Sunday, April 10, 2011

Once Upon A Boring Week-end

So I had no particular plans this week-end, except to make a four hour round trip to a monthly writer's workshop I've been attending for thirty years. It is run by an 84 year old science fiction and mystery writer. Her latest novel just came out and she's working on the next one.

Guess who I want to be when I'm 84!!!

But first, I woke up to sunshine.

No big deal, you say? Hah! That means you haven't spent the wettest month in two decades in the Pacific Northwest. It's not that we, who live here, don't know to expect rain. Just NOT the amount of rain we've had, and NOT every dang day of March!

So, it's looking like a good day from the moment I get up on Saturday. Then, on my way out of town, I see that one of the cities I will be passing through is having a used book sale to support their local library.

But I'm late getting on the road, and I arrive at the book sale during it's final hour.

Sounds bad, you say? Again, Hah! It turns out that since they still have a lot of books left and don't feel like hauling them all away, we latecomers can have the books for $2 for whatever we can put in a very large shopping bag.

I come away with a load of paperback mysteries, a bunch of CD's including a number of Christmas Albums that I'm always too cheap to buy during the holidays, some young adult books for my grandkids, two lovely garden books that I'll read even if I'll probably never plant a garden, and a bunch of maps I intend to use to paper my laundry room. Not bad for two bucks!

Then I arrive at my writer's group to find that one of the participants has landed a book deal, and insists on taking us all out to dinner on his dime. Which means I can hang onto the money I intended to spend for dinner.

On Sunday, a friend invites me to the local art museum, which is having a "bring a guest for free" day for its members.

She and I go out to dinner at a fast food restaurant that is famous for its use of locally-sourced products and its rotating meals that tend to correspond to what is in season. I've known for years that they have the best fresh strawberry milkshakes in the world--well, at least in my part of the world. But one can get them only for a month or so, twice a year. Luckily for me, April is one of those months.

So, while nothing truly special happened this week-end, I had good times with good friends, ate good food, and saved some money.

Pretty darn good, I'd say!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds like a pretty awesome weekend to me!

Roberta Warshaw said...

Sounds like a lovely weekend. We finally had nice weather here in Boston. We saw a fantastic Chihuly exhibit and I went for a bike ride.
Glad winter is O-V-E-R.

Grace. said...

Ah, Roberta--I'm envious. I love Chihuly. There's a glass museum in Tacoma that I'd really like to see someday--they have a lot of his work.

As for winter being over--I don't know. There WAS precipitation again today!

Maureen said...

Summer is over for us, and after the weather that we have had to contend with, a dry spell is exactly what we need right now.

Sounds like you had the ideal weekend.

Bob Lowry said...

Perfect weekend. You let it come to you instead of forcing it into your schedule. I need to do more of that. By the time my weekend schedule and list is done I can't wait for Monday so I can relax.

Anonymous said...

Grace:

Just so you dont think I am a dingbat, I resent your book out on Saturday. Apparently guessing at the postage wasnt my best idea. Anyway you should have it by Friday they said.

So so so sorry....

Judy

Grace. said...

Judy--no problem. It was nice finally winning a prize.

LC said...

I would say that is a spectacular weekend!

Sharon said...

sounds awesome to me, Grace!

PiggyBankBlues said...

nice weekend, time well spent!

Deb said...

Yes, Saturday was HEAVENLY in the PNW! Your weekend sounds wonderful, Grace.

I was out in the yard whipping my neglected, soggy flowerbeds into shape. Lounged outside with my cousin/roomie and our dogs, reading and chatting. Lots of neighbors strolled by with their dogs and stopped to visit.

I am so completely envious of your library book sale score, good job!

Cost $43 for 3/4 of a tank worth of gas for my little 4 cylinder Nissan truck. And it's just gonna get worse.

Burgerville = nirvana.