Thursday, March 10, 2011

Temple Trip Disaster

Last Monday evening I accompanied Todd to a bank meeting he had to attend in Keokuk, Iowa.  Now, as you all know, the Nauvoo temple is only 15 minutes away, across the river and up the road, so I accepted the invitation, the thoughts of attending the temple on my mind.  Arrive late in Keokuk, but enough time on Tuesday during Todd's meetings to attend the temple.

Well, apparently I had A LOT on my mind, because we were 2 hours down the road, 7:30 pm in the middle of Nowhere, Missouri, when I looked in the back seat to discover I had forgotten EVERYTHING.  Oh, no, not everything....not the bag of snacks (heaven forbid, don't forget the snacks!) I had in my hands and not my purse, but everything else...my overnight bag, temple clothes, running clothes, toothbrush, makeup, etc.  Agony!

I did not drive 5 hours to Keokuk, Iowa, just because I wanted to be with my husband, as delightful as he is  (although I love to be with him, but I did have ulterior motives here).  I was disappointed.  Todd, trying not to laugh, suggested that we stop in the next town and buy something  I could wear to the temple.

Lucky for me Chillicothie was only 10 miles down the road.  And even luckier, they had a Wal-mart.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I love new clothes.  However, Walmart does not sell a large variety of dresses and/or skirts.  Also, because I'm tall, Walmart dresses/skirts never work.  They hit me too high in the waist and are too short.  Couple that with my desire to be careful with our money, and I was not happy about spending money I didn't want to spend on an outfit from Walmart that I was pretty sure I'd never wear again.

Are you ready for the fashion show?  Here's what $4.99 at Walmart gets you  for Sunday dress...

Not bad.  However, flash backs of my sisters, Kathleen and Miriam, in their JB waitress uniforms came to mind.

And here's the shoes:

Not so bad for $5.  I might wear those again.

I won't tell you what I found to run in.  It was so ugly I couldn't even take a picture of it!  And the $1 makeup?!

The peace and beauty of the temple was worth the $9.99 Walmart outfit (did I hear faint snickering and laughter from a few of those temple workers at my outfit as I was leaving?).

I leave you with a look at down Parley's Street as it was last Monday:

3 comments:

Margaret said...

Lucky you! A trip to Nauvoo sounds fun. And your outfit isn't that bad...and after all, no one in Nauvoo knows you :)

Christine said...

So glad it turned out! Our dear friends from Sacramento now live in Spickard, MO, and shop in Chillocothe (sp).

Rachel // Maybe Matilda said...

I just bought that same dress off my Walmart clearance rack for $2! (They must have marked it down since your temple trip) I like it, but the sleeves are weird, aren't they? I'm planning to take it in and I think it'll be wearable (hopefully without laughter from the little old ladies at the temple).