time for a rest

I'm still in Phoenix soaking up the sunshine.

I started yesterday out with All Saint’s Day Mass, had lunch with Al Gore and took my first-ever trip to IKEA. As you can imagine my brain is a whirl of saints, global warming and stylish Swedish furniture.

I went to Mass with my brother-in-law Tim. They attend Saint Gregory Catholic Church. The Mass started with a procession of saints. School children depicted select saints and told a history of the saint. Of course, Saint Gregory was represented. Did you know that his mother was also a saint, Saint Sylvia? I liked how they tied the saint they were talking about to a real person in the parish. It was great to see how enthusiastic and articulate the school children are.

We attended a luncheon (yes, they served chicken) for Jim Pederson, an Arizona candidate for senator. Ann and Tim have been working on his campaign. Al Gore was the keynote speaker. It was a fairly small group—about 200 people. There were some lovely folks at our table. Former Vice President (is that the official title? I think I called him “Mr. Gore” when I spoke to him) mentioned the couple sitting next to me in his talk. I only stopped the conversation at our table once.

Mr. Big D.: “My son tells me that there are people who don’t vote straight ticket!”
Nora: “I am one of those people, I tend to be more issue and candidate driven.”
Everyone else got very interested in their salad.

FVP Gore gave a wonderful talk, about how we all are responsible for what happens in this world. My volunteer work is more neighborhood oriented, and I really appreciate people who are working for change on a higher level. But, what happens on the local level is just as important as what is going on statewide and nationally. I promised myself that this blog would not become political, so I’m stopping there.

After the talk about global warming and social justice we went shopping.
I need to figure out how to haul all of this stuff home. I’ve always wanted to go to Anthropologie. I slung a purse over my shoulder to see how it looked. I saw the $698 price tag and broke out in a cold sweat. I set it down very carefully. Luckily they were having a nice sale. Not only were things marked down, but also they took another 40% off of the sale price. I was able to buy a shirt and a sweater for under $50. I did pass on the $8 lip balm at the counter.

After a nap Annie and I went to IKEA. It was my first-ever time in the store, and it was a bit overwhelming. But not too overwhelming for me to buy a great set of lights, some ice cube trays, cocktail napkins, a bag of "S" hooks and zip ties, and a set of stacking boxes. Sounds like the start of a good party!