Saturday Night's All Right For Writin'

I awoke to rain; not a good thing, since today is Farm Market Day and I wanted to get an early start so I could make it to the market and the bank before volunteering. Thankfully, the rain ended around 8:30-9AM, with enough time for me to get to both places and only be a little late. I dressed in the usual shorts, sneakers, and a blouse and headed out...only to head back in five seconds later for a sweater, because sometime between midnight and 9AM, it got COLD outside!

By the time I made it to the farm market, the sky was a brilliant blue, the clouds were reduced to a few fleecy bits, and the air was warm but not deadly-hot like last week, with a hint of spicy, woodburning fall. It was the perfect backdrop for the farm market, which, despite the earlier storm, was packed. The blackberries were gone, but I saw the first pumpkins and squash of the season, and spinach was back. I eventually bought peaches, the new Gingergold apples (they look light lighter versions of Golden Delicious), a bag of baby spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, and celery.

When I made it to the thrift shop today, it was not only busy, but full. We've had huge donations of everything under the sun over the past few months. I spent most of the morning putting sweaters on the right hangers (the tube ones wreck their shape). I went through a bag of the most adorable baby clothes in the afternoon. There were lots of frilly little girl dresses, pastel pants, and cat or pony-embroidered corduroy overalls. Most of the clothes seemed like they came from the 80s. Some of the pants and dresses were really, really stretched out or stiff, like they'd been put away for a very long time. I recognized the style of the dresses as the same ruffly, high-necked frocks that were popular during my early childhood. There was some Care Bear shirts in there, and they looked like the originals. (Shame they were all in lousy shape...)

My best finds today were two baskets full of Beanie Babies of all shapes, sizes, colors, and animal breeds. Diane said some lady brought them in when she couldn't give them away to local hospitals (too many germs) or to an eBay trader (too many on the market). I bought three bears (two realistic and a St Patrick-themed one for my spring displays), a realistic-looking rabbit for my living room display, and two as presents for friends.

I also picked up three records (Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska and Born In The U.S.A and a slinky 60s jazz album, Satin Affair), a bunch of children's books for my little nephew and cousin, and one of those 80s girl's dresses for Carrie, my Cabbage Patch Doll. It's really too big for her, but the elastic on the collar and cuffs is gone and it just would have ended up in the Salvation Army bag.

I wanted to start cleaning when I got home, but by the time I finally got in, I was bushed. I've been working hard and on the go for over three weeks, something that's great but I'm not used to anymore. The most I did this evening was talk to my mother. She's also tired, but otherwise fine. She's been clearing out the old house and working on painting the new one all week, and the new house was darn hot with all the windows taped against the paint and no air conditioning.

She did send up some pictures and my field hockey jacket with my sister Rose. I tried to get a hold of her tonight but got her cell phone. It's Saturday; she's more than likely at work. I'll try again tomorrow or Monday.

Lauren and I have been working on a series of short stories for the role play. They're intended to fill in gaps in the timeline between main stories...and because we enjoy writing them. We just finished one tonight; look for two sometime early this week!