I'm back!

Wow: somehow I entirely missed posting during the month of December. First there were the holidays, and then our trip to Ohio to visit Micah's family (which we just returned from a few days ago). Mercifully, the Ohio weather was nice to me considering that I don't own a coat warm enough to sustain sleet, snow and icy winds. You'd think I would...after all, I lived in Ohio for two years while I was going to school...but no, somehow I suffered through those years with substandard coatage and just learned to walk very quickly from building to building.

So anyway, it was 70 degrees and drizzly when we stepped off the plane in Columbus on the 8th of January. As this was the exact weather we'd left behind in Texas, I felt as if I hadn't actually gone anywhere. Of course, a self-respecting Ohio winter will not feature tropical temperatures for long, so it did grow colder over the course of our stay. But at least I got to enjoy a gradual freeze-out instead of an in-your-face one.

Highlights of our trip included visiting with Micah's family (naturally), our trip to Lehman's Hardware (I love that place!) as well as a real thrift store and a Mennonite shop that sells HUGE bags of cinnamon sticks for 91 cents. (I bought two of them and am hoping they still smell as fragrant come next Christmas when I am planning to simmer them to my heart's content. I simply haven't allowed myself to indulge in the cinnamon sticks from any grocery store in close proximity to my house...you know, the little bottles for $8 that contain about six sticks each.) This Mennonite shop also had every other type of spice at unbelievable prices, as well as granolas, meats and cheeses and an assortment of other yummy things. What do you suppose it would take to encourage a Mennonite enclave to set up shop in my area???

The Mennonites also know how to run thrift shops. Here in my area of Texas, we have stores masquerading as thrift shops, but which persist in charging outrageous prices for almost everything. For example, imagine a dinky, scuffed up wooden hanging shelf of the type which might cost $8 or $10 new at a discount store like Ross. Furthermore, imagine the choking sensation that emerges in your throat when you notice a pricetag on said junky shelf at your local Goodwill or Salvation Army reading $18! Yes, this has been my painful experience. My local "thrift" stores also sell the Walmart or Target $1 movies for $2-3 each, and plenty of extremely dated and worn clothing items in the $7 and up range. When I know of at least a few places where I can buy this year's styles new for practically the same price. Can you tell this is a sore spot with me?:o)

So I thought I'd gone to thrift store heaven when I walked into this elegantly laid out little store in Ohio, where I managed to scoop up these milk glass vases for 35 cents each:

I can guarantee you that these would have been priced at at least $4-5 each in my local stores, if they had any such pieces at all (My local stores seem to specialize in items from the eighties). And my local stores also never have such things as 25-cent hand-crocheted coasters and $2 hand-knitted afghans (which I was prevented from buying only because of the color scheme). I still haven't gotten over my envy of the folks living within driving distance of such a resale mecca.

In closing this lengthy rambling saga, I'd like to request your prayers for Micah's job situation. Unfortunately, the housing market decline has severely affected his day job (which was done on a contract basis), and he's currently trying to find something else to help us pay the bills right now. We don't know what the more long-term future will hold...that is, how long the housing market will continue to be shaky, or whether or not he will remain in that industry. We are thankful that God's allowed Micah to develop a website that has been successful in bringing in some income, and we're trying to trust Him to provide the rest of what we need. I guess He thinks we can use even more intense practice in frugal living:o)

Also, sometime over the next few days, I'll try to post picture of my recent home improvement/organization projects. I guess I've hit the "nesting" phase of my pregnancy! Until then, hope your weekend is happy and productive!