Work Pants

Those are the work pants I picked up at Goodwill for $4.99 each. Not bad at all for the price considering even a new pair on sale at Target last week was $15.99.

These are not pants I would have normally bought; I wear jeans almost exclusively because these kinds of pants are boring and drab and I happen to like how I look in jeans that fit well. Plus, these types of pants are so IT looking. I was in IT once (full blown network IT manager and user support for a decent sized construction company) and even then I didn't wear Microsoft pants.

Yep, that's what I call them "Microsoft Pants". Granted it could be worse but in my thrifty/forced to be frugal life, Goodwill was the best option for me.

Two are brands I am not familiar with (left two) and the second to right is Merona (Target brand) and the last pair are Dockers. I am kind of bummed because I had gone and picked out the first pair, the black and the last pair of Dockers along with another pair of Dockers. The other pair of Dockers were the same size but longer in the leg yet they were too big around the waist and hips. I was quite surprised because Dockers is a Levi's brand and I rarely have problems with Levi's jeans except for the length. But what was a real drag was they were a red tag and red tags were 50% off last week so I would have had three pair at $4.99 and one pair at $2.49. Eh, I returned them, found those Meronas and that's that.

I will admit, I am in a state of sadness today. While I am still semi self-employed, I now am working outside the home for someone else and I am not real happy about that. I am a very independent woman and the thought of having to be at some place at certain times through the week (with the same walls and same people) makes me a bit sad and a bit frustrated too. I've been able to set my work schedule for most of my life since January 1994 when I moved from Colorado Springs to Grand Junction to start my outside sales career. That's close to 16 years of me calling the shots.

But for some part-time work here and there, a stint at a tile company (that's a long story), tis a long time for independence.

Anyhow, yeah, quite a bit of uneasiness about this combined with working for a large corporation. I know I can do a good job and I will do a good job but with the loss of my independence I worry.

I just hope that tonight I get a good night of sleep and this first week doesn't send me into "What am I doing? What have I done?" I do not want to be a bad employee.

Last weekend my brothers and I got the rest of the stuff out of the storage unit:



If you look carefully you can see Sonny (cat) hanging out on a very old and ugly comfortor I've had since the mid 80s. It was useful for a lot of things through the years (not on my bed though) so I will hang on to it for a while longer.

But it's kind of sad to see all your stuff fit into an 855 sq. ft. apartment when I took up a good majority of the 1400 sq. ft. house I lived in for 11 years. A ton of it is gone and thinking through some of the things I got rid of, I really wish I had just hung on to them until I had a good chance to go through my stuff. I only had three weeks from rehab to the move to get my bearings together and that was just not enough time to think things through.

I made snap decisions about what was donated and such and in hindsight, there's a lot of stuff I am regretting having gotten rid of. The clothes I donated HAD to go but some of the things that were my mom's, things I had picked out that I really liked, my own little jewelry collection, etc are gone and there's no turning back on any of that.

I guess you could say that today I am sort of in mourning. My independence is partially gone and the things that I didn't have time to make good decisions on getting rid of are somewhere in the world.

I will snap out of it but there's a lot of apprehension, sadness, anger, etc today.

Still alive and kickin'

Not much happening in my little household. Started to get stuff out of my storage unit so I can get rid of one expense while I look for a house. This means I have to (sadly) get rid of my washer, dryer and refrigerator.

Anyhow, made a few minor changes to the apartment with it being fall and the fact the heater is now working from about midnight till early afternoon when the passive solar heat (even in this dark cave) warms up my place...AND with living in a semi-arid climate it's dry anyway but then you add in the heater, you've got dry air, nose, skin and dust just collects and moves with any poof of air. (That's a lousy sentence!)

I wanted to find a little stand at Goodwill to put one of the humidifiers in the little hallway but didn't find anything. Ideally it would have been about 14" max deep, since they didn't have anything I got some long sleeve tops and a couple more tshirts to wear instead. All in excellent shape. So, Monday when I went to clean out the fridge I brought back the little antique desk I bought back in about 1991 and while it's 18" deep, it will have to do. "Work with what you have", right? It's a tight squeeze but I put it in the hallway with a few items from the storage unit:





I had started to collect colbalt blue glass back in the day and I still love them so they were unpacked and put on the little desk with some craft dowels and bamboo skewers in the vase...because I had them. Along with a couple of candle holders and it completes the desk a bit...I am not happy that it's so large for the hallway (perfect in width though) but it will do for now.

So, introducing another humidifier (two is all I need and my large 4 gallon Vornado is a bit much for this little place) I had to adjust a few things around in the living room:



I had my aunt and uncle over for dinner last week so it gave me incentive to get those dopey built in shelves straighted out:



I use them to house my purse, keys, gloves, cell phone as well as my gloves, bags to take the dog out and clean up after (wish my neighbors would do the same) and the ashes of my past animals (I know, I am weird - brother calls them "dog in a box" and "cat in a box" - he still has his "dogs in a box" ashes too so I don't feel too odd.

My knitting needles are up top, a yellow vase I intended to put some fall flowers in that I got at Goodwill but the Dollar Tree was out of them, and a few other doodads.

Yesterday when I was out getting a few groceries, dog and cat food I picked up a gourd, a squash and a pumpkin to put on my computer desk:





See the little orange box holding my paper and note pads? That's a Kroger granola cereal box I painted to keep those along with a pen and Sharpie handy right at my desk.

Also, I was at Ross (gotta see their clearance stuff) and they finally had the avocado green bamboo placemats listed for $2.99 (for a set of 4, I had been waiting for them to either be sold or go on clearance) so I picked those up to backdrop my shelves like the orange placemats above. It's still a strange application but I like them...oh I put the other two under the dark baskets on my living room coffee table.

Other than a few (very few) Christmas items, that's all the decor I am going to be doing until I move - whenever that is...

I've been busy reading blogs though. Everyday I go through them and wish I had a tad bit more $ to add in some fall decor because there are so many great ideas. But that's okay. I have a lot of orange and other fall colors in my home.

"Work with what you've got!"

Thrifty Birthday

My birthday last Wednesday was pretty mellow. I needed to go to the dollar store to pick up a few things (yay for cheap tissues, gallon size storage bags, scented candles and reed diffusers) and to Home Depot to return a couple of things as well...inbetween I ran over to Goodwill and despite the fact I said previously I was done shopping for home decor, hehe, Goodwill tripped me up and heck, it was my birthday...

A leaf tile set in wood that is pretty much a trivet so it replaced the windchimes over the sink next to the metal trivets I have. I painted the wood (it was stained 80s brown) a mid brown but think I might go ahead and attack it with black paint instead. It's pretty much early 80s I am sure. (30% off)

A copper leaf silhouette thing you put a votive behind. I like its odd 70s feel to it. Maybe it's a lot newer but meant for Thanksgiving? I don't know, it's going to be displayed year round. (30% off)

I was going to get two brass plate/picture easels or stands from the dollar store that were a tacky bright brass (to paint) but I wasn't sure if they would work for those plates...so I passed on them and lo and behold I found two adjustable and in serious need of a good spray paint but doable for the moment easels/stands for 49¢ at Goodwill. I saved me a buck fifty-one! They were a green tag so they were 50% off.

The silver candle holder got a good cleaning since the picture (not sure if it's real silver, looks like a Pier 1 candle holder I had once and is in fact Pier 1). (Only thing full price)

A soap stone (?) carving that is sitting on one of the plate easel things which also looks like it may have been from Pier 1...I have it on my night stand. (30% off)




A candle holder thing (30% off) which may get a good spray too.





I kind of like it as is - yeah, that mossy odd green to look like a cement garden ornament? I really wanted something for that hand made glass globe my parents got for me...the stand that went with it was sent to Goodwill. :-( Anyhow, I thought I would paint that either "espresso" in satin or the flat black...I'm still undecided if I want to paint it. It's been since last Wednesday and it's kind of grown on me.

So now I am fully into my 40s but still on the low end of 40s...but a few thrifted pieces made my day.

Check out other people's thrifty finds at Southern Hospitality blog!

One of those days but I turned it around. Goodwill!

I woke up today very late and with a sense of "dread". A day where, before, I would have gone to the liquor store and I am not doing that. Well, I got in the shower even though I really wanted to stay stinky, hibernate in the apartment and wallow in whatever was making me feel dread. I know why my mood was so horrible but sheesh, didn't think it would be that bad.

During one of my travels around my 'hood I noticed that Tuesday Morning had moved to the shopping center right by the apartment. I hadn't been to their old location in ages and ages so I didn't know they had moved despite that it was next to The ARC Thrift store previously.

Since it had been so long, I decided to see what stuff they had. While they have some good quality stuff, being the frugal (and currently broke) person I am I was still disappointed in some of their pricing. I certainly will keep them in mind for when I can afford to get a new comforter for the bed and a blanket but keep an eye out for their clearance sections instead. I don't see that a $100 comforter is all that great a value even if the original pricing was at $195. Uh, cat, dog, out of style real quick. Things like that are rarely an "investment" IMO.

It was storming pretty hard while I was in there so I spent a good hour just going through and looking around and walked out as the storm passed without having purchased a thing. Which is good because one of my goals for the day was to get to Goodwill and look for a few more clothing items. So for $4 or so less than I would have spent on wine (given my mood) I picked up a pair of jeans (full price as it's hard to find my size so I snag them when I can), a nice top, two around the house or quick run to the grocery store t-shirts and a cute little bowl that isn't anything special but made me smile. On the way home, picked up a couple of job applications since my mood was much better. It was hard to put on a smile pre-Goodwill so I waited until I was on my way back home.

The two t-shirts are screen printed. One says "I'm probably lying" and the other says "It's only funny til someone gets hurt...then it's freakin' hilarious". Humorous and cynical, fit my mood and will in the future too. The jeans (Levis 515 bootcut) fit perfectly so I am pleased with a $4.99 price tag as they are in pretty darn good shape. The top is a well made cotton long sleeve knit top which will work for fall through spring. It's a nice red color with a pretty satin look trim around the neck which can be worn alone or under something else in the cold months (or even in the summer when it's a bit chilly out). It was only $1.99 since it was a 50% off tag (green tags were 50% today, red tags 30% off). The t-shirts were $1.39 (red tag) and $1.99 (white tag) but I got rid of a lot of my "around the house/shopping shirts" when I moved as many were nothing more than hole ridden icky things so it's worth it to me.

The little bowl I found was only 79¢ as it too was a 50% off item:



Had it been still listed at $1.59, I would have left it behind but at 79¢ I figured I could afford the little smile it gave me instead of stopping at the liquor store, good trade off. It's now sitting on my monitor stand with a dollar store candle in it. It's not always about if things match your decor but if you like it.

Instead of soothing my mood with alcohol, I got some things (for less $) that will last and needed with a little something extra. Now if the job fairy will bless me, it will all be good.