Yardsale Liquor and Jesus in the Free Pile

Here's a few pics of stuff that I saw when out yardsaling last Saturday. I came across some yardsale liquor (the small bottle of banana schnapps in the center) and I did not buy it - don't get me wrong, I will buy and drink yardsale liquor but banana schnapps didn't sound appetizing. Plus even tho it wasn't marked, the seller told me high prices on some of the other things on her table so didn't bother to ask how much it was.

And at the estate sale, there was a trailer full of free scrap wood and such and there was Jesus laying there in the free pile (it looked like it originally was in two sided frame and was broken.)

My vacay update will have to wait. I gotta get my butt in gear and do some ebay auctions before the ebay listing promo ends Sept. 7. So watch for vacay update after that.

Well I think it's time for a new car. My car died on me at Food Lion. Poof - just like that the battery died for no apparent reason. I got it jumped and got home before my cold food got warm. Stocked up on some 16 oz packages Frigo mozzarella cheese balls for $2.25 each - apparently they are being discontinued at that store so they were half price. Will stop at some other Food Lions tomorrow and see if I can find more. I can freeze it.

I watched and studied some Youtube videos on how to jump start a car so, knock on wood, I should be fine.

My Yardsale & Estate Sale buys from yesterday

here's the stuff I bought yesterday. Most stuff was bought at 2 yardsales - one was an estate sale where I filled up a vintage wooden crate and when I asked the price - they said $5 for all. In the video I forgot to mention that the black lunchbox was a freebie at the estate sale. And for $5 (for all) I bought the DVDS, the X-box 360 DVD player (it's been opened and the instruction manual is missing) and the hoodie sweater for myself.

The new Pier 1 birdfeeder was $3. The shelves were .50 each. Carpet slider toy .25

And I found the proof that I shopped at a mall while I was in Southern California:

Yard sale shopper clobbers another with a cornbread pan in California

And I always thought it was the little old ladies you had to watch out for! See link to story:

Yard sale shopper clobbers another with a cornbread pan in Sonora - Crime & Courts - Modbee.com

Once again - we thank you Lord for Nuclear Power

Thanks to the magic of nuclear power, I didn't have to make dinner last night. My husband's work had a family picnic (similar to one I blogged about last year.) But kids were invited to this event and there was no shrimp or crabs - waaaaaa - just hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, cole slaw, beans, beer, soda, cotton candy, cookies, and fruit. For activities, they had ginormous inflatable slides, rides, games of skill (like throw a football thru a hole etc), dunk tank where supervisors got dunked, spin art t-shirts to make, glitter tattoos, face/arm painting, balloon animals, rock climbing wall, family photos, mini golf, play Wii games, a DJ, and I think that about covers it. Better than going to the county fair since everything was free.

Here's a short video I made when we first got there, before it got crowded.


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Went yardsaling this morning and got some great buys. One of the sports teams at the nearby highschool had a fundraising yardsale, but I only knew about since they posted some signs last night. They didn't advertise it at all online or in the newspapers. Will post my finds tomorrow.

I'll be smelling like a baby - a clean baby, I hope.

As I said, I did some shopping yesterday and today I did some more. A grocery store was having a triple and double coupon deal so I shopped yesterday and today. For instance a .50 coupon was tripled to $1.50 and a $1 coupon was doubled to $2.00. Today I saw a clearance cart (that was not there yesterday) and I stocked up on laundry detergent that was clearanced for $2 a bottle. I'll be smelling like a baby soon.

But first I'll be using up the laundry detergent I bought yesterday, which I paid over $2 for, even with a double $1 coupon. So I think I am stocked up for a while for laundry soap.



The total was $94.18 but after coupons paid $35.10. So what that all we live on is pretzels and poptarts. Don't judge. Hey, how'd that lettuce get in there?? Oh yeah, I made salads for dinner last night. Cut up some deepfried breaded chicken strips that we had leftover from the chicken carryout place in town. Added some cheese, those croutons, some Marzetti honey mustard salad dressing and tada - my idea of a healthy dinner.



Also went to Staples and had to spend a whole dime. Bought various types of paper. Photo paper, copier paper, and packing paper. The photo paper I will probably end up selling at my next yardsale. If I want to print out photos, I just go to Walgreens or CVS. Much easier than using my cheap printer and using up expensive color ink and getting poor photo printing quality. So that's why I use the photo printing kiosks at the drugstores.

After I submit my Staples rebates, I'll be getting $34.96 in rebates back. I just bought the photo paper since it helped me to go over $50 mark (and after rebates, it was only $1 out of pocket. (But since I paid with inkjet rewards, it's really not "out of pocket" for me since the only thing that came out of my pocket yesterday was one dime). I needed my total to be over $50 so I could use the take $5 off a $50 purchase coupon. Then after that was deducted, THEN I gave the cashier my $20 and the $30 inkjet recycling coupons. So that's how I got it down to just .10 I'll just sell the photo paper for a few bucks each at my next yardsale. I use the packing paper for filling for ebay packages.



The other day I mentioned getting a pair of capris for .80 - not sure where I put the receipt, but I will find it, eventually. Right before vacation, JC Penneys came out with another take $10 off a $10 purchase coupon. So while in California, we were at a mall that had a Penney's and I found the capri's on clearance for $10.80. So actually I think I may have paid .85 (including tax).

Guess what? I found my car keys! yippee!!! So happy, I found them about an hour ago, I stuck them in a small plastic cup near the telephone and put other crap on top (to disguise it from the robbers, of course). I didn't think to look in the cup cuz it looked too little to hold the keys and all my shopper reward cards. The battery has died in my spare set, so having to physically stick a key in the lock all the time was torturous. Well that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but it was a major PITA. Especially since I am just used to clicking the unlock button. So I can sleep like a clean baby tonight knowing my Food Lion, Giant, CVS, Staples, Ace Hardware, Toys R Us, McKays (small grocery store chain here in MD), Best Buy, Petco Pals, Dick's Sporting Goods, Borders, K-mart, Price Chopper and Office Depot rewards cards are all safe and sound. (Plus my library card too - our library has a keychain library card).

No vacation recap yet. Had shopping to do.

I have managed to get all my pics transferred from the camera to my harddrive, 602 files (some of that includes short videos). I know at least one of you is waiting to hear how I got up close and personal with Drew Lachey but you know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Who am I kidding - our photo together is gonna be my family Christmas card photo this year!

With Jacob going to school today I had some shopping to do. Staples, Bath & Body Works and a grocery store that was having double coupons. Got some great buys, will post more later.

The True Sign of a Good Vacation

The true indicator of a good vacation I believe is if the baggage handlers have to put a "heavy" tag on my suitcase when coming home from a vacation. Mission accomplished. Not heavy enough that I have to pay an additional fee, but heavy enough for them to be concerned. Did I do any retail shopping? Why yes, yes I did. I will have to show you my .80 capri pants that I bought at a mall.



My driver's license is still MIA, but thankfully I managed to keep my passport with me at all times while on vacation. Now I have a new problem. Where are my car keys? I tend to get a little overly paranoid when going away for vacation, so I put my keys in a safe place, because as we all know, if someone is going to break into my house, the first thing the robbers will want to do is take my 5 year old mommy minivan out for a joyride, since it is way cool. I do have a spare set of keys (which I know where they are, but of course my main set of keys has my 10 zillion shopper's rewards cards attached to them). I have two more to add - a Von's card and an Albertson's shopping card.

Plane, Trains and Automobiles vacation is over and done!!!

Arrived home today from our two week long vacation extravaganza, I had previously mentioned it in a previous post. My last post about "not having anything to blog about" was just a filler post, didn't want you all to think I had stopped blogging.

I gots lots to say but pretty tired tonight. Here is a quick taste of our summer vacation:

Jet Blue, San Pedro, Catalina Island, Venice Beach, American Ninja Warrior, Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, Trump National, Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay, Miss Universe, Pawn Stars, Chumlee, my new boyfriend Drew Lachey, Jenndiggy from West Virginia, Tori Spelling, Hollywood, doing dirty laundry at sunset over the Pacific, seeing America via Amtrak from California to Washington DC. Home. Relax.

Sorry for not blogging

I did not buy anything at yardsales today so nothing new to report. Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I will make up for it soon - Jacob starts school next week! Summer has flown by.

Lladro, Peugeot and Super Nintendo

Here's a few things I bought this morning. All a buck each. A dust collector Lladro figurine (I found out it's name is Puppy Present), a salt grinder (the only reason why I bought it was because I saw it was a brand name Peugeot and may be worth more than a dollar) and a Super Nintendo game system (minus all the cords & controllers). I figure I can take it to Play N Trade for a credit.

I bought some other things, but got some other stuff I have to do today so I just wanted to make a quick post.

Driver's License still MIA

My driver's license is still temporarily missing. I know it's gotta be around here somewhere. But the good news is that I found my college ID from just a couple of years ago so I still have another photo ID of myself. I haven't changed one bit, and I'm totally positive that I would fit into that wonderful green & white striped shirt but I don't think I have that gem anymore.

It is driving me a little nuts that I can't find my license. The only place I really remember having it last was sometime in June, when I showed it at BJ's Warehouse to get a free temporary membership. I called them and stopped in and they don't have it. It's not like I write checks in stores where I would have to show ID and I haven't been pulled over by the police (knock on wood) where I had to show my license.

Wait, now that I think about it, I may have used it July, when Jacob and I had our one night stay at the Chesapeake Beach Resort & Spa - I may have had to show my license to show I am who I said I am in order to get that special $31 room rate. I will call them this afternoon but again, I don't think they would have it either. Since they hand you back your license and gambling card at the same time (and I still have my gambling card).

Just some random pics

I sold a beautiful Le Creuset oval roasting pan on Monday to a Craigslist shopper from Washington DC. I've come up with a way of "screening" telephone calls when I post on Craiglist, I use a fake name. So when someone calls and asks for "Bertha" I know they are someone calling about something I put up on Craigslist and it's not just some random telemarketer. I paid $25 for it from someone locally who had it on Craigslist and they lived a mile away. I waited a few months, tried selling it on ebay a few times for $100 with no takers. Sorta glad since packing that sucker up would have been a PITA. Sold it to the DC guy for $80. Worked out perfectly since he met me near my son's dentist office (which is about 30 miles closer to DC than my house) and my son had an appointment anyway.



Last week, I took Jacob to a "back to school" carnival thing and we walked around the little town afterward. I'm not saying St. Leonard Maryland is behind the times, but here they are selling Thursday's Washington Post, and it was Friday. I've never seen a potato used as a paperweight before.



And Jacob and I walked over to the weekly live auction. I used to go there all the time, and it used to be fun. They had a big mishmash of chairs to sit on - you could be sitting on an old lazy-boy, a dining room chair, folding chair or whatever. Plus, the auctioneers were entertaining with lots of personality. The past several years it has been changed, different auctioneer and you have to stand while the auctioneer travels from table to table. Ugh. Who wants to stand? When you could be sitting there having an ice cream in one hand and your auctioneer paddle in the other.


Jacob's spring school pictures that I ordered came in the mail the other week. The first picture I pulled out of the envelope was this one. Groan. I've had a history of getting the wrong pictures mailed to me. Nantucket? We don't live anywhere near Nantucket! Looking at the kids, I was jealous of all those kids who get to grow up on the quaint, secluded island of Nantucket.

I pulled out the other pictures and thankfully they were all the the ones I ordered of Jacob. I figured it would be nice to mail the teacher the extra 8x10 I had when school starts back up (I blurred the teacher's name out). So I started investigating the school district of Nantucket, MA. And came up empty searching for the teacher. So I expanded my search and found out there is a Nantucket Elementary about 50 miles away from me. There is even a Nantucket, Maryland - but it's no where near the Maryland Nantucket Elementary. Maryland is totally screwed up when it comes to towns and their names. For instance, did you know I live near California and Hollywood? California, Maryland and Hollywood, Maryland, that is.

Hugh Yard Sale

Hugh is having a yardsale and you're invited. I don't think Hugh Grant, Hugh Jackman or Hugh Hefner would be having a yardsale here in Maryland (but they are the only Hughs I can think of). Instead it's probably just some local Maryland guy named Hugh. But whoever this Hugh is, he's probably pretty famous to have some woman handing out fliers advertising his yardsale yesterday at the flea market. She walked away before I had a chance to ask Hugh's last name. Sorry Hugh, I can't make it to your yardsale!