"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Saturday, April 16, 2011

N is for nothing, nada, zilch

You thought I was joking? Really, N is for nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero, bupkis...as in I got nothing for you. That's what happens when you stay up til nearly 3 am writing a post singing the praises of all the bloggers you love...and then have to get up at 7 am.

Yes, it's Saturday, the first day of our Spring break and I willingly got up at 7am. No, the kids weren't awake. No, the smoke detector wasn't blaring. In fact, it was blissfully quiet...silent even...and I still jumped out of bed after less than 4 hours of sleep.

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to a multi-neighborhood yard sale and I consciously decided to sleep through it. What could possibly convince me that it was a good idea to get out of bed that early on a Saturday? Well, free shit, of course. Yup, stuff that cost me nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero, bupkis. One of the churches here in Cary has a yearly event called The Great Giveaway. People donate all kinds of stuff and all you have to do is show up and claim whatever you can get your hands on. I made out like a bandit. Seriously, it felt like I was doing something wrong claiming so much cool shit. What did I get you ask (come on...surely someone out there is asking...please tell me I'm not talking just to talk)? Well, since I'm being a totally lazy shit, I'll just have to tell you because I don't feel like taking or editing pictures right now. Here's what I got...
  1. 2 amazingly large bags of fabric (if you've seen the White House Black Market totes from BlogHer, I got enough to cram 2 of those full to bursting)...I got Christmas fabric (one bag obviously bought for a quilt), the coolest spider web fabric, some fabric suitable for clothes, and more
  2. a little bag of decorative buttons
  3. 3 skeins of Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds yarn
  4. 3 pairs of jeans (1 for Joey and 2 for Marty) 
  5. 3 pairs of shorts (1 for Joey and 2 for me) 
  6. a pair of soft fuzzy brand new socks with the tag still on
  7. a beautiful sweater I can wear next winter
  8. a starter jacket from Super Bowl XXX that is in great condition
  9. a denim shirt and denim jacket that I thought would work for Joey (they turned out to be too large so they are going to the dad of one of Joey's friends)
  10. 3 soft, fuzzy, sweet teddy bears and a squishy stuffed gorilla
  11. a Matryoshka doll that was actually made in Russia
I am definitely passing on some of the bounty. There is so much fabric that I am taking it with me to the quilting/crafting group on Tuesday and am letting the ladies pick some out.  But, there are 2 things I had intended to pass on to others. I had meant for the stuffed Gorilla to go to a friend who collects them (but Joey has claimed it) and the Matryoshka doll was going to be a gift for a friend who speaks fluent Russian and actually spent time studying in Russia but Gabe became entranced by it and informed me that "We HAVE to keep it."

Despite the lack of sleep and the resulting sleepies hitting me, I thing this nothing was definitely worth getting up for.

5 comments:

Meredith said...

Score!! That's so exciting! Totally worth getting an early start. Hope you guys have a great spring break week!

_ said...

Nice haul!

So that's the real name for those nesting dolls. I love them!

Enjoy spring break. The boys start theirs on Thursday.

Anonymous said...

Glad you found some great free stuff! Enjoy your spring break!

(BTW, can't remember which blogs I've told yet, so I apologize if I'm redundant, but this is Kira previously of Grafting a Branch onto the Family Tree)

Barb said...

That's ok! I'm envious of your abundance of writing ideas and the will to get them written!

Thanks for your comment. :)

Anonymous said...

Joey and Marty (Martin) are my brothers names. Who are they to you?

Small world, or whatever the appropriate sentiment is here :)