Paint Your Own Masterpiece Party

Good Monday morning!

NOTE TO JONI, JENNY AND TRACY - Thank you all for your kind words. I appreciate them, one and all. (I'm writing this on the blog, because since I'm so famous now, I doubt if I'll be able to speak to you in person when I see you at church... You know, because of the throngs of people surrounding me.) But I did want to let you know it made my day to read your sweet comments.

Tracy, I've put a new answering machine tape in the machine so I could keep the one with your message on it forever and ever and ever. For anyone who has never had the honor of having a message left by Tracy, I feel very, very sorry for you. The messages are excellent!

NOTE TO KIM - I waited ALL day long Sunday to hear from you. I NEED an e-mail today, please. Patience is not even in my vocabulary!

NOTE - For anyone (family or friends) interested in learning more about OCD, there is a show on A&E every Monday night at 8:00 CST called Obsessed. It shows two different people with severe cases of OCD and the treatment the patients receive from two different doctors. It is difficult for me to watch, but it "shows" rather than "tells" the complexities of the illness so it would be helpful to people who are trying to understand OCD and everything associated with the disorder.

The Showcase Pic this week is of Josh. This is the "after" picture from the Meet the Rockets event held Saturday night. Josh played a good bit (12 plays), and he held his own. He loves it, so we're praying this season is all he has dreamed it would be.

The Gallery Pics are of Roxie getting ready for her practice volleyball tournament Saturday morning. The purpose of the tournament was to help them get over their nerves and to train new officials. She enjoyed it, and I think she's ready for the "real thing" now.

And, of course, there are a few of Austin. Just had to take a few pictures of him breathing. Does he look different to you? Has he grown? Does he look older? (Yeah. I thought the same thing. He looks exactly the same. That's a good thing, by the way.)

THE PITFALLS OF BEING FAMOUS - I thought I would share some of these pitfalls with you today, because I can now speak of them knowingly. After last week's post picturing me with Jill (Back-Up Singer to Barry Manilow, Sandi Patti and Michael Bolton), my life spiraled out of control. In just two days, fame totally overtook me and my family in our small village of Gardendale. Here is my story.

First, I'll just start with the blog itself. I usually have anywhere from 35 to 40 hits a day during the week. On Thursday and Friday I had over 60 hits EACH day.

I usually have 1 to 3 comments a day (sometimes more, sometimes less), but I had 5 and 6 comments on the blog alone (not counting Facebook, e-mails and telephone calls... which put the total well into the teens).

When I went to Meet the Rockets Saturday night, person after person after person... that's it... three people mentioned the blog to me in person (as opposed to 0 to 3 people a week).

So you can see, I have been inundated with "fans" this past weekend. It has been exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time.

I now understand all the complaining about paparazzi. They are everywhere... in the trees, in the parking lot at church, at Wal-Mart, in the bushes as I drive down our street. It is unbelievable the level of scrutiny I am under every second of every day. And the fact that I haven't actually seen them, but feel their presence and their camera lenses following me everywhere I go is more than a little unnerving... let me tell you!

Will I maintain my incredibly quick rise to fame, or will I level out and become just another housewife living A Simple Life in a small town in Alabama?

Only time will tell, my friends. Only time will tell.

AUSTIN UPDATE - I know. I know. I didn't mean to lie, but "the boy" came home, and I just couldn't end his special section yet. It will be brief, I promise.

I just wanted to say as painful (and it was physically painful) and sad (and it was heartbreakingly sad) and depressing (I ran out of "Austin's Going Away to College" medication it was so bad) as my son leaving home was, the homecomings are GREAT! I was happy, peaceful, thrilled and excited just to have him in Gardendale. And although I stared a lot, he did get to do all the things HE wanted to do. I didn't want you to think I had locked him in the shrine, or anything crazy like that. (Lock broke!)

It was painful and sad and depressing to watch him drive off this morning for five more days... but he'll be back (as a famous California governor once said). He'll always be back. He may be a Marching Southerner... and one day he may be a JSU alum... and he may be many other things in the years to come... but he is (and forever will be) a standing member of The Faulkner Five. (We have a membership card, T-shirt, secret handshake... and an amazing amount of history together. We are an "organization" worthy of being a member of!)

Yes, he'll be back in just five days...

But, I miss him.

Okay. That's all. We'll get back to normal now... whatever that is!

Paint Your Own Masterpiece Party

This party will cost a little, but it would be/could be exceptionally fun.

The Chocolate Biscuit in Trussville (my favorite tea room) has an artist who comes every few months and she teaches you how to paint a beautiful painting. (I was able to see three of her actual paintings, and they were lovely.) The Chocolate Biscuit only takes a total of 15 people per class, so the class is small enough to have special one-on-one time with the artist if you need help (which I would certainly need).

The cost is $30 for dinner and painting using a canvas board OR $40 for dinner and painting using stretched canvas.

If you are interested in getting a group of women OR a group of mothers and daughters together for a special night out, you would need to contact Suzie Burkett at The Chocolate Biscuit. The telephone number is 655-0119 and the website is www.thechocolatebiscuit.com.

Also, if you wanted to see some of this artist's work (her name is Vallie), her website is www.everydayartist.net.

I'm going to be talking to some friends to see if I can get a group of girls together in January or February to have a Paint Your Own Masterpiece Party. That would give everyone time to save a little money for this special treat. (If you're interested in doing this after the first of the year, let me know. I'll contact Ms. Burkett to see if she could set up a class just for us.)

And just so you know... The food is great, too!

If you're interested in trying it out now, they are having a class August 27, but they only had a few seats left. Give them a call to reserve your spot... and take a friend! Enjoy!

Have a glorious Monday. (Now those are two words you don't usually see together!) But try your best. As I've said many, many, many times before, it's the only Monday, August 17, 2009 we'll ever had. Let's make it count for all the right reasons. Tomorrow's recipe is "to die for." (I'm trying out some new phrases to go with my new title... "The Enchanting Belinda Faulkner." "To die for" definitely sounds like something an enchanting person would say, doesn't it?)

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda Faulkner

(I think tomorrow I'm dropping the "Faulkner." It's a little too formal, don't you think?)