Christmas Came Early for Me - And a few other notes

First, I had to share this.  My hubby already gave me a Christmas present.  Yep....it was just TOO heavy and bulky to haul to our parents' houses where we split Christmas.  So what is it you ask? This:

Yep, a five-drawer Kobalt tool chest from Lowes!!!  Okay, what kinda girl gets excited over a tool chest??  This kind!  The kind that knows how to wield a hammer and screwdriver better than a needle and thread.  The kind that makes things from miniature furniture to miniature dolls to full-sized, real-life sized objects.  One that is more at home with a paint brush than a makeup brush.  ME.  Just think - I can put ALL kinds of tools in there.

My hammers and pliers, my scissors, hemostats, tweezers, punches, chisels, dental tools,sclupting tools, even my stamps and ink pads!  This thing is BIG.  Now the million dollar question......Where will I put it????????  EEEEKKKKKK  Yeah, it's sitting in my living room.....on the floor....empty.  My studio has to be cleaned first.

But, I can't clean the studio right now. Why?  Well, tomorrow I am scheduled for an epidural injection in my back.  If that helps, great!  If not, surgery.  On Monday, I get the results of a nerve test.  Will I have nerve damage?  Will I need another test to see which bad disc in my neck (yeah both neck and back are bad) is pinching nerves causing pain in my neck, arms, and hands?  So for the time being, I'm reduced to working my full-time job, half at work/half at home.  I can't sit in a chair more than half a day before I must come home and sit/lay on the sofa and work.  Thank goodness for laptops, wireless networks, and the ability to tele-commute.  Oh, and I can some up with some GREAT ideas.

I have notebooks scattered all of the house, my truck, and my purse.  I even have one by my bed and a flashlight.  Inspiration comes to me right before I fall to sleep, as the stresses of the day ease and my brain relaxes.  So, I have SO much planned in miniature and in real-life size I want to do. 

Okay, enough about my pain.  No sympathy, put I'll take all the prayers I can get!  LOL - there's plenty of people out there a LOT worse off than me & I pray for them daily.

Now, a month or so ago, I posted about an auction I was getting to go to.  Well, did I have LUCK.  I'm talking about the kind that lets me get TWO FLATS of MILK GLASS for $2 each flat.  It was an AWESOME sale.

Here are just a few pics from that auction.  Pat and Eddie are the BEST people to know. 

I missed this clock - think the key was with it, but there was an antique dealer there that had a little bit more money than me - I go for CHEAP LOL.

Cute figures - Mom got Uncle Sam there.  I tried for the candle holders but no go.

Okay this was a STEAL - NO ONE BID AGAINST ME!  It's real jade and something else - I'll remember soon.  Now if my mother can remember where she put it!  I'm going to find it when I visit at Christmas.  Aggravating to say the least.

Now, Mom got this too.  She loves these fezzes (sp?) and has several. We have to be real careful not to bid against each other.  But guess what?????  I got the shoe molds.  Yep, and THEY WENT HOME WITH ME!!  They survived by mother's truck-cleaning binge the next morning.

Now isn't this the cutest lineup you've seen? I ended up with the wicker, which will get a fresh coat of paint and a couple glass paperweights.  Tried for the Starbucks coffee holder you see in the bottom lower right, but another lady wanted it a LOT worse than me!  I'll find something else to put my coffee an.  Anyone have any cool VINTAGE ideas???  :)

I did get a few of these though - can't remember exactly which ones.  See, these are at my mom's house and while I slept in the next day, in real intense pain (even sitting does that) she "cleaned out" her truck and "stuck" everything in her little travel trailer. So it disappeared into the Dark Hole of Calcutta - however, she now has her storage shed just about finished out (see, it's good I know about tools because I helped her with it - made sure she got all the materials necessary to build it out - my DH is an electrician so he wired it) and is moving stuff in, setting my stuff aside - I hope!  Isn't that wicker so nice?  Again, a new coat of paint and Wallah! good as new!  It was cheap too.....  :)

Anyway, now this picture I got on a WHIM.  No one was bidding and the poor thing just spoke to me.  It's old, in great shape, and I love it.  I may keep  it, it may go on Etsy, not sure right now.  The candelabra was too tall for me to deal with.  I don't have a brick and mortar store or booth and it was too heavy and tall to ship with ease.

You wouldn't belive the TREASURES I found in these boxes.  Oh yeah, my mom and I bought a LOT of them.  I love box deals.  Most of these were books. OLD OLD OLD books.  Antique books.  I'm going to take the old ones that are in bad shape and carefully take them apart to sell for collages and the like.  Of course, I'm keeping some for myself LOL.  Plus there were some really old collectable books I'm adding to my collection.  I LOVE old German and French books from the 1800s.  I can't read them, but love looking at them.  There was also a nick nack shelf perfect for my miniatures in one of them. 

There were also some Snoopy and other cartoon books in here.  I love Snoopy!!!!  Everybody dig now.  Find those treasures!  I did. 

Please realize, my mom and I FILLED TO THE BRIM an extended Dodge Durango. You know, the kind that seats 7.  We literally had barely enough room in the front seats for us and had to leave three boxes of stuff we had sorted out for Goodwill.  But I bet Ms. Pat called them right after we left or took them there for us. She and Mr. Eddie are good like that.  I love going to their sales.  They love us.  They tell everyone....we are so glad to have Ms. Louisiana here! 

Okay, last pic of the auction.  I hope to have some good pictures soon after Christmas.  Yep, my "play" camera came in! Yep, MOM has it.  Well, it is HER gift to ME. 

I got almost everything on this table. The orange enamel cast iron cookware, the football player, the Snoopy in the back, the brown vase and blue pot, and a couple of other things.  You can't see it, but just off to the left was a black wicker piece with a mirror in it and a small drawer.  It now belongs to me and will be getting a touch up.  In great shape though.

Whew, sorry for the long post, but it's been a while.  But,  I need to go to bed as I have to get up early to get my morning allowance of coffee into me BEFORE I have to quit drinking or eating.  My procedure is at 1:40, so I can eat and drink until about 9:00 am.  They give me a mild anesthesia, so they don't want me getting sick.  However, I am awake during the entire time.  Last time, the doctor told me I "was a mess".  I was smart-mouthing the entire time!  Well, what else can you do face down on a table with a doctor burning nerves in your neck?????  I did keep everyone giggling though. Gotta love pain meds.

                                                                                 Smiles~