Meet My New BFF!

Well, yesterday was the big day!  I went to see a lady about a book.  This book:

And who was this lady?  It was Mrs. Ree Drummond!!  Or, you might know her as The Pioneer Woman.  Can you see her?? Up there at the podium... She did a little talk and answered some questions.  I even stood up and asked a question (What's her biggest tip for new bloggers?).  We had a moment.  I was nervous.  My pits were sweaty.  It wasn't very glamorous.  But, she was very nice about it.  Ree's advice (we are like BFF's now) was to post frequently.  She said that it allows your readers to build a relationship with you.  Plus it will improve your writing.  Lordy knows that I could use some of that!

They divided everyone into groups for the actual signing part.  There were about a million people there, so we had to wait a while for our turn.  The signing was at the St. Louis County Library, so we found the children's area.  One of the other nice moms gave Anna a sucker.  It was her first.  I hope we didn't create a monster.

There was this little table that my monkey kept climbing on.  She fell at one point.  There were tears.  There was blood.  It wasn't the highlight of the evening.  We rebounded though.

Oh, guess who else tagged along with Ree on her trip?  You might recognize him from this angle:

Photo Credit

I was tempted to take my own shot of Marlboro Man's rear.  He didn't have chaps on, but I could still handle a view of his rear.  Alas, he stood with his back to some cabinets.  I think he knew what I was up to... I nervously talked to him as he signed my books.  I asked him to sign the twins ... he declined.

We got a photo together instead.  I promise I wasn't playing grabass in the picture.  (Or at least that's what I'm telling my husband.)  I will never wash my shoulder again...

Twelve years later, it was our groups turn to meet Ree!!  Our conversation went something like this:

Me - "Hi Ree, I'm The Unglamorous Mommy.  I'm a huge fan."

P-Dub - "Oh, YOUR The Unglamorous Mommy.  Let me shake your hand.  I'm a HUGE fan of yours."

Me - "Oh, I'm very flattered."

P-Dub - "It would be my honor if you would sign this book for ME!"

It's possible I made that all up... I had this whole thing planned that I was going to say to her.  It was going to be fantastically witty.  Ree was going to laugh and laugh.  We were going to exchange phone numbers and be the best of friends.  Instead, it went a little something like this:

Me - "OHMYGOSH!!! HI!! I'M SUCH A BIG FAN!"

Ree - "Oh, thank you."

Me - *stares nervously, unable to talk and stands awkwardly as she signs the books*

She was SUPER nice and really down to Earth.  Makes me love her even more!  We then got a picture.  It was a little awkward because she was sitting and we were standing.  It's hard to do the sorority squat with a baby on your hip. 

It wasn't until we were driving home that I realized that I completely blocked Anna with Ree's head.  I don't like my baby hogging all the glory in a picture.  You didn't know?  It's all about me...