Live and Learn

I got a new dress for Christmas.

It was not just any dress. This was a special dress that I picked out from the thrift store with a Christmas gift certificate. It is a beautiful dress.

Yesterday, I decided I should wash it. We always wash clothes from the thrift store. Since there were no washing instructions on the tag, I decided to wash it in the washing machine and then hang it dry. I left those directions with my brothers and sister, and went blithely to work.

When I returned home, I found the dress on my bed. I picked it up to admire it, grimaced because it was still wet, and then gasped in dismay.

I took it out into the light. No...my eyes had not deceived me. A beautiful dress indeed; but it looked about four sizes too small for me.

My first inclination was to mourn the six dollars I had spent on it. Remember, I'm a penny pincher.

My next inclination was to mourn the fact that I had never gotten to wear such an exceptionally lovely dress. Yeah, I'm vain.

My third inclination was to laugh.

So, I laughed. And then I mourned. And then I laughed some more.

This morning, the dress being mostly dry and looking slightly larger than it did when I went to bed...I tried it on.

As I carefully pulled it off over my head, trying not to tear it or stretch it out, and beginning to mourn anew, the dress turned inside out and I saw a tag I had missed before.

"100% Rayon. Dry Clean Only."

It looks absolutely gorgeous on Abigail.