Tag Archives: family

Rummage 2012: the thrill of the hunt

I have inherited this penchant called ‘thrifting.’ It boils down to this: I love finding something second hand for a good price–and not just that, but I also kind of enjoy having to search through a bunch of undesirable stuff to find it. Thrifting is the grown-up version of a treasure hunt!

Of course, I shall try to keep this penchant tame like a kitty-cat, to be used only when we need something. Because it could seriously get out of control if I let go of the reins. But so far, so good! This year, I not only pre-purged before the big sale, but I also went in with a list and searched very intentionally for the things I had determined I wanted/needed.

Monday evening, I headed up to Winnetka to join the ladies:

The always fabulous Mama Kitty . . .

. . . my cousin June, nurse extraordinaire and mother of two darn cute ones . . .

. . . her older sister, the assertive action-woman that is Eleanor (acting bashful here for whatever reason–but don’t let that fool you) . . .

. . . the fun-loving lawyer, landlord and roller derby queen Emily . . .

. . . my cousin-in-law and blonderrific mother of 3, Kristen . . .

. . . the high-energy English PhD, Aunt Jacquie . . .

. . . and Wild Woman! (otherwise known as Pat)

In a fur apron. Don’t ask questions.

We had 3 hotel rooms booked for the week, and I was able to take some time off from work and spend Monday and Tuesday night with the crew.

Monday evening, all day Tuesday, and all day Wednesday, we worked with the other volunteers at the community center to prepare for the massive sale day on Thursday, and enjoyed the privileges of shopping pre-sale accorded to volunteers who work at least 10 hours.

Each night after the work and hardcore shopping, we reconvened for dinner . . .

(looks like I was feeling very intense about those sweet potato fries)

. . . and then spent the evening (into the night) together in one of the hotel rooms going through our purchases, munching on chocolate, tossing around clothes for each other to try on . . .

. . . and organizing our finds.

Like this pillow!

And this tiny tea set, destined for little girls at play:

Or, to give you more perspective on the sheer amount of Rummage finds that 8 determined women can bring home in a day, all of this stuff, heh heh.

It was an exhausting blast.

The very first night, a red tank top was being tossed around. Kristen tried it on and dismissed it as a little too risqué, but I tried it on and loved it. I added it to my pile, not realizing that June (the finder of the top) hadn’t even had a chance to try it on (this is one of the risks of haphazard piles of clothes in a room with 8 women). Soon I realized that I would never live down the red shirt incident, and that June would hold this shirt over my head until we were on our dying beds. I tried to entice her to try it on and take it, but she preferred to hold onto the power of goading me about it forever (sigh).

My salvation came when I was blissfully going through some racks of shirts and found the exact same shirt. Exact same color. Exact same size. I promptly purchased it.

And peace reigneth on earth.

Amidst all the fun and work and busy running about, I proceeded to totally fail to take any pictures at the actual Rummage sale. I wanted to take tons of shots to show you how massive it is, how beyond the scope of anything I ever imagined, and give you an idea of how much work goes into pulling it off.

But then . . . I forgot. So you’ll just have to refer to last year’s post to see some shots of the space, and content yourselves with pictures of us in the hotel room with our massive haul.

June and Kristen found awesome stuff for their kids!

Eleanor fed her two obsessions: bowls . . .

. . . and cut crystal.

In fact, there was a desperate moment in which the hotel’s fire alarm started sounding its jangly tune, and Eleanor quickly debated which pieces of cut crystal simply had to be saved from the fire that was about to consume all our belongings.

Thankfully, the fire alarm stopped shortly after it started, the front desk confirmed that everything was a-okay, and the tough cut crystal decision never had to be made after all.

Next week (yes, I’m taking my sweet time), I’ll share my finds with you all! Get ready for a massive trip down Shopping Lane . . .

21 Weeks

How far along: 21 weeks, completed 5.29.12

Weight gain: I won’t know how much more I’ve gained (other than the 4 pounds so far) until the end of June at my next appointment. It’s the curse–and blessing–of not owning a scale (cast your votes–blessing vs. curse–below).

Clothes: Dresses and skirts with soft, stretchy waistbands are my absolute BFF’s, especially with our little heat wave over the weekend.

Purchases: Baby clothes!!! Aaaaah! I did the deed and went crazy on the frillies. It happened like this: I went to Target quite innocently to get a gift for somebody, and, well, since I was already there, well . . . ya know . . . might as well . . . yes. I wandered up to the baby section.

More like I ran up the escalator.

I was so eager to feast my eyes on cute little girl things that I couldn’t hold back.

I hit the clearance racks and loaded up my basket with a pair of adorable little grey leggings with ruffles on the bottom, little dresses with flowers, little poofy skirts with pockets, a little pink shirt, little tangerine-colored bottoms with a bow . . . oh, oh, oh!

All in all, I came home with about 7 or so outfits (one or two newborn things, and then a range of things from 3 months to 6 months, 9 months, and beyond) that I promptly and gushingly showed to my brother-in-law, since he was the only one around and I had to wax enthusiastic to somebody.

Then I spread everything out on the bed to show my husband the second he walked in the door.

I’m sure people will give us tons of cute girly stuff (who can resist those tiny ruffle-ridden outfits??), so I don’t want to shop for clothes too much–but this was my way of celebrating the fact that she’s a girl, and I know it.

I also got some cocoa butter to complement my collection of lotions, and have started applying it regularly. The skin on my belly felt kind of itchy the other day, and I realized I must begin the battle against stretch marks now!

Body: My abdominals have not been working the way they usually do. Suddenly it’s become slightly challenging to get out of bed, get up from a chair, get up from the couch–the common denominator being getting up. It’s like my ab muscles have migrated and don’t want to support the rest of my body in its daily motions like they used to. So I’m using my arms a lot to pull myself up, especially since the midwife warned me that trying to use my abs could cause them to separate up top in a way that’s harmful to me.

Sleep: I just can’t do the stomach-sleeping thing anymore. I tried a few times, and not only has it become uncomfortable, but the Little Wa-Wa has started to protest. When I lie on my stomach, she’s started to make her displeasure known by giving me some amazingly strong thumps. Enter the body pillow! It’s a miracle worker. I slept with it one night and loved it. The next night, because I’m stubborn and don’t want to be needy, I decided to try to sleep without it. I proceeded to toss and turn for hours, until finally around 3 am, when I was mid-roll and jiggling the bed around something awful, my husband spoke into the darkness two solitary words:

“Body pillow.”

“Okay,” I mumbled, grabbing the pillow, stuffing it between my legs and leaning my torso on it. Immediately, sweet slumber returned.

Best moment(s) of the week: Calling our daughter by name. I’ll fill you guys in on all the details and the thought behind this later.

Movement: I felt the most intense movement to date on Memorial Day. There I was on my back, minding my own sleepy business, and suddenly I felt these strong . . . I guess they felt like pulses. Kind of like when your heart gives a big thump–it was like a massive heart giving a violent pulse in my belly (sorry, that sounds kind of creepy, but it’s the best way I can think to describe the sensation). My husband and I were lying in bed at the time, about to read some Sherlock, so I grabbed his hand and put it on my belly. Thump went the Little Wa-Wa. Thump! My husband’s eyes got wide. “Wow,” he said.

I beamed. Having him finally be able to really, really feel our baby move (beyond a shadow of a doubt) is incredible.

Food cravings/aversions: All normal! Though I have to say that after having the leftovers of this incredibly spicy Thai dish, the little one started moving around like crazy. I read somewhere that she can taste what I eat through the amniotic fluid starting around now, so I want to try and get some spice and variety in there so that she comes out loving what I love: new flavors! Heat! Vegetables!

Symptoms: I’m just starting to feel big and a little awkward, and not having my abs be my faithful supporters is weird. That’s about it.

Emotions: Feeling great! I’m excited about our birthing classes starting soon, excited about my baby shower coming up in the not-so-distant future (July 14th), and excited that the apartment we were hoping for seems to be coming through. God is so good that it verges on ridiculous.

Hopes and dreams: I have high hopes for the Bradley method class I signed us up for with a woman called Denyse (she’s been recommended to me by a few people). It starts in a few weeks, and goes for 9 weeks (3 hours per night on Mondays). My book on hypnobirthing also just arrived, and I’m looking forward to reading through that and doing some of the exercises.

What I miss: Ach–sleeping on my stomach. But it won’t kill me to go without this pleasure for 19 weeks, so . . . whatever.

What I’m looking forward to: An even bellier belly next week! It’s grown noticeably, and it’s bizarre to think it will grow so much more before all this is over.

Husband update:  Hearing him say our daughter’s name is . . . thrilling. Comforting. Lovely. Moving. Wonderful. I think it means a lot to both me and my husband, and has brought him closer to her.

Every now and then we’ll be talking, I’ll say something ridiculous like “I can’t wait to bundle her up like a little burrito!” and his eyes will just get all dreamy and mushy and full of love and hope.

It’s a beautiful thing to see in a man’s face.

And that’s it for this week . . . next week, more of the same!