Change in plans

Hey y'all,

Well my last blog has not happened quite like I planned. So the article you read tomorrow in the Georgetown Times won't be about the diamond-studded burrito I was recently served (though it will come next time). That's because when I looked at the calendar I realized I was celebrating TEN YEARS this month of writing for S.C.'s oldest newspaper, Georgetown Times. I decided to dedicate the column to my friends, readers and bookbuyers who have made this ten years possible. THANK YOU!

But don't worry--the diamond story will be published soon. Oh and I'm visiting my orthodontist this Friday; so pray along with me that no brackets, posts, wires, or whatever have been knocked loose--I think I'd know by now if they were. Still...

Y'all keep in touch and remember to tell your Mama I asked how she is durring!

Hugs, not drugs,
Annie I.

The third blog from moi, aka a "magnet for the unsual"

Well, this magnet for the unusual (a.k.a. moi) did it again: I ran into a BIG problem recently when I had lunch at one of our popular Mexican haunts here in town. Taking the final bite of my BIG BURRITO, I bit down on something HARD, real HARD!

Now, you'll never believe it, so let me just tell you: I bit down on a diamond! Isn't that ridiculous? I know! I know! If they had only ASKED me at the counter, "Would you like a diamond with that burrito?" I would've said, "Most definitely, not," but alas, I was not asked.

Luckily it did not knock of a bracket or a wire from my braces, nor did it knock a filling loose, but it did hurt my feelings and knocked me for a loop. Hubby Russell and daughter Katie just shook their head. The manager said she was sorry and would I like a free burrito in the future. (Only if it comes without diamonds.)

If you want to know more, read my Georgetown Times (S.C.) column next week (Wed.) and I'll tell you all about it. www.gtowntimes.com Oh! But as they say, "Wait! There's more:" I'll also tell you about the fly in my salad at the sushi bar two weeks earlier. If trouble comes in three, I'm staying home. Natch. ;-)

Remember: You don't have to be crazy to read this blog, but it's probably a pretty good idea.

Do you read eyebrows?

Well, I hope my new blog (this being my 2nd entry) is now readable. I didn't blog for over a year--you know; the usual reasons, new home, new town, new life--not really, my life is still pretty much the same. I write columns. I write books. I do signings, talks and some acting. I garden. I cook. I travel. I visit family and friends, (vice versa).

Anyoo, I just "activated" my account with Google and if I did it right, you can now read these words, but not my eyebrows.

That's a family joke--reading eyebrows. Many years ago, I was riding in the car to Disneyworld with some of my crazy (did I say that?) family. My sister Cathy was in the backseat with her napping baby. So, I turned around and whispered what I wanted to say. But my headrest covered the lower 2/3 of my face, exposing only my eyebrows which were going up and down frantically. That's when Cathy said, "I don't read eyebrows" and we the entire car cracked up laughing. So much for the sleeping princess...

Oh no! She's baaaaaaacck!

So there I was, "doing my thang," aka a booksigning (or shall I say doing a Meet-n-Greet; it's a Southern thing, honey) in the historic Dee Gee's Books & Gifts in Morehead City; when not 1, not 2, but 7 customers, all from Raleigh, stopped to chat and then purchased my books! Isn't it a small world? I was doubly pleased since Raleigh is our state capitol AND our daughter Kelly and my sister, Nancy live there. So for this week, Raleigh is my FAVE adopted city!!! A couple of years ago, I spoke to the Wake Forest Women's Club. I've also spoken twice at the Wake County North Regional Library in the past. So, a warm hello (again) to y'all and thanks for the memories!

I absolutely LOVE N.C. but we were gone for 20 years living in S.C., so it's great to be back living here again. I now consider myself a Snorth Carolinian. Though I grew up in Jacksonville, NC, and hubby Russell, aka 'Oscar the Grouch,' and I lived in S.C. for 20 years: 10 in Myrtle Beach, then 10 in Pawleys Island, we have returned to The Tarheel State for good. We have lived in Wilmington for the past year and a half. I regularly bogged in S.C., then got lazy and quit. So this is my first entry since moving away.

Anyway, I've been called a magnet for the unusal (a phrase coined by Diane DeVaughn Stokes, hostess extraordinnaire of the T.V. show "Southern Styles" in Myrtle Beach); so here's proof that even leaving one state and residing in another has not slowed down this interesting phenomenon. If things go like they always have, I should regularly have some fairly interesting anecotes and I'll share them with you, my blog buddies.

I was with Katie, our daughter and recent graduate of LSU (masters degree in flute performance) and Cathy, my sister from Virginia Beach, in our car after the book signing. We were driving to (are you ready for this?) Raleigh, for a Sip & See (formerly called a baby shower) for our new nephew Reid, when Katie started laughing hysterically. Why? Because she had on two different shoes! She didn't even notice from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Neither did Cathy or I, or the folks in Dee Gee's, or Dairy Queen, or anywhere else where we stopped that day. Amazing, huh? Turns out she had on a brown Rainbow sandal and a brown Top Sperry sandal. Thank goodness she had 1 other pair of shoes (which did indeed, match) for the Sip & See or she'd been shoeless and dare I say it, clueless? Hmmmm.... Rather sad, I'd say, considering her granddaddy (my daddy) once owned three shoe stores?

I have a way of bringing "odd luck" --not exactly bad, not exactly good--to those around me. Really. Stay tuned for more absurdities.

Remember: You don't have to be crazy to read this blog, but it would probably help.

Annie I.