What Would Nellie Do?

Somewhere around my 50th birthday last year I think I became invisible. It's kind of like some Invisible Shield thingy from Star Trek. I go to restaurants and wait and wait and wait to be served while every server in the joint blithely walks by and then gets a bit indignant when forced to penetrate my shield of invisibility. Then I wait and wait and wait for drink refills, my check, take away boxes etc. I also find that people run into me in crowds or push in front of me when I am trying to see something or meet someone. It's just weird. Today I've been noticing that lack of recognition in some other areas that I won't go into but I am definitely feeling very invisible. So, I ask myself...

What would Nellie do?

I think Nellie would yell, screech, cry, stomp her foot, sabotage the offenders and just generally act like a b**** until she got what she wanted. Sometimes, I wish I could act that way in public. I do it so well at home!

But no, I must also ask myself...

What would Mary do?

Mary would probably cry a little in private then daintily wipe her eyes and blow her nose and with sunbonnet tightly affixed to her head, turn the other cheek and walk away. Sorry, that's not me either.

I think I more closely relate to...

What would Laura do?

I think Laura would make a plan, carry out that plan and then shove Nellie's face into the mud puddle, place her in her wheel chair, push her down the hill and into Plum Creek where leeches will attach themselves to Nellie's lily white legs. All the while, Laura would be standing at the top of the hill laughing her head off. But then, that night, she would start to feel guilty and Pa or Ma would then come sit on her bed and deliver the moral of the story and all would be well. Nope, I probably wouldn't do that either but it would sure be fun to think about.

Ok, deep breath...in, out 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. There, it's a little better now.

Today was day two of Laurapalooza. It was an interesting day. We started the day with a presentation by master quilter Linda Halpin. I've talked to Linda several times this week. She is a very sweet lady and does beautiful work. I plan to make one of her Little House quilts some day. Linda shared slides of a variety of quilts and basically gave an enlightening talk about the history and trends in quilting from the 18th century to now. We then broke into concurrent workshops. There were 3: quilting with Linda, Bluegrass music with Amber Waves ( a family bluegrass band from Longmont, CO) and cooking with Barbara Walker. Valerie and I attended the first two sessions but did not attend the third.

Alison Arngrim arrived during the second session to sign autographs. Alison played Nellie Olson on the t.v. show LHOTP. She signed our books and was very gracious. Valerie and I were too star struck to attend the third session so we just sat and read until the lunch session began. Part of that last sentence was true. We did sit and read. We were just too tired to walk two blocks to attend Barbara's workshop.

After lunch William Anderson talked on the subject of What Laura Did. Through the years Bill has explored the newspapers in Mansfield and DeSmet, two of Laura's home towns. He compiled a timeline of events in Laura's life for this presentation. Did you know that Laura became a grand matron of the Eastern Star in 1904? Did you know that Laura liked to hold theme parties at her home on Rocky Ridge? Did you know that Laura and Almanzo built a house across Highway 65 for their farm help? Did you know that Laura never saw the Rock House that Rose built for her until it was finished? I didn't either. Bill, I always learn something new from you.

Barbara Walker followed Bill. She wrote the Little House cookbook back in 1979. Yesterday she received the LIWLRA Legacy Award for her accomplishments. She did not discover the LH books until she was 40 and read them to her child. Her perspective was interesting and she has a very sharp wit. I loved listening to her.

Tonight. What can I say about tonight. We are very fortunate to have Alison Arngrim as a special guest with us for Laurapalooza. In 2010, Alison wrote her autobiography titled "Confessions of a Prairie B****" . She adapted that into a one woman show that combines stand up comedy with stories from her days on the set of LHOTP and stories about the aftermath of playing the most hated girl on family television. Tonight Alison did her show for us. It was a hoot. She is very sharp tongued but I got the sense that underneath she is a very nice person that does not deserve half of a Big Gulp orange soda thrown at her head during the Christmas parade. I've read the first few pages of her book and I think I feel comfortable in recommending it to you. I think it is hilarious that Melissa Sue Anderson and Melissa Gilbert both published autobiographies about the same time as COAPB. Their book covers have sweet photos of them in sweet locations. Alison's book cover is hot pink with 4 very hoity toity photos of her as Nellie Olson.

I think I'd best wrap this up. Tomorrow we have two more session ( I should have been a part of one of them.....grrrr). I moderate the one on Farm and handy work. Then it's a spelling bee, silent auction and lunch. After lunch we are off to Walnut Grove. It should be a fun day.

Love to all
Laura