MEOW!

Looks like Halloween isn't over in Jolene's World.... Here's a look at my THIRD costume this past Halloween.

Looks like I wasn't the only kitty. The other kitty is Monica, Frank's sister. And yes, Frank is the Super Chicken Hawk.

Good Stock

This is my family.

Who knew they cleaned up so well!?

This photo was taken for my Grandma's 90th Birthday last October. Can you tell which one is my cute Grandma? The rest of the people are her eight children. EIGHT! Yikes I have gray hair from one cat.

Can you tell which one is my Mom? Um yes she is the cutest one! That's her in the blue, sitting next to my Grandma. My Grandma likes her the BEST because she is the best! And because she also created her favorite grandchild. Um, yes that'd be me!

Color Me Proud

One of my dearest friends is Miss. Eleise.

Eleise is one of those people that after speaking to via the telephone, or seeing in person, even just for a minute, you feel like a million bucks. She's classy, beautiful, super intelligent, cultured, funny, but most extraordinary, she is truly so compassionate, accepting, and, oh how do I describe it? She just this great gal! She's the type of woman that you can call 12 times in tears and she isn’t even phased by it, instead after a few moments of her compassionate words you find yourself laughing and realizing how silly you're being because E has this way of making you see yourself in this positive light. Not once has she judged me, or anyone for that matter. She has this way with words and simply just viewing life. Now don’t even get me started on her emails. Truly elegant prose, seriously! Well she is a writer by nature; she could be writing about the most mundane thing (which E rarely would do, but she could be) and you’d be reading this with edge-of-your-seat interest, because her writing is so fluid and elegant.

It's things like this that make me think, "Why do we live so far apart?" I met Eleise in Minnesota about seven years ago. The first time I saw her she was understudying a role in Rosetown’s production of Hello Dolly starring my other amazing friend Cate as Dolly.
I was in awe of these women’s talent. The following fall Cate, Eleise and myself were cast in Rosetown’s Dracula. I thought Eleise was a high school senior because she looked so young and the theater often cast high school students. Turns out E is three years younger than me. Well we hit it off right away and became friends.

So now in 2007 I am in Chicago and E is in Boston. Prior to her living in Boston she lived in London for three years getting her Masters in Chinese studies!—I told you she’s smart. Through it all E and I have remained close and I am thankful for that.

Okay so why am I going on and on about Miss. E? Well for one, why wouldn't I? I mean being friends with E just goes to show everyone how cool I am, right? Truth is I am proud to call her my friend! Now secondly I spoke to E yesterday and she was quite down and this breaks my heart, while she is all the attributes I listed above, smart, funny, amazing, etc. etc. she’s not perfect. E has had more than her share of hardships, and it’s about time this woman got a break. So when she is blue I just wish I could make her feel better, like she has helped me in the past.

So I guess you could say this post is a Casey Kasem Long Distance Dedication to Miss. E!

Now the third thing is to announce yet another reason why I am in awe of E.

This fall Eleise performed in Manhattan! Okay I can already hear her say, “Um I performed off-off Broadway.”
But Hello! How spectacular! When Eleise arrived in Boston for a new job almost a year ago she made some friends fast that were involved in this dance production: The Big Moves Dance Company. This company celebrated the larger lady and were putting on a show where they need a few ‘skinnies.’ With a background in dance, E auditioned and was cast as one of the ‘skinnies’ for the production titled Lard: Like Grease but Thicker!

I spoke to E and she said the shows went really well! So congrats to E, my friend who performed in Manhattan.