Current Mood : OK. Pretty good, actually.
Spent on Barbie and just plain 'me' stuff : $9.71
Got to see DFIL and DMIL, for the first time since DMIL's mother passed. Uncle T., who lived with and took care of Grandmother, is currently sorting and distributing clothes and quilts and such. We inherited a lovely octagon-flower one. I'm sure that design has a name, all quilt patterns do, but I'm too lazy to look it up.
DMIL told me that there's bags of clothes and such that no one knows what to do with yet. I said that, once everyone had gone through them all and gotten all they wanted, if they dropped ‘em off here, or told me when/where to get them m'self, I'd make sure they got donated or used up. Of course, my way of ‘using up' often includes cutting up and repurposing, so our place would literally be the last stop. As long as everyone was OK with that, I'd be glad to help, but I understood that my way may not be acceptable. And, of course, I'd never cut up a quilt. Just clothes.
In the meanwhile, I kinda went nuts at Dollar Tree today. Dearest Son wasn't in much of a ‘Library' mood, so we skipped it. He scored a Ice Age 3 coloring book, a mini-skateboard ramp (for his Hot Wheels cars), a fresh box of crayons, and a stop-sign shaped stamper - just have to find a stamp pad around here. For Chez Insanity school, I got a card of two decks of playing cards (last time we bought cards, they were $2 a deck, and cards are great for math games), a book of holiday Sudoku puzzles, and a set of Spiderman-themed math flash-cards, ‘cause he didn't want the DPrincess ones. BTW, they got more mini-DP tea sets in, and Pooh-themed yellow ones, too. If not for the hive-shaped tea pot, I'd have been sorely tempted.
But as it was, I went crazy enough without ‘em. Chose a sparkly gold sweater (doll clothes material), a DP holiday-themed pen, another set of DP stickers, a mini-skateboard set of steps (just the right size for doll photos !), and two boxes of crackers I like, that everyone else here hates.
We also peeked in to Walgreen's, in search of cheep after-Halloween goodies. Didn't find any of those, but did find today's image ! It's so cute ! And at $2.99, cheap, too ! I'll probably use it for small purse-things, or attach a handle to it, like those vintage airline mini-cases. I always loved those, and my dolls used ‘em as luggage long after the candy or jacks inside were gone. This one is a bit bigger, but it'll be just about the right size for Elphie to use as a skate case ! It's nearly four inches long, and about two and a half tall. Back of the package cautions that the makeup included is real, not fakey kid stuff. I can vouch - it's real nail polish, but nearly as thin and light a color on your nails as a highlighter pen. Still, I like my little star-shaped polishes !
I was about to toss the packaging, but instead, I pulled out the ‘Barbie' signature logo, the doll image, and the ‘My Zippered Makeup Bag !' medallion. They crinkled a bit, but didn't crack. So they'd hold in the package, the sticker glue is on the good side, but that just means I have to be a bit more creative in using these freebie stickers. Ended up attaching the signature to a Lucite star that has soap bubble colors, so I have a festive Christmas doll ornament for Babs' anniversary. The doll and circle ended up inside the see-through lid of my doll accessories box. It holds doll jewelry, aprons, crowns, etc. Now I have a custom-decorated accessories box, and a one-of-a-kind ornament. For free !
The cardboard back has a neat quilted design I wanna scan, and when that's done, the doll drawing on the back, as well as another signature logo, will probably become either bookmarks or ornament designs. Not sure yet. But isn't it amazing how much you can get from a $3. splurge ?
Once home, I busted butt and got four loads of laundry washed, dried, and put away. Whew ! I even line-dried the blankets and towels, and fluffed ‘em up in the dryer while storing the rest. I also cleaned up the kitchen to catch up on dishes, and took out all the trash to the today-emptied Dumpster. I'm hoping the effort will lead to a good night of sleep. I don't care what anyone says, it always takes me a week to adjust to a Daylight Savings time-shift, and when I add a major schedule change, it's no wonder I've been waking up at odd times since the month began, wondering if I was supposed to be awake or not yet.
