lynn one of the hostess' had phoned Luke ahead of time to ask questions.  For every question that Sasha got wrong, she needed to put in a piece of bubble gum.  By the end, her jaw was aching, and her speech was nearly unintelligible!

Another fun game was pictionary.  Teams were divided by which side of the table we were sitting on.  I'm pleased and proud to report that my side of the table triumphed!  Here is a shot of the winning photo.  Can you guess what it is?

If you guessed flower girl, you are correct!

No doubt the last peek we'll have of "something blue". 

I was honored to be invited and to share such a special day with so many beautiful women.  I can't wait to see them again in May.

This little dolly showed up at the end of the shower.  Her leg rest cracks me up!

On Sunday, Sasha and I met two of her friends in church.  I'd heard so much about Sasha's Atlanta church and was tickled to get to see it first hand.  When introduced to people, I would extend my hand to shake, only to be engulfed in a bear hug. "We hug around here" was what each person said.  I couldn't have been made to feel more welcome.  This is a very large church with four services, and an overflow room.  I knew there would be lots of folks just from the parking lot, and how far out we parked.  I was impressed how the church has taken a business within a five mile radius, and as a group, prayed for this business and encouraged the members to visit these business' and bless them.  The testimonials were wonderful, and you could feel the love in the room.  I have to say that the best part of the service for me was the music.  Dancing, drums, guitars, and amazing voices filled the large auditorium.  I may have been the only white face in the very large crowd, but I never once felt out of place, and only felt love and acceptance.  If only others could live this way, What a wonderful world this would be.

A Peach of a time in Atlanta

So, after 9 hours of plane delays, I finally arrived about 11pm local Atlanta time.  Sasha was just getting off work, and came to pick me up. We checked in to the cozy Hampton Inn and had a good night's sleep before starting my first full day in Atlanta.
The morning was spent shopping at the "trifecta" TJ Max, Ross Dress for Less, and Marshals, all side by side across the street from our hotel.  From there Sasha took me to a beauty supply house that specializes in African American hair product.  I recieved a mini lesson in hair, and many giggles as I asked questions. All I could think about was Sherri Shephard from the View screaming, "grab mama's hair" when their apt. building had a fire.  Rows and rows of hair and products I had no idea what to do with.
Then we headed to the location of where the movie shoot was being held.  It was in a neighborhood and "base camp" was at a park.  Base camp consisited of multiple trailers with sofas and chairs for the cast to relax in when it's their time, then there were hair and makeup trailers, and business office trailers, and a giant tent set up to feed the crew.  Our day began with  a meal at 2:30.  Mexican was on the spit, and it was very tasty.  Salad bar, slushie bar, juice bar, virtually anything you could think of was available. Movie cast and crew don't go hungy, that's for sure!

Here is Sasha with Keke Palmer, who is one of the stars in the movie.  Dolly Pardon and Queen Latifa had already finished filming before I got there, but I did enjoy visiting with Keke and watching her tape her scenes.  For a 17 year old girl, she is very delightful.  Seems to be mostly unaffected by all of this movie business.  You might know her from Disney, or Nickelodeon, or other movies.

Sasha and Luce.  Luce is the main script supervisor and sits beside the director going over the script and watching the scenes on the viewer.  Hers is a very exacting job, and she asked Sasha to be second script supervisor for two days since filming was going on in two places.  Sasha was most honored and did a great job at something new to her. Luce has a very impressive resume of movies she's worked on, and is highly regarded in her profession.

Filming went on much past midnight, and while sitting in the outdoor swing of the backyard they were doing scenes in, I lent a hand to the creative crew who were multi-tasking on hair bobbers...I was the model.  tee hee
While Sasha was working as script supervisor, I had planned to tag along.  The Assistant director, made mention of needing bodies on the bus that they were going to be filming, and I was certainly qualified for that. I sat on the bus and visited with Sasha's co-workers and had a police escort to our filming which was fairly hysterical!

Here I sat until we were told to move to the other side of the bus for filming.  I will be the head in the odd shaped window if you go to see the movie Joyful Noise.  I got the better end of the deal, as it was warm and dry in the bus, and things were definately cooling down as the sun went down.

One of the lovelies we enjoyed for dinner.  It was amazing to me, how many lobsters were cooked, but it was the last night of filming and this was a celebration.

As if we hadn't eaten enough, a fire truck came to set that cooked pizza's on the back of it.  Very ingenius, and most delicious!

Behind the scenes lighting trying not to have a glare of light on the car that they were shooting.

All in all is was an interesting day and evening.  Now I have a better idea of how a movie is made.  The amount of organization that goes into a movie is mind boggling.  They have been working on this movie since January.Long days and nights, but thankfully a most enjoyable group.

Life's Delays

I'm reminded today how every thing happens for a reason, and there is a reason for every thing. Not always easy for me, as I tend to be so busy that I run from this to that, and fill my free days with lists to be checked off, scurrying around trying to get it all done.
Then, when you've rushed, and hurried, caught a little flu bug (thanks to my buddy Rowdy) you are forced to STOP and wait. That would be today. 
I had Ty spend the night on Tuesday, one last sleepover before I left for Atlanta. Then Wednesday is Teak day, and what should happen, but as the morning progresses, I start feeling a little puny.

REALLY hoping that Mr. Brown eyes and his big Bro Ty don't get the crud, but as I said earlier, all things happen for a reason.

Now, I arrive at the Hampton Inn at PDX airport at 6:15 and am asleep by 7:00  I was awakened by my wake up call at four am, quickly go about getting ready.  I had everything layed out, ready for a quick departure.  My flight was leaving at 6:20 am, and it was a full flight! My hope was that I could possilby get a different seat assignment since all that was available were middle seats.  I'm in the shuttle, and decide to check my email.  There from 3:38 am was an email from Delta informing me that my flight has been delayed until 2:15 pm.  UGH....arrives at 9:50 pm.  That's like almost 1am my time!

The shuttle driver was nice enough to turn around, take me back to the hotel, the clerk reissued my key, and back up to the 4th floor I went.  My little dark nest was waiting for me.  I managed to go back to sleep for another hour, had breakfast, and I think this flu bug is on it's way out.

Now, here's hoping that an aisle seat is waiting for me when I check in at the airport!

The good news is Mark is flying in at noon, and we are going to meet for lunch.  See, things are looking up! If this keeps up, I may get upgraded to first class...HA!

Little brown eyes

Wednesday Wednesday, so good to me.  Hump day to some, a hurdle to others, but for me it's a day to try to get to know my youngest grandson Teak.  Six and a half months old, and such a sweet happy boy.  Unless I leave the room.  Then you can hear screams that sound as if he's being tortured by electricity! Such drama for such a little one, but once my face reappears, his arms go up, and the drama quiets once he's picked up.  Yes, yes, by six months they ARE learning to manipulate, and he has this one down!



There is a saying at our house, and it's "time for Tutu's boot camp"  this is where the babies come and go through their paces...we work, we sit, we stretch, and Teak is champ! I must say his attention and length of time spent going through my rigors is longer than any I can remember.  He can stay up on his knees for several minutes, and does a cute little rock, humping action...he's quite pleased with himself

Then he plops down, and tries to get himself back up on his knees, but today was unsuccessful in his attempts. He can get from point A to point B with a combination of rolling and scooting, and is pretty good at getting to something that he wants.  Today it was one of my pots, so up on the counter that went.

 Can't you read his mind?  Why won't you hand me the block???

 He can twist and turn, and seems as if he's memorizing things that he puts in his hands...those chubby little fingers nearly wear the toys out as he explores all parts of it.

 Who can resist these rubber band wrists? The creases so deep, it does seem as if he's had rubber bands on them. And the dimples in his skin are just too delicious!

 Teak is in love with the kitties.  Can't really say that the feeling is mutual.  He watches them, and really would like to play, but others before him have made the kitties wary of little ones.

Teak scored when he got the ball toy away from Ting Lee.  Ting wanted it back, but still wasn't willing to get in too close to those cute chubby hands.

He's working on the railroad...all day long!

I could look into those brown eyes all day long.  It's as if they are liquid milk chocolate..so sweet and so hypnotizing...Such a cute boy...he's a love.

Big guy turns 6

Arghhh mateys.  The little man turned six last Thursday, and have six friends come and help him celebrate his day.  Pirates, eye patches, and wind and rain made for a perfect pirate party.  Here are a few of the pics from the day.

Birthday boy helped make the cupcakes..he loves cooking, but even better is licking the spoon when they are finished.

The mateys arrived, and were ready for some rough and tough pirate fun...swabbing the decks, and then a scavenger hunt in their pirate ship to find the booty that awaited them.

The booty bags were opened, and enjoyed.  Cold and wet, but these little pirates were tough

Best Face in February!

6 month's old, and look at that sparkle in his eye~