SHE KNOWS ME WELL

Yesterday I got a text from my BFF, saying "Guess you have your pre-trip jitters, huh?" I replied with "I've had them since the day Hubby announced 'We're going to Cuba!' " You've heard the saying about introverts, haven't you? That you should never ask an introvert "What could possibly go wrong?", since we tend to have excellent imaginations.  Well, that is me all over! She then reminded me that, once we take off, I always manage to relax and have a fabulous time. I hope that holds true tomorrow.

Meanwhile, this is the prompt I got this morning in my sketch-a-day journal...

and here is what I drew.

Wish me luck!

THEN AND NOW: THE MUSE CAFE

I'm still mulling over the steps I need to take in order to edge this blog into becoming the virtual version of the café where I meet up with my real life muses every week. Which got me to thinkin' about the space where we actually started meeting about ten years ago -- just as I was beginning this blog -- and how it has changed over the years.

Back in the Day

Owner DuAnne originally envisioned her café, called Maui Wowi, as a safe place for our local teens to work and hang out, but it somehow got taken over by we seniors -- at least in the hours before noon each day. After 12 years and a very bad fall that kept her incapacitated for a quite some time, she decided it was time to pass the torch. We now see her there most Tuesdays, thoroughly enjoying this chance to travel and spend more time with friends and grandkids, and the luxury of sleeping in for a change, then coming to hang out at the cafe as a woman of leisure, like the rest of us!

The new owner changed the name from Maui Wowi to Indigo Brew, and did a bit of redecorating before reopening. Love the new look, and all the comfy furniture she added!

I'm also tickled to death that they kept my favorite chai latte mix, and started bringing in even more goodies from our favorite local bakery, The Sugar Shack.

In fact, our one and only complaint is that the new blender they use for frosty cold drinks is so dang loud that everyone in the cafe has to stop talking each time they turn it on, and you know how we hate to do that!

Spirit Woman Tells of Her Month-Long Adventure in Crete

Ah well, at least with the frigid weather we've been having, not too many are ordering anything frosty!

MY FAVORITE NEW CREATIVE OUTLET

We were ever so fortunate to be gifted with a toy-store's-worth of fun stuff when our Little Goober was born -- from our BFFs, who's grandson had outgrown it all. And, since we don't actually have room in our little house for all of that, we store most of it in crates out in the utility room, down in the man cave, and out on the porches. Because of this, I've discovered that one of my very favorite things to do, when I know Calvin is headed this way, is to pick out a "theme-of-the-day" and pull out three or four toys and several books that fit in with that theme. This week I was almost giddy when Lex texted me to see if we were up for a visit from Goobs while they went into Wimberley for a nice birthday dinner at The Leaning Pear. Why? Because it was finally going to be Sesame Street Day!

Just a few days earlier I had decided that he was finally old enough for me to go up to the attic and dig out the Sesame Street Playhouse that his mama had loved so much when she was about his age, and I had it all cleaned up and ready to go!

The first things that caught his attention were the doors that actually open and shut...

then he realized there was stuff in there that could be moved in and out.

He thought it was magical that he could shove something through the door, then open the house and find it there on the inside!

So he had to open it out and actually watch his hand pushing the chair through the door.

He even managed to discover the special button that makes Oscar pop up out of the trashcan all on his own, since I had forgotten all about it!

Then, just when I was thinking how brilliant he must be, he did this...

Spoons are too slow, Mima!

whilst doing his maniacal growly laugh, sounding like a cross between Cookie Monster and Animal!

A most excellent evening, wouldn't you agree?

Woohoo! Daddy's back!

Now the big questions is, how old does he need to be before I can go back up to the attic to retrieve Uncle Nootie's Brio train set?