Pioneer Woman!!

After the signing of new Toppers, the kids and I headed to Memphis for a different type of signing! My mom, sister, aunt and I had a GNO planned... we were going to the Pioneer Woman book signing!

We arrived at Davis Kidd, not really knowing what to expect (other than a crowd!). We got our "ticket," which was letter Q. Then we heard the announcer call the group of people with letter E! It was going to be a long wait... but what better place to have a long wait than a bookstore??

I love books. The library has ALWAYS been one of my favorite places to go... to study, research, sit and read, or check out an arm-load of books for summer reading enjoyment. My husband politely reminds me that the term for this is "nerd," but I don't care!

Some of my favorite memories involve books... I used to love the day the giant blue bookmobile would be parked in our neighbborhood! I treasured going to the library with Tootie and checking out piles of Nancy Drew books while staying at her house. My dad and I would go to Waldenbooks in the mall, and he always let me pick a new book and a new bookmark to go with it! In college, I informed Scott that if he wanted to spend time with me, I would be in the library. He promptly began showing up in the library to study with me every night, and that's where we spent a great deal of time! (He boasts about the boost his GPA took when we started dating!)

Sorry for the digression... SO, we had a long wait, but plenty of time to look at some cool books and figure out something clever to say when we reached the front of the line.

In the meantime, we hopped in a shorter line and got her husband's autograph! He was hanging out in his cowboy hat, and attracted a little crowd for himself! I had him sign this AWESOME book I had found... Seemed more appropriate for him to sign this than a cookbook!
This book is a well illustrated, complete resource for everything I ever wanted to know about (other than spiritual matters or running.) From blueprints for building a goat barn to caning chairs and basket weaving, it's in my new book!

Hillary kept teasing me about blanking out, and we agreed that we would tell her how much we love her meatballs. BTW, if you have the PW cookbook, her meatballs are the BEST!!

The scene in Dirty Dancing where Jennifer Grey awkwardly says, "I carried a watermelon," kept popping in my head. I determined that I would try to make decent conversation. After all, this lady is just a lady.

We stepped out for coffee, but made it back in plenty of time. I think they were on J! Finally, it was our turn to get in line... us and the last five people in the store! Lol, next time we will arrive at a book signing a little earlier!

I did not blank. I wish I had. While my sister stood there COMPLETELY SILENT, I said a bunch of dumb stuff about myself... it's feast or famine, and both make a person's stomach hurt! I either can't think of anything to say, or I get nervous and say a bunch of stupid stuff!

My aunt said that I ground my own wheat to make bread, and PW said, "Oh, you're one of THOSE homeschoolers!" It was really funny, because I knew exactly what she meant, but then I felt this obligation to somehow explain that I was NOT like that... Oh, I am just thankful that she probably has no recollection of our meeting or the conversation whatsoever!

The ironic thing is that my silent sister, Hillary, is the one with the most in common with her! She has taken off with her cooking skills, and made quite a name for herself within our family!

Although she had to have been exhausted, the Pioneer Woman was very kind and personable, and it was a great GNO, filled with laughter and good times!