If I'm Sitting at a Grand Piano, Then It's Tuesday...

Went this morning to see K for my piano lesson. I didn't do as badly as I thought I would. (Why does my music work better on my piano than on K's grand piano? I keep telling her there's something wrong with her grand, but she doesn't believe me.) I do know one thing, and so does K-- if I don't like the music I'm playing, then I don't play it well. Most likely because if I don't like it, I don't practice it enough to learn how to play it correctly. Some things never change... I was the same way with algebra. I hated it, didn't learn it, couldn't do it then, can't do it now, and and it hasn't made a bit of difference in my life. I can balance my checkbook to the penny, and that's what counts.

Contrary to what they told you in the Catholic schools of the 1950s-- there is no "permanent record" on which all your foibles are recorded. Don't even get me started with the Catholic schools. When we were at dinner at B and P's house on Sunday night, one of the other couples they invited was their minister and his wife. As the conversation got onto religion, I sat there hoping that the dear preacher wouldn't ask me which church I was affiliated with. I wouldn't have just picked the name of a local church from memory, nor would I have wanted to get into my speech about being a Catholic until I came of age and came to my senses. As I said-- don't get me started.

It's a glorious, beautiful, sunny and warm blue-sky day here. So pretty a day that you can just stand in your backyard and cry because you live right on this Texas-dot of the planet. My friend A and I went to the local college this afternoon. They're hosting their annual Christmas Market. Lots of beaded jewelry, handpainted and/or handsewn holiday decorations, candles and cookie mixes and dried fruits. I was very good-- didn't buy anything for myself, but found two nice gifts for my young friends C and L. I've already finished my Christmas shopping for those girls, and their gifts are wrapped up, so I've put today's treasures in their birthday bags for next year. (See how easy it is to stay ahead of yourself?)

One of the booths at the craft show this afternoon was filled with every dried fruit and nut you can think of. I picked up a bag that said "dried grapefruit" on the label. Looked interesting. Before I could blink, the lady behind the table had taken a sample out of a covered dish and had it speared on a fork and held it out to me for tasting. "Tastes just like Texas ruby-red grapefruit," said she. Not until I had it in my mouth did the lady add "But not a dollop of real grapefruit in there-- isn't that amazing?" Yes, totally amazing, I told her. It did taste like grapefruit, but if I want to eat a grapefruit, then that's what I'll eat... not a substitute-slice of heaven only knows what was in there. Unfortunately, there wasn't a trash bin close by, so I did the proper thing and smiled and chewed and swallowed it and thanked the nice lady before A and I continued on our way. (If I start to glow in the dark later on tonight... it was the pseudo-grapefruit.)

Today's Oprah show should be interesting. Oprah has cleaned out her closets and is selling some of her outfits. A and I were wondering if she's going to be listing items on eBay again. She did that last year with a few things.... the bidding was outrageous. All the money went to Oprah's Angel Network, so that was a good thing. But how can fans with "normal" incomes even hope to bid on and win her things?

Oprah's "Favorite Things" show will be coming up soon. She usually has that before the holidays. Now wouldn't you love to be in the audience for that show? My sister and I watched the Favorite Things show last year-- she watched in NY, I was watching here. One of the favorites was a necklace by a designer that I just can't remember right now (was it Julia Ripka, or something like that?). Anyway, when I saw that necklace, I knew my sister would love it. Unlike me, who totally loves jewelry, my sister doesn't drool over jewelry showcases. But when Oprah showed that necklace, I knew my sister was up in NY saying "Now that I could live with."

I found that necklace for her on eBay. In fact, I bought it from one of the women who was in Oprah's audience that day. That lucky girl got two necklaces because both she and her husband were in the audience. She kept one and sold one, so my sister's necklace was actually given out on the Oprah show that day. My sister was totally surprised when she opened the box last year. She loved the necklace, but had put it out of her mind. Not only did I buy the "Oprah necklace" for her, but I bought one for myself as well. (From Saks, not from an audience member.) Not that I need to have my arm twisted for a new piece of jewelry, but I thought it would be neat for both my sister and I to have one piece of jewelry that was identical. ("Now you both have the same thing, so you won't fight." -- Which is what our mother used to tell us when we were little.)

That's been about the day. I've got more laundry in the dryer as I'm typing this. Which is totally a royal pain. Two people in this house-- where does all the laundry come from? Although I guess it doesn't help that I change the bed-sheets every three or four days. I've been doing that since the Oprah show where they showed the teeny-tiny microscopic crawl-y things that find their way to bed linens after four days. So ever since then, I've been changing the sheets twice a week instead of once a week. The power of Oprah. She can make you buy a necklace and make you change your sheets. One of these days, someone will convince her to run for President and she will change the world... starting with your jewelry boxes and your bed linens. And, of course, your reading habits, since millions and millions of people reading books every month with Oprah's Book Club.