Scored Big on my Yard Sale!

Tonight I am exhausted but over $600 richer than I was this morning before my yard sale. I really scored big on getting rid of so much stuff today. I even sold my futon for a good price and now I have a ton of room in the spare bedroom to organize all my crafting and sewing supplies.

I had set the alarm clock for 5:30 am – which is almost a crime for a Saturday morning! But I knew I needed to get an early start on setting up the tables and hauling all the stuff out to the front yard. At first I was going to just use the driveway, but realized that there was no shade over the driveway, so I used the front yard where I could be a little cooler in the hot sun. Good thing – the temperatures almost hit 90 degrees today. But there was a little breeze and the shade made it much cooler.

I was able to unload two old TV sets, a small bar with 2 leather seated bar stools, lots of kitchen gear that I never use (who needs three crockpots, anyway?) the futon, and some old jewelry that I never wear anymore. I sold about 40 CDs for $5 each. I didn’t think anyone would pay $5 for a music CD, but this younger guy stopped by and said he was starting a mobile disc jockey business and needed to get a lot of music together that people like me would dance to at weddings.

All together, it went really well and I had almost nothing left over – just a few clothes and old pocketbooks. So I tossed them into a big box and dropped them off at Good Will. That $600 is going to my vacation fund – that will come in really handy this summer!

Lightning Bug Season

Tonight I went for a short walk with my dog around the block. When I got to the hill, I looked across and saw something bright. At first I thought it was the eyes of an animal. We have skunks roaming our neighborhood at night, and I was worried that a skunk would come after my dog. So I stopped and looked a little harder. Turns out it was not a skunk and not the eyes of anything critter. It was a lightning bug! And then another one lit up near the first one, and then the yard seemed to explode with little twinkles of light. It was pretty magical and I was so grateful that it was not a skunk!

What is Your Special Treat?

Every night, some time between dinner and bedtime, I get a craving a small treat. I don’t think it has to do with hunger or a diabetes type of sugar craving. It is probably more an emotional craving of just a little something to soothe the savage beast and get me to relax.

Most nights I just want one or two cookies, a thin slice of pie, or maybe a couple bites of chocolate along with a hot cup of tea. The hot tea is soothing to me and the caffeine in it does not seem to bother me with keeping me awake. For some reason the tea caffeine has no effect, but if I drink a cup of coffee at night I am wide awake for hours.

The sugar does not seem to boost my metabolism, either. I know chocolate has caffeine in it, but that does not bother me. I do need a cup of coffee in the morning. That wakes me up and gets me going. People tell me that I am not human until I have been awake long enough to drink a full cup of coffee. They say that smart people will leave me alone and not even talk to me until after I have had my coffee.

Lately my favorite treat at night has been a cup of hot tea and one or two Golden Oreo cookies. I usually take two of the cookies with me, but I break off small parts of the second one and share that with my dog. You cannot give chocolate to dogs, so the Golden Oreo is the perfect treat for both of us.

Renn Faires and Steampunk

Now that I have been to a Renn Faire and had so much fun, I am interested in learning more about the Steampunk festivals. It seems that the Renn Fests also spawned Pirate Days and Fairies Festivals, too. I had no idea that dressing up in these kinds of fantasy costumes was such a big deal to so many people. I think it is great fun, and I want to get a costume for next year.

There is a site on Facebook with a web site called Holy Clothing that makes beautiful long dresses at affordable prices that I might use as a base for my own costume. I would like to buy a nice dress and then use slightly different accessories to make it more Steampunk, and then other accessories to make it more Renn Fest appropriate. The accessories include shoes, hair ornaments or hats and different types of jackets, capes or vests.

This costume thing is very exciting – I have not been this interested in costumes since I went to a Halloween Party at a co-worker’s condo several years ago. I wish I had known about Renn Fest and Steampunk back then – I would have had a head start on this costume!