Tax Free Weekend

     Crystal and I were supposed to get together last Friday but she was not up for it then. So we reworked the plan to make it Sunday. Which was also part of tax-free weekend. We had decided we would take at least a couple of photos every time we got together. This 22 years of friendship and barely a handful of photos together needed to stop. 
     The photo plan was a good one, but we almost forgot. I remembered while we were in Michael's. In the yarn isle. It was a safe isle, as neither of us does a whole lot with yarn. Being in Michael's with Crystal is basically like being in Michael's unsupervised (she agrees). But I am not spending money these days so I was good.

     I did however need tiny paint brushes, because I almost always need tiny paint brushes. I wreck them very quickly and I need them to paint doll faces. So I found a bunch that were not awful and may be tiny enough. And tax free, so that was nice.

    There is a tack store between my house and Crystal's. I have driven by it hundreds of times. It is even next door to the farm where Elecktra took riding lessons. How have I never stopped there? Part of the reason I have not been riding in such a long time (ridiculously long time) is I don't have boots. I have sneakers, sandals and fashion boots, but nothing safe to ride in. So I did actually NEED some paddock boots. And I fully intended to just buy some cheap ones and be done with it. After all, boots that I will also likely wear to school and wreck from constant use don't need to be expensive. But there were breeches, because tack store, and I have never owned a pair of breeches but always wanted to. Mounting from the ground is hard when you have limited range of movement from tight jeans. And tax free weekend. 

     OK, so some of that was an excuse, there is no tax on clothing in Massachusetts, though the lady at the tack store says some of the boots DO have tax now because of new tarrifs. Anyway, the boots were lower end and very affordable. The breeches may be the most expensive pair of pants I own (they are) but I refuse to gain the weight back that I lost and they will still fit if I lose a bit more. They should literally last me forever. Plus, everything was on sale. It would have been irresponsible to not buy them. Lol, I know that is not true, but I wanted them. And now back to not spending money. 
     So now I have tiny paint brushes and I have boots and breeches. I guess I should paint some doll faces and find a horse to ride. 
     I borrowed a sewing machine from Crystal and her mom and I tried it out. It is not working. The bobbin is spitting thread and the thread keeps wrapping around the top spool and breaking. I am likely doing something wrong, but I don't know what it is. I also got ahold of the repair place, again. I finally got someone who was a bit more pleasant to speak with and she told me the bobbin case needed replacing (I knew this) and that the part was backordered! So it might be fixed in another 2 weeks. Maybe. I think I may need to finally cave and get a backup machine. *sigh* I just want mine back.