Tess's Tidbits: Jenna's Arrival

Hello to all of our wonderful readers out there!  We're so sorry for taking such a long hiatus from regular "real" posts (aside from the occasional "yes, we're still here" posts!). ;)  These last couple of months have made blogging quite difficult.  Mama's been super busy, and as a result, we've been limited as to what we can do with the blog (it's rather hard to post in a roomful of guests during a birthday party, for example). :}

Not much has happened while we've been gone.  Honestly, Mama hasn't had much time for us, so we've been on our own for the most part.  The only major news was that Charlie had a very successful eye surgery, care of Dr. Jodybo on AGPT, but I think Maggie already mentioned that in an earlier post.

The only other exciting thing happened on Tuesday.  Mama and the others had been gone for most of the day, visiting some of Papa's out of town relatives.  It was a really late night, but once Mama got her daughters in bed, she agreed to let us come out to the living room for a while.  We were all going crazy staying in our rooms for so long.

The evening was dark and rainy, but it was nice and warm in the living room.  Maggie and Rachel settled themselves on the love seat and continued a conversation they'd been having since Monday, when Mama and Papa had gone to see "The Hunger Games".  Rachel and Maggie are dying to see it, but Mama is trying to decide if she wants them to, since it's pretty emotionally intense and a rather violent movie.  Personally, I don't see what the draw is, but as you all know, I much prefer romantic period dramas to any other type of movie. :)  Anyway, Maggie and Rachel have been trying to figure out a way to convince Mama that they are ready to see it.  I think even Charlie is interested.  The rest of us aren't tempted. ;)

Speaking of Charlie, she and Hayden were at the movie shelf, with my little sister Hailey tagging along with them.  It was their turn to pick out something to watch...which meant we would either be watching a Disney Princess movie or a Disney Pixar movie. ;)  Charlie, of course, was accompanied by her shadow, the ever faithful Rontu. :)

Emma and I went straight to the computer to plan our next blog post.  Well, at least that was what we were supposed to be doing.  Emma got a bit sidetracked by Mama's latest "real" post.

"Have you heard these songs Mama picked?  They're just perfect!  Funny how she and I have a lot of the same favorites.  I hope Piper saw this post...there's a lot of Shahid on here...Oh, you've GOT to listen to this one!"  She clicked on the first link.  "Aaya Re is so cute.  I mean, I'm a Shahrukh fan myself, but this one's still really fun..."

She finally paused to take a break.

I had to smile.  Emma always talked nonstop when she was excited.

Maggie was not so amused.  "Oh, for the love of Pete!" she groaned, popping her head over the side of the love seat.  "PLEASE tell me you're not going to subject us to another Bollywood song!"

Rachel laughed softly.  "They're not really that bad, Maggie."

Maggie turned on her.  "What?!" she sputtered.  "Not you too...my one ally in this house of extreme girliness!"

Rachel shrugged sheepishly.

Maggie held her head in her hands and shook her head in mock despair.  "How many times do I have to tell you guys that it's beyond disturbing when people spontaneously break into song and dance?"

Emma nonchalantly turned up the volume on her video.

"You didn't seem to mind the music from the Lord of the Rings Musical," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but it might have been weird if I actually saw the play and saw the songs in context," Maggie explained.  "I just liked the songs because they fit the story so well."

"These songs fit the story too!" Emma insisted.  "They express how the characters are feeling.  I mean, just listen to this one!"

She cranked the volume up even higher, and soon the strains of "Aaya Re" filled the living room.

Maggie groaned again and covered her ears.  She looked over at the computer screen and scrunched up her eyebrows.  She leaned over to Rachel.  "I don't care what feelings they're expressing...I still don't understand why in so many of these videos they're suddenly in some random field or something."

Rachel giggled, but Emma was oblivious to Maggie's comments.  She was completely absorbed in the music.

Suddenly, Mama rushed into the room.  "What on earth is going on in here?" she asked sternly.  "The deal was that you could be out here if you were quiet!  I don't want the girls waking up and discovering you."

Maggie put her hands up in the air.  "Hey, don't look at me!  It was all Miss Bollywood Princess over there!"

Emma sheepishly turned the volume back down.  "Sorry, Mama," she said, obviously embarrassed.  "I just got so into the music that I wasn't thinking."

Mama's face softened.  "Look, I understand completely, Emma.  I just need all of you to be a little bit quieter out here."

We all nodded solemnly.  I wondered if our movie night wouldn't happen after all.  It was really hard to watch a movie at almost zero volume.

"While I'm out here," Mama continued, "I've been meaning to introduce you gals to someone."

We all waited, wondering who (Or perhaps whom?  I never can tell which of those I'm supposed to use!) Mama wanted us to meet.

Mama turned to face the hallway.  "It's okay, you can come on out," she said reassuringly.

Slowly, a head of light brown curls appeared from around the corner.  The doll had a sweet face and pretty hazel green eyes.  Her clothes were very trendy compared to what the rest of us wore.  She eyed us a bit nervously, but there also seemed to be a sense of excitement that surrounded her.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Jenna Rose."  Mama paused, eyeing Rachel carefully.  "I've done some research and discovered that she's Rachel's little sister."

Rachel looked shocked, but it was a happy kind of shock.  She and Jenna exchanged a glance from across the room.  There seemed to be an instant connection between them.  Of course, Rachel is so shy...like me...that I knew it might take a while to break the ice.  

"I'll leave you girls to get acquainted," Mama said, lifting Jenna up and carefully placing her on the love seat next to Rachel and Maggie.

Everything else was forgotten as we all focused on our newest "family" member.   Emma, Hayden, Charlie, Hailey and I all climbed up to join the others.  Rontu settled himself comfortably in Charlie's lap.

There was an awkward silence for a while as we all tried to think of something to say.  Charlie was the one who finally spoke up.

"Are you really from New York?" she asked in wonder.  For us, it might as well have been a different country.  It was so far away!

Jenna nodded, and her eyes lit up.  "Yes...I just love it there!  The hustle and bustle of the city, the plays and coffee shops, the city lights at night...it's just wonderful!"

It was Hayden's turn to jump in.  "Did you see any Broadway plays while you were there?"

"I saw Mary Poppins, Wicked, and The Phantom of the Opera."

"Wow!" Emma exclaimed.  "Piper would love to hear all about that!  She loves musicals."

"We get a few plays locally, but nothing like in New York," Hayden said.  "Mama has seen Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and The Scarlet Pimpernel in Southern California.  That was before our time, though."

"I've always wanted to see The Scarlet Pimpernel and Beauty and the Beast!" Jenna said wistfully.  "They weren't playing in New York when I was there."

"So, I hate to move on from this thrilling subject," Maggie interjected sarcastically, "but what else are you interested in?"

"Well, I enjoy singing and acting.  Um, I love clothes and costumes, too.  I really like trying different clothing styles and coming up with what works best for me.  Shoes are a passion of mine, too...although I only have one pair that Mama has provided for me for the moment."

Maggie snorted.  "Well, welcome to the life of mere ordinary mortals."

"Um, we're not really mortals, Maggie," Emma pointed out.  "We're vinyl."

Maggie gave Emma a look.  "You know what I meant," she said grouchily.

Rachel finally spoke up, partially to end the argument.  "How old are you, Jenna?"

"I'm twelve," Jenna responded, looking at her sister with a kind of wistful awe that I found very sweet.

"So you're two years younger than me," Rachel mused.

"And you're just my age!" Hayden blurted out excitedly.

"Mine too," I added quietly.  

"Do you collect anything?" Hailey asked.

I smiled at this question.  We all had a collection of some kind, but Hailey and Charlie had the most focused collections.  The rest of us all collected a variety of different items.

Jenna straightened the hem of her shirt (or perhaps it was a skirt...it was at that length where it could be either).  "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a collection, but I do love carousel horses, and I have four miniature ones.  I also love Sanrio stuff.  Chococat and My Melody are my favorites.  I have a stuffed animal of each of them."

I could see that everyone was getting excited, knowing that she would fit right in.  Emma, no doubt, was thinking of Piper's love for Chococat, and Hailey, I'm sure, was thrilled to have another Sanrio fan in the house.  Jenna's love of carousel horses would fit right in with Hayden's love of regular horses, and since Hayden loved using her imagination and pretending so much, she would most likely enjoy acting things out with Jenna sometime, or maybe even dressing up.  As for myself, I was dreaming up new "Tea with Tess" ideas involving our new guest.

Our movie night was long forgotten as we all continued visiting.  Before we knew it, the time had flown by and the early morning hours were approaching quickly.  We all tiptoed back to our rooms together.  Maggie and Rachel offered Jenna a place to stay in their room since she didn't have a room of her own yet (I think it might have been a bit of a reluctant offer on Maggie's part!).

When I got to my room, I sat on my bed and thought over the dynamics of our little group.  There were eight of us now.  Two 14 year olds, one 13 year old, three 12 year olds, one 11 year old, and one 10 year old.  (Although, really, I suppose our ages don't really mean much.  In doll years we're in our 20s or 30s!).  We'd all gotten comfortable with one another, so this new addition to our group would more than likely make for a few changes.

It's funny...lately I've been spending more time with Hayden and Emma than with Maggie.  Please don't misunderstand me:  Maggie and I are still great friends...best friends, even, and we're always able to pick up right where we left off whenever we visit with each other.  But more and more, our different interests are taking us in different directions.  Mama says that happens in life sometimes.  Maggie and Rachel have so many common interests, plus they share a room, so they're often like two peas in a pod.  Emma and I have really gotten closer in the year and (almost!) a half that she's been here.  Hayden's really sweet, too.  Charlie and Hailey are still BFFs, but sometimes Charlie likes to spend time with Maggie and Rachel, too, when the rest of us are getting "too girly". ;)  I think that's the nice thing about our group, though.  Even though we have friends that are really special to us, we're all able to spend time with the others, too.  Sometimes the "best friend" bond can be very exclusive and make others feel left out.  I never want to be that way...I want everyone to feel welcome and accepted.  I think we've done a pretty good job of pulling that off.  I hope that we'll be able to continue that as Jenna slowly integrates into our group.

There are, of course, the others who aren't really a part of our daily lives.  The two historicals and Mama's all-vinyl dolls stay on top of the shelf and don't usually interact with us.  I'm not really sure why things work out that way.  It's as if they're perfectly content to just keep to themselves, and it's too hard for us to climb up there and visit them.

Then there are the "12 inchers", as Maggie calls them, or "Belle and Company", as Emma affectionately nicknamed them.  We interact slightly more with them, but not as much as we used to.  Belle has been really wrapped up in wedding plans right now, so that doesn't help. ;)

Goodness, this has turned into a huge post!  Sorry for my rambling.  I suppose I just wanted to get everything typed out.  I haven't had the luxury of expressing myself on the blog in so long that I can't seem to stop! ;)

We'll be sure to keep you informed on Jenna's progress as she adjusts to our rather quiet Northern California life.  I'm afraid she might find our simple living rather boring after the excitement of New York.  Then again, she seems like the type of doll that will make her own excitement if she can't find it. :)  I'm really looking forward to getting to know her more.

Until next time, dear readers. :)