More Thrift Scores !

Why I suddenly want AG-size stuff. This is Autumn. 

I’ve gotta stay away from thrifts ! While I have lots of fun, and find great stuff, we’re running out of space to enjoy the bounty !

Decided I wanted to serve the ‘S&M Challenge’ (a bowl of half Skittles, half M&Ms) to my friends in group therapy, and set out to find some pretty but cheep bowls or glasses – something they could take home afterward. And did I find 'em  ! Twelve pretty squarish cut-glass ‘on the rocks’ style glasses, that might have gone with a punch-bowl, for just 50¢ each. But they had green tags, so they were half off ! Got the whole dozen for $3., more than enough for the group, probably enough for Chez Insanity to have a set to keep, too !

I also found a kids’ book for a budding ballerina of my acquaintance, a gorgeous miniature crystal dish (probably to catch rings beside a sink or vanity), and a crystal basket that split the fluorescent lighting into dozens of tiny yet magnificent rainbows. I’d found the promotional Magic Easter Egg on the bookshelves, so the $4. basket was only a buck ! Wow. Dearest Son enjoyed looking around, but didn’t see anything interesting.

Today I had some ‘me’ time, so I hit a local thrift down the street. I’d gone a few weeks ago, during their ‘Stuff a Sack for $5.’ sale, and came home with three bags fulla treasures. Including a stuffed bear on a stand, dressed like a poodle-skirted teenager, that was hanging out in the Toy Room. When I went the following week, I saw several other dressed bears. . . that were not part of the bag-stuff sale. Oops. Honest mistake, so I returned it today. And hit up their 25¢ sale ! Scored a sweater shaver, a book rest, an Alien Nation sound track CD, a midnight blue velvet dress, a little blue Playmate cooler, a broken-hip Quick Curl Barbie, a big Pinkie Pie with a removable soft book, a Disney Store Dory, an AG-tagged pink tulle petticoat, an 18” doll sized slumber bag, a corduroy OG doll skirt, tagged Cricket and Velvet original issue dresses, a pair of Kimberly doll skates, and a ballet tutu for a Cinderella 'Disney Princess & Me' doll. From the rest of the store, $5. got me a new blouse, two yards of black dot ‘minky’ fabric, a yard of what I hope is chalkboard fabric, and two yards of shiny thin silver lame material. $9.50 total. The minky alone is worth more than that, and so is Pinkie !

You’d think that, after that big a haul, I wouldn’t tempt the thrift spirits, but I went to Goodwill anyway. It was on the way home. Spent another $11. there, and got a Ty Pinkie Pie, also for Dearest Son’s collection, a set of mousepads (he needed one), and an oval slow cooker with a morning glory design. I already have a slow cooker – made a great corned beef, potato, and cabbage dinner with it the other day – thanks to my MIL’s apartment cleaning skills, but it’s small and round. I needed something bigger, and oval, as some recipes I wanna try call for layering in an oval cooker. I tested this one, and it works great, and is actually cleaner than mine (blush), so I got what I wanted for less than half price, and less than one I nearly bought two weeks ago. Found the free manual for it online, too. Funny how one small success paves the path for so many new efforts !

Came home to my guys napping, so I seized the time to make them simple Easter surprises. Lindt offered personalized ribbons for their gold chocolate rabbits, but I didn’t have those. Instead, I bought a discount bag of mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats, cut some gold glitter tulle I just happened to have sitting around the house, and made little pouches of it to hold the candy, tied with the Lindt ribbons. Beloved Hubby and Dearest’s names are in gold, so they look great. Gonna wait ‘til they’re asleep again and play Easter Bunny. (gleeful giggle)

The True History of My Size (Ms.) Elsa

When I told Beloved a huge box showed up, he wanted a photo. He got one !

Hard to believe the third month of this year is nearly over already. Time is speeding up the older I manage to get !

Nice Friday here at Chez Insanity – sunny and 70°, although storms are due tomorrow and all weekend. Don’t care. Already done the banking and got enough fun food for the weekend, if we don’t venture out, it’s fine with me.

I did a lot of prowling this week already. Goodwill yielded another ‘Royal Reflection Eyes’ Elsa doll, barefoot, dreadlocked, and wearing a Cinderella doll’s dress. I’ll have to get a count of all the Elsas and Annas, there has to be nearly a dozen of both toddler and fashion versions. Either I’m still attracting them, or a lot of ‘em are showing up in the usual second-hand venues. I’m getting better at straightening out doll hair.

Speaking of Elsas, I wanted to tell you a bit about the one in yesterday’s photo. I discovered that Beloved Hubby was telling ummm. . . ‘someone else’ that he hates my dolls, and this person sympathized. When the dust settled, I’d donated three boxes of ‘em – nothing I truly treasured, but it kind of hurt when he supported my hobby to my face, yet told this other that they all gave him the creeps. I said later that the only one I regretted giving up was the ‘My Size’ Anna I’d found at a GWill for $10. – while we didn’t have space for her, her rictus smile even creeped me out, and she wasn’t my favorite Frozen character (I’m sure you know who is !), I had been looking forward to sewing for that size again.

As our 20^th Anniversary drew closer, he requested I avoid Amazon for a bit. And the day before, a huge box  showed up on the porch. Yes, he’d bought me a ‘My Size’ Elsa, to cement our new understanding and faith. He apologized about the whole ‘doll thing’, and said he’d mostly said it because he had precious little else to complain about to other person. He didn’t hate my dolls, understood why they were important to me, and wanted to see me happy with them – and him – again. It sounds strange, I know, but I fell in love with him all over again. Even my therapist was impressed.

I’m still finding my way, slowly. The one thing I wanted to sew for Ms. Elsa was a robe – even though she has a painted-on blue bodysuit, I wanted her to have one for wardrobe fittings – but no pattern existed for one in that size. Infant ones were not right, kid ones would be huge, and not even the numerous ‘kitchen table’ pattern peeps designed one for sale. So I researched several free online ones in unisex sizes and calculated the scale with Elsa’s measurements, then fashioned the pattern using her huge box and one of Beloved’s worn tape measures. Sewed it from a lightweight (read : thin) fleece lap blanket from Mal-Wart ($2.50, and I still have a third of it left), and there ya go. Adjust the sleeves, and I could easily use the same pattern for a kimono. I’m pretty happy with it !

Dearest Son and I hit the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore – but I’ll have to tell you about that tomorrow, today’s entry is almost a book ! 

I'm back again. Again !

My new pattern, on My Size Elsa. You'll meet her soon !

So. After, what, nearly a year and a half ? I’m gonna try this again. My various medical maladies have been stable for a year, I’m no longer in and out of the VA hospital so many times, they’re considering named a revolving door after me. I’m hoping to continue my health where it is or better – I’m walking, I’m more active, and I’m slowly finding myself again.

Bluntly, 2016 and 2017 were the worst years of my life, I hope. I’ve survived rejection, surgery, extreme insomnia, abandonment, death, severe prescription drug interactions, understanding painkiller addictions, tears, repeated lies, destruction of self-esteem, minor self-destruction, personal crises, three weeks of nightmares, oxygen starvation, rehab, and ongoing therapy. I’ve learned a lot, and there was joy and learning in between the misery, but I’ll be (expletive deleted) happy if I NEVER have to live anything like that again.

Don’t mean to be a downer, but you deserve to know the truth, even if I gloss over some of it, since you’re still reading this. I’ve contemplated restarting this for weeks, and I thank all of you who encouraged me on Facebook to do so.

After Life had me questioning everything, the truth remains, or returns. As I’ve said, I’m in group therapy, and thanks to the support of that group and a great therapist, I’m doing pretty well. I’m not where I was when I first introduced myself late last year, so I’m calling it an ongoing win. I’m learning about myself, and while it may be hard to believe that someone who wrote a blog for over ten years still had much to learn about herself, well, there it is. There are things and feelings we hide from even our truest self, much less the ones who love us, and I’m having to face them. I’m taking a ‘be aware, then take the best and leave the rest’ approach – may not work for everyone, but so far, so good !

Never fear, though – I still love dolls and sewing, even though they took a serious bashing in the Barrel of Awfulness, too. I haven’t sewn in weeks, and when I did, it was super-simple, but I designed it, and created the pattern for it, using the doll's box. And I’m proud of it. I’ve spent most of my life seeking approval and self-esteem in others’ eyes, I’m creakily learning to generate it from myself, for myself. Then, how to share it without being overbearing or expecting anything at all in return.

I feel stable for the first time in months, stable enough to do this. Please come with me if you like ! I’ll do my best to be here every day. Thanks always for sharing your day with me.