Finding "stuff"

So the hardest part about selling "stuff" on ebay is that you have to find the "stuff" you want to sell! I purchased a couple lots of clothing (even got one off of ebay!!), but you can't just list it all at once or you become your own worst competition. So we list the items slowly and make sure there's lots of different stuff at the same time. We started off with things we already had... I had a sheer ton of Creative Memories inventory that I've slowly been depleting, mostly at some seriously reduced prices, but they sure weren't bringing in anything downstairs in the closet! Once you start looking, you find plenty of things you'd be willing to part with if you could possibly get a little money for. Mom is really hoping we start in on everything we left there in her basement!

Anyway, the clothing I purchased is maternity, so Rachel modeled it all for me for pictures for the ads! She is so cute and she really seemed to enjoy herself. I hope so anyway! I don't remember enjoying anything when I was pregnant!!

So we have been listing the clothing, the scrapbooking, and several odds and ends we find. Most of the antiques we have are more valuable to us than anyone else, but it seems like antiques do the best on ebay. So last weekend we went to an auction! Talk about fun!! This was bigger than I ever could have imagined, but since it was my first, I have no idea if that's just how they are. They had three 6-8 table rings of stuff that they mostly sold a box at a time. Then there were four more farm flatbeds full, plus furniture and steel/iron antiques surrounding this guy's garage. We spent less than $150 and had the car absolutely PACKED!! It was mostly little $1-5 boxes of assorted stuff. We had gone to this guy's garage the night before to see what he was going to have. It was all packed in so tight that we hardly saw anything! But we took some notes and went home and did some research on what we saw. Saturday morning we kept hearing, "Oh, you're the folks that came up last night?" Ok, so that's not so common, but we're still glad we did! Things we liked were in boxes with lots of other stuff, so we really had to know what we were doing. Everyone else would bid on things that caught their fancy, but we're off of our salary now so every dime counts for us!! We are pretty sure we did well. We got things photographed yesterday and started listing some of them last night. The boys are having the hardest time. A lot of these things are antique/vintage toys. They can't believe we want to sell Hot Wheels track and old cap guns. They are pretty sure those would be better off in their hands. I told them they could pray however they wanted, but this is our bread and butter now! It's still hard. The hardest part is putting a shopaholic on ebay daily. Michael keeps looking at his email and wondering what I'm bidding on now. I'm trying. It's just really hard! I really feel for the boys too! It's rough!! We all have to have a little self control, but that's pretty much life!

One day at a time...

My weeks are just getting crazier and shorter! Last weekend, I tried to do my mom a favor and had a friend get my old Gateway computer up and running for her. Then, I got it sneaked into her house and all hooked up so she'd be ready to go. I even bookmarked all her IE favorites so that would be the same when she opened it. Well, I don't know how much can really be the same when one is used to Windows 98 and I put in an XP. But I also transferred her flowering crab onto her screen like she was used to, so there wasn't any immediate shell-shock. It took her a while to figure out why everything was so different, but she was happy! But, within the first 12 hours, she lost power. It was the power supply we switched out, so I have no idea what happened there, but it just wouldn't start back up. So, first thing Monday morning, I ran up to Mom's to hook up the old Compaq. I think it has about 3MB of memory or so. Really fast, too. But anyway, I found the poor girl cleaning her house, so I knew I had to do something. I got her fixed up, then headed home to my computer. As soon as I got there, my chiropractor called to say that I missed my appointment and Grandma Rose was pulling up on her lawn mower with some flowers that needed transplanted. Everything always happens at once. Anyhoo... Clyde was very helpful with the flowers! The chiropractor rescheduled us for the afternoon, which all worked out well. Matthew went with me because of his allergies and afterwards I got so hungry I was getting a bit shaky, so I headed up to the DQ. Matthew was completely shocked that there was a DQ in Plattsmouth. There are some things that I don't tell a car full of kids that I just might share with one!
Well anyway, that was last week and I have so much to tell about yesterday but have to get going. I do the name tags at church and have to get there pretty early, so I must move! I'll finish later! Always later!

World of Opportunity

It's pretty incredible what all is going on for us right now. The sad side is that the grocery store where I was working in the bakery is closing in a week or two. I really did hope to go back there someday when my family doesn't need me so much. Nothing ever stays the same, I know. It's also possible that I'll get a lot more cakes because of this, but I'm still sad to lose that store.

The other thing going on is a new adventure for us. Michael only has one more day at the Ambassador, and then we're on our own! We'll be selling "stuff" on ebay. We're not limiting ourselves to anything in particular, although I've purchased an awful lot of clothing already!! I've been having a lot of fun writing up commentaries on our "stuff" and watching what happens! We've also been working on a website. That may not be up for a while, but I'll keep you posted when it is! We don't have a lot of our own direction right now because we don't know if what we want to sell is really what will sell, although my fashion degree may finally be paying off. Even the Merchandising they FORCED me to take is turning out to be an advantage!! Anyway, Michael has been researching this for a lot longer than even I realized, and we've been taking it on together for a couple months now. I've mostly been learning to post the ads and figure out the shipping processes, but he's been doing most of the sourcing, researching and studying others' successes and failures. My part is much more fun!!

Anyway, we're really looking forward to Michael being here full time so we can really work this together. The kids are getting excited about what they can do, too. The future looks really bright!!

Close call

The boys were pretty upset yesterday. Some guys are digging out the ditch, clearing it so water flows like it should. This does tend to temporarily destroy the ditchbanks and, yes, make the water flow like it should. The problem? They don't like the water to flow because it carries their stuff away. Don't bother mentioning that they could put their stuff away. I tried.

Anyway, I thought I was keeping an eye on everyone and really even thought they were all in the house when Morgan came in screaming. He was really mad that they were dragging his bike and shoes down the ditch into the water. I headed out to try to get the bike and Jeff was on his way over from across the road. He and Matthew got everything back and I went back in to tell Morgan. Mallory was patching him up and he started telling us what happened. He was riding his bike up and down the driveway and was really quite sure I knew it. Anyway, he saw some trees start to move, so he stopped his bike. The trees kept moving and then swept him and his bike down the ditch. He said he grabbed a tree on the way down, but his bike and shoes kept going. From that point on, he seemed really scared and didn't really even want to talk about it. I seem to get more and more scared the more I think about it, too!

Happy Birthday Mallory!!

It's all about the girl! She wanted to start her day with a family Bible study, so that's what we did. Daddy starts the lesson: "What is the fear of the Lord?" Morgan's answer: "I don't think He has any." How true.

Anyway, compared to her brother, Mallory had a great birthday. They neither one really got parties this year, so we'll hopefully have some friends over this summer. I really want to make their cakes. They have huge plans for what they want and they had no time for a party! All the weekends were filled both months. We were exhausted, but now they want their "cakes by MOM."

The photo is of Mallory and the birthday cookie Teacher Brenda got her. She surprised her with a little birthday party at our favorite coffee shop. Brenda is working on some spelling/reading help for Mallory on Tuesdays while the boys are at PE. Why isn't Mallory at PE? Well, she's a lot like her mother and grandmother. Sports aren't her thing, but if she's interested enough to try, I'll certainly be there to cheer her on. And if her knees do what mine do, also to pick her up afterwards!

How I spent my birthday

Poor guy. Double it up with his awful mom thinking he was faking to get out of homework. It doesn't take long with Matthew on the couch to know that he's not faking. He can't stay there forever when he's well. Especially when his coveted drums showed up. He sat and watched from the couch. He opened one of the dozen or so boxes, but watched the rest. He called Vic, his drum coach, and Vic ran over like it was his best friend with a new toy! Didn't even tell his wife where he went! (Sorry, Jeri!) It took a while to put everything together, but Vic had a ball, just wishing Matthew felt well enough to have his hands in there. He smiled and was very thankful, but you could just see how terrible he felt. Vic was disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm, but understood! He said he'd be back in a couple weeks to tighten up the heads again as they stretch over time. We're all excited for him, especially that they showed up on his birthday!! Vic left him with some lessons that he's eager to practice. If he could hold his head up. Poor Matthew.

Banquet

I realize I wasn't going to put cakes here anymore, but what's the point of being in charge if you can't break the rules now and then?

It wasn't my most amazing cake, but it was enough. There was a lot of interest in it and I did get my name to several people who do flowers and other things for weddings. I had to go take it down last night at 11pm, so I did meet some people as they were leaving. I just couldn't believe how amazed some people were. Makes me wonder what their wedding cakes looked like.

The GM for the hotel where this was held thought it almost looked like a fall cake with all the orange and the sunflowers. She's a quickie. Not getting one past her. I was almost worried about that. I was just thinking it was too far past fall to do a fall arrangement, but as the other tables were going up, I was seeing everything. There was another fall table, as well as a couple Christmas ones, so I have no idea why she thought I wasn't shooting for a fall theme, but there it was. It's hard not to look at people funny when they say something like that. Then again, I couldn't be snippy because I really want to get my cakes back in there. I used to do a lot of business in that hotel, but when Michael left his job there I just wasn't given any more work. Probably should learn not to be snippy altogether, but I tell ya, some people just bring it out. I suppose God puts those people there to see if I've learned anything yet. I'm trying.