This is most likely the only post for this week, so read it carefully and treasure it always

Happy...uhm...Thursday!

It's been a bit of a hectic and busy week or so around these parts, hence the lack of posts.  My brother was here last week, and I've been spending this week getting ready for something special.  More on that in a minute.

Before I get into the post, I do want to assure everyone that I am okay and things are going pretty well.  I didn't mean to worry anyone with the lack of content here.

I had a wonderful visit with my brother last week.  We just kind of hung out and ate and talked and stuff we never really get to do any more.  It was so nice to see him and just sit and talk for hours.  I am planning on making a visit down to see him in the fall.

We did a little junking together.  He's an eBay seller, so he's always on the hint.  I took him to the Peddlers Mall, plus the Goodwill and the Saint Vincent de Paul that are across the road.  He loved the thrift stores and made several good buys there.  The Peddlers Mall overwhelmed him with its size, complexity and selection, but he really liked it too.  There's nothing to compare with it where he lives, except for a couple of antique malls that never get a lot of traffic.

He also said that he liked my booths, which meant a lot to me.

Keith took some pics, but has not had time to download them off his camera yet.  He's getting ready for the special thing too.  When the pics are downloaded, I'll post one or two here.  In the meantime, just imagine two devastatingly handsome dudes with a family resemblance.

We also exchanged junk gift boxes.  Mine had a Hummel Madonna in it, which is something I have always wanted for my collection. 

Our Lady of the Dusty Knick Knack Shelf

We spent a lot of time talking about how to kick our respective endeavors up to the next level.  I think we need to move to the same city and throw our lots in together.

Saturday was about beating the rain for the yard sales.  We didn't do very well at it, because we got started very late that morning.  It was already sprinkling at the first sale we went too.  We managed to fill Mazda with the first three sales, so we had to unload at the house.

After that, we stuck with the indoor church sales on the list.  There were three of those.  By the time we got to the second one, it was pouring.  The rain and the rush kind of killed the Mazda shot potential for the day.  Many of the large items have already sold, but here's a shot of the smalls.  See if you can find Waldo. 

Just kidding.  He's not there.  But you might find Jack Kennedy and Jar Jar Binks instead.  The spirit of my grandmother took that pic, which explains why the top row is cut off.  I grew up believing that my grandfather didn't really have a head, since it was always cut off in photos.

This has been the most frustrating month for booth sales.  I'm selling every day, including some large items, but just not enough.  I've kind of structured myself price-wise to sell lots of small, under five buck, flea market style items every day.  The furniture, large stuff, and higher-priced smalls are the gravy that pushes a day from good to fantastic when the totals come in.  Since the higher-priced stuff doesn't always sell, that still gives me a chance at a good day on the smaller, cheaper stuff every day.

Except that here lately, the smaller, cheaper stuff has not been selling as well.  That almost never happens!  I've been selling shelves like mad again, but I only sell about half the typical cheap stuff, which drives my total down.  It's an odd kind of doldrum.  I am so far off target for the month, I don't know if I will ever catch up.  At least, I am still selling something every day. 

Tuesday was treatment number three.  I was scheduled early, so I was in and out before noon, which was nice.  It's getting to where the longest part of the day is waiting for the labs so the clinic can order the drug from the pharmacy.  The infusion takes no time at all.  After my next infusion, I'll have a scan, so we can finally see if this is working or not.

I've been rushing around a lot this week trying to get things done because we are going on vacation Saturday.  We're flying to San Francisco until June 1!  I'm pretty excited, as we've not been to SF in over ten years.  We used to go all the time, so I'm interested to see how things have changed.

We've got someone to take care of Chiquito and make sure that the bathroom faucet gets turned on for him.  We don't leave until 4:00 in the afternoon on Saturday, so I am trying to convince Keith that there's enough time for a yard sale or two, if there are any in our neighborhood.

I still have a lot to do before we leave.  Laundry and packing for one.  Or is that two?  I also need to get a prescription refilled before we leave.  I am trying really hard to get everything in the house that needs to be priced taken care of, so I don't have to deal with it when I get back.  Doing the comic books just about wore Chiquito out.

Tomorrow is booth day.  I'm gonna cram it full of stuff and pray that it holds until I get back.  I'm also going to try and sweet talk the manager into making sure that stuff isn't sitting on the floor while I'm gone.

I'd like to clean off this desk, as it is giving me a nervous break down, but I don't know that I'll get to it.  I also have to convince Keith that going to thrift stores is a thing real people do when they are on vacation.  He's afraid that I'll buy an armoire and  try to sneak it in my carry on bag.  Silly man.  Doesn't he know that's what UPS is for?  I'll just price it and have that sucker shipped right to the store!

On that note, I gotta run.  I need to get more price tags and Goodwill has been calling my name all week long.  I need to see what that's about.  I'm planning some short, silly posts while I'm gone.  And maybe one long one.  I might do a Monday Rambles, but I'm not sure about that.  I'll be posting pics to Facebook, so you can check out what I've been up to there, if you want.

Just so you don't forget what I look like:

Monday Rambles

So, I declared early on last week:

"I'm not going to any yard sales this weekend."

Very confidently, I stated:

"I have enough stuff for right now."

Then, I predicted:

"I'm going to spend Saturday working in the storage unit and pull stuff out of there to take over."

By Tuesday, I was remembering:

"Oh sheesh!  That one church sale where I got that awesome school desk last year is this weekend."

So, I decided:

"Maybe one won't hurt."

On Wednesday, I got an email from the comic shop:  Nerd Herd Sidewalk Sale on Saturday! 

And I thought:

"Really?  Right after Free Comic Book Day? C'mon!"

Thursday, I saw a sign for a fundraiser sale being held by the local funky puppet group.

So, I rationalized:

"Well, it's near the house.  And funky puppet groups = funky stuff for sale."

Finally, on Friday, I came to my senses made a total liar out of my self and checked Craigslist.

I am weak.

On the other hand, I have this to show for my moral failings:

So maybe it's not so bad being a total hypocrite.  I'm not even going to mention my declaration that it would be a short day out at the sales, so I could still work in the unit.  In reality, we left the house at 9, and I was walking out of the Peddlers Mall after dropping stuff of at 6.  I just ain't real good at these declarations.

There are smalls, of course, for tomorrow.  This haul doesn't include the two bikes we bought either or the TV I got off a curb in front of a church.  Or the shorts I bought at Goodwill.  I really needed those shorts.  It's already July hot here.  I think this summer is going to be a scorcher.  We've already put the AC unit in the window.

My brother arrives on Wednesday, so I am not sure what posting will be like after that.  I'll try, but no promises.  I want to take him junking, but he's only going to be here a couple of days, so I want to get him to the best spots in town.  He sells lots of clothes, purses, shoes and the like, which is so not my area.  He also does sports stuff.  We may go to the larger thrifts in the better parts of town.  The clothes are always better at those.  That's where I head when I need clothing anyway.  Fashion plate that I am.  (Ha!)

Booth sales have been in the toilet all week.  It is just so very weird that the best day I have had so far this month has been (of all days) Derby!  Somewhere pigs are flying and icicles are hanging in hell.

Yesterday really stunk, but it was Mother's Day, so it was kind of expected, I guess.  Just because I would (and did!) take my mom to the flea market on Mother's Day doesn't mean everyone else would.  Although they should.  I bet lots of moms secretly want to get taken to flea markets on their special day, but no one has ever asked them.  Maybe I need to start a movement.  

See ya!

Monday Rambles

It's a winter wonderland, it is!  And school is cancelled.  I am fighting the urge to crawl back into bed right now.  I really need to get out in this mess and go to that hot mess of a booth and try to whip it into shape.  With all of the other...well, let's call them distractions right now, I have not gotten my Christmas out. Gasp!  It kills me to think how many sales I have missed. I spent most of yesterday there just cleaning it up, and now I'm ready to restock.  I have so many empty spaces on the shelves.

Fortunately, I have plenty waiting to fill  them up.  My brother and his wife came up this weekend, so a family junking expedition was in order.  He has just started serious selling on eBay right now, plus he has a new side junking venture he shares with two other people.  Basically they have a warehouse full of estate sale leftovers that they open on weekends for folks to dig around in.  Sounds like a dream to me.  I have to visit there when all these damn treatments are over.

I took them to a couple of thrifts, plus a dude in our neighborhood who rents out a storefront to sell foreclosure clear out stuff.  We also hit one of the wildest sales I have ever been to.  More on that later in the week.  I have some stories to tell that need the pics of finds to go with them.

Da Bros Mitchell are on da loose!

There was a small family get-together on Saturday night to belatedly celebrate my birthday.  I decided earlier that I wanted a reason to see my cousins in a setting that wasn't in a funeral home.  We had a great time eating yummy Mexican food and laughing and talking.  We need to do that more often.

Me and Danny with our Uncle Mike and his daughter Maria

  

Plus their spouses (spice?)

Plus my soon-to-be spouse!

Safe to say a good time was had by all.

This is the first week in what seems like forever that I do not have some sort of cancer-related procedure or treatment scheduled, which is a relief.  Over the weekend, Keith took on the massive task of cleaning out our junk room, and I have some bits and pieces of tidying to do to finish that off. 

I'm starting to get a little bit of a rash on my belly from the shots, but it's not enough right now to crack out the steroids.  I'm going to try some Eucerin or similar lotion first.  I've also go to really get the holiday mojo going at my booth empire.  Sales have been okay this month, but the recent cold weather has not helped.  Today will be dead.  The store might even close early.

To give you an idea of how much work I have to do today:  I took my brother and his wife to see my booths, even though I was completely embarrassed about the shape they were in.  My sister-in-law started cleaning them!  I told the manager that I wasn't sure which was more pathetic, that my booth was so bad my sister-in-law was cleaning it or that I was letting her do it.  hey!  You gotta take the help where you can get it.  If they'll bring the kids next time, they can probably knock the whole thing out in short order!  (Seriously, thanks for the help, Mary Pat!)

Holiday Monday Rambles

Happy Labor Day!  Just kind of kicking back today.  Actually, I'll be sort of kicking back all week, since I'm off.  Budget cuts run down hill, and, thanks to sequester, our program has about a $300,000 cut to absorb for this year.  As a result, the center where I work has to close this week.  I know the reality is that I'm being furloughed without pay, but it honestly feels kind of like this:



(A couple of things that kind of tickle me about that video:  Gina mouthing the beat counts while she's drumming and the totally stoned look on Belinda's face when they're doing the water ski bits.)

It wasn't a planned time off, but it's really welcome.  I have needed a few days to catch up, rest, and breathe since June.  I always tried to take minimal time off through the chemo, even going in some days when I really shouldn't have.  (One time they sent me home.)  Those last months it was pretty obvious that I was putting the minimum effort I had to into things, because that was all I had to give.

Even though, I'm feeling a lot better now, there's still just a little lag in me that's calling out for a few days of not having to report anywhere or meet any expectations.  I know I'm not getting paid, but this week is a godsend for me.

I'm not totally off either.  My night sessions will still take place on Tuesday and Thursday, but going in at 5 for a couple of hours on those days still gives me a major break the rest of the week.

I'm planning to spend the week resting, of course.  I'll do some reading and a little housework.  Now that I am feeling better, it's time to take some of my responsibilities back from Keith's shoulders.  He's done a great job handling the load since January, but he can't do it alone.  I'm also going to get the blog back on schedule.  My hiatus messed up my scheduling, and I'm still getting that straightened out.

Of course, there will be some booth work.  It's time to get some Halloween and harvest items out.  I'll also try to squeeze in a little thrifting along the way.

These guys will be the first to go to the booth.  I was pricing them last night.  The foam pumpkins are from the 80's and I think they're super fun.  I got them over the weekend.  There's a foam witch head too, but you can't see her.  She's behind the pumpkin on the right.

It was too hot to do any yard sales over the weekend (and they're really weren't any listed worth going to), so we went to the big flea market instead.  The Labor Day show is when they have the special antique wing, and there's always some bargains there in amongst the big ticket stuff.  I didn't get too much, and part of what I did get is actually stuff for me or for the house, but I did make a killer comic score.  (More on that in a later post.)

Mainly, the trip was about seeing the interesting stuff.

Very interesting stuff.

 

Very interesting, indeed.

Apparently, it was lady legs day at the flea market!

As a rule, I don't like things that are faux-aged or distressed.  But I did like this guy's large metal letters and stuff.  I loved that he used the typographic symbols!

I got one of these big foam fingers for my brother, because he's such a Miley Cyrus fan  he's a big University of Kentucky fan.  Since he lives in Tennessee, I always get him something UK-themed for Christmas.

It's kind of interesting that there wasn't a University of Louisville fan merch booth there, as well.

Among the other things I intend to do this week is get some of my recent finds photographed and posted, plus lots of pricing and packing things.  I'm way behind on that.  My junk room is a disaster right now.

All together now:

Vacation!  All I ever wanted!

I'll be humming it all week long.

Mini-Monday Rambles

First off, Happy Birthday to my niece Claire who became a teenager yesterday! I think my brother and his wife probably aged a few years themselves overnight!

Thanks so much to everyone who had kind thoughts for the return of the blog and for my own birthday. It's much appreciated. It's not so good to be older, but it's nice to be appreciated and great to be getting back in the groove.

Roger the omniscient offered a bit of blogging advice to my post about not posting last week:

"My suggestion is for you, when the muse is on, is to space the posts more often, every two or three days, particularly the ones that aren't time sensitive, such as a video you like."

That's good advice, Roger, and always appreciated!  Actually, that's what I had been doing for the longest time.  During those periods when the blog is really working, I've actually had a plan and had things scheduled out, especially the videos, which I would put down for a couple of times a week using Blogger's ability to schedule posts. 

I would write my Monday Rambles posts a bit at a time throughout the week and polish and publish them on Monday.  Everything else would get worked on a little at a time and then scheduled when finished. It was really working well for me.  It's actually a system that allows for an occasional bout of depression or procrastination to set in.  But when I had a near long summer in tech-less land, I used up everything I had cooked up and then had no way to create more. 

I'm building my way out of that hole this week and next and hope to have the rest of the year blocked out soon.  I'd like to still break 100 posts this year.  I've done 55 so far, so it is doable.  We'll see.

You know what's really sad about getting older? For about a month or so, I'd been preparing to turn 48 on November 4. 48 is kind of a cool number. It's awfully close to 50, but it's divisible by 2,4,3,6,8, and 12! That's kind of awesome, in a nerdy way. Then it hit me a couple of weeks ago: I was born in 1964! 2011-1964=47! I'm only 47! Bummer! Never thought I'd be disappointed about being younger.

Spent the weekend doing all kinds of amazing second-shopping, which I think is going to end up inspiring several posts. I've been having some interesting thoughts lately about the relationships we have with our stuff. It's still ruminating at the moment, but will make its way to the blog at some point or another.

In that vein, here is a thought that did hit me yesterday, when I was browsing through a booth of made in China, dollar store crap:

"Is there going to be a generation of kids who grow up to look fondly on badly made, mass-produced, poly-resin angel figurines because they remember that their mothers had one? Is this crap really going to be tomorrow's antiques?"

That sound you hear is Sue's head exploding.

When Irish Eyes are...Swedish?

Thought about saving this one for St Patrick's Day, but realized I might forget I was saving it, so here it is. Besides, I'm Irish on my maternal grandmother's side all year round! So why not acknowledge it in true Muppet style?



This song always makes me think of my brother, whose name is Herman Reginald Fernando Danny. The vid is nutty enough that he would really like it, so I'm dedicating this to him.