The World Was Valued

December 14, 2009 at 7:55 AM (Bargain Hunting, Bargains of the Month, Honey, Muggins Q. Mouse)

I was contemplating participating in The Nester’s Christmas Tour of Homes this year. It used to be hosted by BooMama, and I love me some BooMama. BUT, I haven’t taken my pictures yet, although that could be remedied in a flash, (Oh, I am a card, you’ll have to deck me!!!). In addition, when I clicked over to The Nester’s at 6:44 in the A.M., there were already almost 500 people linked! I am going to hazard a guess that they do not need my participation.

Personally, I would be hard pressed to click through that many blobs under any circumstances. I would just pick out a few with clever names and call it a day. The Nester and her friends are a creative,  talented and foofy crowd.  I highly recommend taking a trip over there though, you will see some very loverly things! 

As I get older, my motto seems to be stolen from the movie “Babe”. “That’ll do Pig, that’ll do.” I will show you some pictures of our home another day. Prepare to be underwhelmed.

So instead, I will tell you about a very FUN afternoon!

On Saturday, Muggins Q. Mouse, her two friends, The Kate’s, and I went to Value World. One of The Kate’s and Mousey were doing some sort of project at school. I did not delve too deeply in the whole thing, but for some reason they needed  to hit up The Value World.

I warned The Girls not to have high expectations. Things could be very picked over. After all, we live in the Metro Detroit area, and  have been hit hard by recession in this part of The Mitten. I could not have been more wrong. That place was jam packed with merchandise, with the employees furiously putting out new stuff. Every inch of the place was crammed with something to buy!

They have a very bad system of stacking things on top of the racks. This time, it was all Christmas stuff. Decorations, dishes, you name it. They were overcrowded with all the Christmas. This process caused me much angst. I don’t like all of the messy impeding on my bargain hunting. Things were moving around up there, and getting tangled in the hangers.

I did hear things crashing throughout our visit. I had the thought, several times that day, that they should have given me a discount for all of the rescuing and straightening that I did. I wonder if anyone noticed? I must have personally fixed 400 hangers, picked 100 things up off the floor, and put precarious things in a safer place. SOMEONE should have noticed. But those poor girls were scurrying around putting out new things for people to buy, and straighten.

I belatedly had the thought that I should have taken a camera, because those three girls I brought? Were having the TIME OF THEIR LIVES! The laughing, the overflowing cart, the trying things on creatively? I heard them from wherever I was in the store. I ran into a friend of my Mom’s.  She asked me who I was with. I pointed and said, “the loud girls over there”. She mentioned that she and her friend had noticed them and thought they were so cute in their obvious joy at being let loose in a thrift store.

The Girls had a mission. To buy an Ugly Holiday Sweatshirt, so they could wear them together this Thursday. THAT would have been a fun picture! Believe me, there were some ugly holiday things there. Maybe someday, I will be more in tune with my blobbing needs and carry the dang camera everywhere I go.

I shop for the The Ab-Cat because she is not a shopper, and the thought of spending two plus hours hanging around any store is almost enough to make her loose her mind.

I always call her to ask if she thinks she would like things before I actually purchase them. Because even $2-3 wasted is no deal. Her catch of the day was an understated Detroit Tigers hoodie, a Canada hoodie, ans an American Eagle hoodie. All things she likes, all things she WILL wear. Her total came to $8.10.

This was Honey’s and my haul. The most expensive thing there is the purple sweater from Eddie Bauer. It was $4. The cheapest was the green Ellemeno hoodie for $1.20. All good brands, Nike, Liz Wear, Sonoma, Old Navy, all in perfect condition. I don’t know who all will get the thermal shirts, whoever needs them , as we all layer over here at The NutHatch, because we are not allowed to use our heater. MUCH. All for maybe $30.

LOVE Tupperware! $1.21 and doesn’t look like it has ever been used. Added bonus? I don’t have this size. I always look at their large, messy selection of books. I don’t straighten that area up, I would never get out of there. I did spy this one that I have always wanted to read. In case you don’t remember, Gordeeva and Grinkov were one of the best pairs ice skaters of the 90’s. They were my very favorites, and we watched a LOT of skating on TV. The Ab-Cat was a huge fan of  ice skating, and we could speak intelligently about many of them. Anyhow, Sergei Grinkov died unexpectedly, and young of heart disease. This happened after our family’s car accident, and I remember watching the news about it while Abby was still in the hospital. When Honey told me about it, I couldn’t even believe it was true. He was so young and had such a young family. So sad. So I will see what their life was like for a mere $1.91.

 My only Christmas purchase was this mug from Starbucks. Nice and big and only .80.

I’m pretty sure it cost more than that in 2007.

I heart it.

This would be a good place to insert all of those fun pictures of laughing girls and their ugly holiday sweaters. Well, you know how that turned out. I will show you Mousey in hers soon.

So this is all you get today. No Holiday Tour of Homes, but a tour of my Value World purchases.