But we did do more auditions, including one for Disney that will urge folks to come to Disneyland FREE on their birthday. We haven't heard back yet, but we're pretty sure Jane is just the "Grandmother. Cute little old lady. Not hip or cool. Very warm and real" that they are seeking.

Now we're gearing up for a big whoop-de-doo with a gaggle of dear friends from our college days. You'll hear lots more about it beginning on Valentine's Day and running through the 19th in Redondo Beach south of here. It's not pure coincidence that Jane and Jo Ann both celebrate birthdays during that time.

And yesterday we bought airline tickets for an April trip to Texas. Since Southwest loves one-way trips, we'll fly into San Antonio, prowl the Hill Country for four days, drive to Houston for four more, go to David's 54-year HS reunion, and then fly back to LAX.

Ah, what exciting lives we lead.

Fri 6 February
Yesterday we headed for a rare evening audition. We hit the freeway a little before 4:00 amid Friday traffic and heavy rain with intermittent cloudbursts. Chauffeur Dave quickly worked his way into the carpool lane and we were halfway to Santa Monica before either of us realized that we should be headed for Hollywood instead. So we took to the surface streets, crept through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, and rolled on in with over a minute to spare.

A half-hour later, Jane returned muttering about our rush to get here so she could wear a surgery gown, sit on an examining table, and pretend to be "a lump" for Carl's, Jr, a burger chain.

"How can they choose an actor based on that?" she moaned. Then we went to eat the Mexican food.

Soon her phone did it's little "Boop" signal for a text message. "Hey, you have a callback," predicted David. And he was right. Disney wants to see her again Monday for that not-cool, sweet Granny gig. It takes so little to move her from gloom to grin.

Today she's off to some freebie-gig audition, then on to lunch with Pat. Granny's on the go.

Tue 10 February
Today we enjoyed brilliant sun after several days of cold rain. Things have burst into bloom everywhere, especially the big white pear trees. As we soaked up these signs of spring, we noticed that Mary and Susan chose the same topic for their columns this week. Check 'em out on our Favorite Guest Writers page.

We noted all this on our way home from David's morning of medical tests where they inserted an IV, took a lengthy series of X-rays(?), gave him a magical injection that made his body believe he was having a heart attack, and finally another X-ray marathon. Jumping to the end, he survived just fine and we'll get the results next week.

But during a break in the action, a loud bell began ringing in the hallway and just wouldn't quit. It was a fire drill. Everyone had to get out by hiking four floors down a staircase. This caused quite a bump in the stress level, especially for several frail and elderly heart patients in their walkers and wheelchairs. Then there was David with his IV dangling and still woozy from those shots.

So all us invalids got a pass to stay in the waiting room watching "The View" with the alarm drowning out all dialogue – another stress bump as we realized that in a real fire we would definitely be the "slow bunnies in the stairwell". Hmmmm...

Eventually the alarm bell stopped and life returned to normal. But during those 20 minutes we had time to think serious thoughts. Thoughts like: Let's find a 1st floor cardiologist.

Fri 20 February
Whew! What a wild and wonderful week we've had.

Last Saturday our friend, Nancy, arrived from Florida. She's not really from Florida, she's from Chicago. At least that's what she claims. Truth is, she spends at least half the year on the road in her PleasureWay camper van going to quilting shows, visiting kids and grandkids in three different states, and driving south for the winter. This winter it's Florida, but many other winters it's Texas, her home state. Either way, she has no shortage of friends to visit and no shortage of nerve. She camped on our couch that night.

Sunday marked the official start of our big gathering. Even before the action could begin, Jo Ann called from Corpus Christi with the sad news that she was sick and couldn't come. Soon, Ken and Irene drove in from Tacoma and picked up Jack and Virginia at LAX after their flight from Houston, while Jane, David and Nancy cruised on down from Northridge. The big rendezvous in Redondo Beach was noisy as we explored our six-bedroom vacation rental and caught up on life since our last visit. Ken's daughter, Kim, arrived from Yuma AZ in time for supper, and we all spent the evening sharing news, photos and good times.

In the wee Monday morning hours, the clouds burst. We woke to cold-and-wet with flooding and mudslides on the TV – a good day to stay home and visit. And eat. We are quite adept at both. But we managed to organize a trip to see the movie, Coraline, based on a children's book. The consensus of our eight movie critics: "Beautifully made, very imaginative, and scary enough to frighten the pants off any child between the ages of 2 and 92." We will never trust a doll again.

Tuesday dawned much more pleasantly. Maybe we could take our whale excursion boat trip that afternoon after all. But no, the dock canceled the cruise due to rough seas. So we kept on visiting and eating, with a short walk around the pier and a late restaurant lunch.