By JEANNE BRAGG

I have a friend who is involved in a lot of stuff. She does a lot for her children and with her children’s school, volunteers freely of her time and stays quite busy.

She has her photo in the paper a lot. She hosts parties and gives philanthropically, and it is a delight to be asked to her beautiful home.

She went to a ladies luncheon recently where as a party favor the hostesses gave recipes for the dishes that were served. The cookies for dessert were great, and she thought they would make a great gift for her children’s teachers.

I don’t think I mentioned she doesn’t cook.

So when she went to the baking aisle at Kroger’s, she couldn’t find one of the ingredients on the recipe that she needed. So she asked a store clerk to help her to find “T.B.S” milk. He said, ”Lady, we have powdered milk, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, ... I just don’t think we have TBS milk.”

Disappointed, she said she started to get “smart” with him, biting her tongue before saying, “Ill bet Publix has T.B.S. milk,” but fortunately she kept her mouth.

A phone call to her first “phone a friend” saved her the embarrassment. When the friend looked at the recipe list she said: “That means four Tablespoons.” A call to the second friend confirmed the abbreviation.

But boy, did we all get a great laugh for the night when she told us that story. (FYI, her first and last initials are the same).

Some random thoughts:

I chanced into a darling store this week ... Five Little Monkeys on Memorial (near Clark, same side as BP Station, across the street from Wendy’s).

Ohmygosh, they have the cutest stuff. Beautiful beds for babies and children, bedding in many price ranges for all ages. Owner Jill Smith said they have had a wonderful welcome from the community. She said they were low on stock when I was there, but you could have fooled me. I loved everything I saw.

They cater primarily to babies and children and had a trunk showing of a children’s clothing line last weekend. But Jill did say they are thinking of carrying a line of custom made sofas and kitchen tables. Have you ever tried to find a kitchen table? Sounds like a great idea.

My daughter Anne who lives in New York City told me about a Lucky magazine article that highlighted shopping in Nashville and made reference to Grand Palace, a shop on North Church Street in Murfreesboro. Investigation indicates it is a record shop just North of Bluesboro on the Square, just over the former Palace Barber Shop. It sells used records. I went by there today but it didn’t open until noon.

It’s a shame that they didn’t also highlight our cute boutiques like Funtitques, Sugarees and Anastasia’s. Driving around the Square today, it was dark and grim, but these store windows were so colorful and inviting.

I spent over an hour last night (no joke) a la Mr. Pirtle trying to navigate through a Web site. Mike was trying to solve billing issues with AT & T. I was merely trying to order some stamps with my daughter’s photo on it for her birthday. Tommy had tried without success on his PC so asked me to try it on my Mac. Well, 1 hour later, my fait was accompli’d, but not totally to my satisfaction. I couldn’t get them mailed to HER shipping address instead of mine. I had a gift certificate, so I was compelled to complete the task instead of just give up, but as useful as they are, those Web sites are frustrating.

I could literally spend all day tied to this computer, jumping from website to another for the fun stuff.

If you’re inclined toward art, google Duane Keiser, click on A Painting A Day and watch him paint a Tart.

Think you want to knit? Go to www.theknaughtyknitter.com and see if you like what you see in their shop right here in the ‘Boro.

I’m still trying to learn how to play Spider Solitaire ... then I’ll never leave this chair.

How in today’s day and time can anyone get bored? Beats me.

Try to stay warm ... ‘til next week.

Here’s the recipe for those yummy
Swedish Almond Thumbprint Cookies
2 sticks butter, softened
2 1/2 C all purpose flour
4 TBS sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix well and roll into tiny balls. Place on greased cookie sheet/ Make indentation in center with thumb. Bake at 350 degrees 8 minutes.
Icing:
1/4 C soft butter
1 tsp almond flavoring
2 TBS milk
1/2 to 1 C powdered sugar