FIGHT!!!!!

Those of you who know me know that I love to go to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. I hate to ride past one because I just "know" that there is a treasure in there waiting for me to buy. I have gotten some great things at these places. Lately, I have been looking for several things. After finding a couple of Southern Living year end cookbooks, I decided to start checking the book section to see if I could find others. Almost every time I go, I find another one. I have got to make a list of the years that I have so that I don't repeat. But that has not happened so far. Most of the time, I pay $2.99 for them. A couple of times the price was $1.99. I am also collecting silverplated knives, forks, spoons and serving pieces. It doesn't matter if they match or not. I have an idea for a way to use them, but my lips are sealed for now. Even if I don't use them, I usually pay less than 30 cents per piece. Friday I stopped by for just a minute and evidently a whole house load of things had been donated. Some very old stuff. I got some small sized books that were old.....the 1930's and they are red, blue and green. Perfect to decorate with! I also found two beautiful aluminum pieces. One piece is a two tiered round tray with a nice design. The other was a cute tray. But......back to the story!

Yesterday, I decided to ride over to Augusta. I went to the Goodwill first. Lots of other people had the same idea that I had. When I walked into the building, I immediately heard two women screaming obscenities at each other. Evidently, someone who must have found some really great things and was in a hurry to get out of there before someone stole them from her "cut" in line. Now I have been in that store before and the checkout line is all mixed together because there are not individual checkout lanes like at Walmart or the grocery store. So, it is possible that she did not "cut" in line. Fortunately for me, no one asked my opinion, so I kept it to myself. I was, however, wondering if I should just back out and forget about the Goodwill. It used to be that you would just get screaming and a "cat fight." But today, they may have a gun. But fear not, I went directly to the back of the store to the books and to look for my treasure!

But I didn't tell you about all this so you would know my hangouts up here in Maine. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..........It brought back to me an experience that I had many years ago at the Salvation Army in Georgetown with my friend Elaine. Elaine is not quite as big a fan of the 'Army as I am, but she went with me to find the.....you know.....treasure. After a while of looking, looking, looking, I found two oak barstools that had backs and swiveled. I had found my treasure! We had a bar in the kitchen and we needed them desperately. Maybe not desperately, but we needed them. So, we take them to the front of the store. I told the lady there that I wanted the stools, we both commented on how they looked new and what a good deal they were. About this time, a lady walks up and says that she had looked at them at the back of the store and SHE wanted them. Well. I thought Elaine and I were going to have to fight her. (Elaine wanted to fight her but I held her back!) The clerk told her that we had brought them up to the front and said that we had wanted them and that she had said nothing about them. Neither of us like confrontation, so I paid as fast as I could and got the hell out of there! Over the years, this story gets juicier and juicier. Chris asked me one day did I "fight" a woman in the Salvation Army once. I am not sure the "children" have ever even heard the real story before today. So there you have it.............It wasn't me, your mother, that wanted to fight, it was Ms. Elaine. You know....she is like that.....Just so you know......

I might take some pictures of my "treasures" and post them later. Don't be jealous. I might take you to the Goodwill one day and find you a treasure. But don't expect me to fight or cut in line for you to get it!

Tootles!