Things that make me smile, and things that make me laugh out loud

First, smiles: Three entries from the weekend. The first one was at Susie B's wedding. Susie is my precious cousin Libby's baby, who has finally tied the knot with a great guy, John. Following the wedding ceremony, meal, cake cutting, and first dance by the new couple, Susie came over and got Dexter, her stepfather. Some of you know Dexter. He is a super fellow, pretty spry for his 80+ years. He has just started walking with a cane. Susie pulled him out on the dance floor for the traditional father/daughter dance. He and she hadn't been at it very long at all when Susie's older brother, David, cut in. After David's few spins, brother Jim was there to cut in. Then came brother Mark, and finally, brother Mike. It was so sweet watching them all cut in on each other to dance with baby sister. Even more special, it symbolized the special place each brother held in his heart for his little sister.

Entry number two: While I was enjoying my meal at the wedding, I felt a little hand "scratching" my arm. I looked over and saw Amber, age 5, Libby's newest granddaughter. I asked Amber what she was doing, and she replied, "bothering you." She and Gracie, her younger sister(almost 4), were distributing "goodie bags" to the other children at the wedding. They got the idea from Annie's wedding last May. Faye, their mama, told me that when they were shopping for the goodies, the cashier mentioned that someone must be having a birthday. "No, a wedding!" they said. "We're taking goodie bags to the other kids at the wedding." The cashier thought that was a great idea, so we may have started a new tradition.

Entry number three: At the Plum Tree Sunday, Madison, the granddaughter of Tron, the chef, and honorary "grandma" Yen, showed up at our table to thank me for the ballet barre, mat, and video we had brought for her last week. Yen told me how excited Mad had been about learning to "dance ballet". She had worked at it all day on Saturday but had some problems, since she doesn't know her right foot from her left foot yet and couldn't quite follow the steps on the mat. When Yen tried to show her how to follow the directions, Mad said, "No, get off! Your feet are too big!" Yen finally painted one of Mad's toes blue and one pink to match the feet on the mat, and she did better after that. Mad said she couldn't dance yet, but I believe she'll learn pretty quickly since she is a really smart little girl.

And now for things that make me laugh out loud: Jane S had a birthday yesterday (incidentally, it was also our anniversary!), and I journeyed to Casa to join the ladies for the celebration. If you know Jane and the other ladies, then you know I was anticipating an afternoon of laughing out loud. I woke up Monday morning trying to think of what I could get Jane for a gift, something fast, quick, and funny. Then I remembered the onesies I had bought for Cora, especially the one that asked, "Does this diaper make my butt look big?" I went to Family Dollar and bought a package of really large granny panties. When I got home, I got out my marker and wrote on the seat of one pair, "Does this butt make my panties look big?" I was already LOL when I finished that part of the present. It was one of the hits of the party, when used as decoration (J hung the panties on the railing by our table).

Another one: I got a catalog recently with a picture of a "boyfriend" pillow. I also made Jane one of those (very simple, mainly just stuffing and safety pins involved). This was another hit, especially when the waiters came to sing to her and put a sombrero on her head. As they were leaving, a waiter picked up "boyfriend", handed it to her, and suggested that "he" try on the sombrero. It was a real Kodak moment, as boyfriend circled the table to have his picture taken with the ladies. We were pretty much ALL laughing out loud at that.

As the person who cuts in on our phone line, cable TV, and computer says, over and out. And I'll add, love to all, and God bless.