It’s Coming!
It’s nearly time to put up the holiday decorations! And it’s nearly time for all of my favorite Muppet specials and movies! A Muppet Christmas Carol, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, A Muppet Family Christmas, etc. ect. Considering the album John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together came out mere months after my birth, it seems natural that Christmas and Muppets go together for me like bacon and eggs.
Second-Hand
I believe in second-hand goods. There is a certain magic in owning something that has had a useful life before becoming mine. There’s a moment when I see something useful and beautiful on a thrift store shelf. I can picture exactly how it will fit into my life and I know it will be coming home with me on a new adventure. Also, because those paintings, and pants, and plates have already served their purpose once with someone else, they do more than just entice me with their history, they help me keep a few extra nickels in my purse.
My love for second-hand treasures started at an early age going garage sale shopping with my mother and brothers. The sales I found most exciting back then were the ones that had infant clothing. Cabbage Patch Kid dolls were very popular, and newborn sized clothing fit them perfectly. A few quarters could buy my baby a whole new wardrobe, so while my mom was looking for shirts for my brothers, I waded through onesies hoping to find tiny dresses that would look nice with my doll’s brown yarn hair and bright blue eyes.
Lately, I’ve been on a quest to purchase vintage dinnerware. I’ve found three bowls and two plates, each with their own design and character. My favorite is a large stoneware platter with scalloped edges and a hand-painted floral design in the middle. I like to imagine that the plate has enjoyed the experience of a church pot-luck dinner, where it was topped with wobbly green jello slowly melting onto the crispy crust of the neighboring fried chicken.
One of my favorite things about old items is this nostalgia value they seem to adopt during their first life. A simple throw pillow can bring me back to my grandma’s living room, sitting on the couch and eating a bowl of red raspberries with milk and sugar, or listening to my grandma, dad, and uncles playing doubles cribbage. A polyester shirt can transport me to my 21yr old self, living on my own for the first time, trying to make friends in a new city, and meeting the man I eventually married. That platter I recently found? It reminds me of Thanksgiving dinners surrounded by family, and finally moving from the kid’s table to the adult table.
I find that shopping second-hand also makes me think “Do I need this?” more than shopping at regular retail stores, despite the low ticket prices. Knowing some of these paintings, and pants, and plates have been on this earth longer than I have helps me appreciate the wares that accompany me home. Buying something new is fun, but it can’t compete with buying second-hand.
(This is an edited version of my Personal Essay from this summer’s English class)
Days 5 through 11
I’m back from vacation, and the song is finished! Day 5 ended up being based on an inside joke between my husband and I about waffle bags (don’t ask), but days 6 to 11 are all pretty tasty!
On the fifth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… Continental Breakfast!
On the sixth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… Malted Killer Brownies
On the seventh day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… A Sloppy Joe at Isaly’s
On the eighth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… An Ice Cream Cone at Handel’s
On the ninth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… A Galley Boy at Swenson’s
On the tenth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… A Large Banana Slurpee (Slurpees bring back a lot of college memories, so even though I ate some awesome food at Brat House Grill in Wisconsin Dells, it had to be the Slurpee in the song!)
On the eleventh day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… Smoked String Cheese in Nelson
All in all, it was a very tasty vacation! I can’t wait for the next one!!
The 11 Days Of ‘Cation
It’s the start of day 5 on our road trip to Ohio! We started writing a song based on the 12 days of Christmas all about the yummy treats we’ve enjoyed along the way. Things haven’t gone completely to plan, but they’ve generally stayed on the yummy side of things (only one exception thus far). *grin*
On the first day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… some twizzlers and a diet rootbeer. (This is reminiscent of road trip food from my childhood, which it why it’s awesome.)
On the second day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… Organ Piper Pizza.
On the third day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… CarmelCrisp from Garrett’s
On the fourth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… George’s Yummy Gyros
Hopefully we find something great for today, as it’s a very important part of the song!!
Also, I’ve only had time to post a couple so far, but feel free to keep an eye on my Flickr page for photos of the trip!
Things you hide from people
My husband has this sweater. It’s red with a black and white stripe across his chest and down his shoulders and arms. When we were dating he wore it pretty regularly. It looked good on him. Eventually, because it got a fair amount of use, it started to give out. A hole appeared by the stripe on one shoulder. It kept getting bigger and bigger. To be frank, it went from a sweater that looked good on him to a sweater than made him look like a bum. He wore it anyway, like a security blanket he couldn’t part with.
I did laundry for him on occasion during the first couple years of our marriage. One day, after the sweater came out of the dryer, I formulated a plan. I rolled it up the way you would if you were packing a suitcase, and I hid it in one of his storage tubs. I didn’t want to throw it out, I know how sentimental he can be, but I had to stop him from embarrassing me in public. It took him a while to miss it, but the day came when he asked if I had seen his red sweater.
I lied.
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