Great weekend.

I had a super weekend. I hope you did too.

Mine started out with a shopping spree for a new bathing suit...and I just said this was a good weekend, go figure.

On Friday I'd gone swimming with a gal pal and we were both complaining about our droopy bottoms...not ours of course, but the bottoms of our suits. My friend says it's the chlorine that weakens the material. Hmmm? Why then does the rest of it stay intact? I'm not sure, but I think it happens because everytime I climb out of the spa or the pool I self consciously tug the bottom of the suit to make sure my bottom is covered. You do that too, right? So my theory is, we weaken the elastic by being prudish. If we weren't so shy and just let the droopy bits show, our suits would last longer.

Anyway, I hate shopping for a bathing suit, it's right up there with paying taxes, and going to the dentist, maybe not quite as bad as public speaking, but you get my drift. I thought suit buying would take up the better part of Saturday. My friend and I walked into the store, and I immediately found three suits I liked and everyone of them fit nicely. How about that for luck? One was such a perfect fit and style and color, I was actually excited to buy it. That never happens. I threw in a coverup for good luck, and we went home, changed, and hit the pool.

Today, a neighbor comped me some tickets to our annual art fair in the park. It's a huge four day event. There were even more vendors than in years past, and some of the ceramics, and the iron and brass sculptures, were gorgeous. Of course we stopped at every jewelery stand, and there were a ton of those. There were traditional and contemporary artworks, paintings, glass blown items, beaded suncatchers, you name it it was there. I think it hit 85 degrees today, and there was not a cloud to be seen in the bright blue sky. I invited a friend, and we had a great time. We walked around for three hours. Then we sat by the the lake and ate jumbo dogs that were cooked on the open grill, and we put everything on them, even onions, and had no heartburn. : ) That's always a plus for me.

When we got home, we put our new bathing suits on again and went for a swim. No droopy bottom. That suit is marvellous. And you know what? I think it even makes me look slimmer. And remember, I'd just eaten a jumbo dog. Do you think it could be a magic suit and tomorrow I'll wake up and it will have disintegrated? It could happen, but I really, really hope not.

Bits and pieces.

It's so strange to have an overcast day in the desert; we take sunshine for granted and probably wake up to sun beaming in our windows 355 days in the year. Today it's overcast, yet warm and breezy. I went swimming this morning and actually shivered when I got out of the water. Oh, no! A shiver! : ) Most of you are still dealing with snow and rain and ice, and while I love it when it snows down here it never lasts for long. I can't imagine dealing with the white stuff for six months or more.

This has been an interesting couple of weeks. I've done a ton of reading. The latest story was Lisa See's book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I loved it. I totally enjoy learning about other cultures and this one was a historical set in China. The thing that always amazes me when I read about other cultures, especially when the fiction is about women, is how much alike we all are on that basic level of love and friendship within our gender. This was a sweet yet sad story of a lifelong friendship between two women, soul mates, or as they termed it, old sames. It dealt with everything from their differences in upbringing, to one who fell from grace to another being raised to higher levels than ever imagined, to trust, loyalty, true heart love, pride, and how we can often misconstrue a conversation or letter's intent, and lose years in feeling justified about walking away from a relationship. Ms. See tells the story through the memories of an elderly woman and the narrative voice is pure and touching. I was extremely impressed when I read the four attached pages on the author's extensive research. Definitely a must read for all females who search for the meaning of their relationships with other women.

I haven't seen any movies in the past two weeks as my movie going buddy was out of town. Next week we plan to see The Last Station, I adore Helen Mirren's work. Tomorrow night is the Academy Awards. This is the first year in decades that I can say I've seen almost every movie nominated. It will be interesting to see how my personal critiques hold up. I know who I would give best actor, best actress, and best film awards to, but know they won't get them. ; )

Off to write a new chapter of the book. No more procrastinating allowed.