Rainy yard sales.

This weekend was our community-wide yard sale..... and wouldn't you know it-- the rain has been falling since late last night. Thunder and lightning around three o'clock this morning, which had Mickey Kitty running around the living room and scattering cat toys from one end to the other. Amazing how loud that tiny cat can mrrrrrr-ooooooowwwww when he gets scared. Needless to say, we were wide awake and up for a while during the worst of the storm.

By dawn, the rain had simmered down to a little drizzle, so I went out to the yard sales. Not too many households taking advantage of the community sale day, but those that did had all their stuff on tables in their garages instead of in their driveways. Only the die-hard yard-salers were out and about in the drizzle, and I saw my friend B and her niece K on a couple of the streets. B is the Yard Sale Queen, in my opinion. She can find great things at just about any sale, and she sells her treasures at huge country markets and on eBay.

I drove up and down all the streets of our subdivision, and spent less than two dollars. I found two nice books-- one of which is very hard to find, and I had been looking for a copy of it to give to one of our friends. That's about the only thing I really look for these days at the yard sales-- books. I find other neat things from time to time, but books are the main focus for me at the sales.


My husband and I have been watching travel videos, in preparation for our summer trip to Germany. Beautiful landscapes, immaculately clean villages, castles and cathedrals wherever you look..... it should be a very interesting trip. We watched a video this morning on travel tips-- like packing light. I am determined to take just one carry-on suitcase, plus my purse, and if I follow the clothing suggestions on that video, everything should fit in that case.

Dressing in layers in the way to go, which I had already planned on. One pair of jeans, one pair of black slacks for evening dinners, and one pair of capris. Tops that go with all of those, plus one sweater, one short jacket to dress up the slacks or the jeans. It all sounds so easy, and it is, really. I just have to set my mind to not packing all of my favorite things. And we'll be in lots of different towns and villages during the trip--- so who will care if I wear the same thing more than once, twice, or even three times.

The biggest problem is going to be my hair. I have a tiny fold-up blow dryer that's as light as a feather. Years ago, I bought a package of International plugs, which are supposed to work wherever you go, as long as you use the correct plug. We went to Australia in 1993, and I packed a small blow dryer and the plug that was meant to be used in Australia. Well, I was lucky that I didn't electrocute myself the very first morning there--- not only did the plug not work in their outlet, but it blew out the dryer and turned part of the nail polish on my thumb from "Sweet Mauve" to "Coal Black." I spent the rest of that trip with wavy hair, unless we stayed in a hotel that had their own blow dryers in the bathrooms.

So this time, I'm bringing the blow dryer and the plug, with hopes for the best. But-- I'm already practicing alternative styles with my hair. Instead of blow drying my hair smooth and nearly straight, I'm letting it dry naturally, which gives me a wind-blown wavy look. Actually, I have to say that it looks rather nice. Takes less time than blow-drying it straight, and I know it's better for my hair. It will take a while for my husband to get used to this new look, however. Right about now, he thinks I look a bit "wild." And is that such a bad thing?