Goodwill Toward Men (Thrift Haul!)

One hundred and sixty three shopping days are left until Christmas! If you know anything about me, then you KNOW I love me some Christmas! About this time of year I drive many of my facebook friends crazy with sweet reminders of the upcoming holidays. Granted they are months AND MONTHS away, but I just can't help it!

There's something about the hot, humid 100+ degree weather in Texas that makes me want to sing Christmas carols! And the shopping bug has bitten me, my friends. I have rediscovered the joy of thrift shopping. Years ago in my college days and throughout my twenties I often hit up the Salvation Army, Goodwill and local second-hand stores. I was quite tacky with some of my fashion choices at times, but one of my thrift finds still lingers in my mind.

Back in the 90s, I found the perfect smokey blue blazer to wear over my leggings. I was looking through the men's section, thumbing through the musty menswear, trying to find something for my funky little brother and my fingers fell upon a jacket that just spoke to me. I tried it on and it fit me perfectly. I was in LOVE.  I have no idea whatever happened to what quickly became a wardrobe staple for me, but I remember it with extreme fondness.


I've been driving around town lately noticing all the Goodwill stores and got the itch to go in and see what I could find. And following blogs like this really helped to reignite my thrift-lust! So I finally stepped inside one about 2 weeks  ago and I've gone twice more since! I am SO digging getting name brand clothing that I would have paid several hundred bucks for (in total) for maybe $15 instead! I found several blouses, a pair of jeans, a dress and several knick knacks (including some Christmas goodies!!!)... for pennies people!

And now, I proudly share my Thrift Haul with you!

Girls Butterfly Skirt = $1.00
This one I didn't actually find at Goodwill, I found it at a local kids' consignment store that I frequent for my children. It's hard to tell from this pic, but it is the cutest mint green butterfly print cotton skirt that I got for $1.00 and my little girl LOVES it! I'll have to post a pic of her in it soon. 

 

Cato blouse w/built in turquoise tank = $3.99
Not striking on camera, but the colors are really pretty and it looks very summery and makes me think of the colors on the beach. It's super cute on, but I have to shrink a little to be comfy in it.



Faded Glory Sleeveless Blouse = $3.99
Okay, yes it's a Walmart brand, but it is really cute and has these strands of silver thread in it that dress it up. I don't like to wear WM brands too often, but I haven't seen anyone else with this shirt on & it's a great light summer look.

Lane Bryant Boyfriend style Jeans = $4.99

Hold on to your britches people! I can't believe I found these LB jeans at Goodwill! They are in superb condition! These would cost at least $50 bucks at the store! Terrible picture, I really need to step up my camera, the iphone shots just don't cut it.

 

Torrid Graphic Dress = $7.98
This one made me gasp. Torrid!!! It is SO cute, the back cutout is a little risque for moi, so I will wear a black cami tank underneath it (that I also got from Goodwill for only $1.99). Hubby likes this one! Wink-Wink!


 

Over-sized Christmas Mugs = $0.99 each!

These mugs are 'matching' as they are in a collection together. They are adorable and I thought they would be perfect for a Secret Sister gift with some other goodies in a basket, or maybe I just might keep them for ME!

 

Porcelain Christmas Sleigh = $0.99

This glossy white sleigh caught my eye straight out and even had a twin (which I did not purchase). I think they may have originally been used as small planters because there were some dirt crumbs in them, but I think they're a little bit teensy for that! I thought it would be ideal to hold my kitchen sponge at Christmas time so I can think Christmas-y thoughts while I'm doing the dishes!

 

Decorative Metal Planter = $0.99
This planter fit the style and colors in my kitchen and is just what I needed to replace that pink/purple/lavendar eyesore of a plant holder seen in the background of the picture.

 

Decorative Metal Urn/Vase = $0.99

This cute urn is right up my artistic hubby's alley. He is fantastic at putting together gorgeous & unique silk flower arrangements and I could just see him using this for one of his fabulous creations. So there you go honey, it's all yours!

 

Ceramic Candle Pedestal = $0.99

I LOVE this thing! It needs to be repainted or else distressed a little more, but it is going to be PERFECT for on top of my TV armoire in the living room. I love it's chunky-ness (is that a word?) and old world look!

 

So there we have it! My first thrift haul in YEARS. And let me just say, being the mom of a 6 and 8 year old, the Goodwill is the PERFECT babysitter! I gave them strict rules of staying together and a mission of finding a treasure for each of them for $1.00 or less... they found some ugly little knick knacks, but I got to shop without being disturbed and keep an eye on them at the same time! LOVES IT!!!

Summer-Time and the Livin's NOT Easy

Oh solo-me-o. I am missing my hubby. He is in the hospital. Again. I never thought I would be here. Here = the wife of an ailing man, a caretaker, a floundering mess of woman trying to re-figure out who in the world she is now because her other half has become somewhat helpless and she is now mom, dad, disciplinarian, chauffeur, chef and all the other things put into one and not keeping it as all together as she should.

I am tired. I am lonely. I am sad. I am mad. I am aggravated. I am grumpy. I am hopeful. I am faithful. I am thankful. I am quiet. I am loud. I am a diet pepsi drunkard. I am becoming a goodwill shopaholic.

15 minutes. That's all I get with him every 3-4 hours. I drive around town, looking for errands, perusing the shelves at Barnes & Noble, letting the kids play at Chic-Fil-A's indoor playground, finding treasures at Goodwill (really, I think I'm getting hooked on this one!) and then drive back to the hospital to wait around for the next 15 minute visit. 

As we were driving home tonight (we being, the kids and I), I was thinking how it's nearly mid-July and school is starting back right around the corner. There's so much I wanted to do this summer that I haven't done. So much I wanted to do with the kids that we haven't gotten to do. 

But we are trying to live it up in the perimeters we have, and do as much summerly damage as possible in the weeks we have left. We have a swim date after church Wednesday night that I intend to keep! It will be the kids' first swim of the summer. I can't wait. 

And I really can't wait until my hubby can come home from the hospital again. I love that man.

I'm Back From Outer Space!

It's been quite some time since I've blogged or even written for that matter. The last several months have been full of upheavals, challenges and at times metaphorical brick walls. It feels like we've finally fallen into somewhat of a routine again and although it's a busier one, I'll take it over the ambiguity of chaos any day.

I've steered clear of stepping foot in this writing room of mine, because spelling things out makes them more real. It becomes an 'in my face' type of situation when I transfer my thoughts into literal black and white. I can't run from my feelings here, I can't hide behind a smile, I can't shake hands firmly and say I'm fine because I just cannot hide any bit of truth when I write.

So at least for this moment, I am back.  I'm spacing my words out and hitting enter and publish again. It feels good to type it out. I love Words. 

Stones & Super Powers

I think it is SO SAD when people use facebook to 'dis' other people, ESPECIALLY when you are brothers or sisters in Christ and we should GIVE GRACE to one another rather than casting stones (saying mean things about others whether or not you use their name, most of us who know you know who you are speaking of). If you have a difference with someone, isn't it best to keep it private? Bringing other people into it (even just by viewing your words) isn't edifying anyone else & in fact can bring them into sin by causing encouragement to *gossip, *heresy & more.

I admit I am extremely imperfect. I have stuck my foot in my mouth more times than I care to recount. But intentionally, thoughtfully stating something negative about someone publicly for other people that know that someone to see or even for THAT SOMEONE to see... I just think it's so sad because you are grieving the Holy Spirit by purposefully going out of your way to go against God's Word.  The word of God says "...Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone..." (John 8:7)  No one is perfect. Everyone has faults. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has differences. But we don't have to publicize them.  Maybe instead we could pray for them or pray for ourselves in dealing with that person instead of casting stones at someone whether they are guilty or innocent of what we are stating or insinuating.

I always tell my kids that God has given them Super Powers. In God's word it says: "The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences." (Proverbs 18:21)  You have the POWER of speaking LIFE or DEATH over others. When you speak positively about someone you are speaking LIFE over them.  When you speak negatively about someone... well, you get the picture. Do you want to bless or curse others? Do you want to speak life-giving words or words of death? And do you want to deal with the consequences of speaking negatively? What do you want to reap? I want to reap Life.

Forgive me if anything I say offends you, it's not meant to provoke anyone or hurt feelings. Sometimes we just don't think before we speak... it's my personal goal to overcome the foot I've stuck in my mouth repeatedly over the years. It is not pleasant to have a mouth full of toe cheese to deal with. Seriously. So just my suggestion, and maybe God's word too... think before you speak, deal with your problems privately, pray for those that bother you, treat others as you want to be treated and speak life instead of death.

Okay I'll climb off my soapbox now, just couldn't help myself... I've seen a little too much of this lately going on and I couldn't hold my peace any longer.  Blessings to you all!

I Met a Man & He Broke My Heart

Last night was just another typical Wednesday night.  Every Wednesday we prepare an inexpensive meal for our church family and serve it at our 'Summer Cafe' an hour before service.  We didn't have time to stop for gas on the way to church, so we drove up to the door on gas fumes.  When service was over and we finished chatting with everyone, we drove to the nearest gas station. 

As I walked inside to pay the attendant, I noticed a man near the pumps.  An almost sickly thin African American man in disheveled, stained clothing held a white plastic bag in his hands and he was very carefully picking through the contents of a nearby trash can.  I did a double take and wondered if maybe he worked there and perhaps he was emptying the garbage?

When I came back outside, he had moved on to another waste can beside another gas pump.  In his white plastic bag was now a crumpled McDonald's bag.  And I realized, he did not work there.  I went back in my car and closely watched him.  He was near my husband as he was pumping gas into our car.  But this man never looked up or asked for anything.  He just continued intently peering through and moving around the contents inside the garbage cans, earnestly looking for food. And my heart broke.

We've been approached several times by people that needed help with gas money at gas stations or food money at restaurants.  And if we've had any to spare, we've shared what we had.  But this was different.  This was very obviously a homeless, hungry, desperate and yet focused man.  He was without pride digging through a garbage can to find something to feed himself.  And yet he was prideful in that he did not ask us for a thing.

I turned to my son who was sitting in the back seat and asked him to hand me the 2 leftover sandwiches from the Summer Cafe' meal that we were taking home for a late night snack.  When my husband climbed back into our car from filling up our gas tank, I asked him if he'd noticed this man.  I pointed him out and explained what I had seen.  And at that very moment, the man was dragging one of the trash cans, minus its squeegee and minus its lid which were both haphazardly left near the gas pump.  He labouringly pulled it into a dark alcove behind the building to go through its contents more thoroughly.
  

I asked my husband if we could stop and give him our leftover food.  We drove to the rear of the building and the man was going through the trash can near the dumpster.  My husband opened our car door and asked the man, 'Do you work here?'.  He replied, 'Well, sometimes.'  'Are you hungry?' my husband asked. The man shuffled his feet and said, 'Maybe.'  My husband gave him the 2 sandwiches and told them they were made fresh that evening. The man hesitantly took the sandwiches and leaned in toward my husband and asked 'What time have you got there?' My husband said '9:18'. Then the man said, 'Alright, thank ya.'  And he walked away with the sandwiches.  And my heart broke.

As we drove home, I continued thinking about this man.  I recalled the scripture about 'entertaining angels unaware', but I knew he was no angel.  It shocked me that there could be someone so desperately in need in our small community.  It saddened me that I didn't have more to give him.  It grieved me that there are people that are forced to live in this way.  It tore my heart out that I can't provide a solution for him.  For the homeless.  For the hurting.

I came home and walked through the door of our house.  Our cool, air conditioned home. With doors we can lock.  With beds we can rest in.  With bathrooms and showers to take care of our bodies in.  With extra clothes to put on our bodies and a washer and dryer to clean our clothes with. With food in our pantry and our refrigerator.  What a blessed life we live.  There are times that I think how we don't have much, and how we need so much more, but compared to this man we met tonight, we have so much more than enough.

(Note: The pictures included in this blog are not my own, I found them randomly through flikr. I attempted linking them back to their original location but had some problems doing so. I in no way am claiming these as my own photos, they are merely included in the blog to lend a visual image of sorts to the words.)

Mon Anniversaire Mesaventures

Got ready for a hot date with my love.

Cleaned up puppy poop.

Friends watched Kids (sleepover) so Hubby & I could celebrate 9 year anniversary.

Ate at Tokyo Japanese Steak House.

Seated with backwoods people that surely must have been extras from the movie 'The Hills Have Eyes'.

Laughed at people.

Went to Goodwill.

Laughed at Goodwill undies on sale.

Went to Coffee Shop & ate the Good, the Bad, & the Delicious.

Laughed at ourselves.

Went to Redbox & picked up some movies.

Went home. Watched 1 and 1/2 movies.

Cleaned up puppy poop.

Friends called at 1:30 AM.

5 y/o not sleeping & crying for mommy. (Similar melt down shown here.)

Drove 45 minutes to pick up kids who were happily eating cereal, drawing & watching TV when we arrived. At 2:15 AM.

Laughed at our kids.

Drove 43 minutes back towards home & 3 blocks from our house we drove over an out of commission railroad track and blew a tire on our totaled car.

Went bumpity-bump-bump 3 blocks home and parked our hop-a-long car at 3:12 AM.

Laughed at our car.

Tucked kids in bed & finished 2nd movie.

Cleaned up puppy poop.

Happy 9 years darling.

Our new Poop, I mean Pup.

Meet our new puppy Gus!  Isn't he a sweetie?  We have totally fallen in love with him.

It's been nearly 20 years since I had a dog & I have soooo missed it.  My hubby has dog/cat allergies, but we found one that doesn't seem to bother him the way most others do, although I think I may have scared him into getting the pup b/c I always joked if anything ever 'happens' to my hubby the first thing I will do is go out and get a dog!  The last couple of months he's been researching what kind of dog he might be able to tolerate & Eureeka! We found the Cairn Terrier.

Being that it's been 20 years since I've been a puppy's master, I had totally forgotten all about the hard work of breaking in a puppy.  Its been about 3 years since I potty trained my youngest child and doggies are different than babies in that they deposit their lovelies at any given spot & any given moment.  Voila, puppy poopy surprise!

Have I mentioned that Hubby can't feel his feet due to some nerve damage from surgeries + his diabetes?  Well, puppy went missing for 5 minutes, so hubby went to find him.  Moments later, he bellowed from the bathroom in agony!  I jumped up & ran to the rescue and  there he was with one foot in the air and lovely puppy poop all over the bottom of it! He had accidentally stepped in some puppy poop and tracked it all over the bathroom floor & rugs before even realizing it was on his foot b/c he couldn't feel it!  I of course who  always laugh at the wrong times immediately exploded into laughter!

Hopefully it won't take long to get Gus going right, if you know what I mean!