No dog love :(

1994 Bergschrund Honey Bear Mug

I'm drinking coffee at this very moment. It took over an hour to make it happen. I am housesitting, and there's a dog, and the dog is depressed, and that makes me feel depressed, and wishing that I was a dog psychologist and I could whisk his worries away. I also wish that I too could get into a small contained space like he is right now, in a dark hallway in his crate, voluntarily.

I have to keep myself from bugging him to come play with me. I tried to cuddle with him, but he went into his crate, so here I am, feeling rejected and not wanting to do anything, and just generally feeling like ass. I get so used to dogs loving me and wanting to constantly be with me, that I get confused when a dog meets me and doesn't automatically want to be bffs.

I did some thrifting yesterday, and maybe found some good stuff. I got into a long conversation with an employee/thrift friend about him working on getting his GED. He has a neck tattoo but I like him anyway. I think this is a first for me. I am pretty anti-tattoo, as a general rule. There were a bunch of new workers at the store. They were pretty energetic, and obviously hadn't seen a woman in a great while. I love it when that happens. Aw shucks [insert blushing grin here].

Ack! Good lord, what's wrong with you?

Vintage Salvatore Ferragamo loafers

Okay, so picture this (maybe you can close your eyes and have it read aloud to you): I have electrodes taped and glued all over my head and chest, wires attached. There is a stretchy knit cap (like a stocking - if I put it all the way over my face, it looks like I'm about to rob a bank) that goes over the wires. I usually have big hair, and it's all plastered down under this stocking, and electrodes and hairs are poking out all over the place.

The stocking cap makes me hot during the night, so I have this weird, "I've been sweating a lot" look to me. And of course, I have no bra on, so there's that. Then, on top of it all, and the whole, "Hey, I just woke up look",  I'm carrying around this fanny-pack-thing with extra wires and it's probably holding up part of my shirt.

You're the mailman, and it's Saturday, and all you want to do is hand me bulky mail that won't fit through the slot, so you ring the bell, and then I open the door.

It's only 9am. Good lord, what did you do to deserve this?

Thrift Share Monday :)

Ah yes, ol' cousin Ren :)

So I have a routine of going to the local Amvets after church because they have 50% off everything on Sundays. But, as you can well imagine, it's a mad house, and once I decide to make a purchase, I am also deciding to wait in line for 20-30 minutes, always surrounded by screaming children. But this got me Battleship and Guess Who, and a myriad of other wonderful things, so I make the choice willingly.

All of them are at least twenty years old - 80s/90s

But yesterday, I just didn't want to do it, so I went somewhere else (DAV baby! I love the veterans - What can I say?). And I'm grinning because it was like, the best decision ever. I found a total of nine (9!) of these stocking kits. They're already all listed, even though it was Sunday. I worked the rest of the day anyway because, hey, I wanted to, and I had the time, and there was a seven-year-old's birthday at some point, so I even got some cupcakes on a break during the afternoon.

I am really not very crafty - sorry folks

For whatever reason, December has been a great month thus far. I feel so much calmer, so much less anxious. There's nothing in particular that I'm looking forward to. I'm just, I dunno, better overall. But I also have a lot of paperwork that I'm avoiding, so maybe that has something to do with it. On to that now...peace out.

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl :)

Thrift Share - Feline Edition :)

Fritz Rudolf Hug - Tiger - Canvas Reproduction

So, I ended up at a wonderful estate sale on Saturday. It was being run by a company with several people working throughout the house. It was well organized, but not exactly clean. There was kitty litter spilled in the garage in a walkway that no one had bothered to sweep up.

Signed "Joy"

I have never seen anything like this woman's house. Everything was cat-related. There was a ton of cat jewelry. The perfumes were even cat related! Books, crafts, magazines, artwork. I was on a limited cash budget (as in, I only had $16 in cash), but I got all of this stuff that's pictured, plus a couple cat art and poetry books, and a non-cat painting. I felt really good about my finds.

Max Factor - "Primitif"

There was even a box full of vintage cat collars covered in rhinestones. I was sticking to the basics though, and didn't want to veer too far from what I knew would sell. Again, no smart phone = no instant research. My brain is my best (and only) asset.

Framed Paint by Number - Kittens

I don't know why people like paint-by-numbers so much. They're not my style. Also, I appreciate cats, but if I had a choice, I would choose dogs every time. I like to be loved unconditionally. What can I say?

Fritz Rudolf Hug - Leopard - Canvas Reproduction

These Hug reproduction canvases are fantastic. The top one is super hard to find. The bottom one is easier to find, but I couldn't find a solid name of the print, and neither of them was marked. The top one is called "Tiger on Red Background". I was very happy to find that. It took a while, but was definitely worth the research time.

I've had two returns this week from unsatisfied customers, and that always bums me out. One of them said I sent her an item covered in cat pee! I'm hoping it was some sort of freak accident, because I don't have any cats, and am very particular about smells on my items. We shall see (omg. I am drinking a ton of ice water today - so hot).

So there's your all-inclusive cat post. Peace out friends.

Single and in need

Oil + vinegar + seasonings = Homemade dressing

Are you married, or partnered? Is there a single (i.e. unmarried) person in your life that you love to love? If not, get one, and soon. The fate of single-kind rests in your hands. We are weak and unorganized. We tend to gather in groups, but real unity doesn't always stick. We need more stable entities to ground us, hold us to a neighborhood, a home. We need people who will stay even when that staying is not a civil agreement marked by the courts.

I don't know when I first started adopting families. I was probably about fifteen or so. I needed something that my own environment wasn't providing, and I looked far and wide for something boring to latch onto. I found that stable boring wonderful something in my best friend and her parents, who sat down every night at 9pm to have dinner together. I was always welcomed warmly, though I never had anything to give beyond my strong dish-washing abilities ;) Those moments helped me stay grounded in a chaotic world, and have served as a template for other families and other dinners.

Tonight, I shared one such dinner. We discussed pink slime and my current employment status. Many strawberries were eaten, and I had an extra helping of salad. It was wonderful because it was shared. I don't sit at home and cry when I eat dinner by myself. I enjoy silence quite a lot, and often long for it during the chaos of the day. But there are times, usually Saturday nights, when all I want is a family to eat dinner with. So thanks to all of my family friends, who welcome me warmly into their homes no matter what I'm wearing, or how much I monopolize the conversation.

Productive day!

I was so productive today. I put together my brand new printer! And I used it!

Last weekend, I bought a Brother laser printer, a shipping scale, and sheets of printable labels. Now I will be more productive during the week because I won't have to spend so much time at the post office. When the printer came to my house, I got ridiculously happy and jumped up and down. I've just been walking around with a big grin ever since.

Before the printer set-up, I cleaned my toilet. And before that, I went to a workshop on Human Trafficking. At some point during the afternoon, I took a long walk with the dog, and worked my brain hard thinking about my senior paper.

It was a very productive day.

Football and NASCAR

I went to an estate sale this morning. It looked as if the organizers had set everything up the night before, and then it rained. The children were organizing the home of their mother. When I bought my stuff, the woman at the table let me know that there was just too much work to sell stuff for what it was really worth. She also said I should come back next weekend, for the good stuff, which would also be victim to the curse of estate sales, and go for less than it's worth.

On the way home, I convinced myself that I shouldn't be annoyed by the people who act like they're doing me a favor when I take their junk. "It's just the grief talking," I tell myself. But there was no talk of death this morning, so it may have just been a move to a smaller location.

There was talk about football and NASCAR. They were all happy that football season was coming to a close, so then they could hit the track. Some were especially sad for "Junior", who just can't seem to make a go of it, and then compared the different tracks they like to go to.

It was a neat crowd. There was a neighbor walking around who admitted that she didn't really know the woman, but stuck around trying to be "helpful". There were some other guys trying to be helpful by telling the children that they should ask more for the horse trailer. Again, it was quite a crowd. Sometimes, I'm one of them, and sometimes I'm on the outside. Today, it was the latter.

Storage facility estate sale

 

Oh-mg. Storage facility estate sale. Only thirty minutes away. I felt so productive. I also didn't spend much. Not spending much makes me happy :) Also, I heard the girl at the front say they're doing it again in a couple weeks-and it supports a local performing arts center in a small farming town.

All in all, it was very dirty, and at some point, I turned the wrong way between rows of tables, and I broke something. Yikes. I offered to clean it up, and pay for the item, but they let it go-no biggee.

So, a lot of junk to go through, and some awesome finds. I found some Harley Davidson tailpipes (or mufflers-I'm not sure). I just couldn't get them. They were huge and I didn't know what they were, or if I'd even be able to sell them ethically (not knowing much about them). Now that I'm home, and looking up Harley Davidson parts, I think I could have gotten them.

It'll be about a week before I go through the lot and list everything. I will be sure to share my finds.

Chchchch...changes

Yesterday was an amazingly long day, but I think I helped some people, so it was absolutely worth it. Unfortunately, my schedule this semester is feeling pretty smushed, crunched, limited, etc. I'm starting to think that I am going to shift my thrifting a bit. I don't think I have the energy anymore to go every day. I'm thinking more about a weekend gig with focus on estate sales. I will try it out this weekend and report back to you with how it went. I think I avoided it last semester because I wanted the weekend to rest, but I think I can arrange it so that I still get rest and get sufficient shopping time.

Life update

I hate it when people get preachy on their blogs. I hope I never come across that way. Whatever I say is for my own enjoyment, really, and if anyone else likes it too, that's just icing on the cake. It is noteworthy that I love my readers, though, and love to make them happy (or just make them think).

We all know I've taken to hibernating on the weekends. Tomorrow, I am going to church, but I love not doing a thing on Saturday and Sunday. I wish that no one (including me) cared that I missed church, or didn't go to my small group on Sunday evenings. I wish that there were two more days in the week, so I could do it all.

I am getting a lot better at going through my stock more regularly. Why hold onto stuff that doesn't sell? Why let it clutter my already tight apartment? That's just silly, I say.

Christmas is coming. As I declutter, I am holding onto things that are good for other people as gifts. I have not been as successful this year at saving gifts for the six months prior to the holiday season. And at no point am I going to get a surge of energy in the next two weeks, so whatever is in my home right now, will have to do (Family, take note! You will not suffer).

I did me some yoga in my living room this evening. Pandora has a yoga station, and that was lovely background music. I'm getting better, stronger, and it feels really good.

I think I'm making Saturday evening my thriller film night. Maybe I will be inspired (like when I watched The Forgotten) and write something thrifty tomorrow when I return to the interweb.

An outbreak of shopping fever

I am not a "Black Friday Shopper". I think that the whole thing is bizarre, but there are people I love who celebrate it ritually, so I have had to decrease my negative feelings to a dull whine.

Honestly, I just hate crowds. I feel smothered. I feel invisible. I feel out of control. It's all disorienting, and for no good reason. A friend posted something on Facebook last year, to the effect of, "Avoid the crowds-Buy Handmade-Shop Etsy". So I enjoyed looking around at Etsy today, and adoring those vintage motorcycle boots (that I would look amazing in).

In spite of my "anti-consumerism" attitude, I am constantly managing my own drive to consume. And because of that, because even I struggle with it, I think we can all agree that people aren't anywhere near the end of personal consumption. I myself am somewhat in the business of selling, so I think rerouting is a perfectly appropriate way to manage the symptom (i.e. "Buy Local", "Buy Used", "Buy Handmade"). I have come to enjoy ordering online (and of course I recognize that it takes money away from my local economy, but I haven't figured out how to fix that yet).

Today, I have been happily sitting around in my pajamas, save for a brief obligatory trip to the post office. I slept until 11am, and it was lovely. Then I manned my shops, filled orders, and enjoyed the gentle hum of my space heater.

Now I'm watching Outbreak. A wonderful end to a beautiful day. I'm trying to figure out if I should go see Contagion this weekend. It's playing at the cheap theaters, but everyone I know who has seen it has not been impressed.

Enjoy the long weekend, if you have one. Hug a friend, if you're feeling lonely, or wishing you weren't with your family. Hug a friend if you aren't with your family and wishing you were. Hug a tree if you're none of the above.

Do your own dirty work

So I've been watching Mad Men on Netflix. I'm on Season 2, and there's a scene where the Draper family has a picnic and leaves all of their trash behind. It's a metaphor for all of the trash in their lives that they aren't willing to deal with; they're just leaving it for other people to clean up.

Cleaning up, or dealing with, your own garbage is a time-consuming and thankless task. All one gets is perhaps a self-directed pat on the back. Sometimes only you know what you've done. The greenbelt in front of my house is a full-time promenade for the neighborhood. It's always packed with groups of people and children, especially after school.

On a walk last night with the dogs, I noticed that there was trash everywhere. The riding lawnmower had been through, and made lots of big pieces into many more little pieces; it wasn't pretty. I didn't know how to handle it. Do I pick up other people's garbage to set an example? Do I ignore it because it isn't my problem? I thought about making signs that say "Respect the Greenbelt". It seemed like a communal message, "Let's take care of our shared space". But I know that I very rarely, if ever, am able to get someone to do what I think is right, so maybe I'll just hold off on the sign-making for right now.

Sometimes I wish I could throw my messes on someone else's doorstep. But I don't. "Why not?", you ask. Because I wouldn't go shit on someone's doorstep just to make them smell it. If it isn't productive, I don't need to whip it out and throw it around. That just causes more pain for everyone. There is no deserve. No one deserves pain. We all just kind of deal with it in the best way we can, and hopefully, along the way, we won't cause more of it.

Hopefully.

Labradors are a pain in the butt

I've taken a lovely weekend off, to watch a Law & Order marathon and celebrate Rosh Hashanah. I haven't done much else, although for the first time in years I went bar hopping last night with my mom and her friend. Wow. I have not been missing a single thing. I did get some sweet potato fries and a nice bruise on my knee, but I left too early in the evening to witness the lovely bar fight that later transpired at the final location. No lessons learned really, just a reminder of a life I have no intention of leading.

I believe that this evening's meal will be vegan, or at least vegan enough for me, so I am looking forward to some sort of tofu matzo ball. I've been ridiculously hungry the past 24 hours. Is it possible that my body recognizes when food is available and turns on the hunger switch? It's possible I suppose, evolutionarily speaking.

Finally, I've been taking a lot of walks with a certain dog who will remain nameless. She's a five-year-old black lab who was never really trained, and doesn't quite know how to live in the world. She also just lost her only canine friend, so she still might be grieving. I look forward to the day when I can have dogs again, but right now I've got enough on my plate. I do not have room in my life to spend my time looking for leaves to wipe up dog poo on the sidewalk, not enough room.