Well, It Was a Week

It’s kind of weird when you have a week where you can’t really remember anything interesting happening. I have had some exciting weeks, and not all in a good way, over the last couple of months, but this week was super meh. And you know what? I’m thrilled just to have a boring week to break up all the ups and downs. Yay boring!!

However, this week’s finds are far from boring. I’m going to start off with a picture of what’s happening on my windowsill:

We got this amaryllis from friends via White Flower Farm and honestly, it’s the most gorgeous plant I’ve gotten from a mail-order place. I’m definitely going to send one to my mom next year (no worries, she doesn’t read our blog) for Christmas. The bulb was huge and it has three flowering stalks with four flowers per stalk. Can’t wait to see it when all the stalks are flowering. I sit at my dining room table when using the computer and whenever I look up, this is what I see!!

This next thing is kind of personally embarrassing:

I don’t remember what this was, or what that black thing is supposed to be. Looking at the picture is absolutely no help at all. It could be Darth Vader’s helmet, the head of an Alien Queen, a giant whale in the ocean; it’s hard to tell with my crappy picture, and maybe Gregory isn’t as great of an artist as he thinks he is. But whatever it is, ARC thinks it’s worth $5.99 as a bricbrac-knickknack-paddywhack paperweight. And now I’m even more embarrassed because our editor has just informed me that’s the base of a statue lying down, and that you can see the top part if you look up. In my defense, it was lying down when we passed by and we didn’t notice that it was attached? Don’t drink, kids, especially first thing in the morning!

I think that we should alert the media:

Our ARC thrift store has cornered the market on lip balm. There are three sides to this thing, and it’s taller than either of us (5ft. 5in. or slightly more with shoes). It is filled top to bottom, several bags deep with various kinds of lip balm. Honestly, it might be enough lip balm to give one to everyone who comes into the store over the next couple of weeks! I shudder to think of how old this lip balm is, or whether it’s all unused since the tubes and pots are loose in those bags. And, each of those bags are $3.99, so it’s a veritable fortune hanging on those pegs. But if we were playing, Never Have I Ever, I would have to say that never have I ever bought lip balm at a thrift store, and I hope that continues. You can walk two storefronts down to the dollar store and get two new lip balms in a sealed package for $1. Yes this makes me feel squinky, and yes I am kind of a germophobe; most of the nurses I know are!

Quick, someone should call Podiatrists without Borders and report these shoes:

I think that it says something about our ages that we look at these shoes and our toes curl up involuntarily. It sure looks like toe/foot torture to me! Maybe my back joins in complaining, too. Honestly, not even at my wedding, which is the most recent time in memory where I really, really wanted to look beautiful, would I have worn these shoes. Women need to stop this nonsense, unless these shoes really make them feel good, which is kind of hard to believe; to each her own. You can look gorgeous in kitten heels too and not ruin your feet for life. These should be sold as doorstops, but you know someone is going to take them home and sprain an ankle.

We spent some time looking at these and trying to figure out what they were:

Of course they are a balloon pencil and fire hydrant, errr crayon. Ain’t no party like a pencil party!! Now, the next question is where in heck would you use these? First day of kindergarten, a little kid’s book party?? I think blowing up enough balloons to make a 74 inch high balloon pencil/crayon would be far more work than these decorations deserve. Your return on investment could even be negative. The most fun thing to do with these would be to have someone else blow up all those stinking balloons, and then you get a big old stickpin out and start popping!

Something is wrong here:

Okay Jennifer, at the top it says, “Kit includes pre-cut cardboard pieces and easy to follow instructions” and then a mere 3 1/2 inches later it says, “Instructions not included”. Which is it? We aren’t buying this kit without instructions—that way lies madness!! And Jennifer, why is your address on the front of the package twice within inches of each other? You had to manually add that sticker! I feel like phoning or faxing her to ask these questions.

On the other hand, I was interested to find out what an etui was. Merriam-Webster says a small ornamental case. That sounds nice. When I looked at some photos of antique etui, I’m not sure how you could replicate these with cardboard. Absolutely gorgeous, and I will have to keep my eyes open for one—hey, you never know. Really, with the state of my craft room, there could be one in there right now and I might not remember.

Last two things are just to restore balance to our blog world:

Entry 99 in our never-ending series of lovely old china that we see at the thrift store. This is an elegant old serving plate that is probably much older than you think it is. Wouldn’t it look pretty piled high with lemon bars sitting next to a hot cup of tea? Or maybe cookies next to a big glass of milk? I hope someone got creative and took this nice old lady home and gave her some love.

Finally:

I hope that this is something that we can all agree on: Corgis are so dang cute!! How can anyone look at this picture and not feel better? It is making me smile right now, and I’ve looked at it several times getting the pictures ready for the blog post. Hopefully, this absolutely fabulous Corgi will send you into the weekend with a grin on your face and a laugh in your heart.