Thursday, February 12

We slept late, and I skipped exercises this morning, so I could get ready to go to the Go Red Luncheon. I opted for a heartier breakfast, since I knew I would not have lunch until 1 p.m. or later. I made myself a cheese and mushroom omelet, boiled in a plastic freezer bag. and had two leftover low-fat biscuits and some cottage cheese with it. Hubbie stuck with a cereal breakfast.

By the time I showered, dressed, and gathered the clothes and other items I'd need for the fashion show, it was time to leave. We arrived at the college around 11 a.m. Several guys...the mayor, the high school principal, a doctor, etc., called "The Hearttrobs"...were dressed in black tuxedos, and they escorted us ladies to our assigned tables. Hubbie, dressed in his best dark suit, with white dress shirt and red tie, followed behind. Mother wore a red jacket over black slacks and white mock turtleneck shirt, and I wore black slacks, turtleneck shirt and a red jacket, with the chunky red and silver bead necklace that Hubbie gave me for Christmas.

I had plenty of time to browse the silent auction items, visit with friends, take pictures of the decorations, and some of the folks I know before I needed to go backstage and dress for the fashion show. At 11:30, those of us who were to model gathered in the "dressing room" (the theater part of the facility) on the other side of the wall from the event area.

As we were dressing, one of the models realized she had not remembered to bring her jewelry, so I loaned her my necklace, which matched her outfit nicely. Then there was an announcement that several cars were parked illegally and were in danger of being towed. Naturally, one of the vehicles belonged to one of the models. So she had to go deal with that. Then minutes before the fashion show was to begin, the lady who was to describe our outfits had a sudden urge to go potty. She hurried to locate a bathroom, and was back just in the nick of time.

Finally, we lined up to wait our turns to go onstage. After my turn, I rushed back to my changing area and got the second outfit on with seconds to spare. But I was unable to wear the drop earrings, because I couldn't find the hole in my right ear. So I went onstage without them. The lady describing our outfits mentioned them, then said "oops...she isn't wearing them."

When the fashion show was over, we donned our own clothes and joined the rest of the audience to enjoy the special speaker and the entertainment. I was served a plate of chicken salad, macaroni salad with a vinaigrette dressing, fresh fruit and rolls. Dessert was tiny red velvet cupcakes, sugar cookies in the shape of hearts, and chocolate covered strawberries. I opted for the strawberries.

After the program, Hubbie, Mother and I went "backstage" to gather the outfits I'd modeled. In so doing, we could not locate one of the pair of drop earrings. We searched everywhere, in my makeup bag, in pockets of the clothing, and, crawling on hands and knees, on the floor and under the theater seats. No dice. One of the event attendants said not to worry, the bank that sponsored the show would take care of it.

The event sponsors gave each of us who modeled a gift bag containing a large scented diffuser. The scent is supposed to last three months. It's very nice. Everyone in the audience was given a gift bag that contained a small scented candle, notebooks and pens, a purse size container of Bandaids, a small American Heart Association low-fat cookbook, and various heart disease awareness educational pamphlets, as well as a red-dress pin. Hubbie, Mother, and I each wore pins today that we'd gotten at the Go Red Luncheon last year.



At home, Hubbie and I changed out of our dress clothes and ran errands. Our first stop was to drop off the outfits to the store. The shop owner seemed unconcerned about the earrings. She invited me to check out her clearance racks, where items were marked 60 percent off. I found a casual tan jacket with gold threads, and a rust colored shiny button-up blouse that I liked.

I tried them on, and when I emerged to look in the three-way mirror, the shop owner asked if I liked the items. I said yes, these were in my style and colors. So she said they were on the house, as payment for modeling her clothes at the Go Red Luncheon. I was very surprised and delighted. She said it was her pleasure, because already some ladies had stopped by who were interested in buying a couple of the items I'd modeled.

I haven't patronized this shop in the past, but now I will...she has definitely acquired a new customer in me, especially at clearance sale time.

While we were at the shop, we learned that the shop owner's mother (who was there) is a sister-in-law to one of the ladies that is in our scrapbook club. She noted to us that another of our scrapbook members, the one who lost her husband and then expected to lose her son to cancer, in fact did lose that son three weeks ago. I wish we had known sooner. Tomorrow, I'll call and offer my belated condolences.

Also, while we were at the shop, the wife and co-owner of our favorite computer shop came in with her new baby. I was glad to get the chance to visit and see the little one, who looks like just like his dad.

From the dress shop, we stopped by the pharmacy to pick up one of my prescriptions, and then to another grocery store to buy on-sale grapes, before returning home.

For supper, we decided to have veggie turkey burgers (for Mother and me) and a hamburger for Hubbie...not the most well-rounded meal, but we were all more tired than hungry from our very active day.