Back home

Well I did NYC and Tennessee and am back home.


There is a lot in my mind I want to share and I don't know where to begin. 


Maybe I should do a series of short posts on specific subjects to share my thoughts. 


That is what this blog is to me, a place to unload the things that are occupying my mental space but may not be highly interesting to the general public - you know those people who don't wake up in the middle of the night trying to decide if that sleeve should really get ripped out and put in again, or if remembering to keep my arm at my side when I wear it will be enough. (Decided I can't always carry a purse or wear a newspaper under my arm - so have gotten up at 3:00 a.m. and just ripped it out so I would have no choice in the morning.)


OK


So let's start with packing.


I was very successful packing lighter than usual. For once I didn't have to pay any extra for weight and have them put those "Heavy" tags on my suitcase. I had room to spare and could bring my fabric purchases back no problem in the one same case.


I achieved this by:


1. Forgetting to pack my pajamas. A friend of mine who was once evacuated in a hotel fire alarm told me to always travel with good pjs - he said you wouldn't believe what some people wear to bed. Mr. Walmart took care of this on the way back from the airport.


2. Not bringing a rain coat or rain hat (another friend told me a rain hat is a more practical accessory than an umbrella, leaves your hands free, and she travels around the world but I forgot this advice. Also I actually don't own a rain hat and my black collapsable umbrella got taken home by mistake by the undertaker at my father-in-law's funeral because they thought it was theirs, but that's another story).


Of course it rained immediately and for two days as soon as I got to New York but one of the things you learn about the place is that once the first raindrop falls every little shop immediately sets out baskets of umbrellas for sale on the sidewalk. Not many tricks missed in that place.

3. I thought about only one venue when I packed. In the interests of smart packing I packed only one theme - black and grey and my Nova Scotian idea of what to wear in the big city.


Of course as soon as I got to Tennessee my husband's work had a team building thing to which I was invited that involved beer and bowling. 


What you think you should wear to a bar in Manhattan and what you should wear in the next alley to a guy named Ace who is bowling 739 are different. 


You can trust me on this.


More later.