Sugar for the Mind (and Mouth!)

Okay, I'll admit it. Every so often, I like to read what my mom and I call a "beach book." Usually it's fiction, probably an Oprah's Book Club reject, most likely badly written, sometimes makes the NYT bestsellers list, and it's a good excuse to turn off my brain for a few hours. C'mon, you know you read them, too...

Yesterday, we organized a yard sale for the residents in our apartment complex. We got up way too early for a Saturday, drove to our church, loaded tables and chairs, and drove back to our complex-- all before 7:45 a.m. Like I said, it was early for a Saturday. It was also very, very chilly. So once everything was set up, and we had chatted with all the residents and made sure everyone had taken advantage of the free doughnuts, we just sat around waiting for people to show up. Apparently, no one gets up at our complex before noon on Saturdays. And you think I'm kidding. Although, I will clarify that over thirty people eventually showed up to shop, but most of those faithful few came after 10:30. So, in the end, I'd say it was successful.

Gaines used the long early morning lull to walk around the complex, holding up a "Yard Sale" sign for the occasional car. I saw it as an oppurtunity to read a book. I wandered over to a table to check out their stash of paperbacks. Score! I spied a bunch of books by Mary Higgins Clark, "The Queen of Suspense." My mom will vouch for the insane number of old MHC novels I collected back in high school--she found a shelf of them recently while cleaning out a closet-- so it was surprising to see some unfamiliar titles. I picked up one called Daddy's Little Girl. I didn't have any cash on me at the time, but the lady behind the table told me to go ahead and read it anyway. When I tried to return it to her at the end of the sale, she told me to keep it! Hey, a free book is a free book. My guilty pleasure was finishing it this afternoon. Gaines told me that since it was Easter, I should've read something "more holy." Whatever! MHC included at least one paragraph about the main character visiting an Abbey and "making her peace with God." That counts, right?

Oh, and speaking of doughnuts (see second paragraph), we stopped at the Krispy Kreme on Ponce this morning after the joint sunrise service at Piedmont Park. Mmmmmm. Hot chocolate and melt-in-your mouth sugary goodness in doughnut form were a welcome treat on this cold, rainy Easter morning. And, as our friend Patricia requested, they were "One dozen glazed. Hot. Now!"