By Crikey, My Swap Package is HERE!

Just when I thought I couldn't handle ONE more thing - DS is sick. Bronchitis again, it seems. The pollen is everywhere again since our first Spring got froze out we are starting over again. So, it's really no wonder he is sick. So, we will be going to the doctor today which changes plans - no helping at the Special Olympics tomorrow. I was looking forward to helping out - but ya gotta be a MOM to your own kid before you can worry about other kids.

I participated in a Vintage Cookery Swap over at Pine Trees a month or so ago. My partner was Lee-Ann in Australia. She sent me a very fun package of interesting and unique items. She is lucky enough to work in an "Op Shop" which seems to be a thrift store "down under". Check out her blog - she has wonderful collections. Her collection of biscuit cutters (cookie cutters) is to die for.....

Everything came so sweetly wrapped in Spring Colors. The magazine is from the 1950's and cost 9¢.

Among other goodies I received a sweet card, a cookbook from Australia, a tin that once held Aussie candies, a package of "Preserve Paper" from the 1940's to keep your preserves "fresh and insect free", a fun old glass jar with a tin lid that once held Stove Polish, a lovely little green creamer, a hand carved wooden spoon complete with a burn mark where someone left it in the pot too long, a box of "Campbell's Laundry Bar Soap" and two embroidered napkins with napkin rings.

This larger hot pad has a pocket that holds three other coordinating pot holders. These are a WIP (work in progress) as someone hasn't quite finished the embroidery work yet. I might finish it - Lee-Ann inculded the floss to do so. ;o)

This isn't the best picture. I was trying to show that the cut crystal glass Salt Shaker has one large funnel shaped hole instead of several small holes like I am accustomed to seeing. I suppose that is due to the humidity in Australia. I just never thought about the salt shaker looking different! I love the little silver spoon - I think it might be a sugar spoon, but I'm not sure. It's shaped like a little shovel. The S&P lids and the spoon have the same silver hallmarks.

This little doiley is crocheted in the tiniest stitches. Lee-Ann says this was a popular craft project iin the 1940's-50's. Back then, milk came in glass open topped bottles. You placed the doiley over the open top of the milk jug while it was at the table to keep flies and insects out of the milk. There are tiny glass beads at the edges to weigh it down. Isn't that interesting???? (BTW, "doiley" isn't in spellcheck - so I'm not sure how to spell it!)

I adore this sweet tablecloth. I seem to be hoarding a great deal of vintage tablecloths. I need to find a use for them. I am scared to "use" them for fear I will stain them up. But, they aren't doing me much good in a Rubbermaid tub, now are they?

This is a sweet embroidered apron. (Sorry I failed to flip the photo around.) Notice that the apron matches the tablecloth perfectly!

Thanks Lee-Ann, I loved everything!

So, in my last post I said I MUST get things listed on ebay this week. Well, I forgot that I had a few other things to do this week.

1. Donate car full of ebay outcast items.
2. Attend Math & Science Night.
3. Weep knowing DS is watching the dreaded Puberty Video.
4. Volunteer 8-2 at the Arkansas State Special Olympics as a Record Keeper.
5. Organize paper goods and decor for a catered lunch for 150 teachers and admistrators.
6. Find caterer or plan menu for said luncheon.
7. Make 625 Goodie Bags for above mentioned teachers - one for each day for five days.
8. Finish typing and laying out WRB Newsletter - take to printer, collate, stuff envies, address and mail.
9. Run 5,000 copies for entire 5th grade.
10. Do my usual house cleaning, laundry, etc.
11. Tape Regis's return - YEA! (That's the day I go to the Special Olympics.)

Yea, I don't think much will get listed on ebay this week afterall.

This photo is very unremarkable, but to our family it is a one of a kind photo. This is the only known time that all three of our cats were within an arm's length of one another. I'm always envious when I see photos of two or three cats all snuggled up together sleeping. Our cats co-exist, but do not particularly care for one another. That's Tiger on the left. He's 21 pounds of pure flub. He is eleven years old, but only came to us a year and a half ago. Our neighbors left him behind so we adopted him. He loves Daddy best followed by my Mom. Little Lady is in the center. She's about six and she came to us one very cold wintry night when she was just a kitten. I got her in the house and she went into the closet in my office and hid for nearly three days. I thought she had died! But, she was warm, cozy and getting some much needed sleep. She is a sweet little girl. On the right is Pity. She came to us about a year after Litle Lady. I think she isa bout six too. When she first came to us she was a very odd cat. For instance, the first YEAR we had her - she never left the bedroom. So, we had cat dishes and a litter box in the bedroom. Then she decided she could go into DS's room, then she decided she could go into the bathroom and then the kitchen and living room. There was about a two month long period where she only slept in the shower. Thankfully, she is practically normal now and she too is a very sweet girl. Her purring can keep you up at night.

Hey, I don't have time to blog! Didn't you see that list?

Yesterday I went to an outstanding Estate Sale. It was being run by the family members and they were so very nice. Every time I picked up something, they had a family memory behind it. I told them that I had had to clean out my In-Laws Estate, and I knew it was difficult. They said, "Well, You gotta do, what you gotta do". When they told me the story of their parents deaths, I remembered reading their obituaries in the newspaper. I read every obituary every day. It's my way of paying respect. The husband had died on Dec. 24th last year and his wife died 16 days later. She died of a broken heart. They had a very nice newer home with very nice, pristine old things. Everything was super clean and in the very best condition.

I ended up going to the sale four times yesterday. I bought several things the first vist. The second visit was actually part of my first - I was getting in the car when I realized there were things in the side yard for sale so I went to see what they had. I spotted an old metal glider with scrollwork on the back. It needed a paint job, but overall, it was in very good condition. It was only $25.00 which is a very good price for a piece of old metal lawn furniture. I called DH for him to approve but mostly for him to agree that he would come get it in his truck at the end of the day. I also had to steal $25.00 out of DS's allowance wallet to pay for it. Oh, the thigs I do for a bargain.

After I went home, I thought of many of the things I had seen, but didn't buy. I decided to look them up on ebay to see if I missed anything great. There were several things that looked like a good investment, so I went back. Trip #3. The sale was on my same street, jsut on the other side of the highway - so it was very close. That trip I spent $28.00 which included $10.00 for a bright orange Mickey Mouse Brunswick Bowling Ball.



I got a lot of neat old things and it is mostly all destined for resell. I am going to keep the old kitchen scales - they were only $1.00 and they work perfectly PLUS they fit into my kitchen colors and fruit crate label theme.

When DH got home, we loaded up in the truck and went to pick up the glider. Trip #4: As we were loading it, I realized there was a matching chair for $10.00 and two side tables for $1.00 each. So, I spent an additional $12.00 that time. But, for a total of $37.00, we now have a fabulous cool old glider, chair and two side tables. The people that live behind us recently fenced in their yard, which resulted in a free fence for us. The ultimate bargain!

This afternoon, DS and I were out looking for a deal or a bargain or an adventure and didn't find much to see or do. We stopped by the Estate Sale one more time (Trip #5!). They had marked a lot of things down including a Raggedy Ann and Andy Record Player that was $5.00 yesterday, but only $1.00 today. They were also putting hte books out for FREE so I picked out a few to bring home. I realized that one whole box was full of all the Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume and all the other teenage books I read as a teen. I asked if I could have the whole box to donate to the reading class at school and they were delighted for me to take them. The Reading Teacher will be excited too.

Next week MUST be devoted to listing my treasures that you see pictured above and continuing my decluttering by taking out somemore unwanted items in the house. It MUST!

No, no, no.

Dear Parents,

We will be showing your child the "Puberty Video" next week. Please be prepared to answer any questions that your child may have concerning this video.

Thank you,

Your Child's Teacher

Holy Batcrap.

(That last sentence was from me - not the school).

Little Velma Jane Garrett is 96 Now

I bought all these sweet old postcards at a yard sale this morning for 25¢. They are all to the same little girl from 1912-1914. The first three with the kitties are all from 1912 and addressed to "Little Velma Jane Garrett". I think it is interesting that they cards are so similar, yet they are from three different people. Although all the postcards have writing on the back, none of them have stamps or where mailed. I suppose they where hand delivered. Where they would have had a stamp there is a square stating that postage is "One Cent".

These birthday cards are all to "Little Velma" and "Sweet Velma" on her first and second birthdays. She was one special little girl to warrant cards from so many poeple on her first two birthdays! The one on the bottom right with the basket has glittered details.

I love, love, LOVE these holiday post cards. There is Easter with the chickies, Christmas with the glittered angels, Thanksgiving with the fat litle girl pulling the dinner bell and Valentine's Day. The little black and white card with the little girl on it has a funny inscription, "Velma, Come up and play with little James. He has a little carpet sweeper and he helps his mamma sweep." I am amazed that these cards have survived for nearly 100 years and I was able to save them for 25¢. Why do I have to be so sentimental about other people's old junk?


Tuesday I stopped by Hobby Lobby to have a look around. I needed some little decorative buttons for a pair of baby shoes I am making. I have a litle blue onsie that says "Got Milk?" on it and I wanted some little cow buttons to go on the shoes. I walked that entire store three times and I never found the buttons. How could they not have buttons???? I found the fancy little decorative ones for scrapbooking, but they were too expensive and no cows were to be found.

I really, really tried not to notice the 80% off Easter Merchandise sign. Really, I did. But, it called to me, "Come look, come look." I found a lot of cool crafting items that are not Eastery per say - trims, feathers, paper mache eggs and baskets, some springy flower blank cards and a variety of pompoms in all sorts of colors. The bags of pompoms were only 20¢ after the discount. Now I can make all sorts of animal shoes! If I can get my nerve up, I plan on making a red and green glittered watermelon out of the egg basket. Can you say, tacky? Or beautiful?


I bought a couple actual Easter items too. Yes, I know you are shocked. I love the chocolate bunny although it isn't really chocolate, of course. The white bunny is heavy like stoneware and is curently with my matte white pottery collection. When I stepped into the store they had a stack of flyers on a table. They keep something on it to weigh down the flyers so they don't blow away when the door opens. They happened to have that white bunny on the flyers. I noticed it was an Easter item and would be less than $2.00, so it "hopped" in my cart. The wooden platter will be a fun addition to my Easter decor too. The chocolatey sign had to come home too, right?


And, from the "What Was I Thinking" file.....I saw this Kramer poster at the thrift the other day for $2.00. It is huge and I actually have no where to hang it and it doens't exactly fit into my country/primitive decor. But, I am the biggest Seinfeld fan ever. I can see less than five seconds of any episode and tell you all the plotlines in the episode. Kramer just had to be a part of my home. I think I will hang him behind my office door to amuse me when I come and go. No one has to know he's there.

Went Trash Pickin' - Again

Saturday started off as a wet rainy day. But, it ended up clearing up but it was still very cold out. It only got to 39 degrees for the whole day. DS and I decided to go to an auction in the next town over - the very same town that just *happened* to be having the trash pick up. We got to the auction a couple hours into it. I knew I was late when I passed a guy walking down the street carrying a five foot tall African-American Santa BLOW MOLD. Eh gads. What else did I miss? After being at the auction a while, I realized that the other bidders had deeper pockets than I did. I left without even bidding on a thing. Besides, trash was waitin'!
My first find was this terrible looking blow mold. I mean, it's in great shape and all, it's just scary! DS jumped right out of the car, grabded it off the pile, threw it in the back of the VUE and jumped back in the car all in about ten seconds. He's a Pro!
We drove up one very small side street and spotted a big pile out front. But, this pile was different - everything was displayed and set up like a garage sale - but it was the trash pile. I spotted a few things that I knew I wanted, so we pulled over. As we started looking thorugh the items, an older couple emerged from the garage and came out. I asked if it was okay if we took a few things and they were delighted. They told me what everything was and tried to give me a reason to take everything. They even had a chaise lounge lawn chair with webbing and they had attached two brand new packages of webbing to it. They wanted people to take things!

I got this fabulous chippy white chair out first. I can't wait to set a big pot of red geraniums on it this summer.
This is my very favorite find. This is a child's metal folding table and chair set complete with red top and seat pads. I adore it! What will I do with it? Who knows. Who cares? It was FREE and it is MINE. It willmost likely go in the backyard as garden decor too.DS helped me take a badmition set, some large clippers for the shrubs and a Kodak Reel to Reel Projector. I actually thought the projector was a case full of albums when I grabbed it - Whoopsie. I thought we got a small wooden spool suitable for a table, but somehow we left it behind. I really only had to find a home for the chair and the table set, so I didn't overpick. DH bought a new pick-up not too long ago so it is time for me to learn to drive it so I can do some serious pickin' next year!

No, that wasn't me in the trash, I swear

Well, okay, maybe it was. I went to the next tiny town over today in search of an elusive yard sale. I found two and spent a whopping $4.75 combined at both. As I was driving around, I noticed lots of extra trash at curbside. Then I remembered that they have Spring Clean-Up in different corners (N/E/S/W) of town each week in April. I really just saw a lot of old scrap lumber, carpet pieces and yard waste and that's good because I have never really had the nerve to dig in the trash anyway. But, then something very large and very orange caught my eye. A Jack O'Lantern Blow Mold! Brakes! I scored that baby. Then I drove passed this really old fabulous house that I just love. They had quite a pile of stuff in front of their house. Suddenly, my shyness was gone. Beisdes, if someone recognized my rearend sticking up when they drove by, they have bigger problems with me than they realize. I zipped around the block and pulled in front of the pile. I was trying to figure out how I could have a peek without blocking traffic, so I just pulled on in their driveway and had a looksie. I got these three very old and very heavy drawers. They are huge! These will make excellent storage in the garage or shed. The smaller more desk drawer one will likely go on the wall somewhere as a shadow box. I saw that on "Decorating Cents" Trash to Treasure once. I also pulled out the old metal and wooden little rack. I thought it was rusted, but it was just dirty. I've already washed it and I think I will paint it either pink or white and put it on ebay in the Shabby category. (The old milk can was my first auction purchase at $5.00 when I was newly married and very poor. Probably too poor to be buying a $5.00 milk can. It sits by the front door all the time.) It was raining, so pardon the poor staging.

I bought this huge hammered aluminum ice bucket today for $3.00. I thought it was truly awesome, but when I got it home there was a rather large dent on the backside. Whoopsie. The Indian doll was $1.00, the roll of ribbon was 50¢, the Serta Sheep keychain was free and the wooden dog was 10¢. I also bought DS 20 brand new with tags Beanie Babies for 10¢ each. He loves them but refuses to buy the new high priced ones. Smart kid, eh?


This is the latest score at the Super Cheap Thrift. I spent $3.65 for everything. I normally keep away from souvenir plates, but these three were old and only 45¢ each, so I took a chance. The one from the San Diego Zoo has a monkey on it, so I needed that one, right? The purse is woven straw and handmade in Italy. The Bunny Book is now in the arms of my Annalee bunny that Heidi sent me. (Yes, my Easter deocrations are still up). The game is called "Song Bursts" form the 1980's. I am the expert on 1980's music (ha) so this will be fun. The silver heart is real silver and I love it. The wooden star shaped box had a facelift in a matter of hours.

I think our Saturday adventure this weekend will include cruising the trash piles. Uh, that's educational, I think. Saving our landfills? Protecting the environment? Yea, that's the ticket. Just call me Al Gore.

Spring Has Come Undone

Remember all those pretty pictures I posted a week ago of all the beautiful spring colors? Well, it is all GONE. Cold rain and freezing temperatures have wrecked havoc on everything spring-like and beautiful. Even the leaves on the big old trees are dead. It is so sad. I hope everything comes back out.

It was spring in KS a week ago when this photo was taken of my new little chubbette cousin, Luke. He ws born in October and he looks like a royal cutie. I haven't had the pleasure of getting my hands on the little chunk yet, but I am itching to hold him.

I am having a slight case of baby fever lately. I want one! (But, that will NOT be happening, just wishin').

Easter is Over - A Few Last Photos

Hope everybunny had a good Easter. We had a nice day. Seven for dinner and dessert. My Mom and Step-Dad stayed after dinner and we attempted to play the LOST board game, but we all deemed it too hard. We couldn't make heads or tails out of the rules! Kinda like the show, I guess. We ended up playing the TV Guide Trivia game and had a lot of spirited conversations and fun. It took my Mom and I about five minutes to think of "You Are the Weakest Link". We were so proud of ourselves for finally figuring it out. It wasn't even the right answer.

I made a little pair of white felt shoes and added ears and a bunny face to them. If I say so myself, they are just too darn cute. My cousin had a baby last week, so I am going to send Baby Jake a pair of bunny slippers.

I finally found some pastel glitter last week so I could work on some of my cardboard Christmas houses. Since they are pastel, I worked them into the Easter decor, but they will end up in the Christmas decor too. I'm still searching for pale aqua glitter. To the side there you can see a blown out egg that I glittered too.

This is an Easter tradition at my house - a Bunny Cake! I've been making this for about 20 years. Long before I had a child. Sad, but true. DS helped me decorate it and find appropriate candy to decorate his face. He has JR. Mint and Smartie eyes, a jelly bean nose, Twizzler whiskers and Eclipse gum buck teeth. I used a bit too much red food coloring making the pink coconut, but it still turned out pretty cute. To make this cake you just bake two rounds. Use one whole round as the bunny's head. Cut the second round into an ear on each side. The center then becomes a bow tie, which I didn'tuse this time because the bow tie crumbled when I took it out of the pan.

Part of my table decor - the carrots were in DS's Easter Basket - they are like fat Pixie Stix. I had little pails that look like chickens with candles in them on each side. Not too fancy - but fun.
We had a good day - Even the cat got tuckered out.

Hoppy Easter, Everybunny!

Just a quick note to say "Hoppy Easter" to everyone. I am hosting Easter Dinner today. But, I have it easy - my Mom is bringing a smoked turkey and potato salad. I just had to make the cake and hot rolls. Easy Peasey. We usually have an Easter Picnic in the park complete with eggs thrown about for DS to scavenge. But, Old Man Winter decided that it should be 18 freaking degrees last night, so alas, no picnic for us. I decided Friday that we should just move it to our house. I have a small house without a dining room, so we set up a table and chairs in the living room and have a grand old time. It will be the three of us, my Grandmother, my Mom and Step Dad and my Father. My Mother gave me permision to invite the "Ex." So, I did.

When I was a kid, we had a set of gold "silverware" that my Dad had won at work for being "Manager of the Year". It wasn't extremely valuable - but to us, it was mighty special. We only used it Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was just the three of us so we tried to make the Holidays special. My Dad has had this silverware all these years, but I hadn't seen it in about 20 years. He mentioned it the other day and said he might sell it. Well, I got a bit weepy, remembering the gold "silverware" and our holdiay dinners and sked if DS could at least see it once since I had told him about the gold "silverware". Low and behold, the next time I saw him, he presented it to me. So, this is MY first holiday with the gold "silverware".

Have a Happy Easter, Everybunny!

Let's the Gross Stuff Out Of The Way First

We went to the Grossology Exhibit at the Arts Center on Tuesday. It wss gross enough, but not too gross. Let's just say that the 11 year old boys thought it was "Too cool".

This is Myron Nosealot. Myron has a problem with his nose - you just never quite know when the giant wad of snot will emerge. I never thought I would stand poised with my camera awaiting a snot bomb. But, I did.
This is the Barf! Barf! Exhibit. Notice that no one is around it. You had to make his organs light up in order and then *Hurl* he made a wretching noise. I tried to make him barf, but I didn't try very hard.
Here is DS and his firend pumping carbonated drinks into this guys belly waiting for him to *Belch*. And, when he did - It was loud!
My favorite photo of the day. This was posted in the "Career Opportunities" section - Would you like to be a deodorant sniffer? Yeah, me neither.

On to the silly joys in my life. I was at the Salvation Army yesterday and I overheard two women discussing how Wal-Mart had drastically marked down their Clearance section. So, we high-tailed it over there to rummage around. I found a ton of good stuff for next to nothing. My very best deal of all - and I mean my very best deal EVER in all my years of Bargain Hunting - was.....86 assorted knit wool hats, fleece hats and pairs of knit wool mittens. I picked up a couple to price check on the self scanner thinking DS could wear them next winter. When I scanned them I really thought I was seeing things. 2¢. Yep, I said TWO CENTS each. I bought 54 items yesterday and returned to day and found that there were still 32 left so I bought them too. Total cost - $1.72. Thy were priced $4.88-$7.88 each originally and marked $3.00, but scanned at 2¢. I gotta say it again. TWO CENTS. I plan on selling them for $1.00 each at my yard sale this Fall. Hopefully it will be a brisk cool day. Hey, if it is - they will be $2.00. I'm so bad.

I went to a garage sale this morning and thought I had fallen into a pit of money. I bought what I thought were Bakelite Bracelets. 29 of them to be exact. I tested them this afternoon and they are not Bakelite. But, they are still old 1950's bracelets, so I am sure they are worth something. I only paid $1.00 for the whole pile of them. At a sale before that I bought a little Tupperware container with 24 matching rings in them for $1.00. I mean the rings matched the bracelets. Isn't that amazing? I had actually bought bakelite bracelets at this sale before so I thought I had done it again. The last time I bought five bracelets for 10¢ each. They sold for enough on ebay that I got to go buy a brand new schmancy stove with the money. Close to $100.00 each. Ah, those were the days.

Spring Done Sprung

Yesterday it was 85 degrees - HOT! Tomorrow morning we have a cold front moving in and the wind chills will be near 30 degrees. Uh, I thought Spring was here? One last blast from Old Man Winter. Thought I would share some pictures of all the spring color here. I thought everyone was having Spring, but lots of blogs still show snow and bare trees.







Here's another (Heart) picture that I took on Saturday. These are tree roots in the Battlefield Park. I have a knack for finding hearts in clouds, rocks and roots.


Be forewarned, the next post will feature photos of DS picking boogers out of the GIGANTIC nose. Read at your own risk!

"t's Monumental!"

DS brought home an assignment last week entitled, "The Monumental Scavenger Hunt". There was a list of about 15 historical places in town and we had to find eight of them and take a picture with DS in it at each one. At school the kids will research all the places and write about them. Then they will compile a scrapbook about it all.
Our first stop was at the Prairie Grove Battlefield. This is right up the road from my house and right across the street from the Super Cheap Thrift. We go here a lot for days out and picnics.This is Walnut Grove Presbyterian Church. I don't really know the history of it, but is a sweet quaint tiny church with gorgeous stained glass windows.

On to the "Old Courthouse" which is no longer used as the official Courthouse. The clouds were moving fast and when you looked up at clock tower, it really looked like the whole building was going to tip over! We got out of there!

On to the Historical District to find a house on the Historical Society List. I spotted this one and DS ran up for the photo. He wanted to get on the porch. He didn't understand that this was someones house and I could see they were inside watching TV through the glass door.

This is "Headquarter's House" where the Generals lived during the Civil War Battles. I've driven by this many times and never paid much attention to it. It is really neat with lots of gardens and interesting things. It wasn't open that day.

This is the "Old Post Office" on the city square. They keep the entire square covered in gardens and the flowers were just gorgeous. They put over a million lights up during Christmas and it is a Winter Wonderland.
This is the Confederate Cemetery. Very interesting - sits way up on a very peaceful, shady hill. There is a tall monument with four cannons and a soldier on top. The Confederate Flag flies every day. There wasn't anyone else around so we walked around along time and looked at everything. Suddenly a car pulled up and some more people came in the gate. Then I heard my son's name as a girl came running. It was one of his classmates out on the hunt too. Small world.
This is the Greek Theater at the University. It is a really cool place too. I hadn't realized that DS hadn't ever seen it. They cut off traffic through the UA campus so you can't just drive by it anymore. I spent many hours sitting in the amphitheater studying for exams and just chillin' in between classes.


And lastly, "Old Main" the original main building at the U of A. This is a fabulous building with fountains out front, beautiful trees and plants everywhere and the names of all the graduates engraved in the sidewalks. I will have to take DS back to see it all since we left fast. I could only find one parking spot and it was a Handicapped, Permit Only spot so we literally ran to the end of the car and snapped the photo and got out of there.

When this assignment came home I did a bit of grumbling about it. We like to do this sort of thing, but I know plenty of parents either can't or won't make the time to take their kids out to do it. We had a fabulous time and enjoyed learning more about our historic area.

Tomorrow I am taking DS and his friend to the "Grossology" exhibit. For those of you without children under the age of 13 or so - Grossology is the, uh, study, of, well, boogers, spit, poop and all that other icky stuff. Oh, the kids love it. School gets out at 1:00 so we will have most of the afternoon to get grossed out. You might think it is very nice of me to offer take a friend with us. But, you see, the two 11 year olds can go "pick the booger out of the giant nose", "weigh the saliva on the tongue" and slide down the "giant colon" while Mom stands near the back holding her stomach. Eeew.

I (Heart) Some Bunny!

I had a message from Heidi a week or so ago requesting my address to send me an Easter Treat. I found this to be a delightful message because I had just bought HER something at a sale the week before and hadn't ask for her address as of yet. We exchanged addresses and our packages were on the way. Heidi's package arrived here to Lucky Duck ME yesterday while I was out on DS's "Monumental Scavenger Hunt" (I'll post all about that on Monday) and DH had unceremoniously deposited it on the kitchen counter. Hey that is a special box! HANDS OFF! So, what was in that special box all covered in delectable chocolate bunny rubber stamps??? That, my friends is an AnnaLee bunny! Ack! How cute! I have mentioned my love for AnnaLee Dolls and Heidi remembered. People either love AnnaLee Dolls or thing they are ugly. I think they are ADORABLE! Thank you for thinking of me, Heidi! Isn't it funny how we write so much about ourselves on our blogs that other readers feel like they KNOW us? I have a lot of friends, acquaintances, and even family members and none of them could ever tell you that I like AnnaLee Dolls or that I get a bit weak in the knees at a good sale or that I know the markdown schdule at Taget by heart. But, my blogger buddies know these things about me! I mentioned to some Mom's at school once that I had a blog and they all sucked the air through their teeth and gave me a horrified look - I suppose they think I have some sort of sex blog while DH is at work. If they only knew...

Oh! I almost forgot! Yesterday I stopped by a sale at a house and I noticed a lot of Hawaiian type of decorations and household items. I commented on it and the family told me that their parents had lived in Hawaii for many years and they were trying to downsize and get rid of a lot of things. I mentioned the Hale Pau paintings that I sold on ebay earlier this year for nearly $500.00. (I didn't mention that I had sold them on ebay, silly. I just mentioned the name Hale Pau.) The man said, "Oh! Wait a minute." He went into the house and he came out with a huge box stuffed full of Hale Pau paintings. Lots of florals and botanicals, signed and dated Hale Pau. He told me they were planning on sitting them out by the trash but I could have the whole box for $1.00. I asked him if he would take 50¢ and he said "Yes." There must be 25-30 paintings in that box. I haven't taken the time to look at them all yet because April Fool none of this ever happened. Don't you think I would have started off my post about the $15,000 worth of paintings I bought? (Besides, I never ask for a better price!) But, can you imagine if it had? *Sigh*