The wall, Bingo, the hawk and an alien

The following all happened in the space of five minutes:

- Arriving at friend and hairdresser Tim's home for a quick bangs trim, I decide that the mosaic wall they have created in their driveway might make a good blog photo.

- But lovely Bingo shows up and dances around me, remembering that I know where the treats are and am always allowed to give her one.  I was singing B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was her name, OH!  when...

- A voice at my elbow (which almost makes me throw my camera in the air from being startled) says, "There's a baby hawk in the back yard, come see."  It's Tim's ethereal wife Maxie.  Can you see the baby hawk?  It's in some tall trees which are being taken over by the crazy all-consuming vine Kudzu.

- And there was a new sculpture on the way inside - a sexy posing alien.  How 'bout that?  The truth is out there, y'all.  :)

I hope you have a rollicking five minutes in your weekend, my friends.  I hope it's wonderful no matter what. 

The Grinch, little hecklers and whitewashing

- A delightful evening with the Fun Girls seeing "How The Grinch Stole Christmas!" - the national touring company's "show on the road" at The Fabulous Fox Theater.  A favorite moment:  when the audience was invited to sing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" with the lyrics displayed on colorful pull down banners and flipped over pillows.  :)

- The actor Stefan Karl as The Grinch was as Grinchily Grinch-like as one could want.  Another favorite moment:  he just couldn't seem to spit out the word Christmas when he was trying to say Merry Christmas to The Whos and the children in the audience started calling out "Christmas!"  He heckled them back with glaring mock sternness saying, "Where are your parents!!!"

- It's the 176th birthday of another famous American curmudgeon, Mark Twain.  Check out the Google home page today for Tom Sawyer supervising the painting over of the Google logo.  :)   Mark Twain on finding just the right word, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

Want cake, strawberry rose and yum

- Ms. Kelly Funster, of the Funster family of Austin, Texas, outside Jason's Deli, spotting some cake she might like to have. Yes - that is friend Jannie Funster's daughter, eying that cake.

- Isn't that pretty? Jannie described it as "like a strawberry rose." Hmmm - there is a Jason's Deli near my house, too.

- Jannie reports that she and Kelly enjoyed that cake and Jannie took the rare opportunity to have caffeinated coffee in the afternoon.

All photos by Jannie Funster yesterday in Austin, TX while Lynn was pushing printing in the ATL. :)

Thanks to delightful Jannie and Kelly for providing some pics for today. (xoxoxo!) If you haven't checked out Jannie's blog, you are in for a treat! If you are a regular commenter over there, you get your own badge. Very cool.

Not Tony, they did that and sides + dessert

- A fun theater evening with the Fun Girls at the "fabulous" Fox Theatre in Atlanta. Hint - we saw one of the shows pictured on my less-than-award-winning photo above. Extra hint - not Tony Bennett.

- Hair - the musical, was exciting, fun and involved lots of people with a lot of hair. I wondered at some point if the vague memory that they all shed their clothes during the play would still be true. Yes - they did that. Lots of giggling from the Fun Girls to my right. :) Love them.

- Dinner at the grand restaurant across the street prior to the show was pretty good, but next time I'll just skip the protein entree and just get the grilled asparagus, hand cut fries and the flourless chocolate cake with panna cotta and coffee ice cream. Yum.

South Pacific, singing all week and patience

- Attending a performance of the play South Pacific at The Fox Theatre with the Fun Girls. It opened with these beautiful typed words by James Michener, “I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific. The way it actually was. The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we called islands. Coconut palms nodding gracefully toward the ocean. Reefs upon which waves broke into spray, and inner lagoons, lovely beyond description. I wish I could tell you about the sweating jungle, the full moon rising behind the volcanoes, and the waiting. The waiting. The timeless, repetitive waiting.”

- It is always a treat to just be inside the "fabulous Fox" with its simulated night sky in the ceiling, complete with twinkling lights to simulate stars. And I'll be singing those songs all week, Younger than Springtime, Some Enchanted Evening, etc.

- The Fun Girls lived up to their name once again at a pre-theatre dinner at nearby Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, where the best thing turned out to be a wonderfully patient waiter. :)

Anticipation, there in spirit and looming

- Attending a play at this theatre, often referred to as The Fabulous Fox. Five exhausted women decide collectively during intermission that we can figure out how this one is going to end and slip out, anticipating a few minutes extra sleep at home.

- Earlier, still miles away on errands, I am running late for a pre-show dinner with the Fun Girls. While I am still an hour away, one of them reads the menu to me by cellphone. She says it feels as if I am sitting at the table.

- Smiling as I can the see the lights of the city looming ahead and picturing my friends at the restaurant table and knowing exactly what cocktails they would be having: an in-house beer (since we were at a brewery restaurant), a Cosmopolitan, a glass of red wine and a glass of white wine. They raise their glasses in salute as I finally arrive, dinner, laughter (and a Mojito) waiting for me.

Fun, lively and lovely

- Attending the play "Jersey Boys" at the Fabulous Fox Theatre with the Fun Girls. It is the rags to riches tale of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Great music and choreography. Even the dour looking man in the seat beside me was clapping to the music by the end.

- Meeting the Fun Girls before the play at an untried restaurant, Ecco. Upon arrival telling the hostess that I was looking for my friends, "Perhaps they are here already? Several lively women?"

- A lovely cocktail called "Long Live the Queen." Bombay Sapphire with hints of elderflowers, lemon, peach and mint, served up in a chilled martini glass. The menu stating, "It’s like a walk in the garden with Elizabeth." And a perfect amuse bouche: fried goat cheese with honey and black pepper. Yum...

Earth Day, progress and fun evening

- It is Earth Day. "A time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress," according to EarthDay.gov. I am proud that my printing company is "green." We use soy-based inks, recycle all scrap paper and we encourage the use of recycled paper for printing.

- The construction project shown above is on Northside Drive in Atlanta. Some old buildings I used to admire for their character have been knocked down to make way for something new we shall see soon, I suppose. But at least they saved the trees...

- A fun theater night with the Fun Girls, deciding on Gordon Biersch for dinner. I order the special burger of the night, a "Blue Moon" burger topped with bleu cheese and sauteed mushrooms with just the right amount of char on the burger. Garlic fries on the side. Everyone changes their order to match mine. Yum.

Good eats, happy days and 15 times

- A fun night with the Fun Girls beginning with dinner at Mary Mac's Tea Room. Mary Mac's opened in 1945 and is popular with theater goers like us because of its fast service and walking distance to the Fox Theatre. The highlight: tomato pie. Yum.

- Happy Days, the musical, was good, clean fun. A funny moment came before the curtain went up when a couple of local DJs from an oldie's station came out to rev up the audience and asked, "Does anyone remember Richie Cunningham's favorite song?" The crowd burst into "I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill" in response.

- The fast walk to the theater from the restaurant and back counted as exercise, in my opinion, so I gave myself a star sticker on my calendar, giving myself 15 exercise days for the month of March. Not bad and better than the previous two months.

Sister, fancy southern food and the Fox

- Arriving home from work to the scent of shampoo and soap floating from the back of the house. My sister is here.

- A wonderful pre-theater dinner at South City Kitchen in Midtown Atlanta with half of the Fun Girls and Jo (who is an honorary Fun Girl now.) My favorite thing from the appetizers: Bacon-Pimento Cheese Fritters with spicy tomato cream. YUM.

- Delighting in taking Jo to her first visit to The Fabulous Fox theatre. Designed in the late 1920s, the most magical thing for me has always been the "sky" (ceiling) full of flickering stars and magically drifting clouds. After watching "A Chorus Line" we wanted to kick our legs up like the dancers.

Memory, pretty drink and misbehaving

- A funny mid-day conversation with my sister. Me: "Is mom and dad's post office box number 178 or 179?" Her: "Neither. It is either 172 or 174. I can look it up at home and call you back." I just wanted to make sure my mother's birthday card got there on the day and took a chance on 172.

- A perfectly made Cosmopolitan on a really cold night. Such a pretty drink.

- Seeing "Ain't Misbehavin" at the Fox Theatre with the Fun Girls, who once again lived up to their name.

The Fun Girls, Wicked and wise man

Clare from Three Beautiful Things, who has inspired many gratitude blogs, got a wonderful mention in an article "How to Survive the Global Panic" (see her blog from October 14.) The writer calls her an "expert gratitude spotter" and suggests others keep a gratitude journal. Thank you to Clare for inspiring worldwide gratitude!

- Meeting five women (aka The Fun Girls), one teenager and one husband for dinner at Mexico City Gourmet and moving on to the Fox Theatre for "Wicked." The Fun Girls lived up to their name once again and the husband held his own with (mostly) silent amusement during dinner.

- Sitting back and letting the magic of the play wash over me.

- Enjoying this line from David Lebovitz's blog: "It's impossible to be unhappy around candy..."

Sisterhood

- Loved Spamalot and explaining Monty Python to one of the Fun Girls was a funny experience in itself. Also loved the toast by recently divorced Joanne, "To Sisterhood!"

- Sitting with other women waiting for mammograms this morning - I was taken with the different ways we all fastened the paper cape around us. I heard the magic words, "You're good to go!" and made my way through the rain.

- Ash Wednesday service found me sitting among cherished friends. One of them whispered, "Good night, Sister" in my ear as we left in silence.

Vacuuming and mowing

- Today's AJC has a story that says women should exercise 30 minutes every day. I told two co-workers that I am lucky if I do 30 minutes three times a week. They rhapsodized about opportunities for unconventional exercise. Tereza loves to vacuum - making grids on the carpet and then going the other way to erase the grid pattern. Teri loves mowing and can't wait for warm weather so she can mow.

- One of the perks of my job is the pod coffee machine we have here and all the different kinds of coffee to choose from. Today I chose Italian Roast - it is lovely, smoky and rich.

- Looking forward to Spamalot with the Fun Girls tonight. And an untried restaurant before - Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant.