(43-108) The Bloomer Lady

If you've read "The Bumpy Ride"  before; then you probably know that I am a BIG fan (huge) of having garage sales, (mostly because I LOVE making money.)  Now I know that the typical response to that statement could be; "YAH, who doesn't?"  BUT the difference is; I LOVE making money AT garage sales.  I love making a deal, haggling and then feeling the cash in my palm when I'm done.  I enjoy making money at garage sales so much; that I even volunteer to help friends with their garage sales; even though the money that I'm earning, won't be mine.

A couple of months ago I assisted Michelle K with a garage sale; and as I was basking in the success of my sales; I recalled my Mom's friend, Rhoda, "The Bloomer lady."    My Mom had met Rhoda when I was in elementary school; and she was on a morning, bowling league.  Rhoda was "The bloomer lady;" and she would go to the bowling alley and sell underwear (bloomer's to old school New Yorker's) out of the trunk of her car.  Rhoda's husband had set her up with a little business; and she had certain underwear warehouses that she went to, and she had boxes of different size underwear that she would tote around in her car.  I'm sure that the bowling alley wasn't her only stop; but it was a great place for her to cultivate a clientele.  I remember being home one day after school, and my mom's friend, Lynn called to say that the bloomer lady was at her house, so if we needed anything, we should come over.  We went straight to Lynn's house, (is it any wonder that #9 on the "100 MORE Random Things About Me" list, is "I love to buy new underwear.")  And even though I couldn't have been more than ten at the time; to this day I remember getting a pair of bright orange underwear with suns and kites on it.  Yah, she had snazzy stuff like that...

As years went by, Rhoda expanded her business.  She no longer sold bloomers exclusively, but offered women's blouses and tops as well.  As a matter of fact; I remember that back in the 80's when sweatshirts with fringe were all the rage; my mom bought me several of them from Rhoda.  Now I'm sure that you're wondering how I went from writing about garage sales to the bloomer lady; but the answer is simple (if you understand "The Bumpy Ride," that is.)   I was thinking about Rhoda during the sale because I was admiring her entrepreneurial spirit.  She paid no rent to sell underwear from her trunk; or from people's houses; and ultimately, she created a lucrative business for herself.  So I started thinking; "HMMM; maybe I want to be the bloomer lady."  I put that thought aside; since we all know that I want to be the writer lady; but today I was talking to Christina (the lady that cuts our hair;) and I asked her if she'd gotten anymore purses; because a few months ago she had tried selling some.  Christina explained that she sold what she had, but that she wasn't going to do it again, because people didn't seem to have money to buy luxuries right now; and sadly, a purse can be a luxury.  I cheerfully, said "then maybe you should sell underwear."  And once again I thought of Rhoda.  I told Christina the story of Rhoda, "The bloomer lady;" and I mentioned that I'd considered blogging about her before; and since this is the second time in a short while that I've thought about her; I figured that today would be the perfect day.

It's so funny how you can go years and years without thinking of a person or a situation; and then all of a sudden they or it is at the forefront of your mind.  Who knows, maybe one day I will be the new, bloomer lady; but for now, It's just my pleasure to write about her.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING                                                       

Bountiful Baskets And Some other Real STEALS

I LOVE having garage sales.  Even though I don't personally shop at garage sales on a regular basis, I manage to have one of my own a couple times of year.  I love the thrill of the sale; I don't care if it's just the 50 cents I make on selling a bottle of cold water.  (Yes, I put out a cooler and I sell bottled water for 50 cents a piece and I double my money on what I paid for the case.)  I love clearing out my stuff and OK, of course I love the money but I also enjoy (for the most part,) the people that I meet at garage sales.  I don't like the people who want you to give away your stuff for free because IT'S A GARAGE SALE.  My stuff is priced to sell so that I can avoid haggling over every item; but if  you are  bold enough  to endeavor to offer me less, I welcome the challenge and depending on the kind of day it's been, sometimes I even give in.  But then there are those who try to take advantage and those are the people who give garage sales a bad name.
This past fall I had a garage sale and I decided to sell some of my scrapbooking stash.  I planned to sell patterned paper and cardstock 8 sheets for $1.00 because the best deal I've ever seen in a store is 5 for $1.00 and I even commented to a (pre-garage sale,) that this was such a good deal that if someone wanted 10 for $1 I was going to say no.  Well, the morning of the sale Nicky had pulled out this little I don't even know what to call it.  It was something with the Sun's (basketball team) Gorilla and I think it had a spring like he was trying to shoot a basketball.  Believe me my poor description is not taking ANYTHING away from what this was.  Anyway, Nicky had won it at some assembly and had no use for it, so off to the garage sale it went.  A lady was interested in buying it and she asked me how much.  I said "I honestly don't know.  What do you think?"  She didn't know either, so I said "Well, since you don't know and I don't know, why don't we just say $1.00?"  She was surprised by this and said "Well I  think it's worth more, so I'll give you 2."  WOW!  This was not your typical garage sale conversation for sure.  A while later another lady came.  She started looking at my scrapbooking stuff and said that she'd never scrapbooked before, but she had just lost her job, so maybe it would be a good way to spend her time.  We talked about scrapbooking a bit and I explained some of the basics.  She started gathering items and when I told her that the paper was 8 sheets for $1, she asked "could  I have 10 for a dollar?"  in the spirit of the lady who paid me 2 when I asked for 1, I said "OK."  She then asked how you adhere the pictures to the paper.  As I knew that she was going to be low on money, I advised that she use a glue stick as opposed to buying an adhesive runner.  I then remembered that I had an unused scotch tape adhesive in my house and since I didn't really care for it myself, I thought  I would give it to her.  I told her that I was going to go inside and look for it, but I couldn't find it.  I came out and told her that I couldn't find it but if she wanted to wait a few more minutes I would look again and she agreed.  I  came back a second time still empty handed.  She then asked "If I give you my phone number, will you call me if you find it?"  I was speechless for a moment (yes, ME!)  But then I said "OK."  She then started to show me her items so that we could figure out how much she owed.  I charged her less on EVERYTHING and she was aware of it; and when it was time to count up the paper she said "You said it was 8 for a dollar, but I could have 10 so I took 11."  WHAT??  OMG, I couldn't believe this woman's nerve;  but it reminded me of Truvy's line in "Steel Magnolias" when she says " In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven feels so good, I buy a size eight;"  only what this lady was doing wasn't quite as charming.  Did I agree to it, of course because I was stunned by this woman's audacity.    And after I gave her the total amount of her purchase, she didn't quite have enough and she wasn't even apologetic about it, she just expected me to take what she was giving me and I did.  Now while I was looking for the tape runner I came across an album that my Aunt had given me, and that I wasn't going to use; so I brought it outside to sell.  She wanted the album and I wouldn't bend on the $3 price, so she went to her car to see if she had more money.  YES, you read that right.  She made no effort to go to the car to see if she had more money for the amount that she was shorting me on the first purchase; but NOW she was going to go to the car for more money to buy something else; found the $3 but never made any attempt to reimburse me for what she was shorting me in the first place.  Can you say Chutzpah? 
I set up again on Sunday, and who do you think came back?  That's right!!   She bought a couple more items and asked if I had found the adhesive that I had said I would give her (yes she did;) so  I went back inside to take another stab at looking for it and luckily for her I found it.   She expressed her gratitude but then tried to pay me 17 cents for something that I was asking 25 for and I said no; so she went to her car and got the extra 8 cents and she has been my running garage sale story ever since.

So last Saturday my friend / neighbor Jen and I had a garage sale.  Jen left around 8am to go pick up our Bountiful Baskets (which I'll get to after this segment) and so I was left in charge of her treasures.    A few people showed up at once and one of them was a woman who drove a SUV and was wearing nice work out clothes.  She picked up a number of Jen's items along with one item of mine that I had priced at .50 and then she came over and asked me if she could pay $2 for everything.  $2 was  just not enough considering the reasonable prices that Jen was asking, so I told her $3 and she agreed.  She took the items  to her car and stayed there for a while.  She then rushed up my driveway and told me that she only had $2.40,  so she put back my .50 item and handed me the money (all in change by the way)and then rushed back down the driveway and sped away in her car.  As I  stood there counting her money, I found that she had only paid me $1.85 and I was flabbergasted.  What in the world is wrong with people?   I guess I shouldn't be surprised though because I actually had someone STEAL a perfume that I was selling.  Yup, a $40 perfume and I asked $5 (it had been used once only) and the woman STOLE it.  Do I still LOVE having garage sales?  I sure do.  I made $139 in a couple of hours, selling mostly things that we had come by for free,due to the hotel lost and found and Luis'  gift for finding things.  I also sold 17 of  the flower hair clips that I've been making, so I was satisfied; AND I walked away with a blog to boot.

Now,what would a "Bumpy Ride" be without a suggestion for THE GREATER GOOD?  A couple of weeks ago I purchased my very first BOUNTIFUL BASKET  and I can't say enough good things about it.   Bountiful Baskets is a produce co-op and it is offered in several states.  They Use collective purchasing to get high quality food at prices usually reserved for grocery stores and restaurants, which helps the participants to save money while working together co-operatively within our community.  So here's how it works, the cost to participate is $15 per basket, plus $1.50 processing fee, (and there is a $3 fee the FIRST time that you order.)  You have to place your order on Tues or Wed between 9AM and 9PM for the upcoming Saturday and you choose your location.  You're pretty much ordering blindly because you never know what you're going to get in your basket, BUT you will always get one basket of fruit and one basket of vegetables.  You report to your pick up place at the designated time and they have the fruits and vegetables separated into laundry baskets and then you transfer them into your own laundry basket or recyclable bags.  

This week I got:  A cantaloupe, a honeydew, 3 - 6 oz. containers of blackberries, 8 kiwis, 9 bananas, 10 apples,

4 LARGE artichokes, 4 Roma tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 2 - 6 oz bags of radishes, 1 large head of romaine lettuce and spinach.  Now, will my family eat it all - NO!  But I can tell you that the things that we will eat, totally make it worth the purchase price; we have definitely been expanding our fruit and vegetable horizons, we're trying new things and new recipes, and we are eating a lot more fruits and vegetables.  The fruits and vegetables have been lasting longer than those that I typically buy in the grocery store and the quality has been terrific.   There are also add-ons that vary from week to week.  I've tried their Easter cookies, which were excellent!!  We got 20 large cookies in the shapes of Easter eggs and rabbits as well as 4 different colored frostings, all for $10.  The cookies were delicious and tasted homemade.  I've also bought their tortillas.  For $10 you got 4 packages of LARGE flour tortillas, 2 packages of small flour tortillas and 2 packages of corn tortillas, and they were terrific.  I actually split the order with Jen because even for a tortilla eating family like mine, one order was too much for us.  The tortillas freeze well and surpass any that I've bought in the store.  I should also mention that you can choose to order an organic basket for $25 instead of the regular basket for $15.  Bountiful baskets is run by volunteers, and you're told that on days that you volunteer, you get to take home extra fruits and vegetables.  They also tell you that if you don't pick up your basket, it will be donated to a local fire department; which I really like.  For me, one of the nicest features is that there is no commitment on how often you order. Of course being the Queen of  SECOND GUESSING MYSELF, my fear is that I won't order one week and then I'll miss out on something great.  And, I have to say that the one week that I didn't order, (because I still had a good amount leftover,) I spent just about as much at the store buying the couple of things that I did need to replace like lettuce, tomatoes, bananas and grapes.  So, if I've peaked your curiosity, check out http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ and see if there's one near you.  If you do, please let me know, because I'm always interested in everyone's feedback and I just love trying to make your lives a little bit better.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING  

Don't tell Luis...

A couple of months ago Michelle (...)K and I decided to go garage sale-ing. I've had garage sales before; but I'd never actually gone to someone elses. Although we could have just cruised the area and found a bunch, Michelle (...)K wanted to take the organized approach so that we could maximize our garage sale experience; God love her. She looked online for sale ads and strategically map quested our morning.
We started at my house, hit a couple of sales in my vicinity and then headed out per our dossier for a sale that was advertised for 7AM.

As we were driving through the neighborhood of the advertised sale, we luckily saw a couple of people putting up signs. We made our way to the home and arrived at 7:21 to find the man of the house just beginning to pull things out of his garage and onto the driveway. The front door was open and in it stood A woman and her son. Michelle and I hesitantly approached the house and stood on the driveway, but no one said a word to us. After a few minutes of just standing there feeling stupid; the woman spoke (but not to us.) She asked her husband what time it was; but he said that he didn't know. Good Samaritan that I am , I announced the time, and then the woman said to her son (DEFINITELY not to us;) "Well, we're not starting till 8." OK, so Michelle and I removed ourselves from their driveway and proceeded to rehash the situation.

So you put an ad online for 7 am (and sure we all understand running late;) but you don't even have the courtesy to say "I'm sorry ladies; it's still going to be a while" or anything? Instead you act as if we're wrong for showing up at your home and you behave so rudely... Oh no, no, no. We were ANNOYED!

We started to drive off and just as we were going to turn onto the main road; Michelle said "Let's steal their signs." And we did! Michelle got out, pulled the stake out of the ground threw the sign in the car; and I drove to the next one. We stole the only 2 signs that we saw, which means the only 2 signs that ANYONE would have seen and we drove off laughing hysterically. Hmm, I wonder how many people showed up at 8 after that...

Now I know that this action is about as far from the greater good as you can get - but boy did it feel good. Revenge REALLY is sweet.

Now I know that some of you are probably shocked by this admission and I know that losing your favor is the chance that I take, but just as "revenge is sweet" is and expression; so is "Payback is a bitch;" oh, and never fear our good friend karma saw to it that I had myself a nice big plate of pay back shortly thereafter.

On Oct 17th Rachel (SFTIO Rachel) came for a long, overdue visit. On Sat, we kicked off our soccer season (No pun intended - OK, yah, you know ) with 4 games for my 3 kids and then we went to Michelle (...) K's that evening for scrapbooking. Now typically we don't have a theme for our monthly crops but as Autumn was technically upon us, we thought it would be fun to have a comfort theme for the night, so all the broads brought over their jammies to change into.

Shortly after we arrived Michelle offered me a Margarita. (Now what's more comforting than that?) I gladly accepted but (lightweight that I am ) I thought it was too strong and I sadly told Michelle that I couldn't drink it. She tried to doctor it up for me; but it was still too strong so I decided to take a pass.

The night went on and I put on my jammies, and not that it was THAT KIND of pajama party; but Michelle asked me why I left my bra on, and I replied "well, I still have to drive home. What if I get stopped by a cop?" OK, what if? I'm not really sure what difference it would make. I guess I just thought I'd look more respectable and so, just to put my theory to the test... Yup, I got stopped by a cop. (And the crowd gasped...) I got stopped by a cop and I wasn't even speeding. Lord knows that I've been on my best driving behavior since my photo ticket and my $195 driving class.

The officer came up to Rachel's window and asked me if I had been drinking. I said "just diet soda. I was scrapbooking at a friends; hence the attire." He said that I had briefly crossed over the lane line and then moved a way when I saw a truck. I explained that I moved away because I was going to get off at the exit. He said "OK, I'm just going to give you a warning." OY! Just what I needed; a warning - but thankfully, not a ticket. He returned to the car with my warning and asked if I had gotten a lot of scrapbooking done. Thank god I resisted the temptation to say "No, I was too buys drinking." hahaha

The next day I told Michelle what had happened because the irony was so delicious. I also told her that I wasn't going to tell Luis, so she shouldn't tell Mike. Now, I don't ever keep secrets from Luis, but I just didn't think that this was something that he needed to know. Sometimes it's good to keep the husband on a need to know basis - LOL

To celebrate Luis' birthday we had a poker game at Michelle (...) K's house. We were using chips but we weren't playing for money. My stash of worthless, chips was dwindling and so I announced "I need to win the next hand." And, I did - Big Time. Michelle said "That's amazing! You said that you needed to win and you did; just like when you knew that you were going to get stopped by a cop." UM, OK does anyone besides me see that big elephant in the room? The silence was palpable and Luis said "Lucy, you got some splaining to do." LOL

OK actually he said "What cop?" And I gave a good ole Lucy WAAAHH!

OK, actually I explained; and he took it in good stride,

but I know that Michelle felt terrible.

So, did one of these incidents REALLY have anything to do with each other? Probably not; but if you believe in Karma (which maybe I should have thought about before stealing the signs;) I say they do. Then again, this really just is par for the course for me. Regardless; now you know why why I want all that good karma on Facebook - LOL

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING