It’s All About the Shimmer

Yesterday’s rain wasn’t long, but it was hard.

I’d manage to get my hair done, shop for the money birthday card – with no luck, pick up Christmas lights for the patio and was on the freeway headed back to the complex when the rain hit. And what hit was like a storm, drops coming down fast, hard, hitting the windshield with a thud that had me thinking it was hail; and there was wind, wind as equally aggressive as the hail sounding rain drops.

Awake at 2:30 this morning, for no good reason except that’s how it’s been (anywhere from 2:15 to 4:30) since the time change, I was anxious to get the day started but was thwarted first by having to wait until the rest of the world decided to get up and get going, and secondly unable to map out the day because everything is dependent upon whether today will be more rain or not.

Christmas lights having been purchased, I’m anxious to violate my lease agreement by attaching them to the patio railing and get the Christmas decorations out-of-my inside space.

That’s not gonna happen if it rains.

I also need to return a Timer to Lowe’s and do more searching for the money birthday card.

That too will not happen if it rains.

About those lights … I very nearly got out of Lowe’s with perfectly reasonably priced string lights that I could loop and drape on the railing to look like string lights, but dilly dallied around window shopping in the Christmas department and walked up on these …

Oh why not, thought I. It’s twice as much as I planned to pay for lights, but they’re pretty and as close to Disney as I’ll get before I leave this earth, because I refuse to pay $100 to stand in lines so long I don’t get to experience my money's worth of attractions.

Would you believe, in one of the memory albums, there are souvenirs from my last visit ... 19 years ago?

I spent all my time going through Small World over and over and over, and the Michael Jackson exhibit.

At any rate, while at the checkout stand, two girls from neighboring checkouts, having a lull in customers, sauntered over to converse with my cashier. One of the girls picked up the box, looked it over, said, “Hmmm. I wonder what makes it Disney?” (Because there no mouse ears and the lights look so similar to all the other lights in Lowe's).

“The price”, said I.

There was laughter all around, and a “Right, huh”.

Then my cashier picked up the box, examined more closely, said, “They shimmer. You’re paying for the shimmer honey.”

I didn’t even notice the lights are to shimmer, whatever shimmer is. I was hypnotized by the way they draped, got caught up in the moment, spent way too much and now am anxious to get them in place to determine if the shimmer is worth it enough not to exercise my option to return.

If it doesn't rain.