PS

Speaking of angels, there are my two daughters, who have been angels many times. And my doctors and my dentists and . . . Judy and Pat. I guess this list doesn't end.

LOOKIT ALL THE ANGELS!

My spine problem has yielded a list of dozens of thing I can’t do—like fall down! Just trying to keep cars from blocking the walkway was way more frustration than I needed. After four useless calls to the local Supervisor’s office, I suddenly got a quiet young man named Isaac who actually listened to my story! He promised to call me back and said: Don’t worry. If I can’t reach you at work, I will call you when you get home.

That night he called and promised me two red traffic cones. The next day he delivered them to my porch, and later followed up with a call to be sure I got them! I want to give him a medal, but I guess angels don’t have anything to pin one on. Or something neat but not gaudy to hang from his harp!

The next angels were even more unlikely. I went to the coin car wash and learned I could not sweep the whole interior of my car with my limited ability to bend. Two stern guys next to me were polishing a BMW with intense concentration and lots of cigarette smoke, and doing the windows with newspaper. I blurted out that my grandmother had once told me to use newspaper on glass. One of the guys gave me some newspaper and instructions to do the inside as well. Then he saw me staring helplessly at the parts I can’t vacuum. He added a quarter to my last three in the vacuum, and attacked the whole interior of my car. Mercilessly. His chum even dusted the dash!

Now that I’ve gone this far, I need to talk about Erik, the angel who got my new laptop running, and Mario, the angel who assembled this chair for me, and. . .

I need to get those medals and harp ornaments by the crate!

MY SECRET PLACES FOR FASHION BARGAINS

Rule #1 skip the women’s fashion department and hunt around the store. My apologies to the girls who have hidden their favorites in the baby dept. until payday, but this is survival of the fittest. Found a fine blazer, short and fitted, a year ahead of its fashion time, in Ross, hanging on the end of some bizarre blouses rack.

You’ve all heard of small women shopping in the boys department? The men’s department is my favorite. Got fabulous cotton knit sleep/play shorts with hidden elastic in the men’s dept. at Target last summer--washes soft and great. Wide waistband. Listen, my jeans have a fly front, why shouldn’t cuddly shorts have one? I can even answer the door in these! I can go to the mailbox in these. Why didn’t I buy two!

But my new weightless, short, sheer summer sweater was in the maternity department at Target. Light as air. Squish it in my hand and tuck into my purse til I need it. Made my upper arms feel young again.

Tourist places also have somebody’s neighborhood shops. An engineer I know got professional looking long sleeve work tees with a slightly less sporty neckband in LA Chinatown.

The wildest place for bargains! If you don’t want to spend too much, the 99 Cent store has been bargain heaven for my tiny librarian friend –their Hawaiian shirts are like dresses for her and they had the cutest Valentine’s Day tee shirt I’ve ever seen.

Did find two great basic belts at different times at Sears.

And does this count? The carry pack for a raincoat I got for Christmas a decade ago is a great long-strap purse for hands free shopping. And my not-small wallet slides in easily.

Oh, and the white cotton tees lauded in the book The One Hundred? I got some brand name ones once at the checkout in Albertsons. I get my nylons at CVS, control top, bargain price, no shipping charges.

The hardest thing to find bargains in? Slippers that don’t fall apart. Any suggestions?

PS This is dedicated with thanks to that woman who gave the straight- out review on Amazon listing some things she doesn’t want to spend $200 bucks for!