Hi there, guys and dolls! Well, look at that – spring is almost here. Hope you’ve had a nice weekend. Let me tell you about mine. After this one, nobody can tell me I’m not a good neighbor, no siree! Let me fill you in.

It all started Saturday morning. I had a delightful lie-in, wondering just what could the day bring. All of a sudden, my phone started ringing and would not stop. Not a good sign at eight in the morning. Not at all.

Seems that Nancy down the street was in full crisis mode. Seems that her oven was on the fritz and today, of all days. She was having a birthday party for her little Betty Jean and oh, couldn’t I just help out a little….

See, with Nancy, a little doesn’t mean a little. No, it means a lot. As in, can I come over and use your oven to bake the cake and the party food? Great. And then as in, seeing how everything will be there, why don’t we just have the party at your house?

What? Really? Are you kidding? No. Now let’s get this straight. I think kids are great. You know, other people’s children that I can send home when the cranky hour sets in. Mine, not theirs (my tether’s long been burnt to a crisp long before they run out of steam..). So you know what my answer was.

Long story short (as in, now you know Barbara Jean, I named my little Betty Jean after you, she’s just a delight, just like you, then she puts the crying child on the telephone, telling me how sad she is now that she won’t have a birthday….), Nancy and Betty Jean show up and take over my kitchen. I then take over the bar cart and just watch over the festivities in a martini haze (how else does one get through such trauma).

About two o’clock the doorbell’s going off like an air-raid siren and the living room’s now abuzz with all these little people. And I thought the cocktail parties were messy. Streamers, balloons, donkey tails pinned everywhere, mucky chocolate cake hand prints all over the walls, and hot dog parts sticking out between the sofa cushions (I’m not even going to explain how that happened…).

Then the pandemonium was followed by the party entertainer – Marty the Magnifico, the Mystical Magician. And you know what? He wasn’t so bad (looking, that is – his act was pretty cheesy, but the kids liked it). Me, I liked the fact that after I let him know there was a little magic making between us, he volunteered me in a little vanishing act and foosh! just like that, Marty and I were gone and out at a little corner bistro.

Sure hope Nancy cleaned and locked up. I’ll check later….Right now, I’m still watching him pull a rabbit out of his hat, or at least, that’s what he calls it…

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts. And don’t forget to give my Poppy Cove Mysteries a try if you haven’t already.

Toodles, Barbara Jean