I'm not quite ready to discuss Junior Nationals yet. Give me a couple of days, and then I'll spill the beans regarding the whole experience.

But I can talk about the food I've been inhaling! Lol! I haven't done too badly; well, the pint of Godiva's white chocolate raspberry swirl ice cream that was devoured between yesterday and today probably doesn't fit into the category of moderation, but it sure did taste good!

I went to dinner this evening with my grandmother and her two friends, Dorothy and Shirley. The three of them have been friends since about 1941, and they all live in the same high rise condominium in Chicago. All are Jewish and are about the same age...eighties. Have you ever eaten with three elderly Jewish women? Well, it is an experience! Lol! And there I was with them, the remains of my Protan peeling off my skin and making me look like I have some strange skin disease.

First, we have to catch the early bird special for dinner. It is cheaper after all and you don't have to wait in line to get seated. You might be eating while the sun is still dead center in the sky, but the food is still good. Now, all three women have slight hearing problems, talk loudly, and discuss all the health problems that friends and family are experiencing.

I couldn't decide what I wanted. I probably drove the poor waitress crazy, especially with my grandmother and her two friends rushing her to get the early bird menus so they could order before the 5:30 deadline (we arrived at 5:25 p.m.). First, I ordered the buffalo chicken wrap. But then I decided I didn't want that, so I ordered the bacon cheeseburger. Then I couldn't decide whether to have the homemade potato chips or the french fries, and I didn't know whether I wanted dressing on my salad or not. I ended up with blue cheese dressing on the side and the potato chips, but I kind of wished I had the fries. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. I had a half order of a fudge brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and argued with my grandmother about whether to give her all the whipped cream or not. She just wanted a small taste of the dessert, and I gave about a fourth of it and told her, "You'll get what I give you!" And then I plopped an entire spoonful of the whipped cream (I'm not a huge fan of whipped cream for some reason) onto her plate. Note: She ate all of what I gave to her. See! I told you! Lol!

I noticed that either I'm growing or my grandmother and her friends are shrinking. I suddenly felt quite tall tonight, if that tells you anything! I wonder if this is what I have to look forward to when I enter the realm of old age: shrinkage in height, telling the same story five hundred times (like when my grandfather was in Australia and didn't know the proper way of looking both ways before crossing the street and nearly got run over by a speeding car), insisting that everyone around me put on a jacket because I'm cold so everyone else must be positively freezing as well, refusing to wear my hearing aid and then asking what all the time and swearing that I never remember being told something even though I probably never heard it in the first place, pressing the brakes suddenly in the middle of the street because I want to look for change or I want to fiddle with the air conditioning vent and I think I'm the only one on the entire road and can't hear the horns honking around me, and wearing enough hairspray to start an entirely new hole in the ozone layer. I'll tell you what I will really look forward to: parking in the handicapped spot. I'll never have to search for a parking space again! Lol!

Y'all know I'm just kidding. Well, with everything except the driving. It is a very scary experience to ride as a passenger with an 83-year old woman behind the wheel. I can't tell you how many times I've seen my life flash before my eyes. My grandmother loves to inch out into the intersection when cars are speeding towards us and then take her sweet time in getting across to the other side, so that I'm gripping the handle of the door and screaming, "Mama Delle, drive!" This then brings on an argument of how the car was miles from us and I have a depth of perception problem and can't see properly. Meanwhile, the scent of burning rubber is lingering in the air from the cars needing to slam on their brakes to keep from hitting us. Yeah...at 31 years of age, I have the eyesight problem. Lol! If I make it to the airport alive, I will kiss the ground when I step out of the car.

On another note, my grandmother re-played the tape of my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary and watched my grandfather in action again (they were married for 60 years before he passed away). I think he would have loved seeing me on stage, would have gotten a kick out of it.

Tomorrow, I have plans to see Terminal, with Tom Hanks. I'll get a package of Twizzlers and a Coke and enjoy watching a film without the smell of egg whites and broccoli offending every nostril in the room. And I'm sure we'll go out to eat again, so I'll have another report of what I ordered.

Again, the Junior Nationals report will be up this week, but give me a bit of breathing time from the show. I did write an e-mail to the head judge, asking her opinion regarding my physique and my tentative decision to sit out the New York show and wait until next summer to step on stage again. I will keep you posted when I hear from her, which might me a few weeks from now.

Thanks again for sticking by me and making me smile! :)

Jodi