Being thankful for Mom’s potato salad

I know, potato salad is a pretty odd thing for which to be thankful, but on this Thanksgiving eve, I’m feeling nostalgic as we prepare to celebrate another turkey day.

 

With only three members of the family (me, Ella, and Jimmy, Ella’s brother) in town, we plan to eat at the local Golden Corral around 10:30 a.m. before the restaurant gets too crowded.  It’s not very sentimental, but it’s cheaper, and we avoid the big mess in the kitchen.  Lack of leftovers is a bummer, though.

 

Growing up, however, Thanksgiving was a big day in our house.  With Mom and two grandmothers preparing food, it was inevitable that the little fat kid that I was would be underfoot in the kitchen, stealing bites of food here and there, and trying to sample as much of the meal as possible before we actually sat down to eat.  Since Dad didn’t like turkey, and my Grandma Fair only ate “hog meat,” ham was the meat of choice, and was served with homemade dressing; snap or pole beans with potatoes; collard greens or turnips; rutabagas; fried cornbread; jellied cranberry sauce, and, of course, the aforementioned potato salad, my favorite.

 

Mom would peel, dice, and boil the potatoes, and then mix them up with a wonderful concoction of mayonnaise, onions, celery, boiled eggs, and some sweet pickle relish.  She used a big metal bowl for mixing before gently spooning the salad into a serving dish.  Without fail, she would always leave me a little in the bottom of the bowl to sample, and I would do my best to get every last bit of the good stuff before handing the bowl off to be washed.

 

I was piddling around in our guest house last week, looking through the kitchen cabinets, and actually found that bowl.  It looked smaller than I remember, though.  I considered taking it home, and preparing the dish as best as I could remember, but realized that it just wouldn’t be the same.

 

I absent mindedly put the bowl back in the cabinet, lost in the memories of holidays past, and realized how thankful I was not only for what I had, but also for all that my parents had given me, and how they had prepared me, as best they could, for life beyond the thunderdome of childhood.

 

Still, what I wouldn’t give for one more taste of Mom’s potato salad on Thanksgiving from that big metal bowl.

A day only hardcore thrifters could enjoy

Saturday was a four church sale day, and would have been fun had it not been so cold and windy.  I’ve asked it before, but who is crazier, those who have yard sales when it’s freezing, or those who attend these cold events?

 

Of course, opportunity often comes with adversity, and despite winds that literally were blowing items off tables, we managed to score some good finds.  It truly was a day that only hardcore pickers could enjoy, or endure.

 

The first church sale started at 7 a.m., and has a history of letting shoppers in early.  Since it is an outside sale, both Ella and I knew it would be miserable trying to scout not only in the 37 degree weather and wind, but also in the dark.  We may be hardcore, but we’re not stupid.  So, we opted to bypass that church until later in the day, hoping that there would be something left.  

 

We therefore started our day at an 8 a.m. inside church sale that also featured a small book sale.  The book sale netted some good finds; the actual yard sale, less so.   It was pushing 9 a.m. by that time, so we rushed over to another church sale that was just setting up outside.  I immediately found the media table, and the teens kept bringing over bags of books and DVDs.  We filled a large tote full of boxed DVD sets, individual DVDs, and a bunch of Amish romance series books, bound with string to keep individual sets together.  We paid $20 for the tote, plus a few other odds and ends.  With the wind and cold biting at us, we were proud to make it back to the truck with our extremities intact.

 

We visited a few miscellaneous sales before pulling up to the next church sale, which thankfully was inside.  We found a few things, and we partook of the bake sale.  

 

We finally made it to the sale that started at 7 a.m., and it was still cold.  I could only imagine how it must have felt earlier.  I found a few things, but the wind and cold made looking uncomfortable. 

 

So much for being hardcore.

 

There were a few sales in a neighboring town, so we headed that way, stopping at a sale in a restaurant parking lot.  Thankfully, it had warmed up a bit, making the wind less of an issue.  Ella found a new in shrink-wrap puzzle, then another, then another.  I love picking up puzzles, but this was insane.  We ended up with 70 new puzzles at $1 each.  That’s a lot of money, but the ones that I scanned were worth in excess of $10 each, so I figured we’d do OK.

 

We made a few more stops that netted little, so we decided to call it a day, at least as far as the yard sales were concerned.  Later Saturday evening, we went to the local auction, and picked up a few items, most notably several “pigs in a poke” boxes.  A “pig in a poke” at an auction is a sealed box that is auctioned off as is.  You have no idea what is in the box.  Ella is a sucker for such things, and we ended up with three boxes, one of which had junk, and two of which had fine china from Japan, or at least that’s what it said on the bottom of each plate and cup.   Other than putting it in our antique booth, I’m not quite sure what to do with it.

 

On Sunday, believe it or not, there was another church sale that started at 9 a.m., and, of course, we were there.  We didn’t find much, but it did get me up out of bed, and in a working mood.  The rest of Sunday was spent listing and packing.

 

Over at the antique mall, our booth total for October was a respectable $742 against a rent of $468 (both booths), for a “profit” of roughly $274.  We had no sale of any item over $30, which proves the adage that “smalls” make your rent, but “bigs” make your profit.  On a positive note, DVDs continue to be a good seller for us (35 sold).

 

On the online side for October, we sold 157 items across all venues (Amazon, Alibris, Half, and Biblio), with Amazon leading the way.  On Ebay, we had a paltry 17 sales; I so need to revamp my store.

 

I had thought that this weekend would be relatively easy (i.e., no significant sales).  Already, though, two church sales and at least one institutional sale have been advertised.  With Thanksgiving on the horizon, such sales should taper off.   As they say on Game of Thrones, winter’s coming, and much like the proverbial ant in the parable, I hope we have squirreled away enough resources. 

 

Have a good rest of the week.

Well, that didn’t last long

The plan was to sleep late on Saturday morning, and spend the day listing, doing chores, and maybe cooking food instead of eating out.  You know, normal people stuff.

 

But no ….

 

I cracked first, by going to the book sale on my lunch hour on Friday.  I’m glad I did, because even though the sale had started the night before, apparently it went dealer free until I got there.  It was difficult lugging a big box of books through the mall while trying to keep my large Chick-fil-A sweet tea from spilling, but I managed to get to my truck with dropping either one.

 

Saturday morning, I did get to sleep late, staying in bed until around 7 instead of my usual 4:30 wakeup time.  Ella got up soon after, and as we both sat at our respective computers, perusing Craigslist, I could feel our resolve slowly melting.  By 8:30, we were out the door, determined to hit only a few sales, and to come back home. 

 

We were late getting to the church sale, but managed to find some good booth material, including two huge framed and signed Macon Cherry Blossom Festival prints for $1 each.  The Cherry Blossom Festival is Macon’s big spring party.  The rest of the sales were hit and miss, yielding only assorted items, including some Disney comic books and a hand-made Mickey Mouse quilt that will go in our booth next month.

 

By noon, we were at the book sale again to take advantage of the “fill a box for $5” sale.  I started out with two banana boxes, but as they got filled up, Ella paid $5 for another box, which also quickly got filled.  My idea was to fill the boxes to overflowing, but the nice sale lady sternly pointed out that I needed another box for the books falling out of my first three boxes.  So, I meekly handed over another $5.  Still, we got four huge boxes of books for $20, some of which will go online, and most of which, including many, many cookbooks, will find their way to our booths.

 

Seven hours later, after eating lunch, and ensuring the 25% off sale signs were in place at both Barry’s Bonanza and Ella’s Eclectic Emporium, we made it home. Best laid plans aside, it was a semi-lucrative day. Obviously, though, nothing got listed.  Later Saturday evening, we went to the local auction.  With only three bidders, it didn’t last very long.

Mmmm...M&Ms

 

On Sunday, I again was up at 7, and promptly began working.  I listed both Ebay and Amazon items until just after noon.  Ella and I then had to go straighten our storage unit to make room for other stuff, and to bring Christmas items toward the front for easy access.  I found a case of small blue M&M ornaments/toppers that I purchased at a church sale early in the spring for $10.  There are at least 200 of these little guys, which sell for at least $5 each online.   Have I ever mentioned that I love M&Ms?

 

The rest of Sunday was spent listing, and finding room for all the books purchased on Saturday.

 

So, the weekend wasn’t a total loss, although the listing on Sunday barely put a dent into all that I need to get online.  Whether I could make a living doing it, I don’t know, but I do know that I literally could make a full time job out of thrifting.

 

My most noteworthy sale of the weekend was a small lot of Veronica Mars DVD box sets.  It didn’t sell for much, only $25, but it did generate a weird query from a potential buyer.  He wanted to know if the discs buffered during playback.  I wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but I assured him that they were factory DVDs, and should play fine on a standard DVD player.  He again questioned if the any of the discs buffered.  By now, I was getting a bad feeling about this buyer, thinking that no matter how perfect the discs were, he would find some fault.  So, I blocked him.  Thankfully, another buyer picked them up soon after.

 

Too many questions led me to block a potential buyer

This weekend marks the last major sale that I have on my calendar, and while other sales may pop up, with the weather turning colder, it should slow down enough that I can spend some quality time listing, and not getting jittery about missing out on the good stuff.

 

Stay busy and productive, and make sure you have plenty of candy on hand for the little beggars on Friday.

61 days and counting

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow

 

As both an online and pseudo brick and mortar merchant, I already can feel the pressure that the silly season brings, and my internal Christmas clock tells me that my window for listing is diminishing rapidly even though it’s not even Halloween yet.

 

Walking through local stores doesn’t help, either, because many of them already have decked the halls thanks to the power of full-time employees, while in the multiverse of Barry’s Books (Amazon, Ebay, and two antique mall booths), it’s just me and Ella, and I’m only part-time.  I’m used to the pressure of listing on deadline, but this year we not only have to merchandise the two booths, but also decorate them as well. None of it is hard work, but the sheer volume leaves me feeling a bit overwhelmed.

 

Thankfully, Ella has a plan, at least for the booths.  The goal is to move much of the everyday merchandise out on or around November 1 (after a week-long 25 percent off sale), and to move the Christmas decorations, toys, and our Disney stuff in.  As for online, I’m trying to squeeze in quality listing time between doing everything else. 

 

Speaking of Christmas, the U.S. Postal Service has published its "mail-by" dates. To ensure that holiday mail and packages are delivered in time for Christmas, the post office recommends the following mailing/shipping deadlines:

Dec. 2: First-Class Mail International
Dec. 2: Priority Mail International
Dec. 10: Priority Mail Express International
Dec. 15: Standard Post
Dec. 17: Global Express Guaranteed
Dec. 20: First-Class Mail
Dec. 20: Priority Mail
Dec. 23: Priority Mail Express

 

Notice that the first deadline is just over one month away.

 

Sales lately have been lackluster, although Amazon picked up a bit after I listed a bunch of books several weekends ago.  Ebay has been slow, as usual, which I attribute to not having the time to list enough items.  One sale that I did have, though, was interesting, at least to me.  I sold my last box of Silicone Pad Scar Treatment that I purchased on clearance from Kmart (sniff, sniff … I miss Kmart already) to a buyer from Spain through Ebay’s Global Shipping Program.  The buyer paid $14.99 for the item, and then paid an additional $17.94 to have it shipped overseas.  She really must need that treatment.

I hope this product actually works for the buyer ... she paid a bunch to get it

This weekend, Ella and I decided to concentrate on what we have instead of going out looking for more. Of course, this left me with the jitters as I skipped a small book sale last night.  I might have to cheat, and scan some books during my lunch break today.

 

Have a lucrative weekend, everyone.

Bye, Bye Blue Light Special

Earlier in the summer, Kmart announced that it planned to close our local store.  This decision didn’t surprise me, but did cause me great anguish, seeing as how not only was the store a honey hole of inventory at times, but also it was my go-to place during my lunch break (walking laps around the huge store was quicker and better than going to a gym); a Thanksgiving location for cheap 2-liter Pepsi bottles; and a post-Christmas stop for half-price wrapping paper and decorations.



Kmart tried to get rid of everything on Sunday

Sunday marked the store’s final day, and Ella and I spent four hours (yes, four hours) finding bargains that only got better as the day progressed.  Women’s and children’s apparel was already at 90 percent off, and Ella spent much of the time in the dressing room trying on $.50 to $1.00 outfits.  I walked around the store, picking up odds and ends, and watching the jewelry department, which was at 80 percent off, a real bargain that was going to get better.  I also tried to talk myself into buying two gallons of Little Caesars Crazy Bread Sauce ($27.00) from the closed location inside the store, but I couldn’t figure out what to do with that much sauce by the December expiration date.

 

Around 1 p.m., Kmart announced that the ladies in the jewelry department wanted to go home, and that all jewelry was at 95 percent off.  I made a beeline for the counter, along with most everyone else in the store.  When the overwhelmed clerk finally got to me, I looked through the display case, saw the leftover gemstone necklace and earring sets (regular price $99, sale price $4.95) and the remaining body piercing sets (regular prices $19.99 to $24.99, sale prices $.39 to $1.25), and told the clerk that I wanted all of them.  In the meantime, Ella had picked out several pairs of earrings and an earring/necklace set (regularly prices $399+, sale prices roughly $15 each).

My cost for 68 pieces of jewelry was $199.63.  Total savings, as can be seen on the receipt, was a crazy $3557.75.

 

The rest of the items in our cart, consisting mostly of Ella’s clothes, rang up at 95 percent off as well.  It was both amazing and sad at the same time.

 

Before leaving, we also purchased a rotating, lockable jewelry display case ($55) for our antique booth to go along with our rolling shelf system ($100) that we had picked up on Saturday.

 

Speaking of Saturday, Ella and I rushed to a local mega-church’s adoption fundraiser sale before 7 a.m., only to find a fellow thrifter already on site working the tables.  A few minutes later, our main competition for media showed up.  For a while, we were all stumbling over each other looking for bargains.  Finally, though, Ella and I were the last ones there, and we found a few overlooked treasures, and some great items for our booth.

 

The rest of the morning was hit and miss, mostly miss, but we did find enough to make the time worthwhile.

 

Later in the day, we worked our two antique booths, watched “A Million Ways to Die in the West” on DVD (don’t waste your money), then paid too much to walk through a local haunted trail.  The trail was well done and spooky, but the organizers needed a bigger cast of monsters.

 

As for today, I hope everyone is having a good Columbus Day, and remember that the post office is closed in commemoration of Christopher's arrival in the Americas.