Phenomenal Penny, Model Maddie, Angel Andie

My friend Penny is a Jill-of-all-trades. She's a sensationally talented artist. But that's not all she can do. She can fix, build, create, perform, sing (I have yet to verify that, but I know she sang in her church choir and since she can do everything else, I think I can reasonably assume...), design, imagine, or do...just about anything! When I first met her I was astonished at every new thing I saw her doing. You did that?! By yourself? You painted that? You fixed that? You built that? You cut his hair? You sewed that? You cooked that? You thought of that? By yourself?! But now I just shake my head and know it's just Penny. She can do anything.

I am so lucky to be her friend. And not just because she is my personal consultant on...well, everything. And not just because she paints things for me, and I'm not talking about walls--oh wait, she did help me paint Collin's room--but I'm talking about FINE ART. One day she brought over a gorgeous painting that she's done a whole series of--that I LOVE. "Can I hang this at your house? I don't have a place for it and I know Bob likes it and it will look really good in your entry. Do you mind?" "Yeah, no. I don't mind."

!!!!!



One day she did a little "performance" for a Young Women activity. I can not do it justice here. She did THE cutest mime routine where she tried to paint a painting. It was cute, funny, imaginative. There was some Charlie Chaplin style music playing in the background. She had a volunteer come up from the audience, who just "happened" to be my Maddie. She had a blank canvas on an easel and an imaginary palette in one hand and a brush in the other and had every kind of hilarious problem trying to paint a "portrait" of Maddie. I thought she must have seen the routine on TV or something, but later found out she came up with the whole thing out of thin air! Anyway, finally she takes the rag out of the back pocket of her overalls and wipes the whole thing down in mock exasperation. Then she turns the easel around and:
Yes, I burst into tears. How did you know?

I LOVE that Maddie has this hanging on her wall in her bedroom and can see every day just how beautiful she is. What a priceless gift from my dear friend.

Then, this year a few days before Christmas Penny and her family came over. We love the Bohns and were excited to have them drop by. After all of the hugs and Hi Y'alls, Penny handed me a wrapped present. I opened it up to find this:


I KNOW!!

She painted my Andie into a fairy! What do you say to that? I'm sure I stumbled over my thanks; I was quite overwhelmed. I really didn't feel like I had adequate words for the situation. Some tears, yes, but a definite lack of words. "Thanks, Penny!" "You're amazing!" "It's beautiful!" Lame. Lame. And lame. I love words and everything, but sometimes words are just frustratingly insufficient.

In addition to all of those talents, she is a funny, spiritual, kind, and courageous woman, a doting and dedicated mother, and a patient and loving wife.

Now she has her in-laws staying over for TWO WEEKS! If she can make it through that with her sanity intact, then I'll know for sure.

There is NOTHING Penny can't do.