Missing my favorite stores

One of my sisters had a birthday last Saturday and that's when I realized how much I missed the Disney store at Peachtree Mall.

Nancy absolutely loves Winnie the Pooh. I'm more of the Tinkerbell/Piglet girl. But Nancy is crazy about Pooh.

Buying birthday and Christmas gifts used to be so easy. All I had to do is make a trip to the mall and buy the new Pooh merchandise.

Now I discover the Sanrio store is gone! Where am I going to find all my Hello Kitty stuff now?

Going back to the Disney store, another reason I loved going in there was to see my friends, Jeff and Jennifer Camp. I'd known those two kids since they were in high school and just beginning to date. The next thing we knew, they were a committed couple as they finished high school and then Columbus State University.

Jeff was a technical theater geek and Jen was the singer. And what a singer!

One year, the music department did "Die Fledermaus." Joseph Golden, the opera professor, asked me to be part of the opera. When I quit laughing, he explained that he wanted to me to be background scenery. That, I could do. I just put on this gorgeous emerald green gown and sat in the box that was built on the stage. Russ Wall was the other guest in the opposite box.

It was fun. I had a great "date" named Andre, who was a violinist. He was on injured reserve, so he couldn't play in the orchestra. I'm sure his friends in the orchestra were laughing at him because he had to sit with an old woman for a couple of hours.

Jen played Adele and sang one of the most famous arias in the world, "Mein Herr Marquis." You may know it as "Adele's Laughing Song." You can count on a Miss Georgia contestant mangling the song every year. Jen sang it beautifully, of course.

Jeff and Jen moved to Orlando to work at Walt Disney World, and they've been doing very well there, both professionally and personally.

I was so happy last fall when I found out that they were expecting their first baby. And really happy to hear that they had a boy last Wednesday. His name is Carson Gregory and I haven't seen a photo yet, but I'm sure I'll get one soon.

So congratulations, kids! I can't wait to see him in person.