The Value of Vintage Toys

My friend Mary and her family had an estate sale in the North End.  They were clearing out the family home that her mother had been in for probably 50 + years.  It was a big sale and her family are not experienced garage salers.  They tried really hard, but in the end, the one thing that wasn't marked with a price sticker were three naked GI Joes from the sixties.  They had looked the value up on the internet and they could go for 40-100 dollars each.  They had decided to go high, because if they didn't get a buyer, they would be light and easy to send cross country if they sold them on e-bay.  For some reason, after their research and discussion, they just hadn't marked them.  Mary's family members were each assigned a room or area to be in charge of that day.  The first guy through the door made a beeline for the vintage toys.  He asked the nephew how much the GI Joes were and he had said "a quarter".  So before they had been open for 2 minutes, they sold all three for 75 cents, and lost about $300.  Pretty funny. 

My First Wreck

I don't even want to write about this.  It was just a little wreck.  No one was hurt.  It happened on a pretty quiet street.  The police arrived in just a few minutes and everyone was nice.  If it was going to happen, it happened in a nice way, but I could have gone through life without that experience.

I caused the whole thing.  I was just around the corner from my house, on my way to work, and I looked down at a dead raccoon that was on the side of the road.  He was big, and his face was looking back at me.  When I looked up, traffic was backed up in front of me and I screeched to a stop, but didn't make it.  I hit the car in front of me, and she hit the car in front of her.  When we got out, the person in front of me was a teacher from my school!  When I called the office to let them know that I might be late, the secretary was shocked.  She said, "Weird, Emma was in an accident this morning too."  We both made it to school on time, but I was greeted all down the hall with comments and questions.  I thought I should have sent out an e-mail.

I was shaky, a little sick, and greatly embarrassed all day.  Even though it was just a minor fender-bender, it's going to add up to a big expense.  My car didn't look much worse than a bent license plate and a couple scrapes, but the estimate is $1,300.  I am grateful for the best insurance company on the planet - USAA.  (Thanks Dad, for being an officer in the military.)  Now I just have to deal with my fine for the inattentive driving ticket that I received. 

CRAZY Cousin!

Counting both sides of my family I only have eight cousins.  Three of them are my age, which was a lot of fun growing up.  I was closest to my cousin Robert, who always had a bigger, louder, personality.  As kids I remember when he and I and my sister rode in the little storage space behind the back seat of his dad's VW bug.  I also rode on the back of his Bearcat (60's form of motorized dirt bike) on an obstacle course in the vacant lot behind his house, and on his shoulders while he rode his unicycle down the road in front of his house.

Fast forward many years (he's 55 this month) and he's with his grown son, RUNNING WITH THE BULLS in Pamplona, Spain!  What?!!  Who would do that?  Can he run fast?  Did he train?!!  Don't people die every year?  Don't they report every day on how many runners were gored?




His son served a mission in this part of Spain and wanted to return and run with the bulls, so Robert signed-up with him.  Is this any kind of explanation?  His son is married with a child and a pregnant wife.  It's crazy!  Exciting, and maybe fun, but in the end, just plain CRAZY!

Report Cards, Not

Today is the end of the semester and report cards are due on Monday.  For elementary teachers who have to fill in many, many Es, Ms, Is, and Ns, plus write comments, it is many hours of work.  To that end, the district makes this day an early release - students go home at 1:15 and we have time to work.  Not this time.  I had already launched a complaint because all night on Wednesday, the server couldn't handle the load.  Today, of all days, the server was down all day and I'm sure all techies were scrambling.  Nobody could do anything with our grade program. 

So, instead of working on report cards, we had a scary 45 minute staff meeting about the levy.  We all have work to do.  If it doesn't pass on March 13th, many of my friends will no longer be employed.  I might not be employed, and the amazing schools and programs that Boise School District has, may not endure.  It won't be good for the kids, or the community. 

BSU TCU

Well this is a hard post to write.  We lost.  At home.  It ended a 35 game win streak on the blue turf.  It came down to one second, and Ty's friend missing a field goal.  I felt like all the air was sucked out of me.  Stunned.  People at the stadium felt the same way.  They said it was silent, and everyone just sat there for about 10 minutes.  Kellen Moore has lost 3 games in the past four years - one in overtime with a missed field goal, and two to TCU by one point. 

We had made plans to go to dinner with Mike and Stace after the game.  I really didn't want to talk about it, but we did.  Dinner was at Mickey Rays.  The place was packed, and everyone there was in blue and orange.  It was a quiet crowd.  I will say the food was good.  I should have ordered mac and cheese.  I needed comfort food.

Not Again!!!

I don’t know if I’ve just been under too much stress or if I’m just losing too many brain cells as I age, but while in Big Sky I broke our new family rule again.  (Never leave a restaurant table without checking for things we’ve left behind.)  We went into a little market/deli for an ice cream, and I left my purse (with camera in it) hanging over the back of a chair.  A few hours later when I went to get my glasses out of it I realized it was gone.  We called, then drove back down the mountain to retrieve it.  The girl said, “That’s the good thing about little places like Big Sky.  Nobody would take anything.”  She might be right.  They didn’t take anything in a little place like Weiser, only in a big place like Ogden.  I don’t want to keep testing the theory though.  Terry doesn’t handle it very well.

We Need the Tooth Fairy

This has been a month of appointments with dentists, periodontists, endodonists, and oral surgeons - plus a couple trips to the pharmacy.  What could be worse.  Terry has had most of the work done.  He had a condition called resorption where a root was disintegrating from the outside.  When they took care of that, he spent 3 1/2 hours getting a temporary crown.  All of the trauma caused the root to die, which meant a root canal.  Now he has a another August appointment and will be able to finish the crown Sept. 1st.

Ty is the other one with an aching tooth, or two, or four.  He went in for a consultation today on his wisdom teeth and we were planning on having them out right after Labor Day, but instead he's having them out tomorrow.  They're swollen and he's in pain.

I feel for both of them, but I'm so glad it's not me.  I only have to deal with the bills.  Thank goodness for the Tooth Fairy. 

Oh no! Say it isn't so!

I had the same post title in June because I did the exact same thing.  I left my new camera in a restaurant on the way home from McCall.  I can't believe it!  I had the camera that I left in the Chinese restaurant for about two months.  I had to replace it last month.  My new camera was about 2 weeks old!  Thank goodness the people at the Homestead Cafe in Weiser are kinder and more honest.  Some Saturday morning coffee people turned it in and it was kept in the kitchen safe.  They were so happy that I called.  I left it on Friday and didn't realize that it was gone until Monday.
We wanted to avoid the Fourth of July traffic so Terry went with me for a lunch date on Tuesday.  I really like the signs that welcome you to Weiser - We love our kids, our community, and our country.  I like this town.  There is a real community feeling there.  When you stop for lunch or drive around you can tell there is a slower pace of life - simpler.  The prices are lower too. 
After lunch we went to the Weiser Chocolate Shop and Deli.  We each picked out a handful of chocolates and then enjoyed a ice cream cone.  Terry's huckleberry ice cream looked good, but I know my butter pecan tasted better.  We drove home on the back roads and avoided the freeway.  I can't believe I did it again, but this time everything turned out a lot better.  We had a very pleasant day and I have my new camera back.

Oh no! Say it isn't so!

I lost my camera!  It was full of pictures from our action packed weekend with my dad and sisters.  It was full of family history, gravestone pictures.  It was only a couple months old.  It was on our last stop before we arrived back at my sister's house.  I know I took it into the Chinese restaurant on Washington Boulevard in Ogden, Utah.  I sat it on the seat of the third booth by the window.  I called 25 minutes after we left.  I called two more times and my sister went back in four days later and they took out the seat.  I just want someone to post my pictures for me.  Not only is my blog colorless and boring, losing the camera made me lose some of my enthusiasm for blogging and genealogy. 

It's been a week and a half and although I'm still mourning the lose of my pictures, I am on the road to recovery.  I'm watching for the next sale and I'll replace the camera.  I'm also planning a return trip next year to retrace our steps.  Next year we might let my brother come too.  Next year I'll have wonderful pictures to post.