America & Goodwill

4^th of July proved to be another brutally hot weekend in Phoenix. Fortunately, the counselor and I took the kiddos up to Flagstaff for a weekend of cool weather and good old-fashion American patriotism.

This small-town celebration was great. This is our 6^th year attending.

The parade showcased the following show stoppers:

Beautiful Indian dancers

Librarians pushing wild-wheeled library carts

Men riding bikes made in their garage

Talented baton throwers (brings me back to my childhood)

Cute kids waving flags

Beautiful Mexican Dancers

Dogs wearing festive bandanas

A happy princess

The local bike-riding society

Civil war impersonators with musket guns and rat-a-tat drums

StarWar's characters waving flags with pride

But hold the horses (not literally)

Here comes something I’ve never seen in a 4^th of July parade.

Can you believe it?

Did someone know I was here because I'm feeling awfully loved?

They're throwing out candy too (not for you, Princess).

Goodwill represents so much of what America stands for.

Helping others, serving in our communities, hard work, but let’s talk trash.

After the parade, I had to shop Goodwill.

Let’s see what I found.

I bought this Chico’s Travelers Size 3 Black Long Straight Short Dress for $5.99. It sold on EBay for $41.00.

This Woman’s Patagonia Size 8 Organic Cotton Button Down Shirt was $3.99. It sold for $8.99.

These Citizen for Humanity Sz 28 Nordstrom Anniversary Jeans were $5.99. They sold for $14.99.

Another Chico's Travelers XL Size 3 Black Long Straight Dress. It sold for $15.49.

Chico's Size 0 Denim Jean Knee Length Overall Dress was $3.99. It sold for $9.99.

The Dear trash I sold on EBay helped pay for one of the two nights at our hotel. It always benefits to shop Goodwill while on vacation, plus I donated money to one of my favorite American towns.

Sleep Deprived and Top EBay Sales of the Week

Reef, my youngest son, just barely two, has always been a great sleeper until recently. He’s turned into a climber and crawls out of his crib throughout the night. What started out as a milestone,

“Wow, everyone, Reef crawled out of his crib. What a big boy.”

has turned into a major problem.

“Reef, you’ve got to stay in your crib. Its midnight and Mommy and Daddy need some sleep.”

Last night, the counselor and I gave up around 12:45am and Reef got what he wanted all along; to sleep in bed with us.

This has been going on for almost two weeks.

Actually, once he’s in our bed, he’s a darling little sleeper. He falls asleep within seconds and doesn’t move or make a peep all night. I do love taking a few moments to stare at his sweet little face and brush his hair aside. What is it about her sleeping child that melts a mother’s heart?

On the other hand, the counselor, practical and logical in his thinking, reminds me a new baby is coming and Reef’s nighttime routine needs to be broken as soon as possible. I understand the reasoning, really I do, but I only have Reef as my baby for a few more weeks. The transition of letting go off my older baby to welcome a new baby has always been an emotional one for me. The good news is once the baby’s here, the struggle’s gone.

Needless to say, I’ve been posting my EBay listings with Reef on my lap (or at least what’s left of it). I do my EBay listings at night and usually the kids are asleep, but Reef seems to be taking a break from sleep. Taking measurements and typing is not easy, with Reef shifting here and there, but my lap is obviously where he wants to be. I wonder if he senses a change coming? This might explain his need to be stuck to me like glue.

EBay sales of the week are super great. Things are really moving and I’m most especially excited about my .99 relist sales. They've started plenty of bidding wars and I’m making great profits off these items.

Some of my .99 cent re-list's for the week are:

These American Eagle size 12 Cropped Jeans didn't sell for $6.99, so I relisted them at .99 cents. The next week they sold for $13.50.

This darling Ralph Lauren Size 12 ruffle skirt didn't sell the first week for $6.99. After relisting it for .99 cents it sold the next week for $12.05.

And this Banana Republic Size 8 Pencil Skirt, after relisting it, it sold for $8.5o.

My top sales of the week are as listed:

This week Chico's was hot, hot, Hot. I found these Chico's pants, size 3.5, which I'd never seen Chico's go larger then Size 3. I was curious how they'd sell and they did great at $15.52.

These Chico's linen overalls are so cute and I was tempted to keep them for myself, but I gave into the EBay pressure and they sold for $14.50.

Chico's Traverlers has a huge following. These pants are made out of acetate so they never wrinkle and they have a lot of stretch, making them very comfy. They sold for $14.50 as well.

I love Fresh Produce and this was another item I was tempted to keep for myself, but being so big and pregnant leaves me feeling like I'll never fit into anything "normal" size again. Anyway, this skirt sold for $10.10.

Sometimes size 0 sells, sometimes it doesn't (my theory, their aren't many size 0 girls left in America). Anyway this J. Crew Size 0 Oriental fan skirt sold for $8.50.

The change of seasons is a great time to list items. Most of my buyers are looking for clothes for spring, so spring and summer clothes are selling great. Good luck and wish me some sleep.

Double Surprises and My Ebay Disappointments of the Week.

Sometimes you get a surprise that leaves you a little, well . . . shocked. But what if it's a

Double Surprise!

Like this little situation.

Reef did all this just to get to the “sword” at the end of the rainbow.

Double Surprise?

Mayer's reaction.

This breakfast disaster was a surprise.

Double Surprise?

The dogs cleaning it up.

Mayer surprised me by trying to fix the sprinklers.

Double Surprise?

The dogs running through the house, soaking wet, sliding all over the living room floor (I didn't even have time to get a photo of this one).

Once again, Mayer (he's just at that age) surprised me with a little art work. On my DESK. WITH PERMAMENT MARKER!

Double Surprise?

Look at how well he's writing the letter "M." Wow, that's my boy. Preschool is really paying off.

This fox shawl at a yard sale was a bit of a surprise, in a kind'a cool way.

Double Surprise?

These super funky Monk Jars were from same home as the shawl.

Surprises on Ebay can go either way. Today I'm posting my Ebay disappointments in the format of Double Surprise.

Be sure you're sitting down.

It get's brutal.

I just read about Peabody coat's in December's In Style Magazine. They're the hot winter item and I had one to sell from Old Navy. I had over 20 hits from interested customers, but this darling jacket only sold for $1.78.

Double Surprise!

It sold to a customer in Hawaii.

Chico's Travelers are always a big seller for me, but to my

Double Surprise,

these double items sold for .99 cents. What gives?

It was so difficult packaging them up. Good-bye and farewell. Sniff sniff.

Black House White Market. I love this brand. I think I've taken it personally at this point, because I always buy this brand but they never sell well. These gorgeous diamond studs on the pockets were a Double Surprise to me. New, pants like this sell for over $100.00. At Goodwill, they were listed at $24.99, but I was able to pick them up on dollar day. Lucky me, they sold for $1.45.

The diamonds . . . the diamonds!

I've been the same way with J. Jill. This is a very expensive label, but lately it hasn't sold well on Ebay. The Double Surprise is it was a Plus Size 18 Chocolate Brown skirt. You know how I feel about Plus Sizes. They always sell better then regular sizes, but after two weeks on Ebay, it hasn't even sold yet.

I'll get over my Double Surpise's soon, but they real question is will you?