Mountains of Stuff

(My favorite find of the week is this gorgeous seahorse. It was a quarter and is stamped underneath with a tiny USA)

(Rise and shine, Sunshine! Needs a bit of a dusting!)


(It's a shoe shine box!)





(In a nutshell it is the history of the slate. Front view is in the group photo at the end.)

(Well, bad photo, but the slate has a painting of new Orleans. The bowl was made in Japan. My lovely seahorse rides in the bowl. I love these ornate metal frames-altho, not necessarily gold. A little Spanish cabinet for the doll house.)


Ok, the rest of the post below is a bit potty-mouthed. You've been dutifully warned.


I know. I created a new blog to neglect and ignore.It seems. This is not really a happy post, but I hope my photographs of hoarded crap make up for the rest of it. The thrift gods have been too good to me lately.

Life-on-the-other-hand. It has given me piles lately. And, by piles, I mean dog shit piles. I have no idea where to start. Do you even want to know? I really need someone to tell.

I started my first blog in 2004. I do not remember people wanting to be famous then. I think we were all just lonely. We needed somewhere to purge all of our piles.


So, I'll start and end with the weekend. I have not had so much on me at once in a long time.

First.

I sprained my ankle by putting my foot into a hole. I actually cried (I have a really high tolerance to pain, but OMG). This began my four day weekend. I so needed this weekend.

I also discovered that I have a tooth that needs attention (old filling from childhood gone bad).

It was cold. Before my foot twisted, my mother and I went to a few sales. Most were slow or bare or cancelled. I bought only a vintage tool chest and a few McCoy planters. I did find some great vintage ornaments in a freebie box.

We also hit up the weirdest 50% off thrift store sale ever. The sign read "50% off All Items" and then listed a bunch of examples. It ended dot dot dot "and more". Turns out "Bric-a-brac" was not included. Sigh. I did find a couple of granny square afghans for a buck or two (love) and some vintage sheets (all included in the sale). I put one on the couch back and this motivated me to paint at least one wall and hang my galleria of religious art (pix soon). Monday saw another 50% sale at the gee-w. This one, unlike the Sally Ann one, was fabulous and the prices very good. I was selective on my purchases (hard) because I am to the point I need to purge from my binges.

Anyhoo...It turned hot. Record setting hot.

Fast forward and many bills not expected paid (car repairs ect) and I was travelling back to our little city from the big city (my northern life to give you a point of reference) on Memorial Day and I decided to put on cruise control. I have been having car troubles and had been in the city to see a mechanic (who found nothing wrong except worn tires).

I have never mentioned this here. I am a law enforcement officer. A strange one that is not seen in the public eye often like a traffic officer. I work in a specific area related to my science degrees. This is not important, really, except as a minor detail to what I am about to tell.


I was pulled over going 60 mph in a 60 mph limit area. It was a classic he said, she said. We are both officers. I know what I was travelling. I gave him this detail only to let him know I am fully aware of laws and regulations. I told him I have no issue owning up to my mistakes. He insisted I give him my badge (I was, of course, off duty and the badge had nothing to do with his accusation). I refused. The situation became heated. He called for a goonie back-up to intimidate me (yeah, I am 5'03 130 poundish). He told me to get out of my car on a busy highway to fetch my badge (never asked for license and registration at this point) which was in my work bag in the trunk. He refused to identify himself, give his badge number or his agency when I requested. He gave me details of other cars I supposedly passed at 74 and these cars were never seen by me. My car is black, non-descript, popular brand. These were not the traffic pack I was travelling with on that day. My husband was in front of me in another vehicle conveniently not mentioned by the officer. He and my children saw everything. I felt powerless, but I am not powerless. I will be going to court to contest the 74/60 citation. I have a clean record and am a semi follower (read: I am on the road 70% of the week and I do not hurry). I speed only in small doses (5 mph perhaps) even on the high-speed interstate highways and I will always fully own up to any overage. I use cruise to control my speed.

There are officers who are out for themselves. They will not admit to a mistake. They feel intimidated by other officers. They will not listen and/or think. They promote themselves with dirty tactics. Sad, really...This is not me. This is him. I believe justice and ethics are the biggest importance to any law enforcement job. Any job. We are both employed to serve and protect. I am also a trained observer and he broke several "rules" with me. I know what is expected of him unlike 80% of the general public he is probably harassing. This corridor of road is the main highway through our little city and everyone knows or has been harassed by him (he does not work for the county or city). Everyone knows you do not hurry to get to the three redlights through the main drag. My FIL said he is an a-hole (very uncharacteristic for him to say something like this about a person) and was not surprised. I am related by marriage to most of the county commissioners where this occurred and the judge is a family friend. If I was speeding, I would have never, ever contested the ticket. I would pay it and be angry with myself. The county officers know this about me because the one and only time I have been pulled over in the area was for 8 over. I told him to write me a citation and apologized. he refused even after I insisted. I would have apologized to this a-hole too and taken my fine with integrity on Monday, if I truly had been speeding. I was innocent. How do you prove this guy is either a jerk or made an honest mistake he was embarrassed to own up to? It really made me think about my own position and I will be extra careful to not wrongly accuse. How's that for finding the positive in a shit situation?


So, I left IN to go back to the KY life and the car died several times. It took me nearly an extra hour (on top of the usual four) to get to the apartment. It is a newer car. It needs repairs. They could not find anything wrong on Monday when I travelled to the big city to have them look at her. We also bought new eyeglasses and contacts for the husband. Insurance for eyes and teeth is just crap. It does not matter that I have the good benefits at work. It hardly covers anything ($136 was covered with a much higher bill and we probably pay $5-10 dollars a paycheck for the privilege).

Outside this blog I am always cheery. You would not know me like this shit here. Bare with me, por favor.


I miss my babies. I want to be in one geographical location. This back and forth is wearing me down.

I hear myself whinging and I feel so down right now, but my troubles pale when I look at the world and remember there are others who are facing much bigger mountains of stuff than I am. I have to keep my perspective and look past my own self-sorry mentality.

This is not an easy task. Mountains are just so hard to see around at times.