2015-2016 Rambles

It is said that there are only two things in life that are certain.  Those would be death and taxes.  When it comes to this blog, however, there are at least three certainties.

1. At least half the photos will be crap.
2. The blogger will never be very good at his job.
3.  Whenever you read that posting will resume "tomorrow," then you can expect at least another two weeks (or more) before a post finally appears.

Is anyone even still out there?

If you look back over the last few years of this blog, you'll find that I inevitably seem to flake out right around the holidays and totally disappear.  Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, life just overwhelms me and the blog suffers.  Interestingly, I don't really do that much holiday celebrating any more.  The only gifts to get are for Keith, my brother and Keith's mom.  We haven't decorated or done any baking since my mother first got sick.  If anyone ever gets a Christmas card for me, guard it like a double-bag collector's item, because that sucker is a rarity for sure!  Yet, despite all of this, the end of the year seems to swallow me up like a black hole.

I know my prolonged absence made some of you worry, and I am sorry for that, but deeply touched at the same time.  You all are just so sweet and I am lucky to have each of you in my life.  I owe several of you emails, blog comments, and post catch ups.  I'll get to it, hopefully soon.  If I don't, know that I do think about you all a lot.  I had no idea that this little blog would bring so many great people into my life.

Speaking of being in touch, any of you that have my mailing address, please contact me by email.  After years of declining service, we finally did away with the PO Box.  If you want it, I'll be glad to give you the home address.

Okay, so where to begin?

Let's start with this. He always makes people smile.

Keith's mother gave him that quilt for Christmas.  One of his aunts made it for a fund-raiser at one of the churches that his mom attends and she ended up winning it.  It's really pretty, and Chiquito just loves it!  He's claimed it as his own.

In other Chiquito news, Keith relented and made me a 2016 Chiquito calendar.  I'll get the Jan and Feb pics up soon.  Well, before March, at least.  He told me to warn you all that this one might be the last one.  He thinks that you're going to find pic after pic of Chiquito to be "repetitive."  I told him he didn't know you all.

Speaking of Christmas, I also got this,which of course I love!  Two more pairs of socks came with it!

I get tons of compliments when I wear it!  He also made me a Kosh calendar, but it makes me kinda sad, so I keep it stashed on my desk.  I had asked him to make me a memory book of Kosh pics, like he did for our other kitties who have passed on, but he hasn't had a chance to track down all the pics yet.  The calendar was to hold me over until he could.

Something we did not realize about having a Christmas Eve anniversary is that it is awfully hard to find a place to go for dinner.  We finally got a corrected copy of our marriage license, so Keith is not the officiating judge any more.  He had a couple of our wedding pics blown up and printed out on canvas for me.  We're doing some rearranging at the house, so they'll probably go in the bedroom, when it's done.

The other day, while I was searching for a clean pair of jeans, I came across this:

That's the 70's Batman comic logo, by the way.  I had forgotten I had that one.  Finding made me remember that I also have a shirt with the TV show logo on it, which I now have to find.  I have a nerdrobe and didn't even know it!

Ignore my hair in that pic, please. I'm growing it out in hopes of finally having the ponytail I've always dreamed of.  I've tried it before, but always got frustrated when I got to this shaggy, unmanageable state.  The top and sides aren't long enough to pull back yet, and it's driving me nuts.  I'm determined to see it through this time.  I think it's a midlife crisis thing.  I'm also pondering bleaching it totally white and piercing my nose.

This happened a couple of weeks ago.

It was really the first bad weather of the winter for us and wasn't nearly as bad as it got in other places, but it was enough.  The streets in front of and behind our house are kind of major ones, and traffic was crawling along them for a couple of days afterwards.  The Peddlers Mall was closed for a day and a half.  Sales sucked all freaking week long.  Chiquito told me that the best thing to do was stay in, drink hot chocolate, eat popcorn and take naps, so I did.  He was right.

Speaking of the booth, some of you all want new pics, but it's going to be a while.  Things are a bit rough in all my spaces right now.  December was an excellent month for me, but January sucked.  My total sales were the lowest they've been in a long while.  Bad weather was part of it, but the rest of it was mainly my fault.  For some reason (winter blahs?), I just could not seem to pull it together, get the Christmas out, restock everything, and tidy it all up. 

Usually, I leave the Christmas in through the first week in January, then spend the next week clearing it all out and redoing everything.  Those first two weeks are usually a little slow anyway, and that gives me time to get the booth ready for the end of the month, when the early early birds have gotten their tax refunds.

I could not seem to get moving this year.  Part of it was that I decided to leave some bits of Christmas scattered around my spaces.  I marked everything that had been through more than two seasons down and shoved them on a couple of bottom shelves.  It's out of the way.  It fills shelves people don't access a lot, so the booth looks fuller.  It also gives the adventurous folks (and holiday lovers) some bargains to hunt for,

I also left all my holiday glasses and dishes on another bottom shelf.  I'm down to very few of them, and they've sold year round for me before.  The books and music I worked into the book booth.  None of that took very long.  The hold up came when I decided that I should make a year round vintage Christmas section. 

I had already pulled everything, and it was piled in carts.  All I needed to do was clear a shelf for it and sort through it.  That became the hold up.  Three different attempts to designate an existing shelf totally failed.  I ended up heading to Sorrow Mountain in hunt for a new shelf, rearranging things a bit, then making my vintage Christmas section.  It took forever, as the snow happened in the middle of all this.  The result was I had carts of stuff and empty boxes cluttering my booth and scaring off customers.

Sometimes, it's really obvious that I do not have a clue what I am doing.

Three days in, however, and February seems to be doing much better for me.  I'm thinking that tax money is trickling in, finally.  Thanks to taxes, February and March can be good months.

To switch to a better note, my scans are coming back clear!  The treatments continue, of course, but the docs (and me) are really pleased with the results.  I'm on the same drug that Jimmy Carter is getting, by the way.  I've been referring to it as "the presidential treatment."  I'll have what the President is having, please.  I'll be due for another scan in a month or so.

It's a bit of a busy week here.  I'm benignly neglecting the booth, because it's junk set out weekend in our neighborhood.  The winter set out is always a little iffy, but the weather is supposed to be mild all week, so the pickings might be pretty good.  I've got a bit of cabin fever, so I am raring to go hunting.
I've also got stuff that needs to go out to the curb.  I have two bookshelves that are seriously falling apart and need to go.  I have replacements on Sorrow Mountain, of course.  I've been putting off dealing with these for a while, partly because I'm convinced that it's only the weight of the stuff on them that is holding them together and upright.  Seriously, they're that far gone.  I'm afraid it's going to be like playing Jenga on a large scale. One wrong move and I'm buried in books.

At least this time, if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know what happened.

Let's close out with a backlog of fortune cookie wisdom.

I certainly try to do this one.

Well, thank you!

I was sure this meant I had the winning Power Ball ticket.  Alas!

I got all excited at the last one from Po!  I never got a fortune from a Teletubby before!  Po! Po! Po!  Then I realized that it was the Kung Fu Panda dude, which makes more sense from a fortune cookie perspective.  Personally, I think what the world needs right now is Teletubby fortune cookies.

What's in Mazda?

It was a lovely day yesterday.  There were even a couple of sales.

Therefore, I proudly present: 

THE FIRST MAZDA SHOT OF 2016!

Ignore the propane tank.  That's Keith's.  Also, the white wad of bags beside the tank is bound for recycling.

So, what do you see in Mazda?

Music for MLK Day

Taht one would have been Saturday's Retro Y'all, but I kind of forgot to post it.  I'm a little out of practice.  heh.

Not the best quality on this one, but it was either this version or someone's shakycam concert footage.







I had no idea there was an official music video for that one.  I was going to use a Farm Aid concert clip until I found it.  Wow.

There will be a ramble tomorrow.

Have you seen me?

Hello.

Have you seen me?

I think I'm lost.  At least, I haven't been heard from in a while!

I'm not sure when or where I was last seen, but if you have any information about my whereabouts, please let Chiquito know.

Seriously, I've been away for a while, which was largely unplanned.  Partly, I've just gotten way behind and a little overwhelmed.  Partly, it's a touch of the winter blahs.  Partly (mostly), it's just me being a little lazy.  Partly, it's yet another head cold.  Mainly, it's me being a bad blogger.

Overall, I am fine, just out of touch.  I understand some of you all have been worried about the lack of blogs and I am really, really sorry for that.  I never meant to make anyone worry!  Please, please accept my apologies for that.  Really.

I'm planning on getting back into the swing of things next week.

Have a good weekend.  Stay well.  Stay warm.

Don't worry.  I'm all right.

Retro Y'all! Holiday Edition

I originally intended for all the December Retro Y'alls to be novelty songs, but this one kept coming back to mind over and over again.  The song I had originally chosen for this week didn't quite seem appropriate, given all that's going on right now.

For too many people, the world is a scary place right now.  In that light, this was the only choice to make.

Do they know it's Christmas time?

Retro Y'all! Holiday Edition!

I had to bend the rules for this one, but there was no way in heck that I was not going to include it.



I always try to find a period performance video by the original artist to go with my selections, but there just wasn't one this time.  There were lots of vids using the original recording in the video, but this is the one I really, really liked, even though I'm pretty sure it's a cover.  Those guys are having too much fun.  So I'm using this one in the spirit of the holiday.

Out of all the Christmas novelty songs that have ever been recorded, this one is certainly a front-runner for the oddest, which is why I love it so.

By the way, Santa's donkey was really named Nestor.  I think I would wanna be called Dominick too, if my name were Nestor.

No offense meant to any Nestors out there.  Really.

Gather 'round!

 Come join the circle!  I have a tale to tell.  A tale of a wonderful, far away place.  A place called "Arkansas."

This is a land of plentiful thrift shops.  I found four on one street!  Some have familiar names--Goodwill and Salvation Army--but others have different names, like MARVA.  One legendary store is referred to as the SCT (Super Cheap Thrift) by one beloved local.  Alas, I did not get to behold those glories (of the SCT and the beloved local) at this time.  Perhaps on a future trip.

Plentiful treasures are found within these shops! 

Items are priced in cents, instead of the usual dollars.  When there is something priced in dollars, more often than not, it's only one dollar and not several.  What prices!  What treasures!  Things practically fall into your cart and you walk out with bags full of stuff, all for less than five bucks!

There are even stores where things aren't priced, so you don't know what you're in for until you get to the register.  Now, this is not an ideal situation, as you are set up for a nasty surprise,

but in Arkansas, the surprises are always pleasant.  You know you're in good hands when your pile of stuff gets you a "How about three bucks?" from the friendly cashier.

Oh, yeah.  The cashiers are always friendly.

Even the antique malls are havens of affordable delight, which is not something I can always say.  Have you ever seen a booth in an antique mall with a sign that says:  "BARGAIN BOOTH!  Everything a dollar or less?"  I have.

It's in Arkansas.

Arkansas.  Truly a junker's paradise.  You have to experience it for yourself.

If you do go, don't forget to check out my man, Fred.  I always have to go to Fred's when I visit.  Look at all the Christmas clearance I found!

Christmas clearance at Thanksgiving?  That's the wonder of Arkansas! 

Can't wait for my next trip to this wonderland of junk!

Thoughts from a Scan

I had my scan yesterday.  I'll get results next week.  Getting a scan is a lengthy process.  If you've never done one, you would think they just shove you in the machine, yank you out, and that is that.

In actuality, it takes about two and a half hours for the full body scan, which is what I get.  First off, you have to do all the prep stuff:  blood sugar check, isotope injection, and contrast consumption.  The contrast is gross-tasting, like an off-flavor Tang.  After that, there's a wait for the contrast and the isotope to get all over your insides, so they'll be all glowy and stuff for the scan.  Bear in mind, that while this is happening, you are very aware that you haven't eaten for HOURS.

The scan itself takes about 40 minutes, or at least mine do.  They do two scans on me.  The first is a head/neck scan, which is the short scan.  This is followed by the rest of the body, which is longer, and also requires that I hold my arms above my head, which makes it seem a lot longer.  My shoulders are always so stiff that I can barely lower them when it's over.  I do have to admit that this part is a lot more bearable since the steroids came into my life.

That's a lot of time just laying around, doing nothing, which means that I start getting bored, which means that my mind starts to wander on to all kinds of bizarre things.  If I actually got around to typing all the blog posts I have drafted in my head during my scans, you all would either think I'm a genius or totally insane.  (As if you don't already.)

This time, however, there was a bit of a wrinkle.  I've been taking anti-biotics for the past week or so to finish off my post-Thanksgiving illness.  I took the last one today, so that's done.  Everything is cleared up, even the cough is gone.  I'm feeling good, but this process has not been without side effects.

To be blunt, the anti-biotics have made me...well...a little...gassy.

Now, I'm not talking blow-the-door off, clear-the-room all-out farts.  These are just little build ups of air in the gut that have to go somewhere.  Somewhere, as in outside of me.   Generally, it's just a bunch of tiny toots.  A bunch.  Usually these little spells last for several minutes and happen two or three times a day.  Since I took the last pill today, I'm expecting them to stop in a day or two.

Of course, one of these spells hits while I'm getting the scan.  As I'm sitting in the injection room, waiting for the contrast to take effect, I just start firing off a series of these little toots.  It lasts for about ten minutes or so and then it passes.  I'm alone in a closed room, so it's no big deal.

Until I get to the long scan.  And another spell hits.  I'm in the scanner.  The tech is in another room, running things.  These are the thoughts that result.

"I gotta fart."

"Should I fart?"

"Who would know?  Maybe I should fart."

"What if I accidentally move a little when I fart?  Would that mess up the scan?"

"I would hate to have to do this again, just because I farted."

"Surely I can fart without moving.  Don't most people?  I've never seen any fart wigglers. Or wiggly farters."

"What if I don't fart?  Will that show up on the scan?"

"I couldn't eat or drink, because that would show up on the scan.  Would a suppressed fart show up?"

"It's just a cloud of air in my gut.  Would a cloud of air show up? I guess it could make me look bloated."

"If I look bloated, would that be some sort of sign on the scan that could be misinterpreted?"

"I would hate to get bad news next week, just because I didn't fart."

"If I get bad news because I didn't fart, then I would have to tell them that I had to fart and didn't."

"I don't want to go to the cancer clinic and talk about my farts."

"Maybe this kind of thing happens all the time, and they can tell on the scan when someone needed to fart and didn't."

"Would that get noted in my file, where anyone could read it?"

"I would hate for all the interns to be looking at me and thinking: 'So this is the fart represser.'"

"How would I explain that to Chiquito?" 

"If I farted, and they could tell that, would that end up in my file?"

"Would people start watching me to see if I'm going to fart?"

"Nobody wants to be known as 'the farty dude.'"

"I'd rather be called 'Gassy Guy!'"

"That would be a good super-hero name."

"Just fart already and get this over with."

"I'm totally going to have to blog this."

In the end, I decided to fart.  We'll see what the result was next week.  I'm working on my Gassy Guy costume, just in case.

Monday Rambles

So, I broke a mirror yesterday.  There goes the rest of the decade for me!

Also, I bought some stuff on Saturday, so I have a teeny Mazda shot.

What's in Mazda?

Sales are getting fewer and farther between here, but I did scrape a couple up for Saturday.  We had to hop across the river for them.  We went to a church that was having a Christmas yard sale fund raiser.  I was hoping to find some more vintage stuff, but no such luck.  I did pick up a few small things, including a Hulk ornament.  Nothing special.  The cashier spent all this time carefully wrapping these candle holders that were mostly cast iron, then tossed the ceramic figurines in the bag unwrapped.  Sometimes, I feel like I live in Bizarro World.

That church also runs a thrift store, which is only open about six hours a week.  I love it, but I never get to go there because of their schedule.  It epitomizes the one thing Louisville lacks--the little church-affiliated thrift run by little old ladies with tons of stuff at super cheap prices.  I wasn't sure if they would be open because of the church sale, but they were.

Their Christmas was all half off.  I gathered up a box of stuff, both Christmas and non, including a complete vintage Yahtzee game.  Prices ranged from 5 cents to 2 dollars.  The older lady doing the check out decided she needed to sort the Christmas out so she could do all the half price at once.  Good plan.  Then she declares that three ornaments aren't Christmas.  In fairness, they were little houses and buildings, so they didn't look like typical ornaments.  They were only a quarter, so I let it go.

Then she declares that the religious articles--crosses, Jesus pictures, etc--are Christmas because "You can use them for that if you want."  So, I got more of a discount overall than I would have if she had left those ornaments in.  I always throw in a small donation at fund-raisers and church sales, so I kind of made up a little of that difference for them. 

She grabs this roll of bubble wrap for the glass stuff I bought and this little older man, who I assumed was her husband, moved to the counter to help. Or at least I thought.  He grabbed the end of the bubble wrap and started popping the bubbles!  It was too funny.  She fussed at him and he stopped.

The other big sale I went to was a library book sale.  One of the libraries across the river holds a book sale twice a month.  I had been wanting to go, as I had heard good things about it.  Oh my gosh!  It was so organized, that it was nearly mind-boggling.  Everything was on shelves, instead of tables, with clearly labelled sections.  Prices were super-reasonable.  All around, it was impressive.

I ran into blog reader Elizabeth while I was there.  From time to time, she pops up at the booth, usually when it looks the worst, but she always says nice things about it anyway.  I've been meaning to mention her here and keep forgetting.

Anyway, I got a nice box of books there, plus a large stack of cookbooks out of the FREE boxes out front.  Love me those free boxes.  I sell a lot of cookbooks.  It was nice to be at a sizeable book sale.  The Louisville library has discontinued its large sales, much to my consternation.

We grabbed lunch at our usual Asian Buffet, and I made a stop at the Thrift Store that's in the same little mini-mall, since it was having a sale. I ran in the library branch in the mall to use the bathroom, then saw a dude with a bunch of tables in the middle of the mall selling comic books!  Seriously.  I'll leave it to you all to fill in the result of this discovery.

Saturday night, we went to one of our favorite holiday events.  It's been three or four years since I've gone, due to health stuff.  I was so glad to be able to do it again.  We wandered the streets, popped in and out of shops, enjoyed hot cider, shopped a bit, then finished off with a wonderful dinner.

I didn't get many photos, but I did get a few.

Santa's VW van sleigh

Always gotta get a Kizito cookie.  Fresh and hot!

The Eye of God is watching you!

Blow molds!

There was a rep from the business guild that sponsors the event driving around with a bunch of lights and blow molds on a truck, all lit up.  I could never get my phone out in time for a pic.  I also failed to get a pic of the girl in half a banana costume doing sidewalk karaoke.  I did get some short video of the laser light show.

I hope this works.  I've never done video on the blog before.  Well, like this anyway.  That Eye of God pic comes from the neighborhood Catholic Church, by the way.  There are more pics of the amazing decor in the church at their web site.  Doesn't Keith look all ruggedy and mountain manny with his walking stick and beard?  Believe it or not, he was wearing shorts!

So much goes on at this event.  Past years have included Elvis impersonators, bagpipes, Dickensian carolers, and concerts.  I look forward to it every year, and was so glad to be able to do it again.

This is going to be a pretty busy week.  Today, I'm heading back to the booth.  It was busy there yesterday, that I didn't get everything done that I needed to.  I have a cartful of stuff in the break room that I need to get put out.  The store is having its vendor party and open house on Saturday, and they need the room for that.  Sales are remaining strong so far.  I'd like to have a couple of $100+ days in the mix, but otherwise I can't complain.  I still cannot seem to get all my Christmas out.

Tomorrow is my next scan.  Results will be next week.  After that is done, I'll be headed to Mount Sorrow.  Thanks to being sick, I am a week behind on the work I wanted to do there.  I also just remembered that I have two sleds buried in the back (!) of that mess and they should have been at the booth two weeks ago.  I'll probably pull a small load out of there while I'm at it.  Since I'm going to have to pull a lot out to get to them, I'm planning to get it all back a little more organized.

Wednesday, I'm planning on working at home.  I need to go on an orgy (not like that!) of pricing and packing.  I am going to get any stray little bits of holiday stuff I might have missed.  I keep feeling like there are a couple bags of stuff still kicking around here.  I also have a new stack of comics to bag and price.  (Heh!)

Thursday, it's back to the booth.  Friday, I'm sneaking out to finish getting Keith's presents.  This weekend, I'll be at the Peddlers Mall vendor get-together, and maybe going to a holiday gift show.  It's run by the same people that do the Big Flea, and I've been wanting to check it out for a while.  I'm not planning to buy anything, but I would love to check out the displays.

Your Chiquito of the Month for December

This one is another wedding shot, combined with holiday cheer.

He's popped up in his wide-eyed best pose to wish all his internet friends a Merry Christmas!  Thanks for all the many wonderful things you all have said about him this year.

Retro Y'all! Holiday Edition!

Last Sunday's Hardrock/Suzy post was supposed to be a Retro Y'all! post on Saturday, but it didn't work out that way.  I am dedicating Retro Y'all! this month to those undeservedly forgotten or overlooked Christmas novelty classics.  Some things are too good to be allowed to slide into obscurity.

Like this little jingle.



Fun fact:  She actually got the hippo.  Take a look at the other people who've recorded this, including two Captains:  Kangaroo and Toni Tennille's then-husband.  The video is actually from the Ed Sullivan Show.  Gayla Peevey's website has the full version from the show with Sullivan introducing her.

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..

Sickbed Rambles

How are you?  I am sick.  Not just sick.  Sick, SICK, SICK! The kind that lasts for days and leaves you flat on your back in bed wishing for the sweet release of a NyQuil coma.  Yes.  That sick.

Keith was down with a cold for most of the week before we left for Arkansas.  I did my best to avoid catching it, but the night before we left it was pretty obvious it had caught me.  By Thanksgiving, I was a wreck.  I ate dinner, then went back to the hotel and totally crashed out for the rest of the day.  Friday, I seemed to be doing better.  Saturday, we left, and I thought the worst was behind me.

WRONG!

Sunday, I felt worse than ever before and just stayed in bed with Chiquito curled beside me.  Yesterday, Keith called our doctor for some meds, while I stayed in bed.  I'm starting to feel better today, but I am sick of coughing and wheezing like an old bagpipe.  Also my head still hurts.

Needless to say, this has pretty well screwed up my week.  I still haven't even unpacked yet!  Hopefully, I'll be a little more back in the swing of things tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm going to take more meds and go back to bed.

Let's Get This Holiday Season Started!

We are back!  I'll have more to say about all that in tomorrow's ramble.  In the meantime, we've got to start rolling out the holiday cheer.  For this blog, there's only one way to do that.



If you've been around here for a while, you know that Hardrock and friends are the traditional Eddie-torial opening to the holiday season.  They've been featured in a post every year at this time for five or six years, at least.  I got so busy with the wedding and such last year that I actually forgot them, but Roger made up for my goof on Facebook.

Anyway, they're back!  Enjoy!

Of course, when those elves come passing by, Suzy is sure to follow.



I'm planning a lot of fun, musical surprises for December, so please stay tuned. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for hanging with me 

through another year!  

Best wishes to you and your families!

Vintage Thanksgiving card from a box of greeting cards I found at an estate sale last year.

Some pics I forgot to share

I've had these kicking around for a while, since my last cancer treatment, in fact.  I just kept forgetting to put them in a post.  Being way off track in my blogging schedule lately threw off a lot of my content plans.  When I have to rush to get something (anything) up, it throws off my content plans.  Since I have another treatment tomorrow, it seems like a good time to put these out.

Getting my port accessed.  That's my favorite nurse at the center.  He is so laid back and mellow.  I'm letting my hair grow out right now, so it's always somewhat of a mess.

Lily also came by again for a visit.  She went right to me and laid on my feet for the longest time.  I'm hoping she might drop by again tomorrow.

What's In Mazda?

Believe it or not, I've managed to cross quite a few things of my pre-Thanksgiving list.  I'm not going to get it all done, of course.  I've already abandoned hope for most of the larger stuff, except for the booth.

I loaded up Mazda today with a huge mound of stuff from Sorrow Mountain, along with some comics and stuff from the house and headed across the river to the Peddlers Mall.

This is what it all looked like.

That's one of the biggest loads I've ever crammed in there.  No time this week to do a reveal shot later on, but you can imagine all the junkie goodness therein.  I am making some serious progress on Sorrow Mountain. 

After the first of the year, I am going on a total buying moratorium until yard sale season 2016 starts.  I'm going to spend the first part of next year burrowing deep into that mountain. 

Oh yeah.  I made some great comics scores at the Cavalcade of Comics.  I'll have much more on this later, but here's a pic.

Retro Y'all!

Wouldja believe Friday Rambles?

Let's begin with a thought from a classic:

 

That's kind of the way I'm feeling these days.  Too much to do and not enough time to do it.  Every time I get started on something, I find three things that need to be done first before I can do what I started on.  Aiiieeeeee!

We leave Tuesday for Arkansas to spend Thanksgiving with Keith's mother.  I'm looking forward to the visit, but it's a long drive.  I also have treatment on Tuesday.  Seems like we did it that way last year too.  I wanted to see about re-scheduling the treatment, so we could leave earlier, but she kind of insisted I stick to my schedule.  She's had kind of a rough year, so I'm looking forward to seeing her.

So what all do I still need to do?

LAUNDRY!!  I'm not sure about Arkansas, but Kentucky frowns on nude Thanksgiving visits.

SHOPPING!  I got some road snacks at the Peddlers Mall last night, but we still need a few more things.

PACKING!  I'm not sure where the suitcases went after we got back from San Francisco.  I'd hate to have to carry those clean clothes in grocery bags.  Keith already calls me a bag lady because I carry a reuseable grocery bag with a bunch of stuff in it wherever I go.  I need to pick out my trip reading and find the laptop.

BLOGGING!  (and commenting and answering emails)  This is going to have to do for this week's (late) ramble and next week's (early) ramble.  At least it will replace Bo Donaldson's face that's been hanging around a bit too long.  I'm hoping to get a few posts scheduled to carry us through the holiday and our trip.  Expect some long overdue posts for your reading pleasure.

CHIQUITO!  I need to get things ready for the person who'll be taking care of him while we're gone, so she knows the drill. We stocked up on cat treats last week and have enough food to get through until we get back.

WINTERIZING!  I still need to put away some yard things before the cold weather hits.  We've also got to take the A/C out of the window before we leave.

BOOTHING!  Sales have stunk most of the month.  Last night as the first good weekday report I've gotten since the first.  Weekends have been really good, but that all dries up come Monday.  People just ain't shopping.  Or if they are, they ain't buying much.  Interestingly, I am now selling some small furniture in dribs and drabs, but the smalls trade, which is my bread and butter, has dried up considerably.  Cue wailing and gnashing of teeth.  I am hoping that this is just the lull before Thanksgiving.

On the upside, that has made for an easy booth upkeep for the last couple of weeks.  I've got 90% of the Christmas out now.  Sunday and Monday, I'm going to spend the day there, doing a super-duper tidy and rearrange and stock, since it will be the last chance to get ready for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.  I'm pulling the last of the Thanksgiving stuff and putting the rest of the Christmas in its place.

I also need to finish the current tidy session on my junk room, which is about halfway done.  I want to have a load priced up to take when we get back.  I have an idea that should let me put four (!) new shelves in and a ton of new smalls, but that is going to have to wait until we're home.  Of course, putting in shelves means that the elevation of Sorrow Mountain drops a bit, which is always a good thing.  I am hoping to terraform the Mountain and the Hillock together by the end of the year.

CLEANING!  Week before last, I cleaned off my desk by dumping everything into a large tub, which has been sitting in front of my dresser ever since.  I want that to go away before we leave. Also, the fridge needs to be cleaned out before we go.

THIS AND THAT!  I need to get prescriptions refilled.  I need to pay the water bill.  I need to go see if the metal lawn chairs listed as freebies on Craigslist last night that are two streets over from us are still there.  (Probably not.)  I need to call my brother.  I need to cash in my change jar.  I need to clean all the tubs and boxes out of Mazda.  I need to do the dishes.  I need to ponder where the magic elves that are supposed to help with all this shit have hied themselves off to.  (That's the thing about magic elves that few people know.  You have to talk to them in Shakespearean, or at least King James, English.  They don't understand modern.  So they haven't run away.  They have hied themselves hither.)

COMIC BOOKS!  The second annual Cavalcade of Comics is tomorrow, and none of the list above is going to make me miss it.  It's a great show, not really a con, since there are no panels or costume contests.  There will probably be a few cosplayers though.  Everyone loves an excuse to dress up as Batman.  It's retail focused, so there will be lots for sale, which is why I'm going.  Last year, I got some great bargains on some great stuff.  I've been looking forward to this one all year.  It will be the last major shopping spurt for me until the New Year Big Flea.  Besides, how often do you get to use the word "cavalcade" in conversation??

So, yeah.  I got lots to do.  I guess I better get started.  But first, I've got to get another cup of coffee.  And pet the kitty.  He never gets any attention--to hear him tell it anyway.  You all, however, can enjoy some awesome super-hero Lego art.

Retro Y'all!

Bonus:

The UK version by Paper Lace