We stocked up on Oprah souveniers after attending a taping of her show!
Look how pretty Marnie looks in this photo, all dressed up to go to her first high school homecoming dance in October. She looks so grown up!
Also in October, (I can't believe I didn't blog about this!) I received a call from Harpo Studios in Chicago, (that's Oprah spelled backwards) and was offered tickets to the Oprah show to be in the audience! Now, I have been calling the Oprah phone line faithfully every month for 5 years trying to get tickets to her show, always getting a busy signal. This month I happened to request tickets via e-mail and I got the call. The person I spoke with could not tell me what the show was about but I accepted the tickets and asked for two more so my sisters could go with my Mom and I. Unfortunately Judy could not get off work, so Bonnie invited her friend Sharon from work and the four of us set out on the road bound for Chicago! On the way we tried to guess what the show might be about, maybe Brad Pitt would be on, maybe it would be Oprah's favorite things, maybe we would all win a new car! The day of the show we were the second group in line, hoping to get a good seat close to Oprah. We ended up kind of half stuck behind a camera and a monitor screen, but we were still excited to be there. We took our seats and then we noticed a cage sitting in the middle of the stage with two fake chickens in it. We decided it must be a joke they pull on the audience every day and once the show started we would at least see a famous movie star! As it turns out the chickens were there for a reason, and a few minutes later they brought out a fake pig, and a fake calf. The show was about animals kept in cages and pens, versus free range raised animals. I couldn't believe it! But then Oprah made her entrance, carrying her shoes in her hand, right by where we were sitting. She looked beautiful and was very nice. They taped the show, spoke with a couple of farmers and debated the issue. Lisa Ling was a guest and told stories how some animals are kept in pens so small they can't ever turn around or move except to stand up or lie down. They are voting on treating the animals more humanely in California, and it is already being done in Europe. Farmers would have until 2015 to comply, and the change is expected to spread across the nation. So, it wasn't what was expected, but was somewhat interesting, and I guess I learned a few things I didn't know. Oprah talked with the audience after the show, and someone asked her some political questions and about Barack Obama, and she started to comment, but then stopped herself. She said she regretted saying that she would not have any of the candidates on her show until after the election, but she was going to keep her word and not talk about it until after Nov. 4. She handed a bracelet she had been wearing to a woman who was celebrating her birthday, and thanked us all for coming, and she hoped we enjoyed the show. Afterwards we went to the Oprah store across the street and picked up some souvineirs. I don't have any photos, as cameras and cell phones were not allowed in the studio. But it was a fun trip, we did some sightseeing in Chicago and some shopping and visited the American Girls store, and we had a nice hotel room. We saw a broadway show, Dirty Dancing. It was a fun and enjoyable last minute trip!
Also in October we were invited to a surprise birthday party for our neighbor Mr. Lee Mick who was turning 90 on Nov. 4. I wasn't sure it was a good idea to "surprise" a 90 year old, but he really had no idea he was walking into a birthday party and was truly surprised, and grateful and happy to see all of his family and friends. He is a wonderful neighbor and friend, and has lots of stories and experiences to tell us about. He and his wife Lois have a gnome trail in the woods, and allowed us to copy their idea with our own gnome trail which connects with theirs at one point. We all get a lot of enjoyment walking or driving our golf carts through the woods.
