Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

I've had to squeeze shopping in between work and celebrations. Today was my niece's birthday party. I had her birthday gift but no Christmas gift yet. The day she was born I promised her I would never rip her off by trying to combine her birthday and Christmas gifts. She is a fan of the Bitty Baby line from American Girl. I tried to order some things for her online yesterday but I wasn't convinced I'd receive them in time. I then called my mom and told her I'd be going to The American Girl store at The Grove this morning and planned to be there the moment it opened. She had never been and wanted to go with me. We woke up early and headed for The Grove. We arrived at exactly 9:00am and the small parking lot out front was already filling up. Thirty minutes later we got to the car, arms full of American Girl bags, and the lot was completely full. My last boyfriend lived in the area so I know it well. I gave her a sort of tour on the way home and we managed to avoid traffic.

We got home and soon left for the birthday party. I gave Little Miss a gift that I called "Party in a Box". She broke her last boom box so I got her a new one along with Hannah Montana and High School Musical CDs. I wrapped a box then put the gifts in it along with helium balloons. They were supposed to float out as she pulled the ribbon to open it. Unfortunately, there were too many little girls huddled around the box so it didn't quite work as planned. The balloons eventually floated out and the adults seemed to get the drift of my idea and appreciated it. I still like the idea and may try it again some time.

Later Mom and I decorated the house a bit for Christmas. I put the outside lights up last weekend but hadn't had much of a chance to do much inside. It's starting to look more holiday-ish around here now. Better late than never.

I got my Christmas cards done while watching Broadway: The Golden Age (oh, to be able to go back in time and see all of that great theater live... *sigh*). I'm now watching Mary Poppins to keep up my cheery mood. (Although it goes against the cheery mood maintenance program, check this out. That makes me laugh.)

Which reminds me, have I ever mentioned the time I went to the last boyfriend's father's birthday party? We went to a fairly spectacular home somewhere near The Getty. There were about a dozen people in attendance. My ex's dad is an actor and most of his friends are in show business. We all mingled for a while then sat down for a fabulous dinner. A birthday dessert was brought out and we all sang Happy Birthday. The difference is that it wasn't your typical rendition of Happy Birthday. It sounded like I'd wandered into the Mormon Tabernacle Choir version of the tune. They all had amazing voices and someone was playing fabulously on a piano. Who knew?! Later, I noticed some awards around the house but still had no idea who these talented people were. Once in the car and driving away I asked my then boyfriend "I saw a bunch of awards, who was that?" He said "Oh, he's Richard Sherman, one of the Sherman brothers. He wrote the songs for Mary Poppins, Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang... you know." Holy crap!!! Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was my favorite song when I was a kid!! I was shocked. I suppose being a clueless guest is more appealing than and fool unable to speak due to her shock and admiration. For God's sake, the man wrote It's a Small World. To this day I thank God I had know idea who's home I was in.