On This Date, Two Years Ago

Yes.  This was our Sunday afternoon.

Sheets flapping in the breeze, THGGM lounging in the backyard reading a Lindbergh biography.

Spring time in Michigan is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're going to get.

And then there is TODAY.  Ugh...

My After Christmas Shopping

On the day after Christmas THGGM and I headed out to do a bit of shopping. We went to Century Antique Mall and Menards. This, my friends, is the extent of our 'living it up'! At the antique mall I could have gone crazy, but I kept myself in check, which is rather easy to do when one doesn't have money. But, I splurged on two more vintage pink Shiny Brites for my bathroom tree. And, I found three more Gurley angel candles which brings my total up to nine. One of the three is in excellent condition. There might need to be some ruffing up in her future so the other more damaged angels don't feel too badly about themselves. At Menards the Christmas decor was picked over, but in the toy department I found this red truck! Makes me happy in that 'after Christmas sale' sort of way.

ONE!

Wow. I do believe we are ready. The house smells like broccoli, which means the breakfast quiches are underway! The music is playing and we are singing along. Presents still need to be wrapped. And it wouldn't hurt a thing were I to shine up the bathrooms a bit more. Tonight I believe we may attempt to watch "It's a Wonderful Life". The snow that fell last night is quickly melting away. Looks like a green Christmas for us, which will seem a bit strange here, but I can deal with it!

Pillow Talk

Eh. The light in this room is not conducive to picture taking. That's fine with me most of the time.

Anyway, I did want to show you those four orange pillows on the bed

THGGM found them at a thrift store.

They look to be NEW and have a Rodeo Home tag. Oh, and they are feather/down filled.


The price for the set of four was $20, which isn't what I think of when I think "thrift". But THGGM thinks differently than I do. The last two orange pillows he found are like cement encased in fabric. One of the grandkids was nearly injured just by jumping on one.

But, I don't work and he makes the money so it was totally his call. ;D

As soon as we walked in the door from our weekend adventures he googled the pillows. Apparently a similar set of pillows sold new for $200.00.

Hmm.

Okay. So now I am very glad that he bought them. They work well with our old Woolrich bedspread, which I LOVE, and, even that funky fringe pillow he found at a thrift store awhile ago.

He was able to repaint the room with just one gallon of paint/primer in a linen color. Can't remember now what that cost, but it was on sale and not much. So, for $20.00 worth of thrifted pillows and $6.00 worth of felt placemats as wall decor we have a MUCH nicer looking bedroom.

Well. At least we think so.

Fun Find

Tuesday when we were almost to the entrance of John Ball Zoo there beneath our feet were a plethora of REALLY large acorns.

Oh, my. I do love me some of those.

I tried to be an adult about it, but containing my excitement was difficult.

On our way out, my companions and I scooped them up (they were damp and dirty, those acorns) by the arm loads.

When I got home I immediately unloaded them into a colander (the one used for 'repairing our minds') and gave them a good hot shower.

And now my little people have a mother.

Soon, they shall also have a father. I did attempt to make one, but he still needs a bit of work.

These are just soooo fun to make.

And, if you would like to see how a REAL artist does it, Salley Mavor, who wrote the book "Felt Wee Folk" has a lovely blog at www.weefolk.wordpress.com . She also has children's board books made from photos of her work. Her work is BEAUTIFUL.

I'm still trying to master the blanket stitch.

Patience Pays Off

Ah hem.., is this thing on?

I'd like to let it be known that I have curtailed my thrift shopping. I'm hanging on to my expendable funds (ha, ha, ha) to take antique shopping in Wisconsin next month. I'm SOOO excited for that!

But, when THGGM announced yesterday that our wedding rings needed polishing (his eyes are better than mine) I had him drop me off across the street at Somewhere In Thyme, which is just a nice place to look around.

And, while just looking around, I found THIS!

I did not have this particular magazine from Oct/Nov 1997.

And for a mere 90 cents, it is now mine.

Oh, and I did not have to go hunting through stacks of old magazines to find it. It was laid out right there for me on a table decorated for fall.

I just LOVE IT when that happens!

LOOK! I Found More!

I Won!

i won, I won, I Won, I WON!

THGGM and I did our errands by the 'divide and conquer' method today.

He went to Michael's Craft Store - which saved us A LOT of time, as I could spend an hour and leave having forgotten what I went in for - and I went to Barnes and Noble. I could live there if it wasn't for the odd music they sometimes play (one particular female vocalist sounds like a cat in heat but with more shrill moaning).

As we left The Mall we drove past the strip mall with Cold Stone Creamery.

THGGM said "Hey! Let's go there! (he is on a diet and hasn't had anything sweet since March 1st. i, you may recall, am diabetic.)

"Okay!", said I, already imagining myself ordering the Coffee Lover's Only.

He said, "We can't".

I pouted. Of course, he had no way of knowing I was pouting, as he is driving and not looking at me. Also, my face is in a continual pout these days.

So I had to verbalize. I think I said something about him not being a man of his word. Anything to get me to the Coffee Lover's ice cream.

Now, obviously, I know that neither of us can have ice cream. It's obvious because if we COULD we would not want any. We are both immature that way.

We are both immature in so very many ways that I haven't enough band width (is that still applicable? IS there still band width?) to note them all here. But, I digress.

Anyway...

On our early morning adventures in the car THGGM was listening to "The Carpenter's". THGGM thinks that Karen Carpenter has the best voice, ever. Do not argue with him over this, like if you think that Celine Dionne, Carrie Underwood or Madonna have better voices. I like Karen just fine, but am still having trouble with getting songs stuck in my head, which presently has "I Can Dream, Can't I?" holding hands and dancing with The Wiggles version of "Old Dan Tucker".

For me, he turned off The Carpenter's CD.

So, a song came on the radio,

THGGM looked at me and said, "If you can name who is singing this, we will go to Cold Stone."

There are only a few artists who's voices I recognize and presently I cannot think of any of them, except Frankie Valli. When THGGM and I were dating, we once went to a Frankie Valli concert at Calvin College. Maybe that is why I remember him. Or, maybe it's just because he has an odd-sounding voice.

So, I blurted out,

"Justin Timberlake!"

And, I was correct.

I could not name you even ONE Justin Timberlake song. Not one.

Just a lucky guess.

We went tonight.

I had the Coffee Lover's Only.

Tonight, I will not even bother to check my blood sugar.

The ice cream, Coffee Lover's Only, was GOOD.

Thank you, THGGM, for spending a bit of your blood plasma money on ice cream.

And, thank you, Justin Timberlake, whoever you are.

(i won!)