seriouslyscorpio

thoughts of the moment and of my life

Tag Archives: holidays/christmas/halloween/4th/thanksgiving


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OH BOY, OH BOY, SELLING STUFF IS FUN! (even if sometimes you buy high and sell low making money on the volume)


I suppose it is not too exciting for those readers who are not buying and selling stuff…to hear of the order taking and shipping for a very small business, however, it is my page so there.  One of the orders has arrived and will be priced shortly. The  other order should be shipping soon. If I were just buying and selling regular stuff it wouldn’t be so important, however, I sell antiques, or just ‘old stuff’ and what I ordered has to do with Halloween.  It is may not be common knowledge, but one cannot sell Halloween too well AFTER Halloween.  There is that tricky time between summer, school, labor day, autumn, and ‘too early’ when one must decide when to decorate for Halloween.  This holiday was not nearly as exiting when I was a little girl…as it is now.  I see homes decorated far more for Halloween than ever…and people of all ages seen to enjoy the fun.

Decorating over, under, and around ‘old stuff’ is always a little bit of a challenge, but who cares.  I started this little business in ’87’ and there are times each year when one thinks….just quit!  Then the juices start to run again and off I go, with my friends sometimes, to buy at auctions and the gift shows.  Anyhow, decorating is truly fun.  Nothing ever changes at my house…nothing!  I use the energy of re-arranging for making minimum wage or less selling my stuff.  (you can tell I’m hooked when I admit I make next to nothing!)

Anywho…..the decorating will begin, hopefully by Labor Day or the weekend after.  Out will come my new choices for this holiday….boas, angel wings, skeleton earrings, spider earrings, a beautiful black over the shoulder collar that looks like crow feathers, rhinestone masks,  handmade cloth pumpkins for every season and household, 24” spiders, 18 spiders (wolf of course), and the 16″ brown recluse. But the best is last…..wonderful witch hats…I repeat, wonderful witch hats, made of cloth and roses, and more cloth and scary stuff, etc.  Oh yes, I almost forgot, alongside the hats will be 9 1/2″ old crows to watch over everything.

Now see, won’t that be fun…not only to put out for display, but to buy (I hope).  So, c’mon down……

It is safe to say that this small business has saved me thousands of dollars, even tho I sometimes am in the red at the end of the month.  Can you guess why?  It is easy….I have purchased things for almost 30 years to resell….not to keep (I hope again)  Believe me it is so much more gratifying to buy and sell than it is, for the most part, to buy and keep.  I am speaking more of clothes than anything else.  So now, when I get the urge to spend money, I buy for my ‘old stuff’ place and hope to make more money, so I can buy for my  ‘old stuff’ place, and more money, etc. etc.

More on selling stuff at another time….but for now, have a great day……later peeps (as my niece says)


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COOKIES…THE KIND YOU EAT


been bak’in……mexican wedding cakes, choc.chip cookies, and fudge (did you know the little mini morsals do NOT completely melt?) Needless to say I didn’t…..just tell’in everyone chopped nutss!!!


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CHRISTMAS WITH A COCONUT PALM


Hard to get the lights in place, so large plastic ornaments (red of course) do the job. (and I do mean large)…goes great with the filament tree inside….straight from Michaels 6 years ago. I’m ready!


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FRIENDS


Friends….they come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and years.   I find in my case, most of my friends, didn’t start out day 1 being, what I call, a ‘friend’.  I knew them in grade school. Their desk was beside mine.  It didn’t matter if they were male or female. Either we clicked in second grade, or we didn’t.  Maybe we shared recess and that was all…..never knowing anything else about each other.  It wasn’t really important, was it?  Maybe we played musical instruments together in the band….remember those ‘flute’ things we all started on…..before choosing the ‘instrument of choice’.  Maybe we walked to school together and then went our separate ways to different classes. I remember how we would meet “at the corner’ and share our lives, as we knew them, til we got to school.  Yes, we did walk to school, a mile one way, and we came home for lunch too.  How wonderful it was, and still is, to grow up in a small town.

My grade school friends have become my life long friends……there were birthday parties, slumber parties, and chili suppers, and basketball games. We  marched together  in the band on the coldest of football Fridays, and sweat up a storm in the July 4th Parade.

In our neighborhood we had all ages of friends….some were 5 years younger and some were 5 years older.  We all had come to the neighborhood at the same time when the little National Homes were being built in the early 50’s. Everyone had younger brothers and sisters, who were definitely in the way, so we  girls had our private times sitting on the curb under the street light, taking walks around the block, sitting under the maple trees catching lightning bugs, and laying on a blanket underneath the stars before the dew fell.

From late spring til late fall we played ‘kick the can’ until our parents called us in…..or in my case, rang the bell.  My mother had a school bell and we all knew that when the bell rang, that ment ‘come home and come home now!’  I think if someone would ring a school bell now, at age 68, I would suddenly become 12 again.

 Later on the friendships seemed to solidify, and we all felt comfortable venturing outside our town to Girl Scout Camp for 2 weeks and then to church camp for a week where we met ‘boys’. I don’t know who was the most scared.  Oh, thank goodness for friends.

As I continued on this journey, thru school, and jobs, and marriage, and kids, and divorce, etc, etc…..there are many acquaintances who have come and gone.  The neighborhood I grew up in, transformed to the first apartment, and then house I shared with 4 other girls.  My marriage brought me to a new town with our first  home, and, as if in some  large orderly plan,  a friendly street, where my children would come to repeat the process.  And so it goes.

My Christmas card list is full of friends. Even today there are those I meet who may become part of this precious list.  As I address each card,  thoughts of how we came to share our lives, some by mere coincidence,  come to mind. Our babies are long gone, our work in the Jaycees,  long forgotten, our church suppers and Sunday school teaching, turned over to the young adults, but our friendship, our memories, our defeats, and our successes, remain as bright and clear as if it were yesterday.

 Friends…….I am so blessed they came to enrich my life….


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CAT ON VACATION


We try to keep things as low key as possible…..we hide the suitcases…..bringing them out to fill when he is in the other room napping.  His potty box stays in the usual spot until the last second….

I must say, however, Pookie is a seasoned traveler….He has been ‘on the road’ at least 4 times a year, cross country, which does not include our trips to Las Vegas to see his cousins, two beagles, an old barn cat, and a desert tortoise that will live longer than all of us. Pook came to us 12 years ago.He is one of those ‘ordinary’ American Shorthair designs.  Even when we adopted him from another family who were getting rid of children (graduating from high school and college) and pets (schooling unknown), we thought him cute but kind of dull.   However, we soon learned we were dead wrong and he has been an absolute joy, even a party at certain times.

First we found we didn’t have to worry about a water bowl….we already had them, scattered around the house….yes toilets.  Works fine for him, works fine for me.  Next, an even more important trick came to our attention….he can open doors.  Not too good with the knobs, but with the handle kind, he is killer.   Friends who come to visit, and who are not especially ‘cat’ people, come to find him sitting on their chest about 7:30AM.He is either looking for breakfast or a nice warm spot to cuddle for some extra winks.  Because of this, we station door stops for privacy.

Now back to vacation……well, the bags are packed, the maps are found, the Interstate has been picked out, the La Quintas have been chosen, and now we show him the red leash!  Yes he walks on a leash….and he’s pretty good at it….Or I’m pretty good walking with a leash, don’t know which. The leash isused for safety,cause  I don’t want him to jump and run when a German Shephard, also staying at the La Quinta, comes strolling down the hall.   We walk on a leash regularly cause it keeps him (or me) in shape.   Cat owners also know that when walking, a cat will always walk along the wall, not out in the middle of the  hall….that is the ‘wild part’ still in him.  The interesting part is that Pookie always follows the wall to the extreme…he even zigs and zags in and out of the doors to each of the rooms.   A little OCD maybe?  Who knows.

He also is good at sitting on top of hotel luggage carriers….He waits patiently til cat box, cat food, suitcases, and books are packed and then sits proudly as we stroll down to our room.  I might add he even understands the concept of elevators and waits til the door is completly open or closed before entering or exiting.

We have even been offered special deals while we were vacationing……A growing family of 5, packing and piling in the little tikes one morning, offered an even trade……our dutiful pet for all of their clan.   We passed.    Our clan is now in their mid-thirties.

As of this writing, Pookie is now visiting his cousins in Shreveport, La.  They include a black cat, 1/2 his size, who can chew him up and spit him out in a second, and a full-sized golden doodle.  Although they have know each other for 8 years, they have not grown tight.   His cousins try to show him a good time, however, he chooses to hiss in response, and head directly for his room.  He does not leave until the potty box leaves and there is no talking him out of it……

I know, I’ve heard it from Pookie a thousand times…..you can choose your friends, but not your family”.  It’s only a few days away from Thanksgiving….so forget what Pookie says…..don’t hiss at your relatives, know where the potty box is, and enjoy your meal.