The Holidays are here again...

Oh, my, how busy has it been?! It seems that I have been going out all the time. I'm loving it all.

11-9-05
Took Queenie to P&B's and had dinner with them. Peter fixed my favorite, pasta with broccoli Rabe.
Got home in time to attend the FC chat with Deidre, she just rocks!

11-10-05
Flew out to Asheville to go see Jack (Sherry). Got there and chilled out while she drove back from Pigeon Forge. We stayed up and chatted, catching up, we do that so well.

11-11-05
Chilled at Jack's then met Shaay Shay, checked her house out, messed up her bed :-), and got lunch at BBQ Inn. Went shopping and spent too much money on clothes, but they are so cute and they were on sale. We then headed to PF to see Louise's show. VERY good show. I think she added some new stuff and I loved it. Pedro came out singing to me and we all chatted and hung out for a bit after the show. Met his mom, she's so sweet and of course, I hugged her. We ate a very late dinner at Shoney's and then drove home.

11-12-05
Got up and hung out at Jack's then went to lunch at Arby's. Ran by Steinmart again to get the two shirts I didn't the day before, they were still on sale! LOL After that, we went home, got Greg and then headed to get Shaay Shay and then went to the other side of Knoxville and went to see Barbara. Oh, it was so good to see her. I didn't realize just how much I had missed her until I saw her. She spoke at a Chamber of Commerce dinner and we attended. She was very good and the best part, when she saw me, she said, "Sundi, so good to see you", yep, made my day. She then came down to hug us. Just love her. We got some pics after and chatted for just a few minutes with her.

I know that most people don't understand the fan thing and that's OK. The idea is very foreign to most, but I've got it, so of course I understand it to a degree. I have been a fan of Barbara's for many years and in the last few years that I was in Nashville, it was different. Different because she wasn't performing, she was a regular person and I got to know her a bit better on that level. Then, when I moved to NYC, she was so happy for me getting the job and following my dream of living here, I of course didn't see her that much. I guess I put the "feelings", for lack of a better word, of seeing her and being around her on a shelf or something. In a way, I'm sure it was to protect myself, but I hadn't really thought about the "missing" her stuff until I saw her. That whole Barbara fan-thing was SO much a part of my life for so long, it was weird to go back there again, but very nice too. It's strange really, the whole fan thing. People view it as crazy and ridiculous, but it's just different. People are fans of sports teams/drivers, things like that and no one thinks twice about it, but a singer or heaven forbid a soap star, well, then you're crazy. People's judgments are pretty funny and very critical, but I've learned that it's OK and if they want to make fun, it's fine with me. My hobbies are mine and I'm OK with it. :-)

11-13-05
Went to Miss Bootise's for lunch, she made my spaghetti. Got to see Mr. Shook, hadn't seen him in a while. He hugged me and was so happy to see me and me him. We took some pics and just chatted. Jack then had to take me to the airport. It was sad to go, but we had had a wonderful weekend.

11/16/05
Had dinner with Jersey (Catie). We went to Outback and had steak, it was so good. I love that place. I know it's a chain and living in Manhattan I'm not supposed to do chains, but I just love the Outback. We had the best time just chatting and catching up. It had been forever since we did that.

11/18/05
Went to lunch at Bennie's, a very good Thai place, with Nitza and Amanda. We laughed and just gossiped about everything at work. Good to be able to vent a bit, LOL.
Went with John to see Third Person Singular at the Biltmore Theater. It was a really decent show, not fabulous, but good. Kind of weird in a way, but still funny. The play is British, but there was only one or two British actors, the rest were Americans trying, not so brilliantly, to do a English accent. One chick was really high pitched so I couldn't understand most of what she was saying, but she was physical enough that you could pick up what she was doing. All-in-all, I'm glad we saw it, it was different and I'm all about different.
We then went to vinyl, a really, really cool restaurant. The best part was the bathrooms. They had 4, Cher, Nelly, Dolly and Elvis. When you went into the Cher one, the wall was a mosaic of Cher. They had a shadow box with a Cher doll and Cher music playing! Really a neat place. The food was good too.

11-19-05
Queenie and I got up and went to the vet's to get her some food and just chill out. That night I went to Mint's(Alicia) and had a Jeva night. Rachel ended up coming too. It was a fun night and we hadn't done that in a long time.

11-20-05 (Nellie's Bday)
Went to the movies with Darlene, Madelyn, Cheynne, Mandy, Jesse and Jonathan. After, we went to Jackson Hole, what a great burger place. It looks really small but when you go in, it's got all these rooms and stuff. Very cool, LOVED it. Must take the friends/family there.

11-21-05
After work, went to see Harry Potter with Teresa and Paul. Teresa made homemade pizza and it was yummy!

11-22-05
Met P&B after work at the Delta Grill, had a wonderful dinner and lovely talk with my boys. They then took me to see The Color Purple, which is on Broadway. Oh, what a FANTASTIC show. I had never seen the movie, much to Bryon's surprise, but the play was phenomenal. I would love to see it again. There weren't any actors that I knew by name, but the acting, the singing, the dancing, the sets, EVERYTHING, was just great. I so highly recommend this show.

11-23-05
Caught an early flight to Jax, delayed about an hour, sitting on the runway, holiday traffic. Got to Jax and mama and I did some errands and messed around a bit until Molly and Roper were ready to be picked up at the groomers. We got them, headed to the apartment and had dinner with Daddy. We chilled out, and took turns blowing up the air mattress, note to self, buy them a pump! LOL, we were quite the picture.

11-24-05 (Thanksgiving Day)
Got up, started on dinner. We ate about 12:30 and mama made WAY too much food, but it was so good. Daddy brought two of the boys over, their families didn't come, so we had a bit of help with the eating. After, we went to feed Derrick's cows in Jax. Molly and Roper chased the cows, barking and barking. Queenie just walked around, not too far from me and just watched the two young ones! LOL, she is such a grandma now.
After there we went to see Uncle Aubrey. He is just so sweet. He's a bit feeble, but still insisted on coming outside to pick some lemons for me off his tree for me. SO cute! We got some pics. I'm so glad daddy took me over there. I had been bugging him since I got home to go see him. He's the last of my papa's generation in our family. Got to see the rest of the family too and it was great to see them.
On the way back to the apartment, daddy called Canton and Casey and asked them over for some dinner. They both came and we had such a nice visit. Casey's new baby is just so cute. I held him forever and he just slept and slept. So yummy!

11-25-05
Headed home from the apartment and then met Canton, Melissa and Summer for lunch at Fish Lips Grill, so yummy! After, I went to Miss Nelle's to hang out and meet Jonathan Jr! OMG! What an awesome baby. He is just so cute and sweet and smiles all the time. I just fell in love with him! Then I went to the Avenue's mall and met up with mama and went shopping some more and I got the cutest party dress. I can't wait to wear it!

I went to dinner with Kevin, Riley, Zach and Melissa at O' Charley's. We got to catch up and chat about everything. I love it when we get together. I'm hoping we get to do that at Christmas too.

11-26-05
We had a funeral to attend. My uncle Bob passed away about a week before, he was cremated and so they put the funeral off because of the holidays. After that, mama, daddy and I went by Tracey's grave to visit and then get the vase for an arrangement mama wants to put there for the holidays. No matter how old I get, I just really miss him. He was my big brother and I shouldn't have to grow up without him. I try to go by there each time I'm home. I mean, I know he's not there, but it helps me to go there.

Mama and I then went to do some errands and stuff and met daddy and Derrick at Durumas for dinner. GREAT meal and fun too! Love the Japanese Steakhouse. After that we went home and I got into the box of old pictures and started what turned into a 2 hour trip down memory lane. It was so good to sit with mama and daddy and talk about our childhood and Tracey and Derrick and all that jazz. Looking at those pics of my parents when they were teenagers was cool too. My mama, some hot little number she was! LOL, those bathing suit pics, too cute.

11-27-05
Got up, got packed and headed to the airport. Got home at 5:30, took me 2 1/2 hours to get home, gotta love public transportation. Went to Foxhounds for dinner with Paul and Teresa and then back to their house to hang out for a bit.

Well, I think I have blogged everything I can for the day! LOL, man, who knew I had so much to write about?!

How much can you cram into two weeks?

This is so going to be a long post. I tried to stop this from happening, but I've just been so busy, I didn’t get anything posted recently.

10-24-05 I met Alicia and Rachel at the Olive Garden on 23rd, in the POURING rain. It was Rachel's bday, so we were celebrating. We had a nice evening and had fun just chatting and catching up.

10-25-05 Today is Queenie's bday! She turned 11. She got some goodies and was a happy little girl. I went home sick from work, the cough just wore me out.

10-26-05, went to Foxhounds with Teresa, Paul and Erika for Teresa's Bday. We then went back to their place, P&T, and hung out.

10-28-05, went to Christina's with Daniel, Bill, Brian, and Neil. Had a wonderful time. Headed to Foxhounds to celebrate Luis's bday. Had a blast dancing and hanging with the crew.

10-29-05
The girls, Paz, Kim, and Loidha, came into town, we did Pronto Pizza then went to the seaport and then went to dinner with John. We met at Bubba Gump and had a fun time then headed to Time Square Brewery and hung out a bit longer. John had the girls all enthralled with his "Days" stories.

10-30-05
We went to the Trailer Park restaurant for lunch, Ben & Jerry's, yes, they had Wavy Gravy, Times Square, Toy's-R-Us (we rode the ferris wheel, tons of fun!), Virgin Records - this was for Paz, Hershey Store, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and then to Bubby's for dinner! Whew! LOL, we did a lot and walked all over the place.

10-31-05 Happy Halloween (Deidre's Bday)
Went to Little Italy for dinner and the to the lower East Side for shopping. Little Italy was fun, Paz was making a play for the waiter, the bus boy, the Maitre de, the bread guy, well, everyone really! LOL, the girls didn't really care to much for the shopping trip. They so should have bought something, but no, wouldn’t happen!

11-1-05
I got home from work and the girls told me they were taking me to see Chicago. It was such a great show. Brooke Shields and Huey Lewis were in it and they were just so good! I was very impressed with both of them. After the show they took me to Rosie O'Grady's for dinner. I didn't know they were going to pay, but they did, oh so sweet of them.

11-2-05
We got up early and went to the Today Show. Deidre was going to be on in the first segment, well, that ended up being pushed back and she wasn't on until the 9 o'clock hour. Loidha and Kim both used their "magic" and got some information from the security guy and he told us when she would be on, what part of the set and then what door she would be going out of. So, because of him, we got to see her as she was leaving. We had found out that Deidre was scheduled to be on at 8:43 and then they moved it to 9:14. We then found out where she was going to be, set wise and stood outside the window there. She was sitting there chillin' and waiting for Anne to get there, she looked around and saw us. I waved to her and she waved back and then gave me the sign for Thank You and blew a kiss. We watched the interview and then headed around back to see if by chance we could catch her before she left. I knew she would be in a rush, since she was due at the Martha show, but thought what the heck, give it a try.
She came out and the girls said hey to her and I walked up to her and she gave me a hug. She couldn't talk, she was trying to eat some breakfast, but the girls did ask if they could get a pic. She stopped, took her glasses off and posed. SO cute! It looks great on the camera so I can't wait to see the real thing. Yeah, I couldn't find my camera! LOL I had a bit of company and my place, a bit, um, cluttered! LOL Anyway, so she then got in the car and off she went to tape Martha. Two of the girls headed to try and go to Martha as well and one headed to the airport and me, to work. Kim and Loidha made it to the Martha show and Paz, as it ended up, could have gone, but no, the airline didn't have their stuff together! Dang them.
That night, I washed clothes and then packed for my trip to LA.

11-3-05
I went to work and then at a half day, headed to the airport to catch a flight to LA. Becky picked me up and we made it to the Museum of Television and Radio in plenty of time. I had to change clothes and put on make-up in the car, miss those days! LOL Got there and saw my friends, so good to catch up with them all. We went into the discussion room and they showed montages and then the panel group came out. Ken Corday, Kristian, Peter, Deidre, Drake, Susan, Bill, and James (Exec Prod, Hope, Bo, Marlena, John, Julie, Doug and Abe, respectively). The moderator, when he went to introduce Deidre said, now, please let me get this out before you go crazy! LOL, he didn't say that about anyone else. The mod talked to all of them about Days and what they loved about it and how they changed and yadda, yadda, yadda. I asked Ken about J&M and the love story we were promised and all that jazz. He gave me the PC answer, LOL, and then Drake grabbed Deidre and leaned her back and kissed her! Ken said, well, I guess that's your answer.
At the reception after, I got to talk to Deidre for a brief minute and then get a pic. I also saw Andrea, the publicist, and she introduced me to Ken and told him I was a very vocal, but supportive fan! LOL, she then turned to me and said, now, be nice, do not hound this man! LOL, I'm like, OK, I'll be good. I was nice to him, he saw our J&M posse shirts and then he took a pic with David the Gnome.

After the reception, a few of us went for a late night dinner. Had to have appetizers because the regular menu was closed. We had a great time until I had to leave. They kept telling me how wrong it was for me to go. I felt so bad and I SO wanted to stay, but I had to get home.
I caught the 12:15am flight home and was at work at 1:30pm. Talk about a flyby! LOL, but it was worth it.

11-5-05
Met up with Alicia and we went to for wings and then headed home. Bryon and Peter dropped Queenie off and Rachel came over and we just hung out at my place. Watched some of the week's GL.

11-6-05
Met up with P&B and went to see Daniel at the hospital, he had an appendicitis.