So NICE!

We had NICE, spring-like temperatures all this past week in contrast to the snow and bitter cold of the week before. But, yesterday it was COLD again! I guess it must be spring in Missouri....

Take a look at my adorable, NICE little cactus blossoms. This was a gift from our neighbor, Mona.

Tuesday evening, after giving Larkin and Quinn piano lessons, I stopped in at the Target that was nearby hoping to find some snow boots. The ones I have were given to me several years ago and they are fine for shoveling snow but terrible for walking around because they are just a teensy bit too big. Not surprisingly, Target had nothing this late in the season. I had already looked unsuccessfully at two Walmarts. My next stop was to go to Shoe Carnival on Wednesday after grocery shopping and, happily, I found a very NICE pair that is a bit too dressy for shoveling snow but still casual enough to wear with jeans. Happy Jeanne. Also on that Tuesday night, I went to JoAnn Fabrics hoping to find white thread (not Coats and Clark but Gutermann. According to the Huskvarna sewing machine rep, Coats and Clark is not as good a quality thread as it used to be). Sadly, just that day, JoAnn Fabrics announced that they are closing all their stores and the store I went to had already started marking down their inventory, including thread. So, there was not a spool of white thread to be found. Sad Jeanne. My sewing machine will just have to make do with Coats and Clark for the time being until I can find another source for Gutermann brand. 

On Thursday, Steve and set out on a quest for replacement dining room chairs (used, hopefully). First we stopped off at aluminum recycling where I redeemed a NICE record of $17.52 worth of cans!!! We continued down the road to a church sponsored thrift store that is only open on Thursdays and Saturdays. They were having their twenty-five cent sale. And, because they wanted to clear out their current inventory, they had an even better sale of "anything you can fit into a paper grocery sack for just one dollar" sale. And Steve and I scored big time! Steve found six pants hangers, five clipboards (for him to use in his English class since his room is too small for a table), and three ties. I found four white cereal bowls, two pieces of kid-themed fabric curtains that I can make into humanitarian blankets, and a curling iron. What a NICE deal!!! But, no furniture. The next stop was to a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store and - TA DA!!! - there were six very NICE matching dining room chairs for $9 a piece. They are very solid and I think the two colored wood is kind of pretty. Here they are:

Finally, the last NICE thing that happened this week was getting to go on a double date with Emily and Joe last night. First, we had a super NICE meal at Little Fox. I love how Beckie takes care of my gluten issues when we eat there. After stuffing ourselves, we went to the St. Louis Symphony's performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. It was such a fantastic performance!!!

To close out this blog, I recommend a very NICE movie on Disney+ called The Young Woman and the Sea. It is based upon the true story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel back in the 1920's.