Goodwill Finds and CED2009

The hubster took me out and about this morning and it was great to be in the fresh air. It is very cold, but the sky is blue and the sun is shining brightly.

We started with breakfast (at least, we ordered breakfast food). It was close to 11 am, but I stayed up until 2:30 am for the second day in a row watching the Australian Open. I'm enjoying some really good tennis. Surprisingly, many of the first round women's matches are going three sets. Usually, they are very one sided and not so much fun to watch.

After breakfast, we headed to Mason to look at some antique malls and a craft mall. On the way, we passed a Goodwill store and I asked him to stop. What a great store and what great finds I had this day. I got a shoe box full of stamps for $9.99. One of the stamps had a sticker for $10.99 on it. I love stamps, but frequently don't buy them because they cost so much. I also bought a small milk jug (for brushes or pens) and two children's books (for the pictures). I spent a total of $14.15. Don't you just love a bargain??




Next we went to the antique mall. These are actually separate buildings all in the same area. I saw lots of things I would have liked to buy, but they appeared to be overpriced. I did find a Pepsi crate with dividers in it for 1/2 price, so paid only $6.63 with tax.

I have finished another two page spread in my art journal, or at least I think it is finished. I almost think I should add more color in the hair on the left side, but not now.



The best find of the day was a knee support that I bought at Meijer's for just over $11. Unlike my other brace which almost makes my knee immobile, this one is just supportive and almost eliminates the pain. I may walk slowly on the treadmill and see how it feels - but I am not going to overdo it - NO WAY!

As for the rest of the day, I am going to watch tennis and work crossword puzzles (simultaneously) and do art (in between matches I am interested in). And as for you, don't forget to live in the moment!

Some Things I am Working On

Somehow October has gone by and I never made an October desktop; I used September's for two months. No wonder I never know what day it is! I have worked a little bit ahead of time this month - I have November's desktop done and I love it. Putting up a new desktop is almost as rewarding and refreshing as rearranging a room's furniture.


I am also finishing up some swaps that I am involved in - whimsical houses and a partner swap.


I am sending my Mom a package with some hard crossword puzzles, pencils and Yahtzee score cards, so I decided to make her an ATC too. She loves Arby's roast beef sandwich so I transferred a sandwich and the logo to a background of scrapbook paper. I then cut out words that represented our couple of days together and collaged them onto the ATC. I cut the words from a game I purchased at Goodwill in Lansing yesterday. I hope she likes it. Earlier in the year I made her a postcard and sent it through the mail, but she never received it. One employee of the post office said maybe it was just too cute and someone decided to keep it. I did not find that funny.

Travel and Weather

I drove to the UP to visit my Mother for a couple of days. She turned 84 on Friday. Driving up was an adventure - pouring rain, hail, sunshine. In Michigan (probably this saying is popular in other places as well) we have a saying, "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute."

For an 84 year old, my Mom sure is a lively one. For my one full day there, she and my sister who lives with her had the day planned out and we filled it. We began with breakfast at home at 8:30. We then drove into town and filled up the tank and began our adventure. First stop Hope House in St. Ignace. This is a second hand store that is huge and very well organized. Their pricing is "donation". I worry that they don't always get what they are worth. At any rate, I filled up two bags - I bought lovely lace, both a border and lots of applique pieces; a few scratched LPs that I am planning to gesso and paint over; a handball racquet that I am planning to sand, gesso and paint; several plastic metric tape measures; a Scrabble junior game with lovely cardboard letters that I will use to "write" on my mixed media pieces; a couple of old calendars with beautiful pictures; a latch hook rug design book with lovely patterns; an old cupcake pan that I will use for a palette, and a few books. I will definitely go back there next time I am "home". I gave them $20, which seemed to be a big surprise to them. I definitely got my money's worth.

Next stop, the library, where we picked out a few large print books for Mom. We then drove to Hessel and picked up another sister who took us to a second hand store in Cedarville. This is a very small store/food pantry that is mostly clothes. I did find a deviled egg plate that looked like a paint palette to me and another cupcake pan. We took that sister back to Hessel (she has a sick cat and didn't want to leave her too long) and drove to the Soo (Sault Ste. Marie) to a huge Goodwill store. What a disappointment!! All of us are familiar with the Goodwill stores down near my house and over in the southwest corner of Michigan, where they are very clean and organized and very reasonably priced. The store in the Soo was way overpriced - their used books were $3 and $4 dollars. I found some cute little stamps in there, but they were as expensive as they are at Michael's. My sister found a used jacket that was priced at $19.99, about three times as much as it would be at any other Goodwill store I have ever visited. And maybe the worst thing about the store, was that the clothes were soiled - they hadn't even bothered to clean them before putting price tags on them.

I appreciate the Goodwill store in Lansing even more than I did before.