How many consignment sales do you think I have participated in? Not bought things at, sold things in?
How many times do you think I have spent hour upon hour checking outgrown dresses, skirts and shirts for "stains", "piling", "wash wear" or "pin holes"? Then, ironing each of the things that met with approval... making sure to put matching items on the same hanger to sell as "an outfit" because, we all know that "outfits" sell better than say a lone skirt.
Speaking of hangers...how many time do you think I have placed my selected items on hangers facing all the same way, safety pinning my carefully crafted 3x5 index cards on the specified shoulder for maximum ease of reading?
Speaking of those carefully crafted 3x5 index cards...how many times do you think I have filled them out noting manufacturer, size, price, approximate times worn and ND in bold red ink?
I'll cut to the chase. I'm sure most of you that know me are banking on "ZERO"... and you will be surprised to find that I have actually participated in such an undertaking...ONCE, yes ONE time.
Ironing, that was your first clue that it wouldn't happen more than once.
The one time that I did manage to summon the gumption to consign, I made $200.00. All of my clothes sold except for one outfit. Not too bad if I do say so myself.
So, why not consign more often you ask? Did I mention that I had to iron?
No, seriously. I decided to NEVER consign again because (1) It was easier to give the stuff away or (2) sell it to people I know. (3) I spent $256 at the sale bringing me to net -$56 and (4) I had to iron.
Oh, and I need at least a month to mentally prepare for numbers 1 through 4. Usually, when I think about consigning, it's as I am standing in line waiting to pay for the clothes I am buying at the consignment sale.
But (yes, I know that it is improper grammar to begin a sentence with the word "but", but I don't care), I am thinking that I may consign this year.
What's changed, you ask?
Well, for one thing, I thought about it before I was standing in line with fall clothes to pay for. For another thing, I have a TON of stuff to sell and 4 girls to buy for and also because my friend Brea has kept in the forefront of my mind by mentioning her huge consignment sale on her blog several times.
Now, if I can just factor in the cost of having the dry cleaner iron all of it into my selling price, I will be in business.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
sigh...
Well, to be honest, I had a whole post typed out...then deleted it because every sentence contained the word "sucks"...and really, it doesn't matter how many times I use the word, it won't change anything and it doesn't make me feel better either.
My grandma has lung cancer in addition to Alzheimer's, and the prognosis isn't very good. The next few months are going to be incredibly hard on our family.
If you think of us, please, pray for us.
My grandma has lung cancer in addition to Alzheimer's, and the prognosis isn't very good. The next few months are going to be incredibly hard on our family.
If you think of us, please, pray for us.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Ummm...good question.
We have a nosey child.
I know, I know, with our *perfect* parenting, it's hard to believe that one of our offspring would have undesirable traits. Trust me, it baffles me too.
(For those of you that don't know me very well, those last two sentences are dripping with sarcasm).
Anyhoo, Chloe is, well, interested...yes, that's a nice way to say it...she's "interested". She also has a knack for quietly inserting herself next to adults who are in conversation. In fact, this is probably the only time that she is quiet.
Most of the time, I shoo her away while repeating..."Chloe. Stop being nosey, it's rude. We are having an adult conversation, go play". I think I need to record that on a little tape and press play each time...it would save me A LOT of time.
There are times when she manages to "fly under the radar" so to speak, and actually over hears most of the conversation.
Case in point... A few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend at church. My friend is currently trying to get pregnant. Nothing was said that Chloe shouldn't hear, and so, on this rare occasion, she was not shooed away.
Yesterday, I was on the way to my favorite dry cleaner. Forrest, Chloe and Cammie were in the car with me. The kids had been quiet for a complete five minute stretch, which is nothing short of a miracle.
Chloe eventually breaks the silence... "Mommy"? (She says this at least one million, six hundred, seventy-two thousand, four hundred and eighty-three times per day).
Me: "Yes, Chloe"?
Chloe: "How do you try to get pregnant"?
Forrest: snickers loudly and says under his breath "yeah, mom...how do you try to get pregnant"?
Me: "You pray and ask Jesus to put a baby in your tummy".
Chloe: "Oh".
Forrest: " You are good. How do you do that...technically tell the truth without actually saying anything? You didn't even have time to think".
Me: sly grin, basking in the awe of my first born son
I know, I know, with our *perfect* parenting, it's hard to believe that one of our offspring would have undesirable traits. Trust me, it baffles me too.
(For those of you that don't know me very well, those last two sentences are dripping with sarcasm).
Anyhoo, Chloe is, well, interested...yes, that's a nice way to say it...she's "interested". She also has a knack for quietly inserting herself next to adults who are in conversation. In fact, this is probably the only time that she is quiet.
Most of the time, I shoo her away while repeating..."Chloe. Stop being nosey, it's rude. We are having an adult conversation, go play". I think I need to record that on a little tape and press play each time...it would save me A LOT of time.
There are times when she manages to "fly under the radar" so to speak, and actually over hears most of the conversation.
Case in point... A few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend at church. My friend is currently trying to get pregnant. Nothing was said that Chloe shouldn't hear, and so, on this rare occasion, she was not shooed away.
Yesterday, I was on the way to my favorite dry cleaner. Forrest, Chloe and Cammie were in the car with me. The kids had been quiet for a complete five minute stretch, which is nothing short of a miracle.
Chloe eventually breaks the silence... "Mommy"? (She says this at least one million, six hundred, seventy-two thousand, four hundred and eighty-three times per day).
Me: "Yes, Chloe"?
Chloe: "How do you try to get pregnant"?
Forrest: snickers loudly and says under his breath "yeah, mom...how do you try to get pregnant"?
Me: "You pray and ask Jesus to put a baby in your tummy".
Chloe: "Oh".
Forrest: " You are good. How do you do that...technically tell the truth without actually saying anything? You didn't even have time to think".
Me: sly grin, basking in the awe of my first born son
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Tumbleweeds...
You know that whole "divorce is not a good thing" mentioned in the bible? God definitely new what He was talking about.
In all of His infinite wisdom, He new that even though His grace and mercy would see His children through such situations, it could not make drafting a family tree any easier.
Forrest has homework due the first day of school. One of those assignments requires him (translation: us) to create a family tree covering 4 generations. At first, this sounded like an interesting and somewhat fun project.
Until we actually began thinking it through.
Then, we (translation: I) was presented with dilemmas...as in more than one dilemma.
Dilemma numero uno (see, my Spanish classes are paying off): Which "father" do we use? Forrest cleared that up rather quickly and decided that we should use both Brandon and Mark.
Hurdle cleared, we move on. Now, in order to incorporate all of Forrest's siblings, Mark's ex-wife got added to the family tree. It's getting more and more interesting by the minute.
Okay, so far we have Forrest at the bottom of the tree. We have the "mother" blank filled in and we have the "father" blank filled in...twice. We have a broken line to account for Mark's first marriage thus allowing us to account for all siblings.
Now, we move on to Forrest's grandparents. Of course there is my mom. Easy enough. My dad...not so easy. Let's see...I'm not exactly sure who my biological dad is...so, do I put a large "?" in that blank?
Then, I think "I should just use my step-dad because he did in fact raise me". Now if I do that, then do I change my maiden name to my step-dad's last name...and if I do that...wouldn't that be lying? Of course he has to be on the tree somehow, because we have to account for my sister, Forrest's only maternal aunt.
Okay, a headache is forming, let's move on to someone else. How about Brandon's side. His mom (Forrest's paternal grandmother) is easy enough. Insert more broken lines to indicate her two marriages that produced children in order to show Forrest's aunts and uncles, which means more broken lines to account for a remarriage and the children that came with it to account for cousins.
My headache is getting worse.
Did I mention that we also need dates of birth, death if applicable, marriage, divorce, and remarriage?
We are barely through generation two and Forrest's Family Tree looks more like Forrest's Family Tumbleweed.
In all of His infinite wisdom, He new that even though His grace and mercy would see His children through such situations, it could not make drafting a family tree any easier.
Forrest has homework due the first day of school. One of those assignments requires him (translation: us) to create a family tree covering 4 generations. At first, this sounded like an interesting and somewhat fun project.
Until we actually began thinking it through.
Then, we (translation: I) was presented with dilemmas...as in more than one dilemma.
Dilemma numero uno (see, my Spanish classes are paying off): Which "father" do we use? Forrest cleared that up rather quickly and decided that we should use both Brandon and Mark.
Hurdle cleared, we move on. Now, in order to incorporate all of Forrest's siblings, Mark's ex-wife got added to the family tree. It's getting more and more interesting by the minute.
Okay, so far we have Forrest at the bottom of the tree. We have the "mother" blank filled in and we have the "father" blank filled in...twice. We have a broken line to account for Mark's first marriage thus allowing us to account for all siblings.
Now, we move on to Forrest's grandparents. Of course there is my mom. Easy enough. My dad...not so easy. Let's see...I'm not exactly sure who my biological dad is...so, do I put a large "?" in that blank?
Then, I think "I should just use my step-dad because he did in fact raise me". Now if I do that, then do I change my maiden name to my step-dad's last name...and if I do that...wouldn't that be lying? Of course he has to be on the tree somehow, because we have to account for my sister, Forrest's only maternal aunt.
Okay, a headache is forming, let's move on to someone else. How about Brandon's side. His mom (Forrest's paternal grandmother) is easy enough. Insert more broken lines to indicate her two marriages that produced children in order to show Forrest's aunts and uncles, which means more broken lines to account for a remarriage and the children that came with it to account for cousins.
My headache is getting worse.
Did I mention that we also need dates of birth, death if applicable, marriage, divorce, and remarriage?
We are barely through generation two and Forrest's Family Tree looks more like Forrest's Family Tumbleweed.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
For the record...
Lest you think I am a complete sloth, I thought I should let you know that I actually did some things today.
First, I started in on the mounds and mounds of laundry.
Then, I actually planned meals for the next week and a half. Because, I actually plan on *gasp* cooking.
Next, I went to the grocery. Yes, I braved the Super Wal-Mart. On a Saturday. With everyone else within a 20 mile radius of Hendersonville. (I had to navigate a 9 cart pile-up in the laundry detergent aisle). Have I mentioned that I do not heart Wal-Mart? Or grocery shopping? Or cooking?
To top off my extraordinary day of domesticity, I cooked dinner. Yes, I did. Paula Dean's shrimp creole.
Now, if you click on that little link to see the recipe, you will notice that it is rated as "easy", and the prep time is rated as "5 minutes". Ummm...I don't want to call Paula a liar...because, really I love Paula. I really, really love her fabulous restaurant and I really, really, really love her hoe cakes.
But, it takes a bit more than 5 minutes to chop the celery, bell pepper and onion. And, even when you buy shrimp that is "peeled and deveined", you are bound to get shrimp with that icky, slimy, gross funk down the back...and I assure you that it took way more than 5 minutes to re-devein the deveined shrimp.
First, I started in on the mounds and mounds of laundry.
Then, I actually planned meals for the next week and a half. Because, I actually plan on *gasp* cooking.
Next, I went to the grocery. Yes, I braved the Super Wal-Mart. On a Saturday. With everyone else within a 20 mile radius of Hendersonville. (I had to navigate a 9 cart pile-up in the laundry detergent aisle). Have I mentioned that I do not heart Wal-Mart? Or grocery shopping? Or cooking?
To top off my extraordinary day of domesticity, I cooked dinner. Yes, I did. Paula Dean's shrimp creole.
Now, if you click on that little link to see the recipe, you will notice that it is rated as "easy", and the prep time is rated as "5 minutes". Ummm...I don't want to call Paula a liar...because, really I love Paula. I really, really love her fabulous restaurant and I really, really, really love her hoe cakes.
But, it takes a bit more than 5 minutes to chop the celery, bell pepper and onion. And, even when you buy shrimp that is "peeled and deveined", you are bound to get shrimp with that icky, slimy, gross funk down the back...and I assure you that it took way more than 5 minutes to re-devein the deveined shrimp.
Saturday randomness...
Cammie, Chloe and Sophie are at Granny's house.
Hannah is at church camp.
Forrest is still asleep.
Mark is pressuring washing the deck.
For all intents and purposes (I've never used that saying before, but I like the way it sounds when other people do), I am alone in my house. On a Saturday. Which, is just unheard of.
What to do, what to do.
Do I tackle one of the big projects that have been on my To Do list...repair the sh oer curtain valance thingy in the kids' bathroom, hang the two pictures that go in the kids bathroom but have been patiently waiting in my office since last September, oooohhhhh finish cleaning my office, order pictures since I haven't in over a year...which means that I have been scrapbooking photos from circa 2004 lately, catch up the laundry, or maybe finish those Guatemala posts that I started well over a month ago
So very many things to choose from.
For someone with OCD, I sure can leave a lot of things undone. See, this is caused by issues that I have discussed before...the "P" words that go hand in hand with OCD...Procrastination which is brought on by Perfectionism. Oh, okay, I'll be honest...there is a bit of laziness thrown in the mix that has nothing to do with OCD.
It's a dreadful combination...OCD, Procrastination, Perfectionism, Laziness.
First, I think I'll have another cup of coffee, then I'll work on being productive.
Hannah is at church camp.
Forrest is still asleep.
Mark is pressuring washing the deck.
For all intents and purposes (I've never used that saying before, but I like the way it sounds when other people do), I am alone in my house. On a Saturday. Which, is just unheard of.
What to do, what to do.
Do I tackle one of the big projects that have been on my To Do list...repair the sh oer curtain valance thingy in the kids' bathroom, hang the two pictures that go in the kids bathroom but have been patiently waiting in my office since last September, oooohhhhh finish cleaning my office, order pictures since I haven't in over a year...which means that I have been scrapbooking photos from circa 2004 lately, catch up the laundry, or maybe finish those Guatemala posts that I started well over a month ago
So very many things to choose from.
For someone with OCD, I sure can leave a lot of things undone. See, this is caused by issues that I have discussed before...the "P" words that go hand in hand with OCD...Procrastination which is brought on by Perfectionism. Oh, okay, I'll be honest...there is a bit of laziness thrown in the mix that has nothing to do with OCD.
It's a dreadful combination...OCD, Procrastination, Perfectionism, Laziness.
First, I think I'll have another cup of coffee, then I'll work on being productive.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Obsessions
For some reason, I have thought that I shouldn't post anything until I was finished with the Guatemala Chronicles...hmmm...perhaps it has something to do with my OCD.
It's the strangest thing...I'll get something in my head, and "that's just the way it is"...then, one day the fog clears and I think..."hey, I could do it this way". For example, there have been several times that I have thought..."I should blog about that... Oh, wait... I can't...I haven't finished the Guatemala posts". Then, out of nowhere, I just have this thought..."So what. I can finish those posts any time" .
Let me clarify, I have thought "so what" a few other times, but I couldn't get past it without breaking out in hives ...then, today... I think "so what"...and voila...no splotchy red marks arise on my chest when I pop over here to post.
This is not a new phenomenon, it has/does happen with other things too...Many of you are aware of my recovery from my Little People problem...here is a brief explanation for those of you who are not.
There was a time, that my Obsessive Disorder caused me to be fixated on Fisher-Price Little People. I kept a list of all the Little People sets and pieces that we had (this began when Forrest was little). I would go through the Little People, checking off my list when they were present and accounted for. If, heaven forbid, one was lost, I would scour the Internet looking for a replacement. If I happened down the toy aisle and came across one that we didn't have, splotches of red hives would appear across my neckline. This lasted for a few years...then, one day, it miraculously disappeared. I knew I was fficially cured from my Little People Disorder when I was able to give a few sets to the Goodwill.
Some other things that either have or still cause an obsession are:
-hair bows...please don't ask how many we own...suffice it to say, I plan on putting Chloe through college with the money I make from reselling them.
-Basic Grey scrapbook paper...DANGER DANGER...I need at least 3 sheets of each paper that they make...no need to do the math on that one either.
-hanging clothes in all closets by (1) color (2) sleeve length (3) collar style.
-music on itunes...I have to pace myself...because if I log on without giving myself a limit of 10 or so songs...well, just this afternoon, I somehow ended up downloading 50 songs...I know, I know...but The Dance Hall Crashers were one of my favorites...and I like to sleep to Morphine...and, and...
If I could somehow channel this to say...laundry, oooohhhhh or cooking...life would be good.
It's the strangest thing...I'll get something in my head, and "that's just the way it is"...then, one day the fog clears and I think..."hey, I could do it this way". For example, there have been several times that I have thought..."I should blog about that... Oh, wait... I can't...I haven't finished the Guatemala posts". Then, out of nowhere, I just have this thought..."So what. I can finish those posts any time" .
Let me clarify, I have thought "so what" a few other times, but I couldn't get past it without breaking out in hives ...then, today... I think "so what"...and voila...no splotchy red marks arise on my chest when I pop over here to post.
This is not a new phenomenon, it has/does happen with other things too...Many of you are aware of my recovery from my Little People problem...here is a brief explanation for those of you who are not.
There was a time, that my Obsessive Disorder caused me to be fixated on Fisher-Price Little People. I kept a list of all the Little People sets and pieces that we had (this began when Forrest was little). I would go through the Little People, checking off my list when they were present and accounted for. If, heaven forbid, one was lost, I would scour the Internet looking for a replacement. If I happened down the toy aisle and came across one that we didn't have, splotches of red hives would appear across my neckline. This lasted for a few years...then, one day, it miraculously disappeared. I knew I was fficially cured from my Little People Disorder when I was able to give a few sets to the Goodwill.
Some other things that either have or still cause an obsession are:
-hair bows...please don't ask how many we own...suffice it to say, I plan on putting Chloe through college with the money I make from reselling them.
-Basic Grey scrapbook paper...DANGER DANGER...I need at least 3 sheets of each paper that they make...no need to do the math on that one either.
-hanging clothes in all closets by (1) color (2) sleeve length (3) collar style.
-music on itunes...I have to pace myself...because if I log on without giving myself a limit of 10 or so songs...well, just this afternoon, I somehow ended up downloading 50 songs...I know, I know...but The Dance Hall Crashers were one of my favorites...and I like to sleep to Morphine...and, and...
If I could somehow channel this to say...laundry, oooohhhhh or cooking...life would be good.
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