Puzzled

Source

Reason 1, 345 I will never be a (successful) reseller of vintage (or any other) items.

Selena of Apron Thrift Girl mentioned that a new show by the name of Pan Am will be making its debut soon. It stars Christina Ricci (I love her!) She also mentioned that resellers should be on the lookout for Pan Am/vintage airline type items.

So guess what my wandering eye spotted today at a Virginia thrift store? A Pan Am puzzle! I actually almost bought it thinking about its vintage status, but my main thought about its value was that it showed a pre-9/11 NYC skyline (the Pan Am building was the prominent building in the scene). I debated for a small moment about the purchase and decided that 1) I could not verify if all 800 pieces were present, 2) I am trying (being forced) to cut back on impulse junk and 3) Most importantly, I really doubt I will go through the trouble of selling items via the Internet...I left it for someone else. I guess I could go back, but I really don't have the time (I am about 40 miles away for work and was just passing through the town en route to my destination and needed a break; there is no easy way around those lovely, wild WV mountains!)

Of course, I thrifted other junk (this TS was fabulous and the staff sweet!) and had to really restrain my urge to buy everything I found. I will try to share this weekend what I did end up with (I am exhausted from so much extra work. It has not been the best couple of weeks). The coolest thing I couldn't purchase: An excellent condition vintage stove (similar to the one above) that is exactly like the one my grandparents had in their mountain cabin in VA! Oh, how I wanted it!

To Badly Quote a Legend

(Enesco 1978 bank found in Northern VA)

"Another year over and a new one just begun..."*

So, we managed to visit two family sides (his and mine), make cookies, open the kiddies presents (the Santa bubble is good for one more year) and that would be about it. The house is a mess of scattered toys and cardboard and all the waste I despise so much each year. I am sitting here sipping coffee (a locally roasted gift from a friend in ol' Louisville) and thinking about all I need to do today. I am too lazy to find my card reader and put up any photos of thrifty goodness**, but I have been totally digging all the lovely posts of folks' vintage holiday decor. I didn't decorate much this year (a tree with a scattering of ornaments, a few vintage santas here and there, a two nativity scenes). It was hard to get everything together with only the weekends home.

I have the next week off from work and I know it will fly by in a blink. I want to go thrifting with the Christmas money I get from DH's mom and may call my own mom to see if she wants to go too. I also need to return a double gift (yes, that would be me that bought two copies of the exact same toy for littlest-I didn't even notice when I wrapped them!) and I have Kohl's cash to blow before they expire (I really want one of those single cup coffee makers, but the K-cups are so expensive and wasteful. I can buy the reusable filter, but I use a thrifted percolator and it is not hard to use, so I keep thinking I don't want to spend the money on one. maybe I will thrift one!) Last, I really need to get my hair cut and painted.

Looking to the New Year, I need to get my family moved to KY. I miss them and want our life to be back to "normal" (oh, man, that is stretching it!) I need to get organized and our finances in order. The house is in need of repairs and cleaning (for the market) and I will have to purge some clutter (sniff, sniff). For the past few years, my main focus was on stockpiling for an emergency (the focus of my last blog was homesteading and hoarding emergency preparedness. I usually shop sales and such and put away things to a point we are set for 6 months to a year. Earlier this week, DH tells me we are down to two rolls of TP. What?! I looked all over (basement, closets, cupboards and, yes, we are out of TP). Because I am splitting time between two cities, I need to be better organized. I am the accountant of the family and it is up to me to make sure the boys and hubby are stocked with necessities.

On the old blog I always posted a list of New Year goals. I liked doing this (even though I rarely succeeded in meeting most of them! :), so I plan to do the same here. I also want to make a "Thrift Wish List" like I have seen on some favorite blogs. I need to focus (my theme for 2011 apparently) and realize the importance of necessity and change.


*John Lennon (of course!)
**OK, decided to put up one! :)