Day 9.133: Exile #2's Sunday Column #108

Exile #2 writes...

Today, Exile #3 and I played hooky from HopeGateWay to endure our least favorite place - the mall. She was hunting for a semi-formal dress for promotion (Middle School graduation). We had an encouraging experience at the first store, finding a dress that was acceptable, if not thrilling, so we asked for it to be put on hold. We spent the next hour or so traipsing up and down with increasing bewilderment at the odd confections on offer - sequins and ruffles and bling, oh my!

One of the early results that a Google Image Search for "eighth grade promotion dress" generates.
This is not what she will be wearing.

In the end, of course, we found one in the very last shop we tried (on a whim) and it wasn't even the dress that caught our eye and persuaded us to stick around long enough to make it to the fitting rooms. It's simple, black and white and looks very nice on - phew!

On Friday, it was Exile #4 and I that were out and about for the slightly less fun reason of going to the doctor to follow up on her ER visit. It was a little more exciting than expected, however, as soon after we checked in, the power went out. It caused a flurry of activity as the staff worked out what was still functional. My favorite moment, however, was when the supervisor came by to check on everyone and in all seriousness asked, 'Do you remember how to use paper?'