It's 2009 and what about Sally's?

Yes it is 2009 and my last post was 4 months ago! Today the family is recuperating from a week-long road trip. Larry and the kids performed in A Salute to Annie Get Your Gun - a fun show with so many familiar tunes conducted by our dear and talented friend Aaron Gandy. We also had the privileged to witness one of the most convincing of "Annie's"...Klea Blackhurst. She and Larry had an exciting and unique chemistry and I especially loved their love and "hate" duets. The kids were so enamored with her and her performance (OK I was too). Sydney & Quintin played her little brother and sister and although they each had one line, they took those lines to heart and soul and played them to the hilt. Our road trip to Newnan, Georgia began with a stop in Greensboro, NC where I reconnected with my childhood friend Diana (we have not spoken in about 20 years). It was so great to see her and her three children and husband. We met at Carolina's Diner where the place was buzzing with the excitement of our children's' first meeting. Quintin was ecstatic that the two boys ages 7 & 9 were also Pokeman addicts and the three boys were busy studying an impressive collection of cards. The little girl who was around 6 years old sat across the table next to Sydney and could not have been sweeter. At one point though she chimed in with the boys to voice her Pokeman card picks. Our next stop was in Marietta, Georgia where we stayed with our very close friends Randy & Elaine. Every year we ooh and aah over how much all our kids have grown (I mean really...it seems like yesterday that the kids were just babies!) I'm excited for Randy and Elaine in their move back to Texas. I am always in awe of their wonderful parenting, creativity in everything they do, and how hard they work. Sydney and Quintin always have the best of times with their girls who are quite close in age. Quintin loved making the girls laugh with his Jim Carreyesque performances and Sydney loved being outdoors collaborating on a fairy house while oodles of hairy green caterpillars dropped from the trees around them. We hated to leave but the best was yet to come: the show. The Centre for Performing & Visual Arts is an amazing facility because of its director, Don. I can't tell you how brilliant and amazing this man is. He truly is a hero for so many performing artists that come to the Centre. Don makes you feel special, like you're the only performer left on earth. The kids immediately recognized and appreciated his generous and warm personality. The NEA should snatch him up. He could easily become an international ambassador of the arts if there ever was such. His brilliance and wonderfulness are limitless and I think there should be a blog on his life, achievements and and the lives he touches. When we did arrive to Newnan the kids and I took in A Taste of Newnan - an annual street festival featuring the food of the town's eateries (all this while Larry rehearsed with Aaron). My most favorite treat was the deep-fried Oreo (of course I took a picture and now need to figure out where to find the recipe). We had so much fun taking in the country quaintness of this small-town Georgian festival and the weather was picture perfect. Weather is always important in determining how much of a good a time one has. Good comfort food doesn't hurt either. We arrived on a Thursday and the show was on a matinee on Sunday. How lucky that my dad was able to fly in to Atlanta. His good friend Tony and he stayed at Tony's lake house. They loved the show and I was so happy and relieved that my dad showed evidence of complete recovery from a ruptured appendix which almost took his life several months back. AAAHH! Larry, the kids and I left Newnan Monday shortly after an early and very enjoyable breakfast full of laughs with Don and Klea in the hotel lobby. I almost forgot to mention the fiasco at Sally's Beauty Supply before leaving Newnan. A couple of days before the show, we purchased a couple of hair products for Larry, nail polish remover for Sydney's chipped purple nail polish, some tattoos for Quintin to have fun with AFTER the show, and a small black barrette for my frizzy hair to be worn the day of the performance. Well, we are totally against using plastic bags (you know they kill the dolphins!) as much as possible and if we can carry items out (when we forget to bring a bag) we will. So Larry hands the barrette to Sydney after making the purchase. We didn't know that Sydney figured he handed the item to her so that she could put it back! The two never said one word to each other - go figure! On Sunday I realized I never saw the barrette and found out what happened. So on Monday after breakfast before hitting the road back north we stopped by Sally's to get the barrette - MY barrette. Well, the sales clerk who also was the store manager flatly refused to believe my story. So I leave the store and tell Larry. He then goes in to try to convince her (no surprise). After the two exchange some words about trust and that sort of thing he comes back to the car to retrieve the hair products to return to the store so he can get his money back. Long story short three police cars arrive and Sally's becomes a scene right out of Judge Judy. Larry gets his money back from the hair products but doesn't get the barrette or even the six bucks it cost us. I was just happy we weren't banned from performing in Newnan.

Following the drama we headed north on I-85 to my dad's friend Tony's lake house in Lavonia. When we arrived a couple of hours later the kids couldn't dress or undress for that matter to go swimming. The water was on the cold side but they didn't care as they enjoyed swimming on a beautiful spring day. Tony took us on a splendid boat ride on an impressive lake which reminded me of north Texas' Lake Texoma. We left early the next morning and met up with our friend Sam in Charlotte, NC. He was in the middle of downtown Charlotte smack dab in the middle of the construction of a new building. His coworkers were quite charming in their construction gear and were so gracious to let us park the car right there (I mean "smack dab") at the construction site while we chowed down on diner food with Sam. It was a short visit but nonetheless a good time had by all. Well, no road trip is complete without a good Southern meal at Cracker Barrel. I think in the kids' opinion Cracker Barrel's gift shops are often a highlight on these trips to the South.

Oh, by the way, today is Earth Day. And although we all were too tired to venture out and DO something the kids were very excited to turn of all the lights and TVs at 9pm for two solid minutes. Sydney liked the darkness and what it meant and told Quintin that we should keep everything off all night long for the sake of the planet. Quintin responded: "No way. American Idol is about to come on!"