Bounty

Tuesday is a beautiful day in the neighborhood; it's the day the Thrift Store is open. I haven't had a babysitter since we returned from our trip so I haven't been able to go until today. Today, I swapped childcare with one of my friends and toodled off to seek my destiny.

As luck would have it, it was a bag sale day: all the clothes that fit in a bag for $7. My bag of joy was filled with a pair of Columbia capri pants, the diamond checked coat, three shirts, and a skirt, plus the stunning orange satin gown in the picture.

For an additional $11, I got the giant stack of books, a pair of ugly but strangely comfortable garden clogs, the tin roaster, some silverware and a viewmaster/binocular toy. The books were an excellent score for $0.25 each, and can we talk about the dress for just a minute?

Isn't it gorgeous?!!? I mean, if you ignore the glazed look, the scabby shins and the crew socks. It's deliciously silky and very Cinderella-ish. And if anyone can channel Cinderella, I can: Cinderella, Cinderella, do the dishes; sweep the floor; feed the fishes; make the beds; cook the supper; find my toy; fold the laundry; all I ever hear is Mommy Cinderella. Whew, it makes me want to curl up in the fireplace ashes with the rats just thinking about it.

I have a question, though: does it make me look more like Cinderella, or more like the pumpkin? I can't decide which one is more appealing: Cinderella slaves away for years doing menial chores for a bunch of ingrates that hate her, only to have to marry some clown that only likes her for her shoe size; while the pumpkin gets chopped up and made into pie after its outlived its usefulness as a magic carriage. Where's the happy ending, dammit?