Fabgrandpa and I decided to go on a road trip to Brunswick, Georgia to meet up with a friend of our. Usually, when we go on a trip, he drives, and I take pictures. Yesterday, I told him I would drive so he could enjoy the scenery IF he would take over my role with the camera. Sigh…..
On Saturday I went to a BellSouth reunion. I worked at this particular office, the Thornton Road Collection Center, about 20 years ago. I haven’t seen any of the people who worked there since I left the building to go to a different job at company headquarters. I was so nervous about going! I must have changed my clothes five times before deciding exactly what to wear.
I only spent about two years at Thornton Road, and it was during a particularly bad period in my personal life. I was sad and depressed for most of that period. Fortunately, I had the best supervisor on the planet when I worked there. She was, and still is, one of the most caring people I have ever met. She truly cared about “her girls”, those of us in her work group. I went to the reunion because I knew she was going to be there, and I would have a chance to tell her face to face just how much I appreciated her. She is the most Christian person I have ever met because she not only talks the talk, she walks the walk, and treats everyone she meets with love and respect.
The job I did there was not fun. As a matter of fact, it was a drudge. I was a collections representative–I talked to people all day every day who had had their telephone service disconnected for non-payment. They were not happy people, and difficult to work with. I am so glad I got out of there when I did.
I enjoyed seeing a lot of the people at the reunion. After dinner, each of us stood up and told our “story” of what we have been doing since we left BellSouth. That was very interesting to find out what everyone has been up to. And of course, I loved telling MY story! I would love to go to another reunion of one of the places where I worked.
Trisha over at Momdot threw down the gauntlet, and I can not walk away from a challenge. She may be bigger on twitter, but I am closing in! hahaha. (I love the hair and glasses on my twitterized self) If you want to Twitterize yourself, and faceoff against me or anyone else, get yours at
Every time Fabgrandpa and I arrive in a new area, one of the first things we look for are the thrift stores. I am totally addicted to them, and love to go shopping in them whether I buy anything or not. We saw this thrift store last week, but haven’t had time to go there until today. It turned out to be the mother lode of thrift stores! I remember back in the 1960’s my favorite aunt owned a thrift store much like this one. She had a lot of stuff crammed into a very small storefront, with things piled on top of other things. Even when I was eight or nine years old I loved going to that store and poking around all the junk.
I loved this dresser! I have always wanted on like that. I couldn’t tell much about it because of all the stuff sitting on it, but still, isn’t that just lovely?
This antique dresser would definitely need to be refinished, but I love the style of it. It has a rectangular mirror that is better shape than the first one, but I really like the first one better overall.
Aren’t these just too cute? Who wouldn’t love these ballerina ceramic lamps? with the right shade, they could be a really interesting addition to any room.
Can you believe there are this many irons in a thrift store? What are all those people doing now? going around crumpled and wrinkled? They had several fruit juicers, toasters, and can openers, too.
This is something else I have always wanted–an antique kitchen pantry cabinet. This one is not exactly what I want, but it looks pretty good for what it is.
I liked these crystal lamps too. Really, I think they’re cute.
But the big thing I found, and purchased, today, was this gorgeous china tea set. Yes, it IS probably a stretch to call it pottery, but meh, I liked it. I have been looking at tea cups, saucers, tea pots in thrift stores and antique shops for oh, about thirty years or so. But I have NEVER found such a complete set before. This tea set has the pitcher, a sugar bowl, six cups, and six saucers. None of the pieces have any cracks or chips in them, which is amazing in itself.
Does anyone know what this mark says? Please don’t tell me it says “A sucker born every minute”.
This tea set is light as a feather, and feels rather fragile. But if you come to visit me in my new house, we can have a tea party. The set was marked $154, but I asked them to come down to $120. And they did, but the guys lack of hesitation told me I could have gotten this for less. I’m not disappointed, though, because I love this tea set.
I love the scene painted on the saucers. It looks so inviting and peaceful.
Even though I spent way more than I intended to when I went in the thrift store today, I feel good about my purchase. I love this tea set, and can’t wait to use it in my new home! So, my friend Gaelyn, what do you think of this frivolous purchase I made today? When we go back next time, I am going to be looking for a george foreman grill.
Yesterday afternoon was consumed by finding, printing, and making copies of that list of paperwork the lender asked us for. It seemed to grow by leaps and bounds. And wasn’t I unpleasantly surprised, when I went looking for my 2010 Federal tax return. I had it prepared and ready to go last April, but when I dug it out of the file box, guess what? I NEVER MAILED IT IN! I got on the internet, thinking I could just do an e-file, only to find that the last day for e-filing a tax return was OCTOBER 19. Just to make sure I couldn’t e-file, I called a tax preparation company in town,and was told nope, too late. I took it to the post office yesterday. Can’t wait to see what the penalty for that will be.
This morning, we got up early and drove to Carrollton, about 14 miles away, to go to the Social Security Administration. While I am a keeper of paper, I looked through all of the filing places in this dang trailer, and could not find the award letter from them. I found everything else from them, except the one piece of paper we needed. I THINK that what happened is that we got that letter about the same time that I was supposed to be mailing out the income taxes in April, but then we had to pack up and leave our camp host volunteer job early due the budget thing going on in Washington. That is the only explanation I can think of, and MAYBE we left before that form was received in the mail. Who knows?
Anyway, it was just a short drive to the Social Security Office in Carrollton. We got there and it was not crowded. Fabgrandpa walked, got a copy of his letter, and we were on our way in less than 10 minutes. We stopped off at the lender’s office on the way home and dropped off all the papers. Now we wait.
Fabgrandpa and I have been talking the talk about buying a house for a couple of years now. Remember this, and this, and this? We talked about a lot of things between us since January, and today, we walked into the lender’s office to start the ball rolling to be pre-approved for a mortgage loan. At this point in time, we don’t have a clue where that ball is going to stop, but we are looking a wide circle in west Georgia. What kind of house we buy is really going to depend on how much house we can afford, just like anyone else who is looking. We know what we WANT, which is a ranch style house with 3 bedrooms, at least 1.5 bathrooms, a carport, and 2-5 acres, not in a subdivision. Out in the country some but not too far to go shopping if we want to. It just feels like the right thing to do for us right now.
We went to look at a house the other day, just for fun, because the address was on Happy Hill Road, and I thought it would be fun to say that whenever someone asked for my address. The yard was beautiful, but the house–a D.U.M.P! Oh, well, we can be happy just about anywhere but apparently NOT on Happy Hill Road.
So, the process has begun, and I am up to my eyeballs in paperwork already. To start off the application process to be pre-approved for a home loan mortgage, you need to come prepared with the following paperwork: (at least with THIS lender, I would call ahead to be sure what your lender wants)
2 years federal tax returns (1040’s)
2 years W-2 forms for each person
Each person’s most current paycheck stubs
2 months bank statements
If you get social security, then you need to provide a copy of your award letter from social security
If you are a veteran, a copy of your DD-214
If you are a veteran, a copy of your VA Loan eligibility certificate
This paperwork pile will probably reproduce itself overnight. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow!
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I was sitting here a while ago when it dawned on me that this, the 31st day of October, 2011, is the 20th anniversary of me living with my guy, my Fabgrandpa. Yes, he moved in with me on Halloween night in 1991. We were struggling with trying to get a full sized dresser up the front steps of my house when a little kid came running up and yelled “Trick or Treat!” I about lost it laughing, when the Fab Hot Boyfriend (ok, we weren’t married yet back then) said “Do you want a pair of socks?” It has been a laugh a minute ever since.
You have to agree, he WAS hot back then. Look at all that dark hair. That mustache. Those dreamy green eyes. Who wouldn’t have fallen in love with a guy like that. My treat for the last 20 years!
So was I. This is me back then:
Weren’t we just made for each other? Look at that happy couple:
And us today, still happy, and still cute:
I am looking forward to 20 more. Happy Halloween, y’all. Hope yours is as fun as mine.
