THE UGLIEST PURSE CONTEST--part 1

We only hold Enrichment's four times a year now--we used to have an Enrichment meeting every month but now we have mini classes instead, usually held in people's homes. I attend the personal history mini classes, a card making one, and others as they come up and I have an interest. I'll probably post information about some of these in the future. It is a wonderful time to be in small groups and to get to know each other better. Some of the mini-classes are service oriented, some are for personal needs, some just for fun.

We always have an Enrichment in March to commemorate the birth of Relief Society, which was March 17, 1842. This year we decided we needed a good laugh so we held The Ugliest Purse Contest. The women brought their ugly purses, or even their current ones and we voted on the ugliest. I forgot to take a picture of the winner, which I hope to do tomorrow--I will post it on part 2, tomorrow.

We always have dinner and this is some of the women on our food committee getting things ready in the kitchen.

They served Diet Pepsi Chicken and veggies over rice--I will post the recipe on my cookbook in a few days--salad, French bread with garlic butter and chocolate cream filled cupcakes--that recipe is on my cookbook site.

And we started right on time--6:30. See the clock. That is Mormon Standard Time. It seems to work everywhere that I have lived.

I have two wonderful Enrichment Leaders. Helen, who is one of them, decorated every single table, plus the three tables the purses were displayed on. The first three photos were the decorations on the "purses" tables.

The next eight photos are of the tables we sat at for dinner. Helen brought all the hats, tiny purses, perfume bottles, gloves, hat boxes, glove boxes, jewelry and scarves. I don't know how long it took her to gather all these beautiful items of a time gone by, but each table was beautiful. These photos cannot do them justice.

Tomorrow I will post a picture of the winning purse and some of the prizes for items in the women's purses. If anyone wants to hold an Ugly Purse Contest I can tell you it was pretty fun.

Here is the song we sang, to the tune of Count Your Many Blessing.

COUNT YOUR MANY PURSES

When you go out shopping, with your purse not-full, Do not think of others with their wealth untold.
Count the many quarters that you have to spend, Maybe there’s enough to go to lunch with friends.

Count your purses; name them one by one. Count your receipts; see what you have done.
Count your spare change; add it in your head. You’ll be able to buy milk and jam and bread.

Are you ever burdened with a cluttered purse? Do you think a dust bunny inside’s a curse?
Do you have some needles and a bunch of thread? There’s a cell phone but the bat-ter-y is dead.

You have lotion, photo-graphs (a stack). There’s an ipod, and an empty sack.
Safety pi-ns, Tylenol and pens. If you cannot “hold it” there might be Depends.

You have many lipsticks and coupons galore. Toys and gum and candy that your kids adore.
Crackers. Juice. Granola bars for lunch. Then you’ll need antacids; you might have a bunch.

There’s some products (they are fem-i-none). Comb, a hairbrush, to-do lists (undone).Are you fee-ling, bad about your purse? Look around your table, there’s a purse that’s worse!

This was three verses--with chorus--and I think that was one verse too long and no, I cannot possibly divulge the author of the words. She would have to leave town with a bag over her head.

We had a wonderful food committee, set-up and clean-up committee and our Enrichment Leaders were absolutely wonderful. It was a great evening. Part 2 tomorrow, hopefully.