Joie de vivre

1) Panera Bread has the best mango smoothies in the whole wide world.

2) I have this to say about the skirt selections I encountered today: why do clothing designers assume that women my size only want to wear micro-minis? Some of us have taste.

3) I obeyed the signs in the middle of the shopping center and did not harrass the geese. I would, however, like to speak to the geese politely on the subject of finding better places to make their nests and produce offspring.

4) I realize now that I don't like to shop in the way that normal girls like to shop. Or at least the way girls are stereotyped as liking to shop. I enjoy it when there's a point, but there's only so much browsing I can take before I'm ready to move on.

5) However, I bought a Steve Madden belt for $7.00. The orginal price was $38.00.

6) And then I spent all the money I saved on a pair of rocking awesome shoes. They hint at steampunk and go perfectly with the 1950s styling of the bridesmaid dress and they make me feel almost tall and very glam.

7) I do not appreciate overly chatty males working in the ladies shoe department.

I never thought I'd be the kind of girl who wore heels six days out of seven. I love it; it changes your posture and the way you walk. And all my slacks are suddenly the correct length after all.

Speaking of which, I need some new black slingbacks.

I have wonderful plans for Saturday, which I'm sure I'll expound on later. Nevermind that it means I'll have no real time at home this week: oh well! Who cares! The benefits of having a (more) organized life is that it doesn't matter quite as much. I seem to be coping, amazingly.

I also feel far more healthy than I used to. I took a jog this morning that made my legs feel like jelly and I liked it. I never thought to enjoy it, just as I never thought I'd feel uncomfortable going to bed until I'd neatly put away the day's junk and made the room neat and tidy.

Never believe the people that tell you that your character is fully formed by age 21. It's not true. The past six months have seen a number of changes in me that I never thought would happen.

It is a hot, hot day, with a heat index of 107. This morning I was dressed in a long formal skirt and heels and was about to do my hair when my dad asked if I would go to Wal-Mart and buy a 50 pound bag of dog food.

I decided that today was not such a good day for formal wear and changed into comfy slacks, a button down shirt, and plain old unadorned hair.

And I went to Wal-Mart for 50 pounds of dog food and walked out with a CD/alarm/AM-FM radio and a pair of cute (on sale) shoes.

It's still hot, though.

Last night I was bold enough to don a pair of black, ankle high zip-up boots with four inch heels, which I Would Never Have Bought Myself, Honest, and went to a concert. Probably everyone will laugh when I say that hearing good, real bluegrass music live in a crowded church is almost a religious experience. I went to see the Franz Family. It was an experience only topped by seeing Doyal Lawson and Quicksilver in the same circumstances--they are The Best, trumpped only occasionally by Red Wine, who sometimes win out just because they're Italian.

The father was slightly too jovial and fake-hickish (since when is being from Arkansas something to exploit? And they're orginally from Nebraska, so that doesn't even count!) But the mother was an EmmyLou Harris lookalike, and the children incredibly talented. The oldest is only 22, and plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, and violin, with a fine tenor voice to boot. The 20 year old with the strange name of Hadley plays whatever his older brother isn't at the moment. Audra, who is my age, plays mandolin wonderfully, writes songs, and then sings them in her beautiful, soulful, almost Alicia Keys-type voice. And she can hold a note longer then anyone I've heard except Michael Crawford, but while his are merely painful to hear, her's are beautiful. The Beatles-haired 17 year old plays dobro better then a lot of adults I've heard. As a trivia fact, he also has metal plates and screws in his leg and jaw, which is why he rattles when he walks. So they say. (And thus was born my favorite song that they sang: "Blessed Is The Man That Does Not Hurt Himself While Sledding." Olivia is the youngest, 15, and sings while looking older then her oldest brother.

As always after an experience like this, I get the Longing to go Do Something Like That. Not that I'd particularly enjoy spending 200 days out of the year on the road. But I know the joy and exhilaration of being on a stage doing something you love, and being good at it. And it's adictive. So maybe it's a good thing I wasn't born into such a family. I'd probably turn into a insufferable brat.

My second poll:
[Poll #247842]