November 29, 2007

It's Not the Strangest Thing I've Ever Done

It was Tuesday afternoon. I finished work early.

"Score!" I thought. "Whatever shall I do with this unexpected free time?"

My mind immediately turned to beads.
Yes. You read that right. I said beads.

A long and winding road with twists and turns that overlap and intersect beyond even the most imaginative of imaginations yet with a very practical purpose, found me standing (for the second time in as many days) in one of the many aisles at Michael's, completely absorbed in the rapture of columns and rows of beads and bead accessories.

The first time, my sister had been with me. That Tuesday afternoon, I was on my own.

Another woman entered my aisle. I looked up when she spoke.

"Do you know much about this stuff?" she queried, brandishing her handfuls of beads and bead accessories.

"Well. No, not too much," I replied, "Just enough to be dangerous." I smiled.

She tripped my gaydar bigtime. I don't know if I tripped hers. I considered the odds of two dykes ending up in the same Michael's bead aisle at 2:30 on a Tuesday afternoon.

Turns out we were both looking at the same thing, contemplating the same question, puzzling over crimp rings and appropriate sizes. WTF? Again with the odds! She set off to consult a saleswoman and shortly returned to share the answer that was not really an answer at all. Crimp rings sizes remained shrouded in mystery for us both.

Left alone again in my aisle, I shopped on. Movement caught my eye and I glanced up. It wasn't the dyke this time. It was my dear friend Tina, Mistress of All Things Crafty.

I think I blushed. I don't know if she noticed. I felt like a little kid caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I have no idea why. The moment passed. We chatted. She headed off to shop for whatever it was she was shopping for that day and I returned to my scrutiny of beads and bead accessories.

On the way home, I stopped at Starbucks for a venti eggnog latte and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with my beads. Crafting.

What the hell has gotten into me, anyway?

.

19 comments:

WenWhit said...

I blame Lee.

Anonymous said...

only thing know about beads is that you never EVER stick them up your nose!

weese said...

what is up with the beads.
you should be talking beads with my wife.
let her tell you how behaved i was in Micheals while she picked out beads.
:)

eb said...

Beading lesbians. Hmmmm. We have also gotten the beading bug. We have lots of beads. And some wire. And some tools. We are ready.

I've made one beady thing. I sent it to someone for her birthday. It had maybe 10 small beads and a little teapot as the center thingy. Next time I just might use 20 beads.

I'm taking little bead steps.

Lee said...

hahahaha....beading is good stuff, lots of tedious work with a sparkly, shiny, colorful result....J is the beader in our family, though I do admit to falling prey from time to time....

but really..find a bead store, you'll get more selection and better people watching :)

SassyFemme said...

I'm so uncrafty it's not funny.

chapin said...

It must be in the water. My Mom and I have been going bead crazy. We've been crafting in our spare time. My tiny house has beads all over the place. She ordered 15,000on Monday...I hope they arrive today so she can stay busy.

Jennifer said...

I'll never forget my first foray into the bead aisle at Michael's. Mainly because I've got about $200 worth of supplies to show for it.

eb said...

Yes, Lee is exactly right. Get thee to a bead store. Maxine and I visited one last time we were up there in Virginny. You'll have to ask her about it because I don't remember the name of it or where the hell it was. These things I don't remember. Go figure.

nina michelle said...

I'd love to see the finished product!

nina michelle said...

oh, ps...

what *IS* the strangest thing you have ever done?

Lee said...

yes, Lee is right...that sounds so natural when you say it enough ;)

Middle Girl said...

Well, I'll be dipped in donuts..beads. Crafty.

Cool.

KellyNerd said...

two things:

re: LOVE Michaels! Best yarn selectionn there!

re: beads up the nose: A friend's son stuck one of the erasers from the end of a pencil up his nose when he was five and instead of telling anyone about it, just left it there. Nobody knew until weeks later there was an ungodly, disgusting, oozing ... well I will leave the rest to your imagination ... too gross to go any further ... so please, no beads up your nose!

sporksforall said...

I would wear a s.l. made beaded sumpin. Yep, sure would.

maxine said...

What exactly *is* the strangest thing you have ever done?

Teresa said...

Note to Wen: Add a BeDazzler to Suzanne's wish list.

WenWhit said...

So noted.

Gunfighter said...

Hiya!

Which Michael's did you go to... the one in Woodbridge has a huge selection of beads (ok, you can turn off your gaydar now... you already know how I roll, lol), the one in Springfield... not so much.