Peanut and I went to a book signing

Wow! I didn't post at all in November! That's bad. That's real bad. Oh well, over the past weekend I racked up a good week's worth of posts so I promise I'll make it up to you...starting now.

This past Thursday the Peanut and I found ourselves, sort of accidentally, at a book signing for The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook. It's something I've looked forward to since she announced her book tour schedule. Unfortunately, the events of the day made it impossible for me to go...or so I thought.

I got the Peanut home from school and she had a mountain of homework that took up every minute until I looked at the clock and realized that I had exactly 10 minutes to drive 30 minutes away, pick up my boy from school and get his hiney to a technical rehearsal. The rehearsal started at 5:00 and was on the other side of town. Wrist bands for the book signing were being given out at 4:30 and PW wasn't scheduled to show up until 7:00. There was no way I would have time to go home and get ready.

Imagine our surprise when, on our way home from droping said son off, my car seemed to detour right in front of the book store. I just happened to be on the phone with Maverick at the time.

"I don't want to go. Peanut is with me. I've got barn clothes on. I need to get ready for my trip to Oklahoma City in the morning. And I'm not a fan of crowds. I'll just go home. There's probably not any parking anyway. And if there is, there won't be any wristbands left."

"You've been talking about this for a long time. Why don't you just pull in. If you get lucky and find a parking spot, go in and see if there are any wristbands. If not, at least you can say you tried."

"Well, OK." (that was serious arm twisting) I pulled in. Found a parking spot. They had wristbands and plenty of books. So we hung around.

This is where I get the mother of the year award. By this time it was after 6:00 and Peanut hadn't eaten yet. So what do you do when there's just the book store coffee shop and less than an hour before one of your favorite bloggers takes the stage? Why you feed your child hot chocolate and a big ol' slab of chocolate cake for dinner, of course! I am now the Peanut's favorite parent. Sorry, Mav.

While I don't have an exact count, there were a few hundred people there. PW was every bit as funny and personable as she is on her blog. A very sweet lady. As was Marlboro Man, her mother and all of her children. Peanut was able to meet her younger daughter in the toy section and proclaimed that they were now "good friends." Seriously, if you have not yet checked out her crazy life of food, kids, cows and horses, pick a time when you've got an hour or two to get lost in her stories and recipes and dig in. You'll be hooked.

Of course, while standing in line to have my book signed I remembered once again that I was still wearing barn clothes, had no makeup on and left my camera at home...AAARRRRGGGHHHH!Enter Kim. Kim was there with her way too adorable little girl and we were standing in line together. In other words, we had to time to chat. She was sweet enough to allow me the use of her camera and today e-mailed this picture.

Not bad considering I left everything at home: Camera, nice clothes, make up, hair, decent manicure. It was still a great evening.

And I can't forget the shirt. These beautiful shirts that PW had designed as gifts to those that came out and saw her during her tour. The Peanut and I both got one. Mine followed me to Oklahoma City where it sparked a whole other encounter...

to be continued...