I'd like a chopped liver sandwich please

There have been a lot of things I've done wrong as a mom, but one thing I'm particularly proud of is my diligence in recording the funny, cute, or especially dear things my kids have said.

I only wish I had started a notebook for Jim. He has on more than one occasion referred to my capris as "koom quats" -- which I can only assume is a derivation of culottes (remember those?) that took a tragic turn into the produce category.

He was telling me the other day about something he'd heard on the radio. It seems some lady was grieving not being able to have more children, even though she already had two or three. He thought that must be hurtful for her other children, to feel they were somehow not enough. He said if his mom had ever done that to him and his sisters, he would think, "what are we, sliced bread?!"

I would be delighted to sign autographs

So I was talking with my daughter in law the other day about our brushes with greatness. It all started with Linda's post about getting an e-mail from Clinton Kelly.

I'm thinking it's just a matter of time before my phone starts ringing off the hook with book deals and talk show spots, once word gets out that I have left comments on a blog that Clinton Kelly has read! That kind of exposure doesn't happen every day, you know.

"Page 73 - Johnson, Navin R.! I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that makes people. I'm in print! Things are going to start happening to me now. " ( for five bonus points, name that movie.)

I'm probably due for some recognition. It's been several years since I've had a celebrity encounter. The last one was when Sinbad did a stand-up show here in town. We were able to go back stage and visit with him, since I had known him as David Adkins when he was playing college basketball. My uncle was his coach.

My most memorable VIP meeting took place on my due date with my first baby. I had another uncle who worked as an assistant director on the movie "Inside the Third Reich." They were filming a scene at the bahnhof (train station) in Wiesbaden, Germany, where Jim and I were stationed.

We weren't actually stationed at the bahnhof. We were stationed in Germany. Where the station was stationed. Never mind.

Uncle John thought Jim would make a good German Nazi extra, and he arranged for him to have a bit part. So there I was hugely pregnant, getting to meet Blythe Danner, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Collins, and John Gielgud. Blythe Danner touched my tummy and said it was going to be a girl (she was right!). We chatted a little bit about babies. It was thrilling.

So Corie and Gwyneth Paltrow were this close to being childhood playmates.

Unfortunately Jim's part of the movie ended up on the cutting room floor. I TOLD him not to pick his nose on camera. But we have some good still shots of him in uniform, carrying Rutger Hauer's briefcase and opening the Mercedes door for him.

Also while we were in Germany I saw Telly Sevalas walking down the street one day. Uncle John had also worked on "Kelly's Heroes" so I was sure that when I told Telly whose niece I was, we'd have instant rapport. He said (I'll always remember these exact words) "Give him my best."

It was in Germany, too, that we were at a military ball one night and I stepped on Norman Schwarzkopf's foot. Such grace and charm. It's a wonder that incident didn't propel Jim further in his military career.

And then there was the time maybe 16 years ago that Mr. Rogers came to our airport-- back when Jim was an air traffic controller. I took my boys to see him and he shook their hands and asked them (and I am not making this up, I swear) "Are you my neighbors?"

Aside from the dream I had that Amy Grant and I were best friends, I think that's about it.

My stories would have had a greater impact on Cerissa, but she wasn't sure who some of these people were. That didn't make me feel ancient at all, by the way.

What about you? What are your close encounters of the celebrity kind?