Today had an activity level that was 100% flashback, and in the best way. It kicked off with tossing on jeans and a sweater and a ride to Fitchburg for the Finnish Breakfast at Saima Park. There were several artists there selling items including paintings, ornaments, and knitwear. From Saima, it was off to St. Joseph’s Church Christmas Festival. Along the way, there was a gas station with gas at $3.05 a gallon. (For reference, gas is more expensive in Lowell.) I pulled in, but the place was busy and I couldn’t get to a pump on the correct side for the tank so I continued on.
The event at St. Joe’s was the usual – many, many raffle
baskets and items like a Christmas tree covered in scratch tickets, an army of
craft vendors, a ton of Christmas decorations at crazy low prices, and food
including lunch items and Canadian meat pies. I skipped the raffles and headed
straight to the back of the hall with the decorations. I spent $6 and got six
tinsel wreaths and two beaded garlands. The garlands can replace the floral
ones I’ve been using (when I bother to use them) that were castoffs from Mom
when she moved. The new garland is much more compact for storage.
From St. Joe’s it was back to the gas station. The route
took me past a Cumberland Farms where the gas was $3.01 for Smart Pay users and
$3.11 for non-members. I wasn’t quick enough to pull in and continued to the $3.05 station
which was still busy, so I drove past that one, too.
I drove around a little in the section of town where I grew
up. I went up Rollstone Street past the old sandbank at Leighton that is now full
of homes, past where Mummu lived, past the homes where my high school friends
Beth, Julie, Judy, and Cindy once lived, then past the Middle School that was a
Junior High when I attended it. There was another Cumberland Farms gas station near
the school, where I got gas for $3.13 and vowed to finish signing up for the
SmartPay Rewards program so I can enjoy the lowest prices.
Back in Lowell, there was time to visit St. Vincent de Paul
Thrift Shop where there was a lot of Princess House crystal but I already have
enough of that stuff. I was really looking for the scarce style of soup bowls I
can’t seem to find anywhere. No housewares were bought but I found two sweaters
and a silk blouse.
The purchases were dropped onto the kitchen table, an outfit
change took place, and it was off to the gym for a quick flirtation with the
treadmill and the massage chair before the next event. There was a poster in
the vestibule that advertised fuel savings as a Planet Fitness perk and I now have
another potential option for cheaper gas.
Gym clothes were exchanged for jeans, a blouse, blue boots,
and a long coat. By 1:15 I was at The Brush to help set up refreshments for the
reception beginning at 2:00. Several of us set up the food table with stuffed
grape leaves, hummus, veggies and dip, meat and cheese rolls, sandwich wrap slices,
cookies, and brownies. There was a good sized crowd for the reception and most
of the food was eaten which makes the cleanup a lot easier.
After our reception, there was another one a block away at Art
League of Lowell. ALL was celebrating an exhibit and their 20th
anniversary. The gallery was filled with people, many of whom had been at The
Brush, and more food.
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| Musical globes? |
Arriving back at home at 5:00, it was time to relax. By that point I had been to four events plus the gym, and it was reminiscent of the pace of life when I was 30 and dashed about between work, the gym, school, photography class, a second job, countless social events, and the gas station. It was kind of fun.
There was the fourth outfit
change of the day, this time into soft and cozy pants imprinted with penguins
wearing scarves. That's were the similarities to life at 30, 40, or 50 ended. There is no way I would have sat around the house alone on a Saturday night and been happy about it back then.
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