What a day! (Short Video at the End)

OK, so I've been waiting for this day for about three months. I've never stood in line to meet someone before. I've never stood in line for concert tickets, or tickets to a sporting event. Today - I stood in line for 4 hours to spend 45 seconds with this wonderful lady:

You don't recongnize her? How about this one?

I SUCK at photography, so pretty much all of the EIGHTY photos I took, look like the above.

Linda and I arrived at Nordies right at 11:00 - which was the time they were to start handing out the required wristbands.. We got our wristbands and took our place in line.

This is what (a portion of) it looked like:

From the ground - this is how close we were to the stage (and we were two hours wait for signature once PW arrived!)...

This is the pallet of books that B&N went through:

PW arrived (with mall security escorts) promptly at 1:00 (ish). No Marlboro Man.

However, within 15-20 minutes, there was a ruckus off to the left...

I did get this close to the hunky cowboy himself... He also signed my cookbook :)

He and the boys made their way to the stage, where we were treated to a mini-wresting match:

This is what appears to be MM bribing the boys with Nickelodeon Universe tickets:

MM snapped a few photos and left the stage where he signed a few more books, and then disappeared. I can only assume to Nick U... I dont blame the boys for being restless. It was the MOA after all!!

It took us exactly two hours to get from our original spot in line up to the stage. I snapped this photo when I was close. I like it because of the lady next to her's expression - this is how I felt too:

Linda got a nice photo with PW:

My two photos with her consist of me looking completely terrified.

I was totally star-struck. I was. I was a babbling fool when it was my turn to talk to her.

I was going to have her sign my book, "Hey Heather, gimme some salad!!" But pretty much all rational thought was gone from my head, and I babbled on about some email correspondence she and I shared several months ago.

I'm a fan. I'm a huge fan. And PW...she was so incredibly gracious. She was sweet and funny, and took time to visit with each person who sat down beside her. She was by far more genuine than I expected.

And she recongnized me from facebook! The whole way home, poor Linda had to hear about how this famous person knows who I am! That makes me practically famous myself!

I can only imagine how PW's face must hurt at the end of the day from the endless smile she wore.

Oh, and she gave us all these really cute tee-shirts.

Thank you PW - meeting you totally makes up for the fact that I have yet to win the Le Creuset set of cookware from your website...

Duties

One of my duties while H&E are out of the country is to empty their post office box.

This is what it usually looks like:

This is what it looks like after I pull out the "junk" mail... real mail on the left - junk on the right:

He turns FIVE tomorrow

I was there. I watched my sister (and chuckled a little bit) while she went from 4cm to 10cm in a 30 minute span of time... I held her right leg while this one worked his way into the world.

He turns five tomorrow and this is the first birthday of his that I've missed.

:(

An American Girl in Rwanda

Cut me some slack folks...this is my first attempt at blogging...

Why on earth would I travel 36 hours and 8,000 miles to the other side of the globe?

To a third world country?

For these crazy characters?

Um...NO!

For THESE crazy characters!!!

Meet my babies (my beautiful and brilliant 11 yr old niece and 5 yr old nephew). Bromely (a.k.a. Bee, Bobbie, Bobs, Brahm, Brahms, Darlin', Bromley Jane, etc...) and Williams (a.k.a. Liam, Pokey, Schnookems, William Kenneth, Terror on Two Feet, etc...).

I adore them.

I love them more than words could ever express. I would lay my life down for either one of them. I was present when both took their first breath, I took their first photos, I have taken a live yellow fever vaccine for them, I have cleaned up their vomit (the ultimate test of true love)...

Those who know my family will concur...girl looks like my MOM!

She's is the most tender-hearted, sensitive, brilliant, and stunningly beautiful girl ever!

It's true.

This is Liam:

Dont be fooled... dont be charmed by the blue eyes and joyful smile...

Here is a more typical Liam expression:

He'll turn 5 in a few days. He knows how to spell F-A-R-T.

He's learning languages I've never heard of....

He amazes me...handsome little guy!

He takes after his motor-mouthed dad...

Nice pose, Ev...

This is me...this is how you'll typically see me pose:

Anyway - hopefully (connectivity pending) I will be chronicalling my adventures to and in Rwanda to visit my sweet babies...