"The Horror...the Horror..." China Takes Over

That's one of my husband Buster's all time favorite lines from a movie.  I myself see nothing funny anymore about this line from Apocalypse Now after the last 48 hours in my kitchen.

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Southern-Fried China Chix

Well, three weeks after I wrote about the joys of thriftin' and pickin' glassware, bakeware and china, I'm now taking some time to photograph all my objects of delight.  Eventually I will get the information there such as the maker or pattern or the number that I have if more than one.  Let me warn, however.  Pictures of china can be pretty boring!  I do apologize if the forthcoming photo albums from China Chix are not up to the usual standards of photography normally on this blog!

Click HERE for a link to the China Chix catalogue!

Thrifting Away

I haven't been getting out as much as I used to.  There are several reasons for this.  Rhonda Sue, my best gal-pal, is only working four jobs to make ends meet.  That doesn't leave a lot of time for us to run around like we used to.  Secondly, my old Dodge Charger drinks gas at $3.10 a gallon the same it did at $1.98.  I have been much more thoughtful as to how often and how far I need to go every day.  It's also been cold as all get out this winter, which makes me want to stay in and snuggle with Queenie and Brownie, my dogs, while Buster works.

I have, however, gotten out enough to begin a new career.  I am now a thrifter.  I go thrifting.  I thrifted yesterday and I want to thrift everyday.  (I just love the way it's okay now a days to make verbs of of adjectives and nouns, like "texting".)

It's the thrill of the hunt.  I'd been in thrift stores a few times to look around, and I'd even found a few treasures.  This was during a time when I actually worked for a living, and had more money than time.  Now I have lots of time and little money, and, as a result, I've become addicted.

It's all little Lyla Marie's fault.  As a first-year teacher, she needed to build her classroom library in order to encourage literacy among these nimble-thumbed, texting and video-game playing adolescents with their Droids and I-phones.  So Mama decided to build the library herself, and began frequenting thrift and bargain stores for classic and modern age-appropriate books.  In other words, I came out with lots of copies of the  Harry Potter books by the trunk full.  It became a reason to exist, and I bought so many I've now filled up two bookcases and have been instructed to use extreme discretion from now on.

I have to admit I love thrifting.  Some days I buy nothing.  Some days I strike gold.  Today I found two punch cups in my depression glass pattern, a piece of Fire King, and some vintage gold-trimmed china.  I blame all of this on my girlfriend Naomi.  She too has become a thrifter and sometimes-the best times- we go together and lollygag down the aisles together, picking up everything we see and showing it to each other.  However, often the thrift stores are just too darned crowded to shop as a couple.  That's the thing that has amazed me the most.  I'll pull up into the Goodwill or Salvation Army parking lot in my old Dodge Charger, and park it between a Lexus and a Mercedes.  So much for the goods going to the poor like my mama taught me.  The goods are going to the hunters and gatherers of the world, and that's how they can drive expensive cars-they learned the value of thrift shopping alot earlier in life. 

We can tell who the enemy is when we're thrifting.  Thrifters look basically out of place.  Men especially.  They have this glazed-over look and go directly to the items of their affection straight away.  You see them pick up things and check for maker's marks while they glance around to see if anyone sees what they've found, and hold it close to themselves like a prize.  Which it is, no doubt.  I've figured out that the best thing to do is walk past these people and pretend like you're not interested.  It keeps them from hoarding it all, and after they walk away, you can take your place and stand there and examine every glass and gravy boat that no one else wanted anymore.  It kind of reminds of me of the way Queenie and Brownie growl at each other at feeding time and guard their food from each other.  I swear I've seen hackles rise on the back of people's necks when I invade their space, which they've carefully marked.

After you check for your obsession, you're free to wander the rest of the store.  You just never know what you will find a great deal on.  It might be a leather coat or vest.  Today I found a great pair of cowboy boots.  Of course I can't wear them, but I'm sure someone else that I know can.  It could be a set of vintage (meaning used alot over and over) linens.  I've bought a great picnic cooler and cart which rides around in the trunk of the car since there's no place in my house to put it.  But when the day comes that I can use it, I'll know right where it's at.  That's more than I can say for most of the treasures I bring home. 

I've made lots of new friends.  There's the lady who's buying up china, silverware and glassware for a shabby-chic wedding reception in the spring.  I'm so envious, it makes me want to wake Buster up and plan to renew our vows so I too can buy up lots of old china.  However, I think it would take lots more than china to get him interested in that project.  Thrift stores are a veritable United Nations- I hear all kinds of languages being spoken as I drift through.  Although I can't speak their language, I know exactly what they're saying:  "How much is this?  Do you like it?  What do you think?  How would this look in my house?"

 I've noticed also that there are lots of college students shopping there.  I'm not sure if it's the trendy thing to do, or just a sign of the bad economic times, but they're fighting right along with the retirees, the soccer moms, and the collectors to find a deal.

The other day I had an appointment in town, and ended up walking through three thrift stores.  It's really good exercise as you have to stoop and bend and twist and turn to uncover the potential treasures.  I was so tired when I got home I had to nap for a couple of hours.  This is my personal effort to fight obesity by  getting fit through thrifting.  Maybe they'll put me on one of the daytime shows to tell about my weight loss through thrift shopping.  I think I see a Nate Berkus show in my future.

My plans for the future are to find a place to store my treasures. I can rent a storage room or I can clean out one of my own storage buildings here on the farm.   Buster will definately have a heart attack when I tell him I'm going to pay $50 a month to store a bunch of stuff that costs a dollar at most.  That leaves the most likely option- cleaning out the storage building.  That means purging and giving away to the very charity thrift stores that I've been shopping at.  What if I end up buying it again? 

I'll worry about all of that later when I get ready to stock my E-bay store.  Until then, I must go on hunting and gathering, competing against other thrifters for the deal of a lifetime.  Remind me, of course, to hide it all in the trunk so Buster won't know.

Anything for Food

Hey ya'll, I've made an amazing new discovery.  If you have surgery where they slit your throat to fix your back, people will think that you are really bad off and bring you food!  Yes, Lord. 

 I've had homemade chicken casserole, yeast roles, brownies, homemade macaroni and cheese and chocolate pie, and tomorrow there's a promise for chicken stew.  I'm lovin' this!  So is Buster.  As my official nurse he is entitled to share in the bounties provided by my all of my girl friends. 

I am sitting here trying out the old blog to see how much pain has been relieved, and I can tell a difference already in my typing ability.  I may be able to type all of 21 w.p.m. again if I keep recovering like this.  I'm just thrilled to be able to hold my head up and look at the screen through my bi-focals without pain in my neck and shoulder.  This should encourage me to continue my writing career, don't you think?  The down side is that the Betty Lou Road Show is off air for several weeks until the doctor tells me it's okay to drive again. 

The official name of the procedure that I had was an anterior cervical diskectomy with fusion- or, better known as an ACDF.  Although I know that I had told Buster numerous times that they performed this particular surgery on the spine by going in through the neck, he still almost fainted when I repeated it the night before surgery.  I have to admit, out of all the surgeries I've had performed, this one interested me the least.  There's something about having your neck slit open to get to your spine that's kind of discomfiting.  Buster didn't want to hear about it either.  Normally I will google all the information and pull up a YouTube video of someone actually having it done.  Not this time.  I'll admit that I stayed pretty well ignorant of the details on this one.  While it's actually a very common surgery, and it worked like a miracle, it's not the most appealing thing to think about.  I can be pretty objective about my body parts and their mechanics, but when you're getting close to the one thing most dear and near to me- my vocal cords- well, then I get a little woozy.

I am a most fortunate woman, though, to have the good friends I have.  Who else has there own personal surgical technician who gets on the schedule to make sure I come through it all okay?  That's why I spent all those years career counseling these young kids into the medical field- so I could have my own people to count on when I got old-  And it's worked.  I have a talented neurosurgeon who tolerates my poor attempts at humor and a wonderful orthopedic doctor who has seen me though all of trials and tribulations.  I have been blessed with great doctors and nurses who have seen me though the six operations the last nine years.

If you want graphic details, you can watch the video below:

In Betty Lou's world, any surgery that leaves you able to dress yourself and take yourself to the bathroom is an easy surgery.  Out of everything I've had, that makes this the easiest to deal with.  I only wish I'd had it done years ago!