TTP II Memories from Edith (aka Karate Kid)

July 10, 1998

6:30 AM - Brief stop at PATHMARK to pick up ice for the 3 ice chests filled with goodies for Nora and Ruth but discovered to my annoyance that the store near my house does not open until 7:00 AM - not a very good start to my day, I thought, what next? If I am running true to form, the rest of the day would go downhill. Crossing my fingers, I said a short prayer asking that Murphy's Law not dog me the rest of the day. Happily there were not a lot of cars out on GSP north yet, so I got to Clifton, NJ on time, well, give or take a few minutes, to pick Arlene up. Arlene had bags of ice and those thingies you freeze that will stay cold for a long time ready, so we threw them inside the ice chests, loaded the car with the rest of Arlene's things and off we went to Vicky's house. We got there by 9:30 AM. Vicky served us coffee and tea and then Arlene gave Vicky a loaf of homemade bread she had baked. We also met Vicky's DH who helped us unload my car and load everything inside Vicky's station wagon. He was probably amazed at the things we brought with us but he didn't say anything, he did give his blessings, at least I thought so, when he said for us to have a great time and to drive safely. What a great guy! So off we went. We followed the directions and got there in plenty of time to go to TTP first to drop our gifts for Nora and Ruth and to pick up our books (Um, I got carried away and spent lots of moolah, but it made Ruth and BW smile so it was worth every centavos). We had our first Jason sighting but sadly, no sign of Dan, the Man, who it turned out was away on vacation. I wondered if maybe the thought of all these board broads coming to town had scared the beejesus out of him that he decided to stay as far away from us and our whatever... But it was not a total loss cuz Jason was there, although he kept his hat on the whole time we were at the store. Ruth then told us that he just had a haircut and no one, including Nora, had seen it yet. We (Ar, Vic, Ruth & I) went out for a late lunch of burgers, fries and soda pop and afterwards, Ruth and I saw something being sold for .50, which Ruth bought, and then all 4 of us had the pleasure of tearing to pieces and throwing in the trash can with a see, there! attitude. After the deed was done, we all looked at each other and laughed out loud! Then, Ruth had to go back to work and we drove down to the hotel, checked in, unpacked, put the wine and champagne on ice, went downstairs to check for other BBs sightings and decided to sit by the patio outside the pool. Vicky then proceeded to read to us the first few chapters of Rising Tides. After a while, the sun got to us, so we went inside to check if any BBs were around and while walking down the hallway, we spotted a group of girls so we stopped so they could catch up with us. They were Judy (Spunkdunc), Nancy (Ottis5), Lisa (Enseno), Debby (SnowBear) and Diane (Anonym). We had fun trying to guess each other's identities. Did we hug each other? I think so, I don't know. Diane and Nancy both had ADWOFF shirts on (I normally don't covet anyone's goods but seeing those tees sure turned my brown eyes green. Ugh!) We decided to go outside again to wait. Soon enough everyone started to show up. First, Ruth (KitcatXO) and then I can't remember exactly who came next so I may not be giving the correct order here but I think it was Phyllis (the phantom) next and then Sue (CBDR) with Diane (Disambear), Nina (Wymzee), NancyD (ND4OLDIES), and Tracey (TraceyOD). Again, more hugs and kisses. Nina gave all of us cute little packages with chocolates, a bookmark, and a pin with "Emotionally Intelligent" written over a picture of the Thinker. NancyD handed out NASA pencils. Phyllis was offering her famous Virginia peanuts. We talked, talked, and talked. If you had been to several conventions, you'd think that you were in one that afternoon as that is what it sounded like. I had a difficult time deciding which conversations to listen, follow and contribute to, so I decided to just "uh-huh" and "hmmm-mmm" everyone, occasionally I'd nod my head in agreement or show mock shock or shake my head or laugh along (because we were so disparate yet so similar, and passionate about our love for Nora and her books and our respect and regards for each other. I love that most of all about the BBs.) so everyone would think I was actively participating, when in actuality, I was just studying and observing everyone and trying to fit them into my previous conceptions of them. Most of the time, I was dead on although I had to readjust my thoughts on some BBs. Since it was getting late and Ruth still had not gone to get her tattoo and we have to decide on where to have dinner, Sue and Judy went off with Ruth for the Tattoo experience. The rest of us who were afraid to be adventurous stayed behind to talk some more and then we went to mangia. While waiting to be seated, the two Nancys had their corona with lemon and Diane (Sis) had a beer I think and Tracey had wine? I can't remember because we were looking at NancyD in a NASA space suit and I was not paying much attention. Lisa was very quiet and I actually felt glad to not be the only one not saying much? Then Phyllis and her DH showed up. When we were seated, Caro (CarolynSB) showed up so we had to adjust tables and seats until we were as comfortable as sardines in a small can. Then we talked, laughed, ate and took pictures. Nina then decided to take pictures of people taking pictures! Afterwards, we sent Tracey off with Caro to buy non alcoholic beverages (orange juice, milk) and alcoholic beverages (beer, wines) and we went off to the hotel and congregated at NancyD's and Tracey's room where we (um, except for me and Sue and I can't remember who else, maybe it was Debbie (Frizzlet)? Sorry..) sampled the DP, looked at pictures of Nora's quilt et. al. and bonded some more. I think we all had FUN and literally let our hair down. Then J called and he was passed around so we could all say hello. Then the talks became naughty and full of innuendoes and I learned about Altoids and it's finer qualities and other things that my mother would have considered taboo and not fit for my hearing and edification. Many times when we got too rambunctious, I experienced several attacks of tachycardia and I thought to myself, they (meaning the front desk people) are going to knock on the door soon and tell us to be quiet or worse, sic the MD police on us and we'd be carted off to jail and then Nora and BW will have to bail us out. Imagine the scandal! {And of course, the headline would read: Bunch of Crazy Women Calling Themselves Board Broads Noraholics In Jail For Drunk And Disorderly Conduct. Our once quiet and peaceful town is no more. Last night, women from different parts of the country converged in our lovely town and created havoc and chaos unheard of since the last of the Civil War's canon was forever silenced in defeat (theirs? Or was it ours?). The women call themselves Board Broads Noraholics and were going to be at Turn The Page Bookstore and Cafe for a book signing today at 11:00 AM. Famous local author, Nora Roberts, when asked for comments only has this to say: "Oh dear. I did ask all of them to comport themselves nicely!" Bruce Wilder, owner and proprietor of TTPBC had nothing to say but he was seen, early this morning, coming out of the jail where the women were incarcerated, photographic equipment in hand and repeatedly muttering: "I have to get to my dark room." When this reporter interviewed Jason, who is Nora Robert's youngest son and who helps out at the store when he's not in school, all he said was: "I should have gone with Dan." Ruth, the other employee, was unavailable for comment. Oh, just a minute. What?!! We just found out that the reason why Ruth is unavailable is because she is one of the jailees. More news to follow as soon as it's available.} Then the party started to break down when Caro and Ruth and Phyllis and the three musketeers from NJ left. I think Bonnie (Bon6788) called after we had left so we missed talking to her. I don't know what time party was officially over, maybe the others will be able to enlighten you on this.

All in all, the day turned out to be lovely and could be rated as my best TTP II moment BUT...

July 11, 1998

We went down for an early breakfast and saw Diane (Sis) and Nancy D. Then we went back upstairs to get ready for the drive down to meet Ruth's Mom and have a second breakfast with Ruth's Mom. We waited outside while the other BBs who haven't seen Ruth's place went up. On their way down, disaster struck when Biscuit, Ruth's dog, ran away. If you ask me, I think Biscuit was overwhelmed by the BBs presence that running away was the poor dog's defense! Ruth spent some time trying to find Biscuit but to no avail. As a result, our original breakfast plan was scrapped and we went across the street for breakfast instead. I think the owner was not prepared to see a big group of ladies wearing TTP II/ADWOFF tee shirts in black, blue and hunter green, show up like there was a big fire sale going on... While finishing up with breakfast, 3 leather-clad gents walked in and Nina and NancyD talked to them for a while. This was when I learned from Nina the big difference between Alpha males and Beta males and Nina told me to take another look at one of the guys. Which I did, surreptitiously of course. So now, when I think of Alpha males, I do not only imagine Sean Connery, but that man's physical attributes as well. Whew!!! Patti (drxx?) and Pam (NitneeLin?) showed up after breakfast when we were taking pictures of Caro, who was in a sexy sun dress, sitting and lounging on top of the hood of her convertible. Then Jaci showed up. Then we went inside TTP for the signing. I can't account for everyone's actions there. I watched NancyD kiss Jason. I had a picture taken with Jason. I sat down beside Lisa, who was only saying a word or two. I went back several times in line to get books signed by the different authors. I saw MK and asked her to sign a book for my sister. I did not get to meet the Two Jeans. ;-( Where was I when they were there? I met Wendy (HIPPOWEB). I saw Gaff who was a late arrival. I met Elaine Fox whose books I have but since I didn't know she was also coming, I did not bring them with me. I saw Jason sign Jaci's shirt. I signed J's shirt and Connie's (Kawnie) shirt. Then we went to the pizza place for a late lunch and then the other BBs decided to make an appearance at BW's photo show. Since the 3 musketeers from NJ all had headaches in varying degrees, we decided to skip BW's photo show and went back to the hotel. We took Phyllis back with us. On the drive back, my little headache grew into a bad migraine headache. Thank God for Phyllis, whose stories about her family and used book stores, Nora books, phantom's doings, May McGoldrick's books etc... gave me a focus to concentrate on and to zero in, which prevented me from becoming an embarrassment by throwing up half-ingested pizza and tea on myself and in Vicky's car. At the hotel, we said our good-byes to Phyllis because she would not be able to have lunch with us and Nora. They have to drive back to Virginia and wanted to leave early Sunday morning as Phyllis' DH have a busy morning schedule on Monday and leaving after lunch is going to make them get home late. We went up to our room and I took some Tylenol and went to sleep for a bit. Then NancyD called to ask if we wanted to go to dinner at a place where oldies but goldies music were playing but we declined in favor of an early night. Bad judgment on our part because we missed out on the greatest fun and excitement the quiet town of Frederick and the hotel ever had! I did not even hear the BBs being evicted from the patio by the pool into the breakfast room! Sigh, I have always wanted to break the law (any kind of law) at least once in my life and missed the opportunity. :-( Can we do it again in TTP III? I promise to join in one hundred percent. Now, again, this could be my best TTP II moment, YET...

July 12, 1998

In the morning, we packed our things and lazed about in our room until it was time to meet the others for the drive to Sheperdstown. Downstairs while waiting for everyone, I learned that we have to be careful around Nina, as she was busy writing down what we say and do for her little awards. Golly, I was thinking what did I say? What did I do? I was thinking maybe I should hold back and then I realized that this was all in the spirit of fun, so what the heck, I should go along with the flow and have fun, fun, fun. So I made up my mind to do just that. We stopped first at Boonsboro to get Ruth and then we drove to the Bavarian Inn and while waiting for Nora to show up, some of us studied the flora and asked the diehard gardeners in the group to name them, others went to check the cottage that was being cleaned for a possible TTP III place to stay, and then we parked our cute bodies in the gazebo and signed tee shirts. I had several people who didn't sign my shirt, but I hope to get them the next time around. Ruth was doing the finishing touches to the photo album she had made for Nora and was wrapping it. We learned that Nina had written a Nora song which if we had time, we would sing to Nora. (Oh, is this supposed to be a secret? If it is then it is now out, sorry guys. You could erase this part, Sue, if you like.) Then the queen finally arrived and we went in. The room was gorgeous and had all those lovely china. (I was tempted to sneak one away -break the law, remember? - but I didn't want to give the BBs and most importantly, Nora, a bad rep so I willingly curtailed/postponed any criminal inclination or twinges I had at the time. Joke, this is a joke, OK? "Sides, what would my Mama say if she heard her law-abiding daughter had stolen something? Probably worse than NancyD's "You are Grounded! Go to your room right now." admonitions. LOL.) The food was great. We gave Nora her gift. Thanks to Sue and NancyD, I was able to sit beside Nora during dessert and although I remembered being tongue-tied so I couldn't have contributed much to the conversation, Nora says that she remembers us having a conversation, so I guess I must have said something, I just don't know what! We took pictures inside and outside, Debbie's DH took our group picture using every camera on hand. And then it was time to say good-bye. Hugs. Kiss kiss. More pictures. Then hugs again. And then we had to really leave. If we could we would have tarried longer but we had a long drive back and Monday was a work day for all 3 of us. And since it will be Arlene's first day on the job with yours truly as her boss, both of us have to be at work early with our wits intact, bright eyed, all smiles and not showing any sign of malaise. When we drove away, I stole a glance backwards and said a silent fare-thee-well, friends, hope to see you all again next year and let's have as great a time as we had these past 3 days. Then I cleared my throat which was beginning to close down on me and wiped my eyes, secretly hoping the two in the front seat wouldn't notice my doing so and then I started to think of getting home to NJ in time to watch La Femme Nikita. We arrived in NJ 30 minutes earlier than expected because we took a different way home. Vicky's husband was home and was not upset to find how much $$ Vicky had spent on all those books. In fact, I got the impression that he would not have minded if Vicky had bought more. What a guy! He helped us load our things into my car and Arlene and I went on home. BTW, I only missed 10 minutes of La Femme so it was, in all, a very wonderful day!

July 13, 1998

The next day was something else, though! <g> No more fun and games. I was back on b**** mode.

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Sorry if I left anyone out - it is not intentional.

Apologies - if my recollection is not accurate. I should have written this when everything was fresh in my mind.

Respectfully submitted:

Edith