Vacation aftermath

I still felt like I was on vacation today. I had some leftover vacation money burning a hole in my pocket, so I went shopping. In a stunning turn of events, I bought a very cute, black, strapless dress. I am small chested; I do not wear strapless anything. This spring my friend Kim chose strapless bridesmaid dresses and I just about had a breakdown from thinking about the wedding, which was a year away.

After I bought the dress I went downstairs in the mall and bought a real, sturdy, quality strapless bra. Ah ha! You must wear the right underthings to pull this off. I still probably have no business wearing a strapless dress, but I think I look pretty cute. So . . . I'm ready now, Kim.

I also bought a picnic blanket at Target to take to the dog park. Dodger is extremely tired from our trip (oh, did I tell you we took all six of our dogs?), so no dog park today. He's been sleeping a lot. I took a little nap this afternoon too.

While on vacation, I took mental note of some odd things I saw in Arkansas:

1. Skinhead
I was clued in by the skinhead's micrometer long red hair, fitted, tucked-in t-shirt, tight jeans with cuffs, and boots. But when he gave the old extended arm salute to someone, I knew I was looking at a neo-Nazi! Eek! Right there in the row of shops in Eureka!

2. Mennonite on cell phone
I know Mennonites drive cars and use electrical items, and from past vacations in Eureka Springs, I knew there was a good chance they'd be shopping at Wal-mart, but I was still puzzled to see a Mennonite woman in her prim dress and tiny bonnet talking on her flip phone while shopping. She has a cooler phone than me. It's just weird.

3. Public pot smoking
Abby and I walked our dogs down the street at dusk on Tuesday night, and there weren't a lot of people around. It was still quite light. We came around a corner and, down the hill, on the street, was a car and lots of young people standing around. I haven't been around pot a lot, but I know what it smells like and Abby and I both got a big whiff. The group of smokers seemed to collectively hold their breath when they saw us. We kept walking the dogs and didn't acknowledge what was so obviously going on. Eureka has a lot of current and former hippies--there's a "Haight-Ashbury of Arkansas" aspect to this Victorian town--so I knew pot was around. Still, right there in the middle of the street?