10/25/12

Shell I Tell You A Story?


Yesterday started out with a freaking bang when this little turd...


brought in a fast-moving mouse.  Mike and I moved heaven and earth trying to catch it.  It was something on the order of Woody Allen killing the spider in Annie Hall's bathroom.  (Tell me you're old enough to remember Annie Hall.)  Smitty was no help at all.

In the process, a display of seashells in a large fish-bowl type flower vase got broken.  The vase was nothing special...just a cheap one that contained a large flower arrangement from many years ago.  (Even that's a story:  Mike had to go to Germany to sell a product to the Germans, and it just happened that the meeting took place on Thanksgiving Day.  Of course, Thanksgiving means nothing to the Germans, and so Mike's company sent him off to Germany rather than letting him spend Thanksgiving with his wife and children.  I was a good sport about it, but the company sent me the biggest flower arrangement you've ever seen.  Thus, the large fish bowl vase.)  

So, anyway...it got broken in yesterday's mouse debacle.  And we never did catch the mouse.  It's running loose somewhere at this point.  I wasn't upset about the vase, but I still wanted something to hold my seashells.  They are beautiful.  I've had them for a long time.  My dad picked them up on the beaches when he was stationed in the South Pacific during World War II, and so they have some sentimental value, let alone their aesthetic appeal.

Enter Goodwill.  I knew I could find something appropriate at Goodwill, and it gave me an excuse and a purpose for visiting the new Goodwill store in our town.  You remember...the one where people slept out overnight waiting for the grand opening.  And HERE IT IS!


And let me tell you.  This is no ordinary Goodwill.  It even has two parking spaces for electric cars...which just seems too hip and wrong somehow.


Here's how it looks on the inside.  I couldn't help wondering if those people who slept out overnight had expected something with a little more panache.


And check out the "Save 50%" color of the day:  Blue.  This will become important in a minute or so...depending on how fast you read.

So I always look for jeans when I go to Goodwill.  And this brings me to my latest pet peeve:  Have you noticed the "new and improved" denim they're using on jeans lately?  The stuff that feels like it will have holes in it after approximately two wearings?  Who do they think they're kidding anyway?  But there I go, being tangential again.  Anyway, I found a couple of pairs of jeans to try on, and then I looked around at the other miscellaneous junk treasures to be had at Goodwill.  

There was a lot of cool stuff.  I always look at the storage bins and baskets.  Goodwill is the only place to buy baskets, in my humble opinion.  And while I was perusing all that wonderful stuff, they announced that "seniors" (the definition of which describes me perfectly) would get a 10% discount that day.  About then, I started feeling pretty smug about having been born during the 14th Century.  It's one of my few thrills in life at this point.  Sadly, I didn't find any kind of container that would hold my seashells, and so I went off to try on my jeans.

When I got to the fitting rooms, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a vase exactly like the one that was broken.  Exactly!!  It was a whopping $2.99!  But that's not all.  It had a blue tag, meaning it was 50% off!  So I got the vase for $1.49!  I LOVE GOODWILL!  


And there it is!  It's almost as if it never happened!  Except for the mouse running loose in the house somewhere.

So I finished my stitchery yesterday.  Hm.


As I look at this, I'm thinking about adding this phrase to the bottom:  "Unless one of them is Smitty."

I'm linking this post to:


24 comments:

Denise :) said...

Bahahahaa!!! GREAT story!! Especially with all the side street stories! That Smitty is such a baby-cat...some day you'll fondly remember his toddler years! So glad, in the midst of it all, you were able to find an exact replica of your broken vase!! Yay!!!! :)

Jodi said...

Wow! Is that like kismit or (sp?) something, being in the right place at the right time for that vase? Love the story. Good luck with the mouse. Hmmm. Hopefully it's not pregnant! Hahahaha (sorry!)

Average Quilter said...

Do you think you would have bought it even if you hadn't broke the other one.

WoolenSails said...

I have a shell collection too, ones I found at the beaches and some from the store, since my bathroom is mermaid theme. My dad bought a lot of shells back from his trips too, no idea where they went. Love the kitty piece.

Debbie

Cathy said...

And here I thought all along that one of the many reasons for having a cat was to get rid of mice! LOL!!

Laura said...

LOL. You know you love him anyway!!!

carla said...

HI!!! Funny story but glad you found a great deal on the vase!!! I love your cat stitchery!! Too cute!!!

JLVerde said...

I love a good Goodwill tale. What a steal on the vase.

And I feel your pain on the jeans front. They're all made with stretch material these days, so those of us with fat butts (raises hand!) can feel "skinny". Bah to that, I'm a big girl (literally!) I can handle the fact I have a big butt!

Kisses to Smitty (and his new pet mouse!).

Anonymous said...

What a crazy kitty, Smitty is. Makes me glad that mine don't go out. Hope you can catch your mouse. I understand chocolate and/or peanut butter work well in a trap. Good luck.

Pieces to Love said...

That little mouse was a treasured prize that Smitty brought for you.

Mrs.Pickles said...

great story! I hope that mouse leaves the house before you start to find a strange smell in the wall one day...yuck!

Kate Brown said...

LOL I bet you are rethinking your stiching now :) My cats once brought in a chipmunk. OMG what a mess. It was running up the sofa then the curtians and the walls :( What a nightmare catching it! I sympathise with you.

Judy1522 said...

Love the story of the mouse and Smitty. You will never be bored with him around. It creeps me out to know there is a mouse running around in the house while I am sleeping. I have to say that I am proud to be able to take advantage of the senior discount I think I've earned it.

evelyn said...

-but one mouse is one too many!
Love the second hand shops. I feel like I am on a treasure hunt.

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Oh I have a shell collection too and it even has starfish! Oh oh, Smitty. Bringing in a mouse, huh. Well you have to give him credit, it will keep him busy until he catches it again!

I hate the new jeans too. What is with the labels- may bleed on fabric if they get wet!!! A rainstorm and then you sit in your car, drenched? It will discolor the fabric? Or you sofa, chair, etc. Plus, the stretchy stuff is terrible. I don't mind a tiny bit of give, particularly in the waist but when the pants are stretchy all over? I don't like it a bit. The old denim is the best and will last longer. Great find on the vase.

Diane Wild said...

Won't Smitty catch that little bugger in the house? I think you should put that extra little comment on your quilt block. Goodwill is looking a whole lot different than it use to. It's starting to look like Walmart.

Teresa in Music City said...

Love your story Barbara!!! That Smitty is one character of a cat :*) He makes me wish we had a kitten - except for the mouse running loose in the house part of course. I did come home once to a headless bird lying in a puddle of blood in my kitchen once when Gypsy was a kitten, so I feel your pain :*) I was a little concerned there for a while that maybe she had joined the Cat Mafia and was trying to leave me a message!

I find the most amazing things at Goodwill and at the most amazing prices! Sheets for $2 each - like new!!! And really nice cotton too, not this microfiber crap they are passing off as sheets these days. My mom's Goodwills in NC do not have sale days, but here in TN we get 50% off anything tagged with that week's color every week. And on Sundays & Wednesdays, any clothing or shoes tagged in that color is only 99 cents! That's when I go shopping for jeans & men's shirts for colorful plaids :*)

Nancy said...

Thanks for my laugh before bed. Maybe Smitty wants a pet...? I hope you find the mouse. Congrats on finding an identical vase. Our local Goodwill stores are not fabulous but our local Volunteers of America stores ARE! They have two colors off each week, one if -50%, the other -75%. I love thrift store shopping!
Nancy from joy for grace

quiltzyx said...

I hate having to pick up broken glass! Glad you found another vase at Goodwill at a Great Price!

Have you or Gracie or Smitty found the fast mouse yet?

Dana Gaffney said...

He followed me home, can I keep him Mom? or maybe the mouse is a gift for Gracie who doesn't want to go outside and mess up her beautiful white parts. That's the one I'm going with, it's a gift.

giddy99 said...

I love Serendipity! :)

Kate said...

My Mom has cats and they drag in the most unique things. Mom's had a snake and possum loose in the house because the cat was more interested in playing with them than killing them.

Glad you found your replacement vase.

Lynette said...

LOL, Barbara!! Too cool about the $1.49 vase. :) I love Goodwill for great value finds. We had splendid luck getting snow pants there for Mari yesterday. However, they had an orange tag, so we had to pay the "whole" $5.oo. (I wasn't complaining!)

And no kidding about the quality of denim these days!! I got so disgusted at the store looking at jeans for $90 that felt like they would last 3 whole washings, I just walked out (we freaky-tall chicks can never take advantage of sales for jeans and slacks, BUMMER).

And. . . electric car plugs at the Goodwill????? lololol I can't imagine any of my friends with enough money to buy an electric car ever spending enough time (if ever) at a Goodwill to need to charge up their car there. . . ::you gotta giggle::

Suz J said...

Thank you for a very entertaining episode... I'll have to catch up again!