So this morning I needed to go to the gas station and as I was leaving said gas station, I saw a sign that read, "Estate Sale" and I knew I had to follow the signs.
Now I'm a sucker for estate sales for the following reasons:
1. You can find some swell stuff.
b. You can find some swell stuff for low, low prices. And some not-so-swell stuff at "Who are you trying to kid here?" prices.
iii. It gives you a chance to be nosy paw through someone's stuff and nobody will say, "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing in here?"
So of course I must check it out and when I got there, it was apparent that as the sale actually started yesterday, the majority of good stuff had already been snatched up but I took a look anyway.
I wandered from room to room, picking up this, looking at that but not really seeing anything that I absolutely HAD to have.
Until I got into a back bedroom and hanging there in front of me were not one but TWO beautiful satin wedding dresses.
Oh, these were beautiful dresses, one from the 1930s and the other from the 1940s. Both had cathedral length trains and both still had the headpieces and cathedral length veils as well as the satin shoes. The satin had yellowed to a gorgeous creamy color and the lace and embroidery were still perfect. Someone had spent A LOT of money on these wedding dresses.
I wanted these dresses SO BAD, even though I need them like a hole in the head, have no use for them and didn't have the money to buy them anyway but still. I wanted them. Sue me.
And then I got sad. Like the time I went to an estate sale and one of the items was the wedding album of the dead lady. For some reason, that saddened me more than anything else that was in that house. Someone had lived their life and now strangers were pawing through their personal belongings, hoping to score some good stuff for cheap prices.
Anyway, I wondered about those wedding dresses. Why were there two of them from roughly the same era? Did the lady of the house marry twice in a relatively short time, both times in formal ceremonies? What was their story?
I finally had to tear myself away from those beautiful dresses and headed toward the door empty handed.
Then I saw a pretty teacup and saucer and something made me grab it, I don't know what or why but I had to have that cup and saucer:
And as I went to pay for them out in the garage, I spied a mirror laying on a workbench and grabbed that as well:
I need a mirror for my entry way and this will be perfect after I've painted the frame. Sucker weighs a ton, though.
So that was my day today. Pawing through Dead Peoples Stuff for Fun and Profit.
And feeling sad and guilty about it.
Not that I haven't considered it a time or two.
Actually, I'm not talking about my offspring, Things 1 and 2.
Only because I don't think I can get any money for those two. Goats, possibly. Money, no.
Because who wants to pay good money for surly teens with expensive hobbies?
*I* certainly don't. So, I'm stuck with them.
Anyhoo, the children I'm talking about are my books. My babies. My raison d'etre.
I never, EVER thought I'd say this but I have too many books and it's time to let them go to new homes.
I KNOW!!!!
Anyone who knows me knows that is a shocking statement. And at this point, you're thinking one of the following reasons for that shocking statement:
1. She's dying.
b. She's getting divorced and moving to a tiny hovel without any room for books.
iii. She violated one or more of the multiple restraining orders that various hockey players have taken out on her and will be exiled to some Godforsaken hellhole that doesn't have a hockey team to stalk as punishment and she can't take any books with her.
If you guessed "iii" you'd be correct.
Oh, I'm kidding. The correct answer is "Diabetes. John has Diabetes."
Seriously, I laugh every time I see that poster. The Bucket to Hell has room for one more and I'm climbing in.
While Answer iii is totally viable, not to mention probable, it is still not the correct answer.
The real reason is I need to clear out my office and the bookcase in my office is one of the things that needs to go:
For starters, it's ugly and I can say that because I didn't pay any money for it. It was someone else's discard and came with my massive desk I hate so much. That will be shitcanned as well, as soon as I convince TheManTheMyth to build me the desk I want, which is very similar to this one in Pottery Barn although I believe we can do it for much, MUCH less. Basically, I want a countertop desk over 2 file cabinets. One of which needs to be a lateral file cabinet.
But back to my books.
I have two other bookcases as well, one in my entry:
and one in my living room:
Please note my Nancy Drew collection. Those aren't going anywhere. And look, Mom! There's the lamp you (and the rest of my family) hate so much! That's not going anywhere, either.
But I have a diverse collection of books on various subjects and it's going to be hard deciding which to get rid of and which to keep. It's like Sophie's Choice in book form.
Or deciding which of my children to sell (or trade) to the Gypsies.
Decisions, decisions.
