Thanksgiving 2013

Still in my jami's at 9:36 am.  And I think I'm loving it.  There is a deep feeling of something I'm missing though and I'll know what it is.
For 34+ years (with a few of those off because of work), we made our annual pilgrimage to Snowflake, Arizona were we would be surrounded with all of Doug's family.  As the years went by and families continued to grow, our seeming comfortable sleeping arrangements ended up being in 2 homes and every available floor/couch/bed space called and spoken for.
        You get the idea.

If you did NOT get up to Snowflake early, you could possible lose your 'spoken' spot.  That really depended on if the person kicking you out of your spot wanted to meet your wrath.  There were a few 'stare-downs'.  That aside we would love being there with all - and the all was occasionally 40 people or more!  It was an amazing feat to have all the food cooked, served, and eaten in an orderly manner.  Alan and Linda's garage became the dining hall with 6 or more round tables set up for us all to squeeze around.  It was great.  And then after dinner - and of course before as well - we would find our way back outside, sometimes to a finger-numbing cold, to play volleyball.  That is what I miss the most. I loved how we used the water hoses for our court lines and because of the coldness they sometimes would not coil out all the way and our lines were somewhat wavy.  I also deeply miss the Thanksgiving Day planning of what stores we would go to for Black Fridays' sales.  Our choices were, Walmart, Kmart and Ace Hardware. Walmart was not there at the beginning of the 34 years and our choices were nil.  It used to be just the women would wake up early 5-6am and leave all the others to fend for themselves and hit the crazy busy Showlow Walmart to get the great sales.  Elbows, shoving, cutting in lines....the whole thing....it was tradition.  Even if we ourselves weren't going for anything, we would be there to help clear the aisles, hold places in the lines and even supply oxygen if needed.  Kmart wasn't the madhouse that Walmart was, so it was a breeze.   Later on as the years went by, husbands started to join in the spirit of Black Friday.  Looking back now, maybe it was to control our spending rather than just the fun of being with us....hmmm......
For the past 2 years my family stayed here in town.  Last year we got together with a son-in-laws family, meeting at a church building for food and then games.  It was nice, just not the norm.  Not being with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents....it really is different.  Now that Doug's parent have both passed away, we felt it wouldn't be the same in Snowflake -and now we, Doug and I, must take the 'grandparent' role and establish our own Thanksgiving Day and all of the traditions.
Yesterday, was just that.  Family, Food and Fun.  After dinner we went to the retention basin and played bocce ball, crochet, and corn hole.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  But wait......NOW for the MAIN EVENT!....we love Table Tennis.  Really we can't get enough of it.  Yes, some of us are not so talented at pinging or ponging, but we love it all the same.  Even as spectators, this game brings out the competitiveness of us all.  We cheer for the underdog, unless it is your spouse, then you almost HAVE to cheer for them. (Although these are NOT us in these photos - I'm sure we made many of these same faces).
 

This year, after several years of a desire to do this, I finally re-wrote words to a song.  The song I re-wrote is Carol of the Bells....but ours is Carol of the Balls......
I will work on showing your our video when it is all edited.  This might take a while, but stay tuned, it will be worth your time.

I'm trying to clean out my bedroom today.  Two bags of clothing and items no longer used have already made their way into 'donation' bags and I'm not even halfway done.  I was pleasantly surprised when my daughter Jill and grandson Vin showed up for lunch!  When we got done eating and we were cleaning up, Vin followed me down the hallway to see if I was 'bigger'.  He was holding a measuring tape and so I stopped for him to measure me - and in my own naivety
way, thought he would measure my 'tallness' against his 'smallness', but no.....he came right up to my behind area and measured across the buns to tell me, 'Yep, you're bigger'.  Hmmm....  Maybe they shouldn't have come for lunch.  I now have been reminded that I am bigger in more ways then one.

Okay, so clear back in July or so, Brian graduated from Medical School.  They had been living in Henderson, Nevada, which is not too far away so we got to visit them a few times a year.  (Whenever we wanted to visit Las Vegas, it was very convenient).  They (Brian, and a few times Celynda) had visited and interviewed at several places around the US.  They were excepted and felt good about choosing Wellington, Florida. and deciding to go into pediatrics.  We of course were happy for them and this HUGE accomplishment, but also had emotions knowing that the visits to their family would not be as easy as a 5 hour drive.  

So.....in August, I was thrilled when it worked out that I could fly with Brian and kids to Florida.  Celynda and her Dad drove the large moving van on a road trip that took them 4 or 5 days!  (They were the real heroes in this story, I just had to help with the kids on the plane!)  Of course it was great to see their home, help a little in setting it up and having a few days of being with them before their 'doctoring' life began.  The beach we went to was great.  And the water was surprisingly warm!  I didn't wear my swimsuit thinking I wouldn't want to get in, but I wish now that I would have!

a cute little frog that we found in their garage.

Thanks, Brian, Celynda, Lukas, Brookie, and Roxy for letting me stay with you for a while!

Auction mayhem.....

Believe me, I've been around, just busy.  After quitting my job October 1st, which ended up being the 17th, because my boss struggled to find replacements and then there were those on vacation and on workmans comp leave because of injuries - ANYWAY, I've been busy.  

I've decided to start into upholstering full time.  I am really loving it, although frustrating, because I don't have all the necessary skills/equipment/patience needed yet.  

Now, I guess I really need to back up about 1 year ago.  I have always loved auctions.  One of my first vivid memories had to have been when I was 5 yrs old or so, and went to an auction in the little town of Mayer, Arizona.  My dad had allowed my sisters and I to buy one thing each.  One of my sisters, I think it was Trudy, bought these stuffed Flintstone people, you know Fred & Wilma, which were kind of like pillows.  They were pretty cool.  My purchase was an old radio.  A super cool old radio.  And if it was old then, it must be REALLY old now.  I loved it then and I love it now.    

Okay, back to the year ago......I started going to the Mesa Auction located here in downtown Mesa and got brave to bid on a few things here and there.  And, now I'm hooked.  I LOVE IT!  Once in a while you can get a great deal.  Especially on furniture that has seen its prime.  There have been a few pieces that I've sold with out doing any work on them and that is good too!  Like I said, I'm enjoying just the hunt and find of it all and then the 'trying' to sell the items that I have.  Or the fixing up that they need.  Needless to say, I have inventory to 'work on' all the time because my selling skills are lacking.  

Okay, now back to today.  Besides the Mesa Auction, I have found two auctions in Phoenix.  They both have online bidding which is fun but can be difficult to know exactly what things look like - and things are sold AS IS.  Yes, they do give a preview day, but being located in Phoenix, I don't always get a chance to get over there.  Thus, this is what this blog is about.  Thank you for listening to the long explanation to get to this story.

I saw this rocking chair online - but in a very small picture.  These here, in my blog are obviously closer and detailed.  I put in this poly-wood sign found on the rocking chair for two reasons.  Yep, it's made out of a plasticy woodlike substance.  Hmmm.....Then, secondly, online you couldn't see the cracks and broken legs (I know, I know, I should have previewed the piece) but I didn't.  

 The rocking chair in the picture online for the auction was sitting on a large desk.  It was described as a front office lobby desk.  No dimensions were given.  I know, I should have previewed.  So, the night of the auction, I bid on the lot (chair and desk) because no one else had and the opening bid was $5.  Yep, again....I won the lot. $5.00.   We had to pick up the items on Monday.  (We, Doug and I, had also bid on other items that we won).
I told Doug we needed to take the big trailer to pick up the desk and he kind of guffawed at that suggestion but I insisted.  And guess what?!  The big lobby desk BARELY fit on a 12 foot trailer!  It was crazy - embarrassing really - especially when I saw the crappy chair.  But for $2.50 maybe I can take it apart and use it as a template to make a REAL rocking chair of wood.  Not a Poly-Wood fake.

So we get the desk to the shop, it is one massive hunk of wood with a computer hole in it?  We decided to make it into a material/workshop table for me,  however, 12 feet was a 'NO WAY IN ****' was that going to get into my shop area.  I talked Doug into chopping the last 4 feet off, adding a new end panel, bracing it with two new 4x4 pieces and then 4 wheels to move this puppy around my shop!  It's great!  As you can see it is slightly curved and the ONLY way to get it into my shop was through the front double door and the widest door into my shop was just a smidgen over 36".  The fit was TIGHTer than TIGHT, but I trusted Jasons measurements that it would fit and it did - BARELY.  I forgot to take a picture of the finished project in my office but I will add it later.  

 Thanks for listening (reading) this long blog.  I will blog about some of my items - some I still have, but some that are sold as well.  I'll need to add in our trip to see Brian and Celynda and family too!  Loves.  On.