Shopped Out?

I feel wierd. I don't know what it is, exactly, but I think ... I feel ... it isn't the flu, or anything ... might it be ... could it be ... no, it's not an overload. Not me. Not now!

I shouldn't feel this way - it was a fabulous weekend, full of wheeling and dealing with vendors at a two-day flea market that swings by three or four times a year ... plus another two hours in a thrift store this morning - but I do: I'm ... a little (just a little) sick of shopping.

What did I find? A fantastic tri-colored Hamilton 14K gold watch, a ruby-and-diamond necklace and a rose-charm necklace (chains and all), five plated watches for me (mostly working, beautiful bands) and six pipes for the Big Lug (pretty-pretties), six cups and saucers in my milk glass pattern, two pairs of beautiful sterling-and-gold earrings for my daughters, and even ... drumroll please ... one gorgeous seed-pearl-and-enamel 14K pin and one sterling and 18K tie tack, both signed "Tiffany & Co." (hopefully real). I paid tag value only once. All told, after negotiating and discounting and sighing with my my big, puppy-dog eyes working their magic, I spent just over $200 for all of it.

That would be about $15 more than I'd saved for this weekend.

I'm tired. But my work is just begun. I have a ton of research to do, and it's all my own fault.

On a related note, one of the vendors had a stunningly beautiful watch (for just short of $1K) that I lusted over. It occurred to me that I might be able to leverage the pin for it. I asked if she took trade. She said "yes, depending on what you have to trade." I told her. Her eyes widened. I didn't have the pin with me - I'm not going to rush into anything before I know what I have - but she was interested. And I had three (count 'em, three) epiphanies ...

One - scrap value (my excuse for buying) of all the gold I've been finding is great, as long as it's truly scrap. I have been blessed by Mama Angel more than once. And though I LOVE the things I find, I'm not (yet) an evening-gown kind of Bunny, nor do I have an office job that makes me dress up in heels and suits (thank God!). Yes, diamonds go with blue jeans and black leather, but do I want to go that route? I'd wear the 18K watch, for sure, and, technically, it would only cost me $2 (the price I paid for the pin). Isn't that more important?

Two - if this keeps up, I might one day be the vendor who has all this stuff. Once the economy heats back up the price of gold will fall, but the demand for gorgeous, well-made jewelry will increase (check prices just three years ago and you'll find the really good stuff went for more).

Three - the more I read, the more look and touch, the more I notice. Dear Lord, you wouldn't believe the amazing earrings I found this morning, and I would never have noticed their impeccable quality even this time last spring! I've learned it's all about quality over quantity ... and I'm developing an eye for the latter.

Where will this take me? No clue. I am happy that I had the extra savings to buy the items (that I will wear) and that I can still bargain with the best of them. But I'm ready for the pot of red beans that are simmering on the stove, for the cleaning and the reading and the internalizing that must happen for awhile, for a period of quiet in the eye of the storm. Donations are increasing. Yard sales and flea markets are staying around longer. And even the most established antique dealers are willing to deal. I will be there, with my radar out.

But not just now.

Maybe tomorrow.

Adventure

How does one go about finding adventure when one is confined (without too much complaint) by earning a living, watching (gladly) one's grandchildren, and tending (serenely) one's parents? Not an age-old question, exactly, but certainly a relatively age-new question, yes?

Women of a certain age didn't used to actually survive to that certain age, even a few generations ago. Not that we're the only ones who yearn for thrills (our younger counterparts yearned so much they used to suicide in droves to escape the confinement, the "gilded cages," of their era) but we are the ones who have a chance to achieve it more often. Yet do we?

According to womentraveltips.com, 72 million women travelled last year (out of date, but probably still close), and that the average traveller is a 47-year-old female (who wears size 12, by the way). While that's cool, and everything, almost all of sites I pulled up with an "adventure women" Google search involved travelling (or, strangely, extreme sports). Dictionary.com defines adventure as a "bold, usually risky undertaking." Are travel and death-wish spins down rocky rivers our only choices?

I'm rethinking my strategy for this entire quest. Yes, I love searching for and finding treasures (in both shops and the earth). Yes, I want to write fiction again (a surprisingly possible way to achieve my goal). And yes, I continue to pay off and build up. But the masthead for this blog says I'm supposed to have adventures.

What does that mean?

I don't know yet what it is, but I know what it isn't - it's not travel for travel's sake, and it's not a black diamond run down a snow-covered slope (not with my back), and it's really not what I've been doing (well, not only that). There's something missing, not only from the concept but from the entire equation, something that will take this to a whole new level. Something that will make this the adventure of a lifetime.

I just need to find it.

Pay Attention!

I love Mama Angel. Just when I think I've caught the brass ring (or the 18K star pin), just when I'm convinced I won't have another great find for weeks (even months), just when I thought I'd forgotten how to Listen, she hits me with a 14K gold (vintage) watch.

Sigh.

It's funny. Last Monday all I did was sit on eBay, scrolling and watch-listing and (yes) even lusting a bit. This entire week I've seen item after item selling for much more than my bargain-hunting soul can stand. (I did win a lot of costume stuff, so keep your fingers crossed.) What I learned, however, is legion.

1) There's money again. While things are hardly going through the roof, they are definitely on the move - mostly with sellers who are smart enough to start the feeding frenzy with a (sometimes frighteningly low) opening price.

2) People pay more for things from established sellers. I won't reach "preferred" in a month, but I'm confident that after a few weeks of establishing myself with my silver jewelry and my milk glass I will be able to sell my better finds credibly.

3) My butt is not made for ten hours straight in one of my dining room chairs.

The past three weeks have also shown me something else - with this renewed confidence in our economy, donations are on the rise. I've not only seen the pin I bought, and the watch I bought today ($10, by the way) but this same store also had a pair of ruby and diamond earrings ($40, but only 10K so I didn't buy them) and some really nice silver pieces ($4 - $8 each). In fact, this place today had an unplanned 75% off sale of all clothes, handbags, and shoes because they're overwhelmed with stuff. And though they pulled most of the designer things out of the pool into a special area (with special pricing) I was still seeing the most amazing tanks, blouses, and f-me heels cross the counter. Shoot, one woman had filled two shopping carts! And I saw at least three kids' outfits with labels even I recognized!

Hey! People! The holidays are right around the corner. Your local charity is dying for both your excess and your cash! So why not start a new tradition, one not of recycling but just of cycling. Go to your closet. Pull out your skinny jeans (you'll never wear them again, stop lying to yourself), last year's stilettos (you know they hurt), and any item with an still-attached price tag older than the cheddar in your meat drawer, and tote them down to your favorite charity shop. Then, with the guilt trip pre-empted, ravage the racks at will. You, too, can find a Gucci leather bag ($1, practically new), an Iceland-made sweater (doesn't anybody read any more?), and a Rado solid gold watch (thankyouthankyouthankyou!). Yes, it takes digging, and even a leap of faith (there was this pair of earrings that might test out) but it's so worth it!

Oh, and I'm thinking of going back tomorrow. I forgot that I have at least a half-dozen people to buy for. And they all wear silver.

Scaaaaary

The Electric Kid is here today. We took a walk earlier - he wanted to see the spooky houses up close because (he says) they give him headaches, hiccups, and make him "craaaa-zy."

He's four. He loves Halloween. And I love watching him love Halloween.

Scary was so easy when we were that age, wasn't it? A leap from a door (with an explosive "Boo!") almost made me pee my pants back then. Jack 'o Lanterns flickered and leered and gave me nightmares until Thanksgiving. Hell, growling sounds from someone's stomach would give me chills. I don't jump at any and all sounds these days but potential for fear abounds.

My mother getting taken by a scam artist (yep, true - working on reversing it). My car getting hit in a parking lot (a bad scratch to the driver's mirror housing, but four days in the shop because the actual mirror broke). The Dow rising and falling and rising and ...? My doctor recommending a (routine) colonoscopy because the Big Lug and I are now "that age." Hopes pinned on a quest that (at the rate I'm going) will depend on winning a lottery, writing a bestseller, or pulling a Madoff. The chest pain that turns out to be bad fish or a pulled muscle due to overly energetic sex.

Y'know, all the stuff that could be, might be, can't be ... left on, walked off, no control ... what if I, what if he, what if they ...

I think I want to be four again for awhile, let the "ghost-es" floating in the trees and the "skedingdons" dancing on doors and the " 'pider webs" stretched from bushes to shrubs and back again frighten me. Just for a few days. Just "a'cuz."

Boo!

And grrrrrrrrrrrr!

Dreaming

Today is the first day in almost three weeks that I haven't had a student. I have a granddaughter, yes (she had the flu over the weekend) but not a student.

We've been dreaming today. It started out as research on eBay - I bought a box o' stuff at a flea market awhile back, and I wanted to see how much the comps are selling for. Somehow, one thing led to another - I searched "18K" and suddenly I lost three hours of my life.

Princess was with me, looking at the pieces over my shoulder (she didn't like many of them, but then again she's wearing blue Hello Kitty socks with a pink dress covered in mint green flowers). She helped with the calculator, too, proving to me that she is the most brilliant girl in the world. She wasn't allowed to watch TV so she's been changing watch bands and faces (something I bought at a yard sale) to match her mood. She tried eight of the ten colors, only skipping the mustard yellow and the light blue (what that says, I don't know). She also talked to imaginary people on her cell phone (a dead throwaway we put in the toybox). Pretty realistic conversations for someone who can't reach the back burners of a stove.

We pretended today, she in her world, me in mine, and we both had the most fun when our worlds intersected. I started out the day with housework and organizing in mind. I'm ending it with visions of my Sugar Plum dancing in my head.

Not too bad for a day off, huh?