Joe’s niece got a huge tattoo on her back. Am I the only one who doesn’t see the appeal of tattoos on women? Maybe this is sexist, but I find tattoos on guys sexy, but not on women. Joe has an armband tattoo and I love it, but I’d never get one. I guess I just think of tattoos are masculine things. Plus I’m very picky in even the kind of tattoos I like on men. They have to be patterns, not pictures of things or words. Am I the only one who feels this way?
Category: Family
Everything must go
Joe’s parents had a garage sale this weekend. I was at work yesterday, but I helped them today. Is it any wonder we sold a ton more stuff today than they did yesterday? Like five times more stuff? Yea, I’m taking all the credit. Ok, how about most of it? ;)
Yesterday they just threw stuff on the tables. When we were setting them out today I couldn’t understand why like items were spread across different tables and glass sets were separated instead of together. So I organized the tables by type (toys, clothes, appliances, etc.) and set everything up so that it would capture attention and look appealing. I cleaned some of the items that had gotten dirty as well.
I could tell that my efforts made an effect because items that were previously passed up without notice were being looked at by more people after I rearranged them.
So … what kind of job do you think I could get with my presentation skills? I admit, it was a lot of fun trying to make things more appealing for potential sales.
The only thing I didn’t like was how some people would try to chew down the asking price to the point that I wanted to tell them it was no longer for sale. I always expect some negotiation, especially because we didn’t stick prices on anything, but sometimes it gets ridiculous. There was this one couple who was really pissing me off. We would tell them “those are 50 cents each” and then they’d grab 10 things and say “$3?” and we’d be like, “we’ll give them all to you for $4”, you know, trying to be generous since it should really be $5, but they’d come back with “$3?” No, not $3! The guy from the same couple told me “Too much, too much. Why so much?” when I wouldn’t lower the price on my almost-brand-new $50 Vans from the $10 asking price. He kept harping on me, almost trying to “shame me” for expecting that much. Well don’t buy it. Like I care. This one lady paid the $10 because she knows it was a good deal. They were barely worn and other than the bottoms looked completely brand new. Those people were beyond cheap. Like the garage sale prices aren’t low enough to begin with. I hate selling to those kind of people. I will give the nice courteous people deals just because I don’t feel like they are trying to rip me off.
Anyway, it was really fun hanging out with Joe’s mom. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m so comfortable around her that I say whatever I feel without watching my words. We had fun making fun of people and calling them names. LOL! I’m going to miss her when they move to Arizona next month. :p
Zoo
I did not want to get out of bed today; I was just too tired. But the weather forecast was nice, and we had two free passes to the zoo (we’re members, so Joe and I always get in free) and wanted to take the kids.
We got there just before it opened to ensure it wouldn’t be too crowded. In fact, we had the reptile house to ourselves, which was really nice. We walked around for an hour and a half and then the kids started asking to go home. Have you ever heard such a thing from a kid? Their mom has them too used to spending time indoors sitting around. We are going to get them out and moving this summer to try and build up their tolerance for the outdoors. Most kids have boundless energy because they are young and naturally in shape from all the running around they do. We have to toughen them up! :)
When we got home I took a nap. Yea, I’m talking about their laziness and I take a nap. I’m a hypocrite. I feel better after the nap, though. We’ve got chicken breast in the oven for dinner. We’re trying to get a bit away from hot dogs, mac & cheese, and chicken nuggets around here. Their mom feeds them enough crap, we figure we should be a better influence. It’s only two days every other week, but it might just help them out. I hope so!
Here’s two photos taken with my point-and-shoot Nikon:
#1 – Poisonous frog
#2 – Penguin
Weekend Update
Ever have so many things happen in the span of a couple of days that you just don’t feel like writing all the entries to cover it all? Yea, me too, so here’s the longish cliff notes:
Friday we enjoyed some nachos, fried ravioli, baby chocolate covered frozen bananas, etc. at the Taste of Chicago. Once we got home, my copy of the new Cure album had finally arrived, so I listened to it from start to finish. First impression – the songs I hadn’t heard yet don’t move me, and the ones I have already listened to are better live. Around 4pm we went to a barbecue Joe’s friend was having at the house he just bought three weeks ago. Despite it being an older home, I still fell in love with all that space and it just depressed the hell out of me after coming home and looking online at what we can currently afford. On top of that, I just started thinking about all the negative/sad things that have happened to me, which included me really missing my deceased grandparents, and I ended up crying myself to sleep.
Read More …
There’s more than corn in Indiana
We took the kids to Indiana Beach today. My grandparents used to take me there every year, and we stayed a few days to a week, so I thought it would be nice for the kids to have a similar experience. I thought it was kinda going to stink not being able to go on the rides with Joe (we went with my family in June ’01), but it was fun just watching the kids and joining them on a few rides. I still had an unused ride-ticket booklet and their tickets never expire. I went on three rides total – the Flying Bobs with Joe’s daughter, and the train and Gondola with Joe and the kids. Joe went on a couple of rides with his daughter as well, including her very first rollercoaster ride. I was impressed as it was completely her idea (she kept bugging us to take her) and she didn’t chicken out. I never wanted to go on a rollercoaster at her age (she’s almost 10). It did scare her a little, but she was ok.
I got a bit peeved when we first got there, though. I had purchased the kid’s tickets online to save the $4 admission, and one of the old guys at the gate was trying to tell me that he didn’t think they’d accept the tickets because they were copies. I explained to them that they weren’t copies; they were print-outs from my computer. He said to me, “I’ve never seen no black and white ones before. They have to be in color.” I sarcastically replied, “and how is that possible when I don’t own a color printer?” Luckily he just let us in and when we went to the ticket booth, I told the woman what happened and we shared a good laugh at his expense. She also told me she’d have someone set him straight so he doesn’t continue to misinform people. It’s true that they don’t accept copies, but what that means is that once they scan the barcode on the sheet, if you have a copy of it and try to use it again, it won’t work.
Anyway, I finally got to try Dippin’ Dots. I’ve seen them around for years, and after watching on the Food Network how they make them, I was curious. They were pretty tasty, but I prefer conventional ice cream.
Oh one funny thing that happened was this conversation I overheard as I was walking out of the giftshop – A girl went up the register and asked if she could have change for a dollar. The woman behind the counter asked, “What do you want?” So the girl says again, “change for a dollar” and the woman replies, “I know, but what do you want?” and the girl is like “Change for a dollar!” This is a perfect example how communication skills are a learned art. What the woman was asking was what kind of change did the girl want – i.e. nickles, quarters, etc. and the girl just wasn’t getting it. Neither one of them had much “cents”. LOL! I crack myself up!