Important Life Skills for the Fledgling Male

Yesterday, Laura and I went to Minot to visit Caleb. It was the only vacation day of Easter break for her, which she didn't really want to spend in the car driving 5 hours, but toughsies for her! Tiggy also went, after an afternoon and evening the day before of helping me, giving me foot rubs, singing to me, and proclaiming her great affection for me. I began to suspect that her sentiments weren't completely heart-felt or genuine and that she was just trying to convince me to take her.

The only reason her little scheme worked was because I wanted to get some nice pictures of the family. We hadn't had any of all of us together since last June when Laura graduated from 8th grade. It was about time, but who would take the pictures? I'm very picky about my photos and make my unfortunate volunteer photographers suffer through lots of do-overs. I couldn't exactly do that to an obliging stranger, so Tiggy got her wish.

Sadly, it was a rainy day by the time we got there. No pictures outside, which meant that the light was going to be a little scarce and the camera would have to do a longer exposure, making the picture more susceptible to blurring. I managed to hold the camera still enough in my pictures, but the only ones Tiggy got in focus of the whole group were ones with someone's eyes shut, or my mouth open giving instructions. Grrrrrrrr. Still, they turned out OK, and I was glad to get nice pictures of the family, at least all of the family that's still here.





After we took the pictures, we left for an afternoon on the town. We cruised the main drag in Minot for a few minutes, looking for any fun looking shops, especially thrift stores. We found one, but--horror of horrors--it was closed for Good Friday. Our day was saved from complete defeat when we spotted a Goodwill down the road and it was open.

So as a special treat for Caleb on his visit day, he got to haul my new chair ($2.99 because of stains, but easy to reupholster!) up and down the aisles while I pulled clothes off the rack to try on, then he got to carry the clothes I ended up keeping. Since it was a visit, he was on his best behavior and had to act like he actually liked it. It was an excellent opportunity for him to practice for married life. I'm sure he will thank me properly later!

One nice thing about living out in the middle of nowhere is that people get so many of their clothes by mail order. That improved variety trickles down to the thrift stores and you can get much fancier stuff there than you'd be able to pick up back where we lived in California. (Love the thrift store in Jackson, but everyone there shopped at Walmart and everyone had the same clothes to donate)The girls and I each got a really cute dress, plus I got a whole bunch of tank tops to wear under all my shirts that are too low-cut. (It seems like that is the only kind of shirt they make these days!) Caleb didn't get anything because he already has more clothes than he knows what to do with. Of course, so does Laura, but not in the Sabbath dress category.

After that, we took the obligatory trip to Taco Bell, which was so short-staffed they had the door locked and everyone had to go through the drive-through. A small price to pay for such a delectable culinary treat! Next was a quick trip to the grocery store and gas station, then back to Caleb's school. We dropped him off and headed into the setting sun for the long, interminable, unending, monotonous, lengthy trip back home. All in all, it was a very nice day. I just really, REALLY think that Montana/North Dakota is a wide-open market for teleportation.

This picture was taken by my very own sister WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE as I tried to keep my dress from flying to my waist....again.

But it's kind of cute.

But don't tell her I said it...