September 6th -- Rio Rancho

   Well, I'm finally back!!! 
   Now I'm in NM again with Seriah, who just got to help serve for a Downton Abbey tea. (You may have heard of Downton Abbey--it's a popular British TV show). Her friend McKenzie, who was also the Costume Designer for TSC, invited her to come and help serve with a tea that her old Sunday-School teacher was putting on. It was set in the Edwardian Era, and you could dress up to come. Of course Seriah said "Yes!"

   The tea was on Saturday morning, so Seriah had to get up very, very early in the morning. Thankfully she did not need to wake me up until later--I am NOT a morning cat. We got to the church where the tea was to be held a little late because of roadwork, but when we got there, McKenzie wasn't even there yet. So we went in and Seriah introduced myself to Ms. Allison, McKenzie's old third-grade Sunday school teacher. She is actually British, and Seriah was in seventh heaven just listening to all these ladies with their real British, Irish, and Scottish accents! (she had a hard time not slipping into one as well).

   Once people started arriving, Seriah and McKenzie were really kept on their toes. Re-filling teapots, serving cups of water, re-filling teapots, fetching silverware and re-filling teapots. 
   I got to hang out at one of the tables with extra seats, doing what I do best: Guarding the sweets!

   (I know what you're thinking, but really--someone had to guard those scones and cookies!)
Afterwards, McKenzie and Seriah stayed to help clean up and move all the furniture and tea-decorations. There were a lot of decorations, but they still had time to pose for some pictures:

   McKenzie and her wonderful mom drove Seriah home, and they had the most brilliant idea to stop at Starbucks on the way. 
   "Hey! Let's go in, and order with British Accents," suggested Seriah.
   "Yes!" agreed McKenzie. So they did. To be honest, they got weirder looks from the customers than from the employees. :)