NaBloPoMo Day 30

Well, I did it. I managed to blog everyday in November. With the exception of my Thanksgiving post I can’t say that I have had anything substantive to say in the last two weeks. Most of my energy went towards finding a location and/or a computer to use; not much was left for writing.

Once or twice I did feel as though I might as well give up. Neither Dan and Lynne nor my parents have an internet connection, so the posts from the last two weeks have been made at Starbucks, Chris Perkins’ house, or Chuck and Laurel’s Spring Lake and Lake Michigan homes.

The last couple of days have been particularly challenging with Grace and Julia hanging on me all day. It’s a wonder I could even type a sentence. In fact, this post was written out longhand so that the time spent on the computer would be even shorter. No sense in wasting time composing at the computer when I could do it by hand while Julia slept.

Today the girls and I depart for Grayling to spend the weekend with my brother Paul, his wife Wendy, and daughter Taylor. Uncle Paul promises that there is enough snow for Taylor and Grace to go sledding. This is a first for my girl, and I can’t wait to see her face. I know Craig is sad that he will miss this momentous occasion.

Thus I probably won’t post again for a few days. I have many photos and Julia’s video that I would like to upload, and hopefully my next correspondence will include the video and a much awaited Flicker link to those pictures.

To end NaBloPoMo I would like to thank my friends and family for reading me and sending comments for the last month. I hope to get around to a few more posts about the neighborhood when I return to Macon. I know Grace and Julia will continue to provide lots of material to share. Who knows, maybe Oprah will stop by again (she did show a 2-second clip of our house). Even without Oprah there is always something to write about.

Cheers, Ellen

P.S. Welcome back Poppy. We look forward to seeing you December 8.

Going, going, gone

Bags packed, camera stowed (sorry, no picture today). I had one more post I wanted to write about the neighborhood. I even had the title ("where the sidewalk ends"), but Oprah threw my posting schedule off.

We leave today at noon for Nashville. We will spend the night with Quentin's parents and then head onto Indy the following morning. After Turkey Day the girls and I will go up to Michigan to spend some time with my family in Spring Lake. We will be gone for a total of three weeks, and I know that I will be missing home (possibly even Macon) by the time we return. This will be the longest stretch that Craig and I have been apart since we got married. It's also the longest he will have been away from the girls.

I'm going to do my best to continue posting for the month of November, but it feels like my posts may be on the downhill slide. How does one top Oprah anyway?

curse my busy life

To make myself feel better about missing out on Oprah tickets, I have told myself that I'm simply too busy, my life is too full, to even contemplate watching TV at 4 pm.

Well, damn, my busy life.

Oprah wasn't shooting a show about small town America (which is what I had heard). She chose to film her "favorite things" episode here (you know, the one where she highlights her favorites and gives them out to her audience). Why Macon? Because more people watch Oprah in central Georgia than anywhere else in the US.

That is everyone, but me.

Oh, well. Truth be told I watch Oprah infrequently. I can't remember the last time it was on. If she managed to find someone home at four with their TV tuned to her show, that person deserved tickets far more than me.

You aren't going to believe this

First off, good news on Grace (we think). The nurse called, and Grace's urine culture came back clear for bad bacteria. Why the pus and blood? We don't really know, but she is drinking A LOT of liquid today to flush her little system. Keep your fingers crossed.

That wasn't the only development yesterday. This one you're not going to believe.

At 4:10 pm there was a knock on my door, followed by a doorbell ring. Oprah Winfrey was standing on my porch.

I'm not joking. Seriously, Oprah Winfrey came to my house.

I answered the door and said "Oh My God, Oprah Winfrey is at my house."

Oprah: "It's four o'clock, what are you doing?"

Me: "Come on in" (Oprah enters with a woman carrying a camera and a very large bodyguard) "I'm sorry but I'm not watching Oprah on TV."

Oprah: (enters my living room to confirm that her show isn't on my TV) "You're not watching?"

Me: "I have two babies sleeping right now. I was keeping the house quiet, so the TV isn't on."

Oprah: "Well, we gotta go then."

Me: "It's nice to have you in the neighborhood."

Of course, I called everyone I know in the next five minutes to tell them what happened. There was a fair amount of confusion about why she left so quickly (I think she was in search of someone watching Oprah, so she could give them tickets to the show she is filming in Macon today).

I spent a little bit of time yesterday kicking myself that I didn't have the TV turned on. When I told my good friend Nina, she said "I think it's great: great that Oprah is in town filming a show, and great that you have so many things in your life that you don't have time to watch Oprah."

She's so right. I had much bigger things on my mind yesterday, the health of my oldest child for one. That tops Oprah any day.

When I shut the door after Oprah departed, I realized that Grace was sitting at the top of the stairs, very much awake.

"Who was that woman, mommy?" she said.

"That was Oprah Winfrey."

"Well she woke me up from my nap."

Yes, she did. You see here's the funny thing: Oprah may have the biggest book club in the world, but she can't actually read. I have a sign posted over my doorbell that reads "PLEASE KNOCK, Thank you". I often have one or more small children sleeping in the house, and I don't want them to be woken with a doorbell.

Oprah looked at my sign and rang the bell.