Aurora Light Show

Yesterday I was thrilled when there was another chance to catch a glimpse of the elusive Aurora Borealis. The skies were clear, and they were predicting high activity. That meant that I *might* see it on the horizon.
I kept looking outside, staring hard into the sky, but saw nothing but stars.

"That's okay." I kept telling myself. "They say there is better watching closer to midnight." It was only 10pm.

Rather than staring out the window like I had before, I threw my pillows at the other end of the bed and propped them up so I could at least lie down while watching the sky. I was determined to see them.

I lay there for a while watching the sky and my eyelids started to drop. I knew then that I was probably not going to see the Auroras. I was becoming sleepy and I couldn't stay awak.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

At the moment I wasn't sure why I came out of my sleep, but I did. My eyes remained closed and wished that I could just go back to sleep. The dog was lying on the bed next to me with her "babies" (that's another story!) and it was rather warm in the bedroom, even with the fans running. I kicked the blanket off my and sighed, my eyes still closed.

A few moments later, as I drifted back into unconsciousness, I saw a flash of light and my eyes flew open.
What was that?? I thought, and then jolted up. The Auroras! Of coarse!! Not ever seeing the Auroras before, I had no idea what to expect. Did they give off a flash of light or was it more of a glow? Either way, I was excited and I stood there, staring hard out the window again.

Suddenly, there was a rumble far in the distance. Huh? I didn't see any clouds to the north, it had to be the Auroras...the rumble was just a train or something getting started up again. I was determined to see the northern lights. Anything I see, would be the lights.

There was another flash of light, somewhere from the east, beyond the mountain. Strange. I thought, the northern lights should be north, not east. Then I saw it, a huge bolt of lightning stretching across the sky and the field behind the house, with white hot fingers that spread out towards the tops of the tallest trees.

One Mississippi...
Two Mississippi...

The rumble came. It was not a clash or boom, but a loud rolling thunder that vibrated the air. Then the rain came.

There would be no Aurora that night... but at least we got a pretty good light show!

5 Yard Rant

I was at the store the other day looking for fabric for a skirt. Hubby came with me to help me pick out something that was complimentary to my fair skin - apparently he doesn't like pastels on a summer girl. haha! We looked at many different fabrics and compared them, I modeled them, and he looked from 15 feet away to make sure it was just right. He picked some fabrics I wasn't crazy about, and I picked some he wasn't crazy about. We went back and forth for a good 30 minutes with the different fabrics and trying to find something good. Then we found a compromise and decided on a simple fabric.

I was happy, he was happy.

Then it was time to get it cut.

While we were looking at fabric, I had noticed that these three women had shown up and started looking too. I thought nothing of it as they were looking at awful prints that I wasn't even remotely interested in. The odd thing about these women was that they were in what looked like, a hurry; snatching up bolts of fabric and throwing them into their carts.

Just as we had decided on our fabric, and I started moving towards the table to get it cut, one of the tree ladies quickly pushes her shopping cart up to the table and throws a bolt of fabric to the cutting lady. She says "I only need one yard." Then she waves her friend over and whispered something to her and her friend goes back to looking for fabric. As the cutting lady cuts, this woman starts piling the bolts of fabric onto the table. She had 24 bolts! "Only one yard of this." She would say as she pushed forward another bolt. "Oh, make that two."

Her friend continued to shop for fabrics and would yell across the room that she found another, then would bring it to this woman, who would pile it up with the others waiting to be cut.

All this time, the third woman was slowly walking around looking at fabric and adding them to her cart, but was assured "her place in line to get it cut" as the woman with (now) 30 bolts was saving her space.

I had one bolt and needed 5 yards.

I waited. And waited. And waited. If I could have gotten this fabric elsewhere, I would have just left, but I've spent several weeks mulling over this skirt design and look. So I waited.

This woman had her friend add another 5 bolts of fabric while she couldn't decide if she wanted 1 or 2 yards of each of the fabrics.

To add insult to injury, she decided that she wanted to start a new ticket because this next set she would get reimbursed for. She bragged on and on to the cutting lady that these fabrics were going to be table covers at an event in which they would pay for the fabric, and at the end, she would get to keep the fabric. She would be getting it for free. Well, she wanted to maximize her freebies and got more than the yard that was required.

By this time, my son has had it, and my husband was no where to be found. I think he ended up finding someone to chat with. I was quickly growing impatient as this woman now had 35 bolts of fabric.

I had been there for at least an hour just to have my measly little 5 yards cut.

Then the woman brags about how the three of them have been hitting every place that sells fabrics within a 100 mile radius.

Come on!

Finally, her 35 bolts of fabric were cut and I was dreading the wait for the other woman who had silently been walking around putting fabric in her cart. I was certain she would jump in and claim her place in line. At the moment she was around the corner looking at something and caught the attention of 35 Bolt Woman. The cutting lady looks at me and says "Let me cut your fabric real quick, she's got a lot!" I quickly glanced at the three woman and they were off being rude to someone else by piling yarn into their baskets now.

I handed the bolt of fabric over and said, "Five yards." The cutting lady quickly measured and started cutting and 35 Bolt Lady turns around and gasps, "She cut in line!" She pointed at me.

Get real woman.

The only reason you "were in line first" was because you pushed your way in front of me and threw fabric at the cutting lady. Having your friend shop for fabric so you don't have to wait in line for me to have five yards cut in just plain rude. Actually it's more than rude, so don't get mad at me.

The cutting lady told 35 Bolt Woman that she would be with her in one moment and to please calm down. She finished printing my ticket and whispered an apology in my direction as 35 Bolt Lady's friend started piling her fabric up on the table. As I quickly walked away, I heard the three bawking (much like chickens) about how rude I was.

Rude, fine. I'll take rude. At least I'm not a first rate b%@&!.

Ahh, drama at the cutting table.....