Golfing in .50 Callaway Shoes

My son hit the links today while wearing a pair of .50 Callaway golf shoes that I bought at VV many years ago and put away until he'd fit into them. And, surprisingly, I was able to easily find them. He's no Tiger Woods but enjoys riding around in the golf cart with DH, eating pretzels and drinking soda - up until a point. Then I get a phone call saying I need to pick him up. I was hoping he'd last the entire 18 holes so I could get some shopping in, but it wasn't meant to be.

I did manage to get passport photos taken (Walgreens for $7.99 plus they have a deal this week for a free travel kit when you buy passport photos). I don't have to have a passport for my Bermuda trip this fall, but I figured it's time I got one. If the Queen of England was to call me to invite me for tea and to discuss my views of the monarchy system of today, I want to be able to go on a moment's notice. So I want a passport.

Yardsales in Kansas City, MO

I heard from a reporter in Kansas City, who is looking for yardsailors in the area who may want to be interviewed for an upcoming story on yardales. If you live in the Kansas City area and love yardsales, send me an email and maybe they'l want to talk to you.

yardsalequeen@comcast.net

Black letter on black background - not the easiest thing to read

I saw these signs for a yardsale yesterday on Lazy Lane. On the door (or whatever it is), they wrote "yard sale" in black lettering on a blackish background. They were too lazy to fix it I guess. But not too lazy enough to haul a big heavy door down to the corner to use as a sign. I don't understand people. I bought nothing at that sale.

The Case of the Missing Dried Peas

In my post the other day, I mentioned how often it feels like Christmas at my house, when I open up a shopping bag of stuff I forgot I bought. Well, the downside is that once in a great while (haha), something gets misplaced. For instance, I've had a bag of dried split peas in my cupboard for YEARS - and I know I saw it recently. I don't have a use for split green peas (it's not like I would eat them) - it was something my DH bought years ago on a rare trip inside a grocery store. So tonight he decides to make himself ham soup (he saved a ham bone from the last time I made a ham and its been in the freezer). Good for him, I won't eat it.

So....he starts looking around the cupboard for the split peas and neither one of us can find them. I mean, those *!#$(^% peas have been there forever and the day he finally wants to use them, they are gone. Where the heck can they be? I know I didn't do anything with them. I know its only a bag of peas, but that sort of thing drives me nuts not knowing where it is.

Keep checking back my blog for a split pea update. I have a feeling that in 2011 (but hopefully sooner), I will do a posting about where I found them.

Garage Sale Yardsale Junk Loving Rides

Here's a couple of pics of garage sale, junk loving vehicles that I've come across within the past couple of months.

The red jeep I saw at a church yardsale - I asked the owner permission to take a pic. And the second one was at Smile. Which coincidentally shares the parking lot of the church where I saw the jeep (but it was definitely on different days). I love the way they made sure their beloved "This vehicle stops at all garage sales" bumpersticker wasn't painted over during re-painting. Also love the lock - of course you got to lock your vehicle. You don't want someone stealing your goodies.

No bargains today

Didn't get any bargains today since I didn't go anywhere. And Jacob was irritated about that. He always wants to go somewhere everyday during summer vacation and it wears me out. It can just be to the grocery store but he wants to go somewhere. And then once we are out, he likes to explore and not stay by my side, so its not like I can do real shopping, it's mainly me yelling "Jacob get over here now". I guess you can say I am a little (or maybe a lot) overprotective.

Well now that I think about it, I did get a bargain today. The other day we had lunch at Chick-fil-a (using coupons of course) and then they gave us each a coupon that had a telephone survey thing to do. So I did the telephone surveys and now I have 3 coupons for a free Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich.

Chick-fil-a chicken sandwiches are awesome. Unfortunately they are not a nationwide fast food chain. So if you don't have one near you, my sympathies. McDonald's recently came out with a "southern style chicken sandwich" that is supposed to imitate a Chick-fil-a sandwich but to me there is no comparison. The other day I had a McD's version and ended up giving half of it to Whiskey. I bit down on some rubbery fat piece that grossed me out. That never would have happened at Chick-fil-a. The only reason I've been getting the McD ones is because I have free coupons to use up. So lately, I've just been getting them and bringing them home for DH to eat. He is not as picky as me. On eBay, I bought a bunch of coupons for free McD chicken sandwiches and chicken breakfast biscuits so I will use up what I have. But once they are gone, I am never getting it again.

The other day I did clean (partly) Jacob's room. It was a job getting those bed lift things under his bed. But it did create a bunch more storage space. I found the pair of water shoes I was looking for - they were under his bed. And I think they are too small. Also found some other stuff I had been looking for. I swear, many days it feels like Christmas in my house. Like when I go searching for something, and I come across a shopping bag of stuff that I forgot I bought. It's like a nice surprise. (And a sign of a serious shopping addiction!)

When school is out for the summer, I usually don't take Jacob thrift shopping. It seems those stores are magnets for screaming/crying kids, and Jacob cannot tolerate being around crying kids. He absolutely hates it. I recently heard from his speech therapy teacher and she said Jacob got shorted 2 hours of speech therapy over the course of the year and she offered to make it up in 2 one hour sessions. So that means one day next week, I'll be able to drop him off at school, run to Smile, then pick him up an hour later. And then again the following week. I know he won't want me to hang around school and sit in on the speech session since he doesn't like me visiting school to begin with. I am looking forward to getting my thrift shopping fix in. And in July I will also be able to go thrifting since he will be in summer day camp (for the first time).

ZZ Top concert last night

I worked (volunteered) at the ZZ Top concert last night. I got there late so I missed the shrimp wraps and the other food they give to volunteers. But I will tell you one thing, ZZ Top is one hard working band. Did you know that they also have a day job? Yep, I think so. At the building there, I saw a sign for their catering business. ;)



Well it was a typical concert, so no photo-line in front of the stage. Darn. What I thought was weird was that after the concert, they put on some unusual music - the only thing I can think of is, it's to make people want to leave - listen to the short YouTube video below that I made.

It was a nice night, weatherwise. Big, full moon. There was an orange ZZ Top type car there - the white dot in the upper right is the moon. The moon looks tiny in the pic, but it was bigger in real life.

Another good thing is that I made friends with a lady there who has access to a super secret toilet. It's a toilet that the public doesn't even have access to when the museum is open. I believe the queen should have special access to a grand throne. No more standing in line with the commoners for me! And you know I am taking full advantage of the free sodas that the volunteers have access to so it comes in handy.

Here is the music they played on the speakers immediately after the concert:



A short clip during the concert:



Alas, there was no David Cook:

My Yardsale Buys and Young Eagles

There weren't a million yardsales in my area yesterday but just enough for me to get my fix and be home by around 9:30.

Favorite buy of the day was the above desk for $3. It was at the first sale of the day and when I asked the seller how much, she replied $5? $4? $3? I love it when the seller talks themselves down without any effort on my part. They were glad to have it go to someone who can use it. I know its a just a cheap particle board desk (from Ikea), but it will replace the broken cheap particle desk that Jacob is currently using. And even though his current desk is broken, I can re-use part of it. Will do "before" and "after" pics, I promise. I know a while back, I promised Before and After pics of my minor bathroom renovation to convert it to a Spongebob Squarepants bath, but I haven't forgotten.

I also bought other stuff (of course) but the desk was my favorite buy of the day.

Also yesterday for the first time we went to a little county airport that is nearby. They were having a Young Eagles event. It's a program where pilots take children out on a short flight in a small plane (like either just 2 or 4 seats) to teach them a little bit about flying etc.

We went in the slim chance that Jacob would want to do it. And if not, get him familiar with it so maybe he'll want to do it in the future. He doesn't even like Merry-Go-Rounds so I knew the chances were going to be slim. But he did watch the other kids do it and he did even sit in the plane with the door closed.

Many years ago when I was single, my friend/roommate Donna saw a sign at the Schenectady county airport that said "Airplane rides $5" and she suggested we do it for the heck of it. I agreed and we went to the airport and was talking to someone about it. Meanwhile a flight instructor overheard us and said "I'm about to take a student out for a flight, you can go with us for free". And being young and stupid, we agreed. And we lived to tell about it. And we each saved $5 - haha. It was about a 6-seater and once in the air, my friend and I looked at each other and whispered "We are either about to crash or get raped or murdered or all of the above." We also thought it would be totally bizarre if we did crash and die, what would our parents think? It would have been like an unsolved mystery for them to ponder forever how we died mysteriously in a single engine airplane crash 50 miles from home. It was during a pre-cellphone era so we never told anyone about what we were doing. Donna is my friend from highschool who sends me the customized, glitterized, embellished and stamped Christmas cards (that I've posted pics of here on the blog before) that would take me 27 hours to make.

Anyhow, I digress. Here is a picture I took yesterday.

End of School Year

So for the last week or two, I've been busy trying to tie up loose ends before the end of school year. Well another way of saying it would be "I had to get my shopping fix in before the end of school year." Jacob is not a shopper. Today was the last day of school, until August 20. Not that I am counting or anything.

Well I did tie up a few loose ends. I won a coupon for a free soda at WaWa from entering a contest on Kimberly's My Good Cents blog. So I wanted to use it before it expired (and not have to chase Jacob around inside the convenience store). Her blog has all kinds of deals, and promos and money saving stuff on it.

I've used up almost all of my Staples $3 coupons. One day last week I splurged and got a mani-pedi (my idea of a splurge is getting a $30 mani/pedi plus tip at the cheap nail salon if you go on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.) THEN a few days later ended up getting a really bad splinter under a fingernail so I removed the nail polish to make sure I didn't see any more splinter. It was a baaaad splinter.

Used up a $5 Ace Rewards gift card that was expiring at the end of the month. Ended up buying $5 worth of laundry detergent.

Then today my DH had the day off from work, so we ended up doing some shopping at Walmart and Target. Bought Jacob a pair of water shoes for $4.88. Going to put up a little pool (bought last year at end of summer clearance at Target) on our deck and I don't want him to get splinters (we have an old wooden deck). Geez, in all this time on the blog I don't think I've used the word splinter once, and now here it turns up twice in one posting.

I need to get more organized, I know he has a pair of water shoes around here someplace, (bought at thrift) and I think they will fit this year but I can't find them. I thought for sure they were in his closet but I cannot find them. Maybe that will be my mission for tomorrow - find the other pair of water shoes so that he will have two pairs to use.

I found out that the CNN piece aired today at 3:45. I didn't find out until after the fact, but I should be getting an electronic copy. I don't think the website was mentioned since I don't see a big spike in website hits.

Walgreens Clearance Deals

I am really liking the Walgreens store that opened up a few months ago. It's only a few miles from my house and it the only Walgreens within about 50 miles.

Already my eyes are trained to look for the orange clearance "last chance" tags. On Wednesday, they had a cart full of clearance items on a cart right by the door when you walked in. Here is what I bought for $11.34 (with tax)

$2.19 - a 2-pack of Welch's grape jelly - the kind I usually buy for Jacob's pb&j
.84 ea. - seven packages of Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
.44 - Hershey candy bar
.42 ea. - four Cadbury Irish Cream candy bar. Never had this flavor before but its Cadbury, so it's got to be good.
.17 ea. - six 2oz bottles of Barry Bee Honey

I stopped back into Walgreens yesterday (I forgot to buy the .99 Bandaids that were on sale this week - and I have a coupon of course). And the clearance cart was practically empty. And last night I found that I had a .50 Pepperidge Farm cookie coupon that I could have used to make the total even less. Oh well.

Bad Doggy and Bad Mommy

Today I went somewhere today that I hope to never go again. Here's a clue:



And here is Clue #2:




The blur with the pink tongue would be my Whiskey Dog. In the Animal Shelter. (Sorry for the bad pic.) We had a thunderstorm over the weekend and when that happens, he gets the itch (more than usual) to run away. (My husband, the nuke worker, thinks its because of the extra ions that are generated during a thunderstorm that affects him.) I assumed Whiskey went - as usual - to his other adopted family a few streets over. I meant to call them on Sunday to make sure he was there and I forgot. I was probably too busy spraying myself with Solarcaine to think of anything else. So I called on Monday and left a message on their answering machine. I didn't hear back, so I stopped by today and much to my surprise he wasn't there and they hadn't seen him since the last time he had gotten out.

And unfortunately, he wasn't wearing any ID. Just his collar. So today I called the animal shelter and they said they did pick up a dog fitting Whiskey's description. Luckily they were open to 6pm so after school, Jacob and I went (with Whiskey's paperwork since I needed to show proof of rabies vaccination and dog license) to get him.

I guess I am just naive, but I figured I would just need to walk in and say "I'm here for my little tan terrier mix dog" and a kind worker would go back to where they keep the dogs and then magically re-appear with Whiskey. Nope, that's not how it works. Jacob and I walked in and I said I was here for my dog, and they pointed me in the direction of the wing of the building where dogs are kept and they told me to go find him.

So I described my dog to a worker I saw in the hallway and he led me down the aisle of dogs. I didn't want to look at the dogs - so I mostly kept my head down and just followed the worker. We get to the end and he goes "Did you see your dog?" Huh??? Stupid me (again). I thought he was taking me to where Whiskey was. So back up the aisle of dogs and this time I looked and didn't see Whiskey.

Now I start to get worried. Maybe Whiskey is laying dead in a ditch somewhere. Then the worker says "Let's take a look down the Quarantined Aisle". The place where they keep the vicious dogs apparently. And maybe those who aren't available for adoption. (I won't name specific breeds, but there were some scary looking dogs there). And the worker told me to make sure I don't stick my fingers in any of the kennels. I had thought the dogs in the other wing of the building were barkers, but I was mistaken. Now these dogs were really barkers. Meanwhile Jacob is starting to freak out because of the noise, the smells, the whole dingyness of the building etc.

So there among the vicious and really loud barkers, was my naughty dog, not saying a peep. So after paying $44 and filling out the paperwork, he is back on the sofa getting a good nights sleep, after eating some rib-eye steak scraps. I told him this better be the last time he's in the slammer cuz for a $85 adoption fee, I can get myself a new, young, doesn't-like-to-run-away dog. From now on, if I see there is a chance of a thunderstorm, he's gonna be housebound.

p.s. His ID tag is back on and laminated.

p.s.s. I got some good clearance deals at Walgreens today. Will blog tomorrow.

p.s.s.s. I hope my post doesn't scare anyone away from visiting their local animal shelter to find an animal to love. I'm sure many of the dogs I saw today would make great pets. I just wish our animal shelter was more inviting and modern - not one that was built in the Stone Age. Whiskey was a stray.

p.s.s.s.s. Don't forget to spay and neuter your pets!

Yard Sale Buys from Saturday

Here's a few of my buys from Saturday. I know I bought other stuff but I've already stashed away some of the stuff and didn't feel like getting it out. Like I also bought two Corning Vision glass cooking pots for $1 (for both) and some kids toys, a funky ashtray for .10, etc etc.

In the pic is a .25 large Pyrex mixing bowl. Inside the bowl is a set of 4 furniture bed lifts .50 (that's what they're called - you stick them under the feet of the bed to lift the bed up higher by about 5" or so, creating more storage spaced under your bed to hide your junk. And you know I need all the storage space I can get. Going to put them under Jacob's bed. $1 Pink Depression ice bucket. Well really I should say $2 since the seller guilted me into buying a $1 raffle ticket for the Relay for Life. .25 can of foot soaking powder, .50 never used Home Interior candle, .50 Carcaddie thing.

The carcaddie thing is a strap that attaches to your car's window - meant to help old people get out of the car easier. Will wrap up and give to my mom for Christmas, since that is the kind of thoughtful and generous daughter I am. And last item in the pic is a sweater clip. White thing in the middle is the price tag (.10). I have a friend who collects sweater clips. So now I feel like if I see one cheap to buy it for her even though she probably prefers finding them on her own at yardsales (she goes to a lot of yardsales too). A sweater clip is a thing that some women used to use to hold a sweater on their shoulders.

Poppyseeds and Tex-mex chili powder

In case you've ever wondered what a plate full of poppyseeds and chili powder looks like, here it is. The other day I found a bowl full of goldfish crackers with a ton of seasoned salt on them on the kitchen counter. Well I didn't do it, and my DH didn't do it. And Whiskey is AWOL right now. So that leaves one little 8 year old culprit. Then yesterday I see a bowl full of poppyseeds on the counter. I just took a funnel and stuck them back in the jar.

But tonight I caught the culprit in the act. Tonight his concoction was poppyseeds with McCormick Tex-Mex chili powder on a plate. I don't know why lately he is fascinated with the spice cabinet. Cuz he certainly is not trying to eat any spice whatsoever, of course. The other week when we went to Baskin Robbins for a vanilla ice cream (with coupon), he gagged when he accidently tasted a tiny piece of brownie or cookie crumb that must have been on the ice cream scooper and had gotten into his ice cream.

Oh the pain.......

Now here's the rest of the story about my sunburn that I received on Saturday. When I was talking to my DH from the pool, I mentioned that I was planning on stopping by Walgreens and buying some Solarcaine since I figured I would need it. He said not to bother because he still had some of the lotion we bought in Mexico years ago and he just used some and it worked good. (He took his motorcycle up to Pennsylvania last week and got some sun on the ride).

Anyhow, against my better judgment I didn't stop at Walgreens and went home and tried the Mexican lotion. It felt like I was putting liquid fire (or Ben-gay) onto my skin. In reading the ingredients list, en espanol, I see there is menthol in it. Menthol? I did get a good laugh at the pics on the back of the bottle though. Apparently the lotion is good if you have fire on your hand, cut your finger off in multiple pieces or sunburn.



p.s. Went to Target and ended up buying good ole Solarcaine. Not sure if they've changed the recipe or if my skin is just not bouncing back like it used to. But I've used half the can already and don't think its working as good as I remember it did back in the day.

p.s.s. The price label is correct, we paid 43.00 something for it, but it wasn't in dollars, it was in centavos or pesos or something.

I survived 9 hours at the public pool (felt like an eternity)

So yesterday, after hitting some yardsales in the morning, I took Jacob to the public pool which is only a few years old. It has slides, and buckets that pour water etc etc. I brought "very water resistant" (according to the label) SPF 50 with me, which apparently wasn't enough. I thought I did a good job slathering up Jacob and myself repeatedly throughout the day, but by the time we left I knew I had gotten too much sun. Having random kids in the pool saying to me "hey, you're really red" also clued me in that I had gotten too much sun. I did a much better job protecting Jacob from the sun than myself - but a few parts of him are a little red.

The pool would be a really nice place, if there weren't so many damn kids there! haha. I can also do without people plucking each other's back hair in public. After about 1.5 hours, Jacob said he was ready to go home and I stupidly said "lets just stay for another half hour" (after all, we had paid $10 to get into the place). But then....he didn't want to leave. We should have left early, gotten our hands stamped, and then returned at 6pm for a few hours.

========================

The above pic of boats is a picture I took on Friday night. My DH had an after-work going away get-together at a bar to go to for a coworker. So I took Jacob to the museum. The museum generally isn't open in the evenings but now they are doing a "first free Friday" event where the museum is open free to the public on the first Friday of the month. Since we are museum members anyway, we never pay admission, but they were having different events going on that night. Like free boat rides. So Jacob and I took one of the boat rides, where they tell a little about the history of the area. The big boat in the center of the pic was called the "Christina", which I think is an excellent name for a boat, yacht, person, planet etc.

I got confirmation that I'll be volunteering at the ZZ Top concert at the museum on the 17th, so that should be fun. I like going early for the free dinner they give volunteers and having the shrimp wraps. yum.

I'll post my yardale buys tomorrow.

Jacob's jeans: butterflies and flowers

I know I haven't listed my purchases in several days. Been too busy shopping. Husband had to go out of town on business, so I had to relieve my loneliness by chatting with all the ladies at the thrift stores. Oh, and I may have bought a thing or two, or hundred.

I bought these pretty flowery jeans with butterflies for Jacob. They are Lee painter pants ($1). Aren't they pretty?



Here is a pic of some of my yardsale buys from Saturday. Bag of trolls $2, old Remco schoolhouse $1.50, candle .50, Bath & Body Works stuff .25 each, tacky outdoor troll/gnome .25, clock .50 (will resale at my next yardsale), .25 bottle of dog shampoo, $2 hosta plant, .10 vintage Curity tape (for display in my bathroom). And all that Mission brand food for $6.25 - none of which was out of date. The cheese sauces were .75 each (they have Feb. 09 expiration date). And yesterday at the grocery store I saw they are normally priced $3.19 each.



I also bought two old printers at two different yardsales for .50 each. I bought them only for their inkjet cartridges that were in them. Later on Saturday we went to Office Depot and my husband wanted one of those nerdy bluetooth ear headset things (which were on sale). While he was in the store, I went back to the car (where I still had the printers) and got out the three inkjet cartridges. I was able to recycle them at Office Depot and they took $9 off my husband's purchase. I then later took the old printers to the recycling center, where they recycle old monitors, computers, printers etc. (Staples if you are reading this, don't be jealous, you are still my favorite office supply store, at least until the end of June).

p.s. Oh I almost forgot to mention - yes the jeans I bought for Jacob were originally meant for a boy. When I first saw them, I looked and saw how the patches were attached. I saw they were someone's homemade do-it-yourself project and they easily came off.

Some new Garage Sale and Yardsale Websites

I recently got a couple of new advertisers for the YSQ website and thought I would let you all know about them. Both are places to advertise your yardsale and/or garage sale (and to find where the sales are):



and

More Dierks Bentley Pics

(No, his Long Trip Alone tractor trailer but doesn't have www.yardsalequeen.com written underneath, but I think it would be a good idea)



Before the concert - notice the cottage style lighthouse behind the stage. It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor concert.







You know you can click on the pics to see them enlarged. Yes, I know the top of his head is a little cut off in some of the pics. Ummmm....... I did that on purpose for artistic photographic purposes. Yes that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I noticed at the concert there was some little girls who brought small handwritten posters (about 8"x11" size) that said "Dierks bring out the dogs" (One of his dogs frequently appears in his music videos). So anyway after the show I was hanging around waiting for traffic to die down and saw that he and his entourage were relaxing near the lighthouse and Jake (his white dog) was roaming around the area. I wish that parent had kept their kid around to see that.

CNN story on yardsales

When I last posted on the blog, the CNN interview was scheduled for Thursday morning but it got changed to today. So that meant I had a full day to clean, attempt to hide clutter and get nervous.

Now its all out of my hands - I just hope I don't come across looking like a total idiot (I don't mind looking like a partial idiot, but looking like a total idiot would be too much).

They worked fast (the reporter and cameraman) - I think they were here less than an hour and that included scoping out where to do the interview, setting up the camera and lighting, doing the interview and then breaking down all the equipment.

I only took two pics when they were here. I sat in the director's type chair (purchased for $5 years ago at a yardsale) and the reporter sat with her back to the camera. Here's the better of the two:



I don't know when the story will run but the reporter will let me know. Looking back on it, I should have answered every question with "Well on my website yardsalequeen dot com, I tell people they should yadda yadda". But I didn't. Heck, not even sure if yardsalequeen.com will be mentioned. But....once it airs I'll have a new category of Media to add to my Media page

CNN - here? OMG

Well my detailed blog entry about last weekend is gonna have to wait some more.

I just got a call from a reporter for CNN. They want to come to my house tomorrow to interview me. On camera. Oh. My. God.

Gotta clean. Gotta clean. Got some cleaning to do.

More on the Queen's Foundation

I got an email from Jan in England - she sent me a link to the Queen's Foundation. She was concerned that the email I received the other day was bogus. Very sweet of her to be concerned for me. For the record though, George Wallect didn't need my credit card info - giving credit card info to a stranger would be stupid. All he wanted was my bank account routing # and my mother's maiden name. I mean, really, he would need that anyway to electronically transfer the money.

In visiting the Queen's Foundation website, I learned ironically that they run a chain of second hand stores in England to help the disabled. They must be doing well if they can afford to send me $500,000! I think once I get the money, I will just donate it back to them (less my processing fees, of course) to open more stores. The world can always use more thrift stores. Here is the legitmate info on the Queen's Foundation thrift stores and their locations - Queen's Foundation Thrift Stores

It would probably remind me of the Vintage Value stores that I shop at - they employ disabled people and use it as a job training facility.

Well it was a busy weekend and I still have more to report - more about the yardsale I had on Saturday at the fairgrounds, more Dierks Bentley pics and maybe talk about the 6 hours I spent painting our fence. The fence painting sounds exciting doesn't it?

p.s. I think the $4 Bjorndal sandals I bought the other day are going to be my "going out the mailbox" wearing shoes. I wore them the other day and not very comfortable. I will try them again and see if they just need to be broken in more. I think their name is supposed to fool people into thinking they are made by some of fancy Swedish company, but in fact, probably just made in China.

Dierks Bentley Concert Solomons Maryland

Just a quick note (it's been a long day since it started off by having a yardsale and ending up with seeing Dierks Bentley. Really really close. I took this pic during a well deserved break from volunteer bartending (we were non-stop busy for at least 2 hours straight). There was a photo line where people could walk up right next to the stage. (Thanks to the person who recommended the watermarking site)

And here's a couple of videos:

Shoes, Sobe, Snapple, and yummy David Cook

Went to Smile and found some shoes. A pair of like new Aerosoles ($2), a pair of Bjorndal $4 and a pair of Helmut Lang sandals $5. The Helmut Lang shoes are too big so they will probably get put on ebay.

Speaking of shoes, if you are buying your shoes online, be sure to check Beth's Shoebuy coupons site for big discounts at Shoebuy.com It is one of the easiest ways to save on shoes.

After Smile, I went to Walgreens and bought a cart-full of stuff for $12. I happened upon a day when they were reorganizing the coolers and had all kinds of Snapple, Sobe, and Gatorade for .34 each. They also had a bunch of Milkbone dog treats - big bags - normally $5 for $1.24 each (I bought 4 packages). And I had a coupon for $20.00 off a OneTouch Glucose Meter, which were on sale for $14.99. I don't need the glucose meter, but I will sell it at my next yardsale, which is soon.

The cashier took the full price of the coupon $20 off, even though the glucose meter was $14.99. The cashier is the paid professional - not me. It's not my job to the cashier how to ring up a coupon. Soooooo.... if they want to give me $20 off a $14.99 item, I let them. The above pic is all the teas I got plus the glucose meter. Forgot to put the dog treats in the pic. All in all, I ended up paying $12-something.

And if you happened to miss yummy David Cook last night in the Guitar Hero commercial - here it is for your viewing pleasure. I taped this off our TV (DVR) using my little digital camera focusing on the tv screen. Love my DVR!



ZZ Top is going to be in our area next month. I think I'll try to work (volunteer) at it - just for the slim chance of a special guest star. Here's another video that I recorded off my TV/DVR.

I think the Queen of England has heard of me!

Word of my yardsale queen royalty-ness has spread to England. Just take a look at this email I personally received today:

From : The Queen Elizabeth's Foundation
Woodlands Road
Leatherhead Court Leatherhead
Surrey
KT22 0BN.

Attn: Beneficiary,

Congratulations The Queen Elizabeth's Foundation has chosen you by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, educational, and business development. To celebrate the 30th anniversary program, We are giving out a yearly donation of US$500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) to 5 lucky recipients, as charity donations/aid from the Queen Elizabeth's Foundation, ECOWAS, EU, UNICEF and the UNO in accordance with the enabling act of Parliament, which is part of our promotion. To file for your claim you are to fill out below information and send it to Mr.George Wallect The Executive Secretary Via his email contact address.

Claims Requirements:

1. Full Name:..............................
2. Address; ............................
3. Nationality:..................................
4. Age:.......... Date of Birth:.................
5. Occupation:.....................................
6. Phone:................Fax:.....................
7. State of Origin:...........Country:...............

The Executive Secretary:

Mr. George Wallect
Woodlands Road
Leatherhead Court Leatherhead
Surrey
KT22 0BN.
E-mail : qelizabethspromo1@yahoo.com.hk
Tell: +44 704 5732 998

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I am so excited to be a beneficiary. After I fill out the form, I'll probably just have to send them my credit card info just to prove to them that I am who I say I am, but then - yippee - the money will start rolling in!

Did a radio interview today - Detroit

I did a radio interview today at noon for a Detroit based radio show - Rick Bloom Show It was scheduled a few weeks ago and last week I told my husband "On Sunday you and Jacob are going somewhere. I don't care where, just get out of the house so I can do the radio interview in peace". He said ok. So on Friday, what does he tell me? "I'm going golfing on Sunday, I have a 10am tee-time with the guys". GRRRRRRRR. So I remind him about our conversation last week. It did no good, he was going golfing.

This same sorta thing happened a while ago. I had a radio interview scheduled and at the last minute my husband got called into work (some minor *thing* at the nuke plant was going on and he needed to be there.) Geez, where are his priorities??? So what if the nuclear power plant needs him, doesn't he realize I have important yardsale words of wisdom to spread to the world via radio and he has to watch Jacob? Well that time, I locked myself in our bedroom and did the interview with Jacob BANGING on the door - MOMMY let me in - MOMMY LET ME IN! Over and over again. It was awful. So that was what I was fearing would happen again today.

Jacob can occupy himself for hours on end, watching videos, playing computer, playing outside, but he has a sixth sense about when there are times that I cannot give him attention and its at those moments he wants to hang all over me and not leave me alone.

So for today, here's what I did. I know that I did was wasteful (wasting water) but hopefully I won't have to do it again. The interview was at noon. I put out some toys he hadn't played with in a while and he busied himself in his room from 11:30am to 11:55 (of course). Then he came looking for me. Crap. I told him I was going to take a shower and for him to go downstairs. I turned the shower on cold - and low water - and turned the bathroom fan on and left the bathroom (locking the door behind me). Then I snuck into my bedroom, locked the door and did the interview with no disruptions. Jacob thought I was taking an extra long shower and I was able to do my interview in peace.

ps. I found that there is a Salvation Army on Bermuda I am so there.

Here are some of my buys from yesterday

$1 each - Closetmaid door space racks (was marked $2 each, I offered $1 ea)
$2 - big bead tower thing - has a gazillion beads in it.
$2 Barbie case
$1 old milk bottle
.50 - green depression glass ashtray
.50 vintage troll
$1 baby einstein DVD
.25 - REM cd
$1 Berlin Wall souvenir
.10 homer laughlin mug
free - Just Married car sign
.50 Bath & Body Works car deodorizer
.10 1983 Bandaid tin with someone's little homemade first aid kit inside (will toss the insides and just keep the vintage-y tin)
.25 - jewelry box
.50 - 1966 Civil Defense family survival book

Some stuff to keep, some for resale at my next yardsale and some for ebay. Not in pic, two jackets for Jacob (one for .25, and an LL Bean one for $1)

I found Whiskey's long lost relative today at a yardsale

Ok, so it's Saturday and I was at some yardsales earlier today. Big surprise there. But the most interesting thing was seeing a dog that looks like my Whiskey dog. Once in a while, on a tv commercial or something, I'll spot a dog that sort of resembles Whiskey but never in real life have a seen a dog that looks so much like him. I guess when you have a purebreed dog you think nothing of seeing dogs that look like your dog. Like if you have a pug, then all the other pugs look sorta like your own pug etc.

Ok, so here is the Whiskey imposter (I had to take a picture - the woman was carrying him around like a baby (maybe she didn't have a leash - they were visiting next door to the yardsale and stopped over to shop).



And here is the real authentic Whiskey. His hair in this pic looks smooth because he had gotten shaved and it was still growing out - otherwise his hair would look exactly like the wiry-haired Whiskey imposter.

A Bermuda Bargain (if there is such a thing)

In case my clue about my vacation wasn't obvious (I thought it was soooo totally obvious - haha) - I am going to Bermuda! My sister and I are going on a cruise in the fall - with the only port being Bermuda. I love Bermuda. I spent a college spring break there a few years back. Or was it decades ago?? No, I am *sure* it was just a few years ago because I am still so young.

The trip is going to be relatively cheap considering there is no airfare involved. I will just drive to the port (Baltimore - not too far) and pay $10 a day to park. I signed up for Royal Caribbean's email newsletters and happened to see that they were running a special on May 13th. Book your cruise on that day and get a $50 onboard credit. Not a big deal but I told my sister we should book it that day since we are positive about what date we can both sail on. Because of my husband's work schedule, there was only 1 date that I could go on - he has to be available to get Jacob on and off the bus etc.

I am so glad we booked it. I just looked at the Royal Caribbean website and the price of our cruise just jumped $150! I can't wait to tell my sister that we just *saved* ourselves $150 each.

I love cruises. I haven't been on one in 8 years - the last cruise I was on was NCL's Norway back when I was preggers with Jacob. Most of my cruises have been on NCL but I have been on RCCL once before.

Anyone know of any thrift shops in Bermuda??

A few buys from this week - early Christmas presents

Man, I wish I had found these items last month - they could have been Mother's Day gifts! But now I gotta save them until Christmas. The thing on the left is a $2 religious dust collector. My mom sorta collects religious stuff that looks like this. Or maybe it was that she had ONE item like this at one time and I took it upon myself to buy her more since I never know what to buy her. But I think she will like it since it's egg shaped and she's 100% Ukrainian.

And my mom is a big Food TV fan and she had other Paula Deen books. This one was a $1. (My sister met Paula Deen at the Nashville airport a few years back and said she was as nice as she seems on tv. My sister ran into the airport gift store and bought a copy of Paula's magazine and got it autographed).

New Yardsale Garage Sale Message board is up and running....

Yep, it's taken a while but the new yardsale garagesale message forum at yardsalequeen.com is offically open for business.

Everyone (including new and old board members) will have to register to be a member - just like starting from scratch.

Click here for the Message Board Rules and for the link to the new board. One big change is that everyone who registers will have to make a post within 2 weeks of registering. If not, they'll be deleted. There were LOTS of members on the old board who registered but never posted a single thing.

Anyhow, I know there will be glitches and snafus in the beginning as we become accustomed to the new board, but at least there will be no obnoxious banner ads. (Unless I do them myself - haha).

Yippee!!! Going on vacation later this year.

I made reservations tonight to go on vacation in the fall. Going with my sister who is hitting a big birthday number. The diet starts tomorrow!

New Yard Sale Garage Sale Message Board soon

If you are new to my website, you probably noticed that the link for the Yardsale message board isn't working at the moment. I've been working on replacing it and I'm getting close to having it ready.

Kickin' butt on Mother's Day

We didn't have any plans for today, so I suggested going bowling (I guess I had bowling balls on the brain). I have a some Banquet free bowling coupons and it does make me feel good to use them, rather having them go to waste. They expire at the end of the month - the coupons were on the packages of the cheap Banquet tv dinners. The total cost of kickin' butt? Priceless. But the monetary value was $0.00 (except for gas to get there). Free bowling and this particular bowling alley has free kid's shoe rental. Dh and I each have our own bowling shoes so no need to rent shoes.

Above is a picture of the butt kickin' I did to my family earlier today. I don't think 138 is a high score by any means, but it was good enough today.

Bowling Ball Fence - artsy craft project for old bowling balls

The other day I drove down a street in my neighborhood that I usually don't drive on, and for the first time saw this interesting use of old bowling balls. You know how you can always find old bowling balls for a buck or so at a yardsale? I wonder if that's how this fence got started. The yard is on a hill, so I wasn't able to take a picture of the entire bowling ball fence. I'm guessing they just got varying lengths of rebar (or similar) and put some sort of epoxy in one of the finger holes and just staggered them. Maybe someday I'll stop in and ask for instructions.

I just searched google for other bowling ball fences and none were as pretty as this one. I think it looks sorta artsy.

I'm sure you noticed the ugly "photo from yardsalequeen.com" across the photo. I did that cuz I am tired people taking my pictures and more without permission. And I figured this picture is a kind that someone (not YOU of course) would copy and put on a crafts website without asking permission. So I figure, I might as well get credit for it.

The other day I stumbled across a new garage sale website and saw that they copied word for word - about a half page directly from my website. And then on someone else's blog I saw a picture that I took - with no credit or mention of yardsalequeen.com Very irritating to know there are people who think nothing of taking someone else's work and claiming it as their own. Makes me want to come over and knock them upside the head with my bitch belt buckle (that is, if I could find where I put it.)

I am in need of an adult beverage.

Jacob had a dentist appointment today. One that I had been dreading. Well at least it's over. He had 4 sealants put on molars and they used laughing gas to help relax him. Well today I found out that he is one of the type of kids that laughing gas has no effect on. He kicked, fought and cried. At one point there were 4 hygenists in the room plus the dentist (and me). A few of the hygenists were just for keeping him immobile. My sister used a pediatric dentist who would "papoose" the difficult kids - basically put them in some sort of straight jacket and velcro them to the chair so they couldn't move. Jacob's dentist doesn't do any of that. She is really great - she makes me feel like she sees kicking and screaming every day and what Jacob does is typical. Hard to believe it was all done in about 20 minutes.

I managed to snap a pic on my cellphone. (I edited the pic for privacy.)

My other goal for the day was to get a Mother's Day card in the mail to my mom. I knew if I didn't send it today, it wouldn't get to NY in time. The past few days I looked and looked at various places for an appropriate card and couldn't find one. We are not the kind of family who sends sentimental mushy cards. I try to find a Mother's Day card that either revolves around liquor, gambling or having to pee. (The best card I sent a few years ago said "Cheers! It's Mother's Day! Not exactly a drinking holiday, but why not?")

But I was having trouble this year finding a good card. It seems that this year Hallmark is trying to cram $4.99 musical or record-a-message type cards down the everyone's throat. So...with all the space that those big $4.99 mushy cards take up, there was less space for a good selection of sarcastic or funny mother's day cards.

I ended up going to a small independent pharmacy and found this $2.29 card - which will do. (I took a pic with my cellphone before I mailed it off).



On the inside it said "That's how we remember it"

After I dropped Jacob off at school, and after mailing the card at the P.O., I stopped at Smile and saw this neat old banana seat bike (for $10). I didn't buy it but thought it looked cool. Of course I am too young to remember when those style bikes were popular ;)



Coming tomorrow on the blog - a project using old bowling balls (like the ones you find dirt cheap at yardsales).

p.s. Now is the time to buy some Forever stamps (at .41 each). The cost of a stamp goes up to .42 next week. So might as well buy some at .41 this week (assuming you mail stuff occasionally).

Happy Birthday George Clooney and me

George, I hope you are having a good birthday. We should get together next year at Lake Como and celebrate together (don't worry, I can leave the husband and kid at home).

Dierks Bentley Concert later this month in Solomons, Maryland

I am volunteering my time later this month at the local museum. I get such a sense of accomplishment doing volunteer work in the community. I will be a volunteer bartender. Yes, an important and needed duty. I will help to quench the parched throats of concert goers by serving them beer, wine, soda and water. (Bartenders do not receive tips - all tips go to the museum for their educational programs etc). The local museum hosts a few concerts during the year as a way to make money. And selling beverages at the concert is another way they make money for their programs. The next concert is Dierks Bentley (country music if you are not familiar with the name). I am not sure who is the opening act. Bucky Covington (from American Idol) has opened for some of Dierk's shows, but not this one. I like Bucky and would have liked to have seen him.

So anyway, I've been listening to some Dierks Bentley music to get more familiar with it. And believe me, I don't mind looking at the Dierk's promo posters that all the local businesses have plastered in their windows. Not bad to look at at all. See if you agree with my assessment...here is one of his videos.

The Smarter Way to Spend your Tax Stimulus Check

I just thought of this. If spending your tax stimulus check at yardsales is too much work for you, I have a better and smarter idea.....just donate/give it to me, and I'll do all the hard work of spending the money at the yardsales.

Here's a donation link to make it easy for you. (I'm so thoughtful!)

p.s. Sorry - but I can't figure out how to make all that white space above the Paypal donation button go away.

The Smart Way to Spend your Tax Stimulus Check

My sister sent me this via email. It must be making the email rounds:

As you may have heard, each of us will be getting a tax rebate check to
stimulate the economy.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If
we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs. If we purchase a computer
it will go to India. If we purchase fruits and vegetables it will go to
Honduras, and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan.

If we purchase useless stuff it will go to Taiwan and none of it will
help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America. The only way to keep that
money here at home is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the
only businesses left owned by Americans!!

I love storage.

I love storage. I used have an ordinary, normal attitude toward storage, but now I love it. Anything that makes my *stuff* more organized so that I can go out and buy more stuff at yardsales makes me happy. The way I am going, an intervention with Dr. Phil in attendance may be sooner than I think.

Today I bought two CD/DVD Sauder bookcases at a yardsale (both for $25). I justify it since they utilize space better and hold more than our old VHS bookcases. The seller had them marked $20 each but I asked if they would take $20 for both - they counter-offered at $25. This month I am going to have another yardsale so I will try to sell the old ones then. One is for holding our overflow of CDs (we have a different bookcase for the majority of our CDs) and the other went into Jacob's room.

Here are some "before" and "after" pics of Jacob's room:





And for our CD overflow:





It's hard to believe but it's the exact same # of CDs that are in the top old bookcase are now in the new bottom bookcase. But with the new bookcase, there is so much more room to add more.

And for me I bought this little trinket. I bitch belt buckle. Surprisingly, I didn't already have one. It was $1. Color looks a little weird since I took the pic without the flash. It's silver colored. Not sure what I will do with it.



My other buys for today included 3 packages of Axo Earl Grey tea (in cellophane) for $1 for all. For DH. I don't drink tea in any form or flavor. I also bought him a nice new Minnesota Vikings mug for a quarter - will put away for Father's Day - as a gift from Jacob.

I didn't really buy much today. I have high hopes for next Saturday. One of my favorite church's is having their annual sale. It starts at 6:30 a.m.

On a sad note, I am losing two area religion-based thrifts. They aren't thrifts that I would shop religiously at (haha) since they were both about 15 miles away (in opposite directions) but I would always try to stop if I was in their area. One is the Catholic Charities thrift (Faithfully Frugal) and the other is Beth's Reruns (a Jewish thrift). Both are closing within weeks.

What really makes me sad is that the Faithfully Frugal store is the store that I bought the Benjamin Moore Aura paint at (for $3). So now I am not sure where the paint store will donate the paint to.

.31 Ice Cream Scoop night at Baskin Robbins - STINKS

So yesterday I mentioned I was going to run out and get some .31 scoop ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Yeah right. Went around 6:45 and noticed that the parking lot was fuller than normal. Not a good sign. I parked and Jacob and I went inside Baskin Robbins and the place was packed. So I thought, geez, we'll go eat somewhere and come back in an hour or so.

And my local Baskin Robbins changed the time listed on their .31 Scoop advertisement in their store from 5pm - 10pm (what it was supposed to be) to 5pm - 9pm. Grrrrrrrrr - pretty sneaky. So we go eat at McD and Jacob had ice cream there for $1.06. For a buck, McDonalds has tasty icecream. For the heck of it, I swing back by BR to check (it was around 7:45) and the line was out the door! What the heck????

I started thinking, no way am I going to wait in that long line and actually have to pay. I think back to this past St. Patty's Day when I was in NY with Jacob and Stewarts had FREE ice cream and there was NO line! And here Baskin Robbins wants me to wait in that awfully long line and pay for it? I don't think so. I've had more free ice cream in my life than the average person so I am not waiting in a Baskin Robbins line with a squirmy 8 year old. My brother worked for many years as an accountant at an ice cream factory in NY and every week he got to take home free ice cream, as a benefit. I remember counting something like 16 half gallons of ice cream one time in my parent's very large extra freezer.

Now don't misunderstand - I didn't say I would never eat BR ice cream again, I'm just saying that I'm not waiting in some long line. I'll take Jacob with one of the Buy 1 Get 1 free coupons that I have. We do have an awfully nice Baskin Robbins in town - it even has a view - of the dump (trash transfer station). Here is a pic I took earlier this year when my husband and I got Buy 1 Get 1 Free sundaes and we sat outside enjoying the ice cream while watching people throw away their garbage. And to think people complain that there's nothing to do in our small town.