A Real Quick Post

I just wanted to drop in and say I hope all my friends out there had a very Merry Christmas.  After FOUR DAYS of NO INTERNET (sob) I am back on-line.  We were at my father-in-law's and not only does he not have internet, NO ONE has internet!  Heck, my brother-in-law doesn't even have a house phone anymore because Bell South couldn't figure out why his phone line kept going out.  So they operate strictly on cell phones. 

Y'all cannot believe how backward it is up there.  Maybe I'm just so used to having all the comforts of the country with all the technological advances available to me where I live.  It was so bad, that I spent an ENTIRE day on Saturday, (no kidding, 8 am to 8 pm) shopping til I dropped.  Do not even think about asking what I spent!  I went to Michael's twice, Best Buy (got a new digitizing tablet I now have to figure out how to use), Goodwill (scored some cool stuff, just wait and see!), several antique stores (more goodies to share), AND Hobby Lobby twice (well, I ran into Office Depot between trips for post-it flags) - gotta stretch those 40% off coupons you know.  So anyway, me, the agoraphobic (yep, a card carrying, diagnosed agoraphobic), shopped all day long, 98%  of the time by myself. 

Got back to our house today, emptied the truck (the Avalanche was PACKED - entire bed of the truck AND the backseat were full), and while hubby went to thank the neighbors for watching the house and feeding the dog (the cat lives inside and has a self-feeder and self-waterer), I started measuring for shelves - I have a ton of Madame Alexander dolls (among others) that need to be displayed.

Well, hubby hollered it's past midnight, so I'm off to bed.

More to some later with pics.

Smiles~

Yes I'm Actually up and Typing this at 1:00 am

Just in case I don't have time to post something today (like cool pictures I took on my trip to the Cajun Village a few weeks ago) I wanted to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS & a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I'm up to 53 followers (YIPPEE) and am planning a cool giveaway in January as a Thank You to all who follow my ramblings posts.

Believe it or not, I'm going to be without a computer for three days, unless someone near where I will be has wifi.  I'll be in the boonies, so don't think that's going to happen.  BUT, I do have my laptop and will at least be teaching myself how to use Photoshop.  I have so much I could share with all of you if only I could figure Photoshop out.  So, I'm on a mission! LOL

Well better get to bed. Have to get up early and help my mom get a new cell phone, run by an antique store I've been wanting to visit up here, then get back in time for gumbo (hubby made it so we wouldn't have to do much cooking today), boudin balls and boudin sausage (I never can spell that right), open gifts, then take off to hubby's dad's house for more Christmas-ing. That's where the "no computer" comes in.

Then on the 26th, it's time to hit Michaels and Best Buy!  Need cool Tim Holtz stuff from Michael's and a stylus and digitizing pad from Best Buy.  Maybe Hobby Lobby where I can cruise their Clearance section.  Then I'll head over to Antique Alley and see what goodies I can find (found five of my dollhouses there!).  Hubby and son will be duck hunting so I will have a free shopping day!!!!!

Then, on the way back home that Sunday or Monday, I want to hit several antique stores, but we may not go that route.  If I can con him into driving through Mississippi to go home, it's antiquing time.  If not, I'll just have to hit the ones near my house.

Well, off to bed.  Y'all have a very Merry Christmas.

Smiles~

Just Another Manic Monday

Like the name of the song, is was a manic Monday. 


Well, first I woke up late:


Then rushed to work (late for me is getting up at 6:10 am).  Was at work, looked at the clock - UHOH going to be late for my appointment!
 
So I rushed off to the doctor 

 
 
Then back to the office.  Then worked later than usual in the office, rushed to get to the pharmacy, post office, grocery store then home.  Where, while I'm trying to get some software installed via the internet from my office, my son is going "MOM have you called AT&T about my phone" "MOM take me to WalMart" "but MOM, I NEED you to do this" and then my hubby is calling "Marilyn, did the package arrive?" "Marilyn, why didn't the package arrive?" "MARILYN GIVE ME THEIR PHONE NUMBER", then my aunt calls, the office calls, and I'm ready to pull my hair out. I can just feel that small area of white hair I have expanding exponentially. 
 
Well, several of you have asked about the nerve test I did.   You know, the

 
 
 
 
 
I was hit with.  And the
 
 

I was stuck with.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
So the results.......I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in BOTH wrists.  I was fitted for hand splints today and have to wear them every night.  No wonder I was in such pain!
 
As for my neck, well, I'm headed to a neurosurgeon sometime.  I'm waiting on the call.  Currently, the shot they gave me for back has helped.  I still hurt, but not as much. 
 
So that's where I stand.   We know what's wrong with the hands and the back; now to concentrate on the neck.
 
 

So, I will leave you with a few more vintage goodies my mom has.  Isnt' the lantern so cool?

How about all these Sears and Roebuck reprints?

Smiles

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It's Sunday

Okay, I didn't get out of bed until after 12:00!  My husband came sometime around 10:00 or so to give me a pain pill (which normally wakes me up) & that's about all I remember.  That "emotional glue" the doctor prescribed for me (steroids and me do not mix) apparently knocks me on my butt.  I'm worried about getting up in the morning - I HAVE to.  I have work and an 8:00 am doctor's appointment to find out what's going on with my neck.  The test results are in, so now to find out the problem.

My husband FORBIDS me to try and do anything.  Last night, I tried to hang a shelf in my little work room - my husband informed me I was to sit my butt on the sofa and NOT to anything.  That I was bound to hurt myself. So sit I did.  He's in the little room now hanging the shelf!

Though I would share a few pics from my mom's house - it looks like the inside of a shop!  Well, it did - apparently most is being moved to her little building that she got to store all our Etsy stuff in.

Okay, Blogger is giving me some problems right now, so please bear with me.

This gentleman is so cooler in person - Mom got all this stuff at auction!

Yep, those are real cypress walls and slats - they can be found throughout the main areas of Mom and Dad's house.  It took them over 4 years to build the house AFTER they paid off the land.  They did about 80% of the work.

This phone is just sitting around gathering dust.  But isn't it so cool!  My mom loves phones like this.  Daddy tolerates.

This is CocaCola tray Mom has had FOREVER!!!  I think that is an old temperature gauge below it, not sure though

This is my brother's favorite - a black cat (jaguar - no such thing as a black panther so I've been told).

A collection in a corner of Mom's - I like the egg-shaped thing next to the Arkansas Razorback pig7

Would you believe I didn't know Mom liked clowns until I started taking these pictures?  She started showing me her clown collection.

What you see here is another collection of items at Mom's.  In her living room!

I always have to look real close at Mom's.  She buys items most weekends when she goes to auction.  What she doesn't keep (which really isn't a lot - anymore) we put up in our Ebay store.

I was going to show you more pics, but it's late & my medication is kicking.  NO WAY I'm having another steroid injection, "emotional glue" or not.  Good grief, I can't even think and my hands do not want to do what my brain tells them too.  Typing this is an act of futility!

Good Night All.

Postcard Friday

I wanted to take just a minute to share with some a postcard from my collection.  I just love it and hope you do too.  It's over 100 years old.

The colors are still very vibrant and I love the writing.  There are two more in this set, both address more or less the same way.  Apparently, JP was doing a little "courting" 100 years ago and they are spread out over about 3 years!  The lady these were addressed to held on to them all.  I think that is so sweet and romantic, don't you?

Hope you like it. 

Smiles~

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~

Good Monday Morning

Just a quick post to tell you about something - I had a nerve test this morning so typing is painful.  Run for the hills if anyone says you need one LOL.  On the serious side, painful though it was, it was necessary to find out what's causing my problems - I should have the results by Wednesday.  Now on to what I wanted to mention....

I joined a PostCard Exchange.  For those that don't know what this is, you sign up at the link below, and then you can exchange postcards with people from all over the world.  Today, I mail out five - the max I can have in circulation at any time.  They are going here in the US, Germany, Estonia, France, and The Netherlands.  I can hardly wait to see the postcards I get back.  I LOVE postcards.  They are mini works of art. 

Anyhow, just go to Postcrossing - Postcards Traveling the World and sign up.  It's that easy.  I have my five ready to go out in the mail today and can't wait to start receiving them!  Think of all the cool stamps, cancellation stamps, and handwriting, not to mention cool postcards, you could receive for just a $1 & change (most of my postcards cost me $1 at the local gift store). 





Got to run and try to get some work done.  I have pictures from my shopping trip Saturday (I was feeling okay for a few hours so decided to finish up Christmas) & from an earlier auction that I want to share with you over the next few days.  Plus, my husband got a shelf up for my dolls collection (well, for some of them - an 8 foot shelf wasn't nearly long enough) but more are needed.  I'll have pics on that too.

Please bear with me as I fight through the pain caused by all my neck & back problems - I have good days and bad and I'll post when I can.  I have a LOT I want to share with all of you.  Minis, Dolls, and More.

Smiles~