It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Shopping

by Margie Senechal

Last weekend, my girls, my mom, and I went to our first bazaars of the season. The appearance of bazaars is what signals the holidays for me. In our county, many schools and churches offer them throughout November and into December. The ones we enjoy the most are the ones that offer artisans and crafters over independent sales tables. 

I like to find things that you can't buy at Kohls or Target. I like to find a project that may be something I can do. 

Some of you may remember the tile coasters my sister, Wendy, and I mastered over a couple of weekends in the fall of--I'm not sure exactly, but Wendy was living in her old house and her boys weren't teenagers yet. Considering her oldest son got married two weekends ago, it was a while ago.

If you don't remember, I have several small Sterilite containers of them in my garage. 

The bazaars disappeared during Covid. We went to one last year and it was packed to the gills--apparently, we weren't the only one who missed them. 

Sometimes we run into old friends or acquittances. Last weekend, we went to Washougal High School and ran into two of my favorite people, Gayle and Ivar. While Jordan and I have met them for lunch a few times, it was the first time my mom had seen them since the virus. She said several times on the way home how good it was to see them. 

We also went to Mountain View High School and was amazed that they'd rebuilt it the size of a hospital. Crimeny, I'm glad I don't have to go to high school now, I'd get lost for sure. Kristen and I saw a chocolate vendor that we like to support, and she recognized us! I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign. 

Tomorrow, we're going to a couple more and waiting to hear if Evan's wife, Gracilynn, wants to join us on our fall adventure. My girls feel it's time to initiate her into a Wilkinson tradition, after all.

After this weekend, I'm diving into Thanksgiving prep. With my new job, I'm going to have Wednesday-Sunday off. I kind of dig working for a bank after all those years in retail where holidays didn't exist. 

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers! Stay safe and healthy!