The Dangerous Existence of Madame Lee

I will go to Chautauqua Weekend this year. If I get up early, I can be in Madison by a reasonable hour that morning, have all day to wander around, and leave in the late afternoon/early evening in order to make my 7:30-to-midnight shift that Saturday. It's not ideal (what I'd really like to do, and will do one of these years when work and money allow, is book a room in Scottsburg and just drive the 15-20 miles or so to Madison on both days), but it's better than not getting to go at all (especially since the last time I went was in 2007), and it's definitely better than sitting on my ass in Evansville and moping. LOL-MART SHALL NOT CONQUER.

Also, I have almost put away the entire cost of getting my transmission flushed, which is not that much money but when you make as little as I do it is about a third of a paycheck. That said, I would way rather pay $160 now when I have it than pay a few thousand to fix the transmission later. PRIORITIES~

I am trying to feel better, but it's hard.

So teh m0mmy and I went to Madison for Chautauqua Weekend Saturday yesterday. :D Mom hadn't been there since probably the mid-to-late '70s (two of my aunts went to Hanover, which is in Hanover, IN, just a few miles away). It's a pretty little town, and we like street fairs, so I twisted her arm into going with me. (We were going to go on the historic home walking tour, but that was a 5-and-a-half-hour commitment, which was really more than we wanted to make; plus Mom had to get home in order to sleep at a decent hour because it's Religious Ed season.)

I navigated, though I didn't drive (look, I drive around all day during the week, and driving on the weekends is not a treat). We stopped at Adrienne & Co. for lunch--I've become a regular over the past month or so, and the girl behind the counter was all, "OMG, you brought a visitor! Awesome!" Mom bought a loaf of day-old bread, and carbs were had by all.

Madison was gorgeous, if congested. Due to the drought earlier this year, the fall foliage really hasn't been what it should be, which is disappointing, but Madison has some great houses along the main drag and environs. (I don't even get into the whole home and garden thing, and looking at the little houses with their pretty gardens and wrought-iron gates made me jealous. Then we looked at a prospectus for one that happened to be up for sale, and realized it was way more than either of us will ever afford unless t3h n0v3l is some kind of big success.)

Mom had read in Midwest Traveler about a chocolate shop in downtown Madison, so of course we had to go; chocolate really leaves me cold for the most part, and the only chocolate-bearing dessert I absolutely can't pass up is tiramisu (and Napoleons), but the place smelled divine. I was impressed that Mom left without buying anything; I wasn't so strong-willed and wound up caving and buying fudge at the fudge shop.

A lot of artisanal types come and set up shop at the Chautauqua; we meandered in and out, and I'm impressed by the dedication that people have to their craft, but on the whole I'm not willing to spend a bazillion dollars on it, alas. (That, and I'm just not the kind of person who displays stuff, partially because I'm indifferent to interior decorating, and partially because I don't have a lot of tolerance for stuff that needs to be dusted.) Still, I got a little of my early Christmas shopping done, and I might have accidentally bought something for duokinneas, who no doubt will receive a conglomeration of items with a card saying HAPPY OCTOBER!!!! or something. Or she will as soon as I find a bigger box.

(I did look for seahorses, and Pond Scum Inc.'s booth had some really cute sea creatures and suchlike in bright colors, but their seahorses weren't cute enough. Or pink.)

I suspect that it is a measure of our priorities that Mom and I were totally willing to spend $23 for a handcrafted rolling pin and not $80 for a rug knitted from old socks. Those were some damn fine rolling pins, though. Mom pointed out that they didn't have the central rolling mechanism and would require elbow grease on the part of the cook, but we're pretty h4rdk0r3 about cooking anyway--I mean, for God's sake, as much as I'd like to make some of the kwik-and-e-z meals in Cooking Light every month, a lot of them require convenience foods that we just don't keep on hand.

We sat by the fountain, which is just beautiful--it's on a peripherally classical theme, and so old that it's now mostly verdigrised. I always want to climb into fountains and splash around, but I am informed that this causes people to stare. And then around 5 or 6, we headed back home after a stop in Corydon for something to eat.

Today was uneventful: did some laundry, read some Balzac, heard from X-chan. She had been worried about possible dire health issues, but the worries turned out to be unfounded, thankfully, and the pain that precipitated them is going away. Made corn muffins with green onions and cheese for dinner, also ham steak.

I'll mail t3h n0v3l out in a few minutes, to those whackjobs who wanted to read it. You people are all masochists, but I love you anyway.

Life is good. ♥