Wedding Dress & Sunday TV

It's a sunny Monday in March. The ice and snow which blanketed our area has been steadily melting the past few days. That's wonderful, because it means spring is coming, but it also means slop, slop, slop, everywhere. The lawn is completely covered with sticks and branches which fell during the ice storm, and were frozen to the ground. Now I'll need to wait until the lawn is dry enough to rake the sticks up. I don't remember ever needing to rake especially for sticks before! Needless to say, we'll possess a messy-looking lawn for a while yet. It's nice to live way out here in the country, where few people will see it.

My high school senior daughter and I spent all day Saturday wedding dress shopping with my older daughter who lives in Des Moines and is getting married in late summer. She met us in Ames, where we had a quick breakfast with my son. Then on we went to Storybook Bridal Shop (on Story St.) in Boone. My daughter tried on several dresses there. The predominant style these days is strapless, with embellishments being popular, like beading, rhinestones, and embroidery. She looked lovely in every dress!

Our next stop was a bridal shop in downtown Perry. Several more dresses were tried. They had an especially nice, spacious, mirrored viewing area there. My daughter, once again, looked beautiful in all the dresses she tried; I couldn't figure out how she would ever be able to choose one. By the time we finished up at this shop, we were ready for a break. Right across the street was The Elk Coffeehouse and Bistro, so we headed there. Its narrow storefront was deceiving, for inside it was a nicely restored, high-ceilinged establishment (a former Order of Elks building). Historical photos and information about the town of Perry adorned the walls. The menu listings included sandwichs and a variety of coffee drinks. There was something called a "Cow", in several varieties, so I definitely was curious to find out what that was. It was an ice cream and expresso drink, almost like a malt, and was very delicious. All three of us can now say we "had a Cow" in Perry, Iowa.

From there we travelled on to Osceola, to Hart's Bridal Shop. This little place was nothing fancy, but was crowded with shoppers. Many were there to look at prom dresses, and I could see why.....there was such an assortment of bright colors and unique styles there. My daughter had visited this shop a couple weeks ago, and had two wedding dresses picked out to try on again. We had to wait quite awhile for a fitting room, but it was worth it. Both dresses were lovely, but one of them definitely was The One, and so the wedding dress decision was finalized!

We went back to West Des Moines and shopped awhile at Target.....until my feet were so sore I couldn't stand it anymore. Then we drove around trying to choose a place to eat. We were in the Jordan Creek area of town where there are countless restaurants and little malls. My head was spinning. Finally we decided on a pizza place; its name was Mia Rosa's or something like that. They serve authentic Italian style pizza, with the thin, "blistered" crust, and your choice of toppings. It tasted excellent! By the time we finished eating, it was after 10 p.m., so we said our good-byes, and began our journey out of the Des Moines area. Wow, it seemed to take forever---- like trying to leave the Minneapolis area. Its a wonder we didn't get lost. We got home around 1 a.m.(actually 2 a.m. due to turning clocks ahead for daylight savings time). Ugh!

After chores Sunday morning I knew I was just too tired to get dressed up for church, so I stayed home. It was very peaceful and nice to have some time alone. I did end up turning on the TV and watched Wayne Dyer speak on PBS. As a Christian, I suppose I should criticize his message as being "new age" or something, but actually I thought what he had to say was wonderfully enlightening. One day last summer, when we were near the end of a stressful remodeling project, I was riding in the pickup with Husband, on the way to Menards. Somehow, we got into a nasty argument, and by the time we got to Menards, I knew I had to get away from him for a few minutes. I walked toward the middle of the store and ended up by a table of clearance books. Not all the books were on the subject of home improvement projects, and as I absentmindedly looked through the book stacks, I came upon one entitled There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, by Wayne Dyer (whom I had never heard of). Printed on the back cover was the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, "Lord, Let Me Be An Instrument of Thy Peace", upon which the book was based. As I flipped through the book, I felt it would be good for me to read, so I sneaked up to the checkouts and bought it and stuffed it in my purse. It contains many beautiful and practical thoughts for living a more peaceful, spiritual life. And on his TV special, Dr. Dyer talked about the "language of spirit" which speaks to us through nature and synchronicities. He talked about the importance of forgiveness and gratefulness and inspiration in our daily lives. I was glad I was home to hear it. Toward the end of the show, his daughter sang the song "Vincent", written about the artist Vincent Van Gogh, by the singer/songwriter Don McLean. He has always been one of my favorite singers and recently I had purchased a CD of his greatest hits. What I didn't know was that Don McLean had been inspired to write the song "Vincent" after reading a book about the life of Vincent Van Gogh. The song is beautiful and very meaningful.

Blessings to all! I must go vacuum ladybugs out of windowsills. They appear there in the spring once it warms up a little. They also like to congregate up in ceiling corners. The poor little things are just trying to exist, I know, and they really don't hurt anything, so I feel sort of mean when I vacuum them.