H-E-L-L-N-O

A Million Picnics...One of the things we did as the main entertainment in our family was go on weekend day trips using the Hondas. We scoured and traipsed through every corner of Indiana. We visited springs, dams, State parks and of course, roadside picnic areas. We often had 2 or 3 other families with us, riding their Honda Trail 90's as well. And always a picnic lunch as part of the deal!

Ordinarily I would not be posting on a Saturday, as I hope to do Monday through Friday posts and give myself a rest on the weekends, but yesterday was so full of activities I never had a moment to post anything!

For Starters, I got up at the crack of dawn and headed out on my gas-saving route to get every single thing done I wanted to do. But of course was foiled by the fact that the stores I wanted to visit did not open until 10 am! In my world, the day is half over and it's time for a NAP by 10 am!

I was able eventually, though, to hit all the thrift stores I wanted and the bank and to get to Walmart and buy castor oil for my face (going to try the oil cleansing method for a while to see if it works on this post menopausal dry skin I've got) and while I was there I was able to find the CHOCOLATE COLORED NAIL POLISH I've been wanting since I had a pedicure months ago and that was the color they picked for me.

I always let the manicurists pick the colors for me. I figure it perks up their world.

I had a blast at the thrift stores. I found some very cute tops at St. Vincent De Paul although they are very scant on linens and things they have beautiful furniture and their clothing is organized very well.

Deseret Industries is always so crowded it's a challenge to shop there. They, too, are organized to the hilt and it's like shopping at a REAL store the way they have the clothing marked and on racks by size and color, but their furniture department is NASTY. I guess those Mormons just don't get rid of furniture until it is covered in 3 layers of grime and old grape jelly. There is a chair there I particularly want but every time I go back to look at it the task of cleaning it seems too daunting so I leave without the chair.

The neighbor here at Gulag Acres flaked on me. He was giving me a loveseat from a set he had in storage. Turns out he didn't really OWN the set someone else did and they sold it this week. At least that is the story. So no loveseat for me, at least not this week.

I shopped and ran errands for HOURS and HOURS and was rather surprised that the phone never rang the entire time. I was waiting with half an ear peeled for work to call me with a fill-in assignment. When I got home later I realized WHY the phone had not been ringing: It had gotten shut off in the bottom of my purse.

Oops.

Although I missed a couple of work calls I did manage to get it turned on in time to get text messages from all and sundry including a last minute invitation to go to a First Friday Library Event with Sacramento Geeks Meet Up Group. It was a Bollywood movie showing, with snacks and a free dance lesson and HENNA TATTOOS!

I dragged out all my Indian salwar suits only to discover they shrank by 2 or 3 sizes at least since the last time I wore them, so had to make do with stretch jeans and a gauze Indian shirt with scratchy gold thread. I spent the whole night itching! But it was sooo worth it!

I love libraries! I love librarians! These ladies have come up with the most amazing programs. Next month it will be an adult spelling bee! Of course when the librarian asked me if I would be attending I faced her squarely and spelled out H-E-L-L-N-O! and she laughed and laughed.

This Bollywood event was so fun. About 30 or 40 people showed up, and almost all the ladies were decked to the nines in Indian clothing. We got there late so we missed the Indian Dancing tutorial, and also that put my name at almost the bottom of the list for the free Henna painting. I was a nervous wreck because the woman told me she was only staying until 8:30 as that was all they had paid her for.

The movie was just a riot because it was very madcap and silly. It had the obligatory opening song in less than 3 minutes into the movie, and all the loving chase scenes were in slow-mo, just as they should be. Of course it ended badly for the main character, and that's always a plus.

There were 4 or more little Indian pastry/fudge type snacks that tasted heavily of ghee and cardamom so I was in hog heaven. They even had 4 different kinds of Chai! I thought that was so cute! Big pitchers of chai marked: 1% milk, 2% milk, Soy Milk and Almond Milk. Needless to say the Almond Milk Chai flew off the proverbial shelves but the 1% stuff was still untouched by the end of the event.

At 8:25 there were still 4 people ahead of me in the henna tattoo line and they were taking their sweet time about picking their designs. I must have looked like the most crestfallen puppy when she started to pack up her things because she called me over and told me to slap my hand down on the table and she did THIS:

It goes VERY well with my new chocolate nail polish.