2004

FEBRUARY 2004 ARF ARF…..HAPPY VALENTINES My sister, Peggy, had tricked me into emailing her the list of all my neighbors contact information last year. Mom had contacted my neighbor, Kim (See November 2003). Due to some miscommunications, Mom ended up contacting another neighbor of mine, Nancy and sent the BLACK BOWLS to her. Nancy had added a disclaimer to the box. “Joan, your Mother asked us to get this to you. Not sure why, but here it is.” Then sent her husband, Phil over to our house with the box. When my husband, Rod, answered the door, he found me to tell me that there is someone at the door for me. I was totally taken back when I saw Phil at the door. Then when I saw the box in his hands, I just knew right then and there that they were the BLACK BOWLS. Poor Phil looked a bit confused about the whole ordeal and we explained how the BLACK BOWLS exchange started and gave him the website address to read the whole story with. After taking Joan’s picture with Phil and the box, Joan opened the box to find BLACK BOWLS (of course) and 4 stuffed doggies. Mom had packed 3 doggie puppets for each of Kim’s kids, Allison, Bryce and Garon and one for me (I’m a kid too, you know!). All the kids loved em! After talking to Mom on the phone, I found out the doggies bark to a Christmas song.

Black Bowls Saga by Joan Cook 2004 Continued SURPRISE! APRIL 2004 Mom thought that I would come up with a clever way to deliver the BLACK BOWLS for St Patrick’s Day and she was surprised that she did not receive them in time. Later, I received an email from Mom on March 24. She said, “I was at church today for our senior luncheon and the BLACK BOWLS got a mention.” But Rod and I had other plans up our sleeves. Rod’s company was sending Rod to Seattle in April, so we started making plans for delivery along with my sister, Peggy. We decided NOT to tell Mom until the very last minute that Rod was coming to town and taking everyone out to dinner. The morning of the delivery, I heard on TV that it was April Fool’s Day and I quickly contacted Rod and Peggy to ask them to play it up with the BLACK BOWLS. Peggy told Mom that Rod was in town and Mom’s first words were "Here come the BLACK BOWLS!!" Later, Rod contacted Peggy to tell her that he was on his way to meet her at Red Robin where they had planned to eat dinner that evening. Rod and Peggy delivered the BLACK BOWLS in an Easter Basket lined with smiling plastic eggs to the waitress at Red Robin prior to picking up Mom. Rod asked the waiter to be sure to embarrass his Mother in law as much as possible. Meanwhile, I received an email from Mom: Just got a call from Peggy saying that Rod is in town and we are all going to eat together at Red Robin's tonight. Is he bringing the BLACK BOWLS?. I was over to Peggy's a little bit ago and she wanted to know if I was going to be home? I closed the door after I answered her. Then I opened the door back up and asked her why she asked that? She had the silliest grin on her face. THOSE BLACK BOWLS ARE COMING BACK TODAY!!! Everyone keeps asking where the BLACK BOWLS are. Grant and Margaret (Mom’s former pastor that delivered the bowls in September 2002) were here last weekend from Oregon and Grant asked where the Black Bowls were.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? I was going to call you, but since Rod is coming, I will wait till later. – Mom Peggy and Rod returned back home to pick up Mom, Norm and Heidi. Mom asked Rod and Peggy, “Where are the BLACK BOWLS?” Both of them answered “Don’t know”! Which was true, because at that moment they didn’t know where they were sitting. Mom told them that she did not believe them!! There were 7 waiters and waitresses singing Happy Birthday when they delivered the basket of BLACK BOWLS to Mom, but by the end of the song, some of them were singing “Happy Easter”. When Mom saw the eggs in the basket, she said, “Those eggs look like something Joan would buy!” APRIL FOOLS MOM!!!! MAY 2004 Mom had written a friend of hers about the storm that blasted thru town and knocked the power out. Mom forwarded the same email to me to tell her about the news. I gasped when she got to the second paragraph. It read: “In the same complex is a party store and I was looking for some 50 or over the hill stickers. No luck. I did buy a BIG 5 and 0 candles. . This is in celebration of Joan's 50th birthday. I plan to bake two small cakes and decorate them somehow. And send the BLACK BOWLS back to her. Can't miss the opportunity to give the BLACK BOWLS back on her 50th Birthday, you know? Don't tell her!! If she asks just tell her your lips are sealed!” Rod and I howled laughing!! We started planning how to reject the package when it arrived. Then Rod and I threw in a last minute trip to Hawaii and we arranged it to arrive home the day after my Birthday. I figure that would throw Mom’s plans off good!!! Mom emailed me asking me who was taking care of FatCat while we were gone. I knew what she was after!! She was trying to figure out which neighbor to contact, so I answered her back with “A friend”! After flying home all night long, we were bone tired when we got home and on the front porch, was that package! After a 3 hour nap, I finally decided it was time to see what else was in the box besides the BLACK BOWLS. I found the following: A chocolate cake in a plastic container Black candles A BIG 5 and a BIG 0 candle A package of smaller 50 candles Black Hat with a sign “Oh NO…the BIG 50 Five-OH!!” Black balloons with “Oh NO…the BIG 50 Five-OH!!” Yellow sign stand that says “CAUTION! 50 year old having a senior moment” Over the Hill Survival Kit – Concentrated Hair Dye named “Gray B Gone”, Get up & go Dietary Fiber (a rope) Miracle Formula Pills named “Over the Hill Survival Pills”, Wrinkle soap named “Anti-Aging Over the Hill Soap”, Spare Parts which amounts to a pair of false teeth and a Miracle Formula removes Sags and Bags named “Oil of Old Age”. A sucker with a sign in the middle that says “50 Sucks” A 3 tier rubber cake that sways to the music “Happy Birthday” A card that says “It’s your 50^th birthday! We’ll sing, we’ll dance, we’ll laugh…….Well, maybe you won’t laugh, but we will!” And of course 4 BLACK BOWLS (beginning to sound a lot like the 12 days of Christmas!) The BLACK BOWLS had Happy Birthday stickers all over along with little clouds of advice. When Mom told me that Tanya (Mar 2002, Nov/Dec 2002 & Aug 2003) had sent her all the wording to put onto the clouds, I knew that Tanya would never leave the BLACK BOWLS saga!! Here is some of Tanya’s advice: 40 is the old age of Youth. 50 is the youth of old age. If you want to look young and thin, hang around with old fat people. I’m not old! I’m youthfully challenged! 29? Who do you think you are kidding????? In dog years…..I’m dead! 50??!!!!! I demand a recount!! SEPTEMBER 2004 It has been awhile since the BLACK BOWLS has added another chapter to the website. Summertime has found us busy with many projects and now it was time to get back to work in scheming up another delivery. My sister, Peggy and I were online chatting and were trying to come up with another delivery that would top off the last one. Peggy reminded me that their church was having their annual “Roundup day” on September12 to kick off the fall programs. Round up usually consists of everyone in Western attire, old fashion potluck and activities that would remind them of the old West. Last spring, Peggy had overhead someone in their church tell someone in a loud voice “I wouldn’t mind delivering the BLACK BOWLS sometime. Well, we thought it was time to grant Gary his wish. I called Gary up and he liked our idea of delivering some beans in one bowl to Mom during Roundup. Sunday morning, bright and early, he came up with a brilliant idea on how to deliver those BLACK BOWLS to my mom and contacted Peggy to supply him with a picture of Mom. One of the Western activities at the church included having your picture taken behind the bars of a jailhouse. Gary built the jailhouse for this activity and he had hung a picture with the words “WANTED” above the picture near the jailhouse bars. Since my mother was sitting at a table next to his mother, Leota, he had recruited her to bring my mother over to the jailhouse. She had just about popped Mom out of her shoes while ushering her over to the jailhouse. While he had my Mom in the jailhouse, he swapped out the WANTED picture with Mom’s picture and had the photographer take several pictures. Then he had recruited another friend, Gryphon to deliver the BLACK BOWLS on a tray to Mom outside of the jail. They handed her one bowl (minus the cowboy stickers inside the bowl) full of beans and a spoon to pose for pictures. Mom still did not have any idea that these were HER BLACK BOWLS! Afterwards, she had joined her friends and then Peggy’s husband, Norm, brought the BLACK BOWLS back over to her at her table. It finally dawned on her that those where her BLACK BOWLS and she gasped! Everyone around her died laughing!! I had received a phone message from Mom that afternoon. She said, “You did it again! You caught me off guard!!”

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