time for a party hat!

well i got a GREAT phone call a minute ago...turns out my piece entitled "Ruby's Natural Instinct" was awarded first place in the Woman's Caucus for Art art show entitled "Women's Work in the 21th Century" which is in partnership with and hosted by the San Diego Woman's History Museum. The awards ceremony will be held at the end of the month, after i get back from italy! i love award money.

NEXT, my daughter, Brooke called me today to ask me to "guess what? (see previous posts regarding all of brooke's "hey, momma, guess what?" series. posts entitled "brooke"; 6/25, 7/7; and 7/31/07). this time i didn't have a plausible guess left in me.
turns out she starts her new job tomorrow in L.A. at a national public radio station. it's her dream come true. i thought she started later this year...but i was mistaken. for now she can work parttime because of school.
i am very happy for her --- again. she is still working a another major radio news station, let's just call it CNN (again, as she worked for CNN, Atlanta before er, or other major radio news station with world coverage in atlanata - i mustn't give out true call station names in my blog - could get her fired - so i'm told) at this time too. Mostly she is excited that she is plowing through college classes at jet speed aiming toward getting a degree within a year. also she keeps busy working out, walking her pitbull (see post "my only grandchild" 6/22/07 and painting of him 6/23/07) for a couple of hours a day and writing articles for a local newspaper.
where does she get all that energy? she was like this in the womb.....i kid you not. she was the embryo that constantly did flip flops, had hiccups many times daily while turning head over heels.
when she was a young girl, about 8 years old...she was known to most lemon grove on broadway shop owners as the cute little girl who walked the entire length of the boulevard on her hands!! (see previous post as to why i worried brooke would join the circus, post entitled "speaking of babies in swings..." 6/26/07).
yes, she is really somethin'. very friendly, always smiling... i'm totally proud of her....uhm, in those days, i did have to remind her to wash her hands before dinner though. BUT, what mom doesn't?