Wait for the money...

I'm a fairly new user of EBAY, but with a lot of help and encouragement from my son John, I've sold enough items to earn a BLUE STAR after my name. Whoop de doo!

John wanted to help me sell some of my dishes, which have been tucked away in the lower cupboards for years. We tried selling the big punch bowl set, and the antique China tea set, but without success. Then, he helped me photograph those popular rectangle glass party trays with matching cups from the '40's, and put them up for auction on Ebay.



A gentleman in Oregon was the only one who bid on them so he won the auction. Much too low for the value I had in mind. He immediately asked for an invoice. Oops. I didn't know how to send an invoice. I wrote him a note through Ebay, and told him I was new at this, and would let him know what the amount should be.

He wrote back cordially, and said he was new at this, too, so would wait to send the check.

John helped me figure out the invoice thing, and we sent it off via the internet. Then, he and I packed the 31 dishes, and the 25 cups into four good-sized boxes.

In the meantime, I was planning a trip to visit my daughter in Oregon. At the last moment, I decided I would just DELIVER the four boxes, and not have to take all that stuff to the post office. It would save the buyer money, and save me the trouble of shipping the boxes.

Well, that trip got X'd, because of all the snow in the very mountains I would have to travel. So, John brought the boxes back in the house, and repacked them into three boxes. One was huge, and very heavy. But, it was within the limits at the Post Office. So, we mailed them, then and there. Another OOPS. It's better to wait for payment before sending the buyer the items.

We wrote to the buyer and told him they were on their way, and please send the money.

No more correspondence.

We prayed, asking God to put it on the heart of the buyer to send us the check.

Each day brought no check.

John wrote. I wrote.

Then, John phoned the number at the business address we were given. The gentleman was out sick, we were told.

After another week, John proceeded to get Ebay involved, for "non payment."

He also wrote the Chamber of Commerce in that city, to check and see if the business actually existed.

Yes, it was a real shop, and open.

Today, nearly a month and a half after selling the dishes, we received a money order for the amount we had said, with a note from the buyer... he and his family had been very sick, and he was sorry he couldn't send it sooner.

My faith is restored.

On a Scale of 1...

A friend noted that I have lost weight since Bob died. She asked me, "How much have you lost?"

"About 173 pounds."

When the swallows come back...

Some folks remember this day as Saint Joseph's Day. Others remember that this is the day the swallows return to Capistrano... every year for hundreds of years without fail.

But I will always remember it as the day I gave myself to the love of my life, Bob Darrow.

How do you celebrate an anniversary when one of you is gone? Is there a rule, or a book to tell you how? Is there a right way and a wrong way?

I guess that in remembering, there is honor, and celebration.

I think I'll go buy a Baby Ruth candy bar. That's what we had to eat on our wedding night.

And I'll check the news to see if the swallows returned on schedule.

Now it's 12:42 PM and I ate my candy bar on the way to church, and I checked the news. Yep. They arrived.

Wearing o' the green....

Here's to Auntie Margaret, born on Saint Patrick's Day, 1901, and as Irish as could be.

Proud of her heritage, and proud of her birthdate, most of the gifts given to her on her beirthday were GREEN, of course. Green gloves. Green scarves. Green hankies.

And she loved green goblets, green tableclothes, and green Depression Glass dishes.

Bob was her only "downline." So, this is what we inherited from that sweet little red-haired Auntie Margret. Happy Birthday up there, Auntie.

March forth!

When we were kids, riddles were popular on the playground. This one stuck in my mind, since it comes around every year. "Which date is a command?"

Maybe the Lord is speaking to me through that simple command. Don't mope around, Woman. Get up and wash your face, and get going. Bob is NOT coming back. So, make things new, and enjoy the years you have left. Enjoy the people he brought into your life, especially the four Bob gave you. And their spouses. And their kids, and their spouses, and their kids.

Gotta go wash my face.

A new great-grandchild is on it's way. Don't want him to catch me moping.

Shag's gotta go...

There is a Proverb that says, "A wise woman builds her house, while the foolish one tears it down." Right now, it looks like a foolish woman lives here.

All these years, we have had moss-green shag carpets throughout the house. Yesterday, four men from my church came as volunteers, and pulled up the carpet and pads and hauled them out, and washed and dried the beautiful hardwood floors which were hidden underneath. They will come in a few weeks to remove the bedroom carpets, as well. Until then, it looks like we are either moving in or moving out. Books are piled everywhere, and the furniture is temporarily displaced.

While we are at it, why not paint? Our friend Tom really wanted to paint one wall a different color. OK, green. That's my favorite color. It's even better without the old green shag carpet.