Catch Up Updates

After several days of anti-biotics, I have arisen from the sick bed!  And taken a shower!

And there was much rejoicing.

I still have the damn cough, but I'm bouncing back and on the mend.  Thanks to everyone for your get well wishes and patience.  It's been a bit too long since I've blogged.  So, let's catch up, shall we?

Except for being sick, Thanksgiving was really nice for us.  We never really seem to have enough time to spend in Arkansas, but that (and being sick) was really the only downside.  We were actually going to stay longer this time around, but that would have required rescheduling my treatment last Tuesday, and Keith's mother would not entertain that idea in the least.

Keith's mother and I have both been hinting at a summer visit, when we could stay a little longer and not have so long between visits.  Keith thinks that it would be too expensive to do that, but I think I have a plan that might make it possible.  We'll see....

I've always felt kind of bad that we spent so much more time over the years with my mother than we have been able to with his, simply because of the distance.  He and his mother are as close as I was with mine, and I would do just about anything to have them see each other more often while that's still possible.  

Any chance to see Keith's mom is worth it because she is such a jewel.  We tried beforehand to convince her that there was no need for a huge spread for Thanksgiving.  We were happy just to be with her.  When we got there, however, she kept pulling out dish after dish after dish and setting them on the table.  Her one compromise was that she bought the potato salad, instead of making it!

It was a good thing we had plenty of food, because Keith's brother came to dinner as well.  To be honest, Keith's relationship with his brother is, well, a bit strained.  This isn't the place to really go into the reasons, but we were surprised to learn he was coming.  The meal was cordial enough.  Everyone behaved and we all had good conversation.  They all even continued visiting after I went back to the hotel to rest.  We still have no idea why he decided to make the trip, but Keith's mother was ecstatic to have all of us there at once, and that's all that matters.   Oh yeah, everything was delicious!   

Since I was sick, I didn't get to visit with Keith's elderly aunt, whom I adore.  She's in her 90's, and I didn't want to pass anything on to her.  She's another sweetheart.I think everyone in town knows her.

Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving, aka "Black Friday"), we set out for the mall in the nearest big city.  Yes, the mall.  On Black Friday.  I had to go.  It's tradition.  Several years ago when we were visiting, Keith's mom decided that she didn't like the look of Keith's shoes and that he needed new ones.  Not willing to take "no" for an answer, she swept us off to the mall and the shoe section of Sears.  Once we were there, she decided that it was only fair that I got a new pair of shoes as well.  I really protested this, but to no avail.  It's been our Thanksgiving tradition ever since. 

The shopping trip doesn't always fall on Black Friday.  Usually, it's a couple of days before Thanksgiving, but our trip schedule was different this year.  Honestly, I'm not wild about this tradition.  It's terribly sweet of her, but shoes aren't cheap.  I hate her spending that much money on us, especially when we don't often actually need the shoes.  Right now, I am wearing a pair I bought two years ago at the JC Penney Outlet that closed here.  I wear shoes until they have no life left in them before getting rid of them.  I still have pairs from the last two years to get to before wearing the pair we got this trip.  It feels like a wasteful use of her money to me.

Still, it's her money, her choice.  She is being sweet, and I don't want to hurt her feelings.  I thought we weren't going to do it this year.  I had Keith talked into finding an alternative--I had suggested going to a different town, doing some fun shopping, having coffee, and just hanging out for a while.  He's not any more of a fan of the mall than I am, but she would not hear of not getting shoes.

So I have shoes.

I already had Batman boxers.

And Batman socks.  Because Batman socks. And clearance. These were free by the way.  I used Keith's Sears points to pay for them.

Oh, yeah.  I may have gotten a bit of thrifting in.  Just maybe.  Hee hee hee!  Tune in later for that.

So, today, I am wandering out for the first time since we got back.  I have got to get over to the booth, which I know has to be a total wreck at this point.  It's been nearly two weeks since I have been there. True to booth logic, however, the longer I go without coming over, the stronger sales get.  Seriously.  December is young, but it's strong.

Which is good because November never really caught on.  I was having a mini-rally right before Thanksgiving, which had me thinking I could still pull a good month out, as long as Black Friday weekend was strong--which it wasn't.  It was just average, and so November became average as well.  Average is better than below average, but I was really wanting to build a fall streak of super-duper months.  Color my hopes dashed.

I do need to get out there, as most of my big ticket Christmas stuff has sold, and I need to put more out.  I also need to get caught up on everyone's blogs and emails.  I'll do that this weekend.  There's an indoor all Christmas yard sale at a church that I'm planning to hit, plus a library book sale.  Our favorite holiday event is Saturday night, and I am looking forward to that as well.

I think I still have time to pull off all the holiday surprises I had planned for the blog, so keep checking back.  A little vintage.  A little oddity.  A little cheer.  Just the way I like to celebrate. 

Stay warm and stay well..

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Think of this one as "Road Trip" part 2.  Or as Post 1,001.  Either one will work.

Since the main purpose for the trip was to decorate Mom's stone, I'd be remiss if I forgot to mention that and show a few pics.

I forgot to take a before pic, but I snatched two really ratty hanging pots of flowers and pitched them.  Keith saw me do that and thought I was taking flowers off random graves!  Silly man!  I bought the blue saddle arrangement at the big flea market and the Mom thing at a thrift.

Mom's and Dad's stones.  Keep in mind that they weren't married when he died in 2006 (and hadn't been for over two decades), but here they are, side by side.  I have an odd family.

We used the veteran's plaque from the VA for Dad's headstone.  I know most folks usually use them as footstones.  See the odd family remark above.  It also just really fit for my dad.  Being in the Army was a huge part of his life.  he never really got very far away from it after he retired.  We (or at least I) plan to get "Mother" and "Father" footstones for them, at some point.  Various family members pass through and keep American flags flapping on all the veterans' graves.  They'll have to add my grandfather to the list.

Speaking of my grandfather, I always have to visit the generations whenever I go to the cemetery.  I was fortunate to have my great-grandparents into my young adulthood, so I have memories of all three generations before me that are buried in that cemetery.  I must bore Keith with my stories when we go.

My grandparents--Mom's parents.  His side is still fresh from the funeral.  I can't help but wonder how his widow felt watching him get buried beside my grandmother.  I always do a doubletake whenever I see the dates on her side of the stone.  It surely can't be almost twenty years since she died.  That's like a lifetime ago!  I still miss her so much.  We lost her so suddenly.  I'm the oldest grandchild on that side of my family.  She and I really bonded.

My grandfather's parents.  I never really knew them all that well, even though she lived in a backroom at my grandparents' house for years.  I used to sit back there and watch TV with her sometimes.

My grandmother's parents.  They were the most awesome people.  I was in seminary when they died, and actually officiated at her funeral.  That was the highlight of my brief career as a ministerial student and one of the highlights of my life.  It kind of shocks me to think how long ago that was.  I was just a kid! I was almost exactly half as old then as I am now.  In the half of my life lived since then, all of the prior generations of my family have joined them in that cemetery.  Keith thinks it's kind of strange that they got married on Christmas Day.  It was always just a part of family lore when I was growing up.

We timed everything just right, because it started raining right as we finished and were leaving the cemetery!  Graveside spruced up and mission accomplished!

ROAD TRIP!

Saturday, we loaded up the car and headed out on a brief road trip.  At my grandfather's funeral, I noticed that the flowers on my parents' graves were really weatherbeaten and tattered.  The cemetery is not far away from Louisville, but it's far enough that we don't get over there very often.

This is the kind of thing we could have done in a day trip--just pop down there and back--but I wanted to make a bit of an adventure out of it.  I planned for us to take the old highways, rather than the parkway, and hit the flea markets and thrifts along the way.  I also got us a totally unnecessary hotel room, because I wanted to make it an overnight trip.

Usually by this point in the summer, I've gone camping with Keith at least once.  With the chemo, I'm just not up to roughing it, but I really wanted to get away with him. So, even though my old hometown is less than two hours away, I still got us a room.

Unfortunately the junking was not good.

First stop was an antique mall that I've always wanted to stop in.  It was totally not my kind of place.

 Seriously not my kind of place.  With prices to match, I might add.  Although I did see a couple of cool things, like these replicas of the Chinese terracotta warriors.

I even made a new friend, although I'm not quite sure if her intentions are honorable.

I also saw one of those old-timey comic book racks like they used to have in store when I was a kid.  I've always wanted one!  It's kind of sad to see the dilapidated older comics sagging out of it.  Those are not the most practical means of long-term storage and display for comics, because they don't provide adequate support.  You would think someone who is trying to get $28 or $52 out of a comic would know that.  Just about everything on the rack was really ratty from being stored there too long.

I was most looking forward to hitting the Bowling Lanes Flea Market.  I have fond memories of shopping there as a kid.  Sadly, my memories from Saturday are not as fond.  I only bought like two or three things.  

The lot where the flea is used to be home to a bowling alley.  All that's left now is the sign.  When I was a kid, the building was still there.  People used to set up all over the parking lot.  There are still outdoor set-ups today, but there weren't very many on Saturday.  I think it might have been the heat or forecasted storms.

There's also an indoor component, which was totally missable.  Every booth was a wreck, and over half the vendors weren't even present in their spaces.  It was really disappointing.  As usual, at these indoor/outdoor kinds of set ups, the best shopping was found outdoors.  There just wasn't much of it.

Since shopping had been so light, I decided to hit a vendor mall.  Pickings were slim there too.  How slim?  This slim:

To be honest, I did put a couple more things in the cart right after I took this pic.  Still wasn't much of a haul.

I did come across this great new idea for booth security and theft deterrent that I cannot wait to try in mine.

There were probably some bargains in this bin, but I'll never know.  I'm all about the digger booth, but not when I have to bend over with my butt in the air!  Ain't happening.

I did see Donna while I was there.

After this we hit a thrift that wasn't all that thrifty.  We have a couple of these kinds of places in Louisville.  They call themselves "upscale resale."  They're very selective in what they accept for donations, so their prices are way out of line with the typical thrift experience.  I did find a few things, but I don't think I'll be heading back.  I give the ones in Louisville wide berth too.

After a nice drive through the country, we finally hit my old hometown.  We stopped first at a local vendor mall, where again I bought very little, but I did get flashed.

Then we headed to the cemetery (more on that in a few days), and checked into the hotel.  I was kind of glad I had made a reservation, as we were both pretty wiped by that point.  We had a nice Mexican dinner (my favorite), then retired for the evening.  I kind of overextended myself and did way too much walking.  I could hardly move once I got settled in a comfy chair.

The next morning was lovely.  The hotel's free breakfast included fresh pancakes, which was nice.  After we enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast, we had a long talk together in which.....

Keith proposed and I accepted!

After all these years, he's going to make an honest woman out of me!  We're still working out the details.  We want to do it in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, with an eye to retiring there, if the rest of DOMA is not overturned in the next few years.  No matter what you may hear on the news, key components of the law are still in effect.  I'll probably have more to share about all of this as it develops.