The lure of the sale :)

Today I am going to talk about yard sales. That's right, I like to go to yard sales - something I said I would never do. I have gotten so many great things at the sales. I just love the fact that I am recycling something that someone else is throwing away. Saturday we got a bird house, and a bird feeder for a grand total of - are you ready for this - $3.00. The bird feeder was made of metal and even has squirrel guards! And, Saturday wasn't even a good sale day.

My favorite 'haul' was at one of my first yard sales. I saw a beautiful writing journal decorated with butterflies (my most favorite thing). It had a price tag of $5.00 which was kinda steep for a journal. But, I broke down and got it and promised myself I would start writing every day. On the way home from yardsaling I was flipping though the journal when my eyes caught sight of what looked like money. And, money it was - two crisp, new $50.00 bills!!!!!!!! WOW. And you know what? I kept it. I guess I could have taken it back like a really honest person would have done. But the lady who sold it was such a biotch. She was an artist and was selling $500.00 pictures at a yard sale!!!! I can just imagine some friend of this 'artist' giving her the journal as a gift and put the money in one of the days that was really significant - and she never even LOOKED in it and decided to put it in a yard sale. Oh well, needless to say it was a very good yard sale day for me :).

Anyway, yard sales have now become a Saturday morning ritual for Pat and I. You really meet some nice ( and not so nice ) people doing the same. We always laugh when we see someone pull up in a Mercedes to 'case the yard'. So for now, we will get up extra early on Saturdays - hit the big multi-family or church sales first - head to McDs for a chicken biscuit and sweet tea - the home to gloat about our bargains. Yep, I'm a real yardsaler and I love it!!!!!

Thanks Grandmom for my blog name :)

My grandmom was a character. Besides being rather eccentric, she had some dementia in her later life that added many surprises to her family's daily lives. One evening after a particularly taxing day of trying to get her to eat, take her medications and stay inside the house, my mother sat her down for a talk. My mother patiently explained why she needed to take her medicine, why she needed to eat, and how much we all loved her and wanted her to stay in the house and not venture outside in the dark and fall or get hurt. My grandmother was just a little tiny thing with wild hair and rarely wore her dentures. She sat very patiently in her chair watching my mother intently while she talked. I will never forget watching her face while my mom was talking to her just hoping for a glimpse of understanding of what my mother was telling her, and I really thought I saw it. My mom finished talking to her and stroking her hair and hugging her and telling her how much we all loved her. She asked my grandmother what she thought about all she had just heard. With the face of an impish elf she looked right up into my mother's face and said (in quite a loud voice I might add) BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. With that she threw her meds all over the floor, and went to the window to wait for President Jimmy Carter and his wife Roslyn. In spite of shock and disappointment at not getting through to her, my mom and I started to laugh until we both nearly peed our pants. It was just such an unexpected comment from my grandmother.

My grandmother has been gone for many years now. I still remember her fondly and know how much she loved me when she lived on this earth. My mother and I speak of that moment with the blah blahs and we still use it to each other when the other is saying something we don't want to hear. I am sure that a lot of the things I write on this blog will be stuff no one wants to hear or read about. For that reason, I will let you substitute BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH for anything I say that you don't want to hear :)