Unrecognizable continued...

This is part two of my life update, I guess you'd say.  I was thinking that my life today is Unrecognizable to my life last year and I ended up sort of summarizing what I've been doing for a year.  To read part one, click here.

It was in Michigan that I realized that even though I was creating my own happiness, it wasn't going to be enough.  I had to take that leap of faith and ask for a divorce.  It didn't matter that I had no idea where I was to live, where the money was going to come from or how I was going to pay my bills.  All of those things were secondary to the fact that I could not make the necessary changes in my marriage to make it worth staying.   I remember telling myself that as long as we had Mocha, our kitty, that I would stay with Tom.  I didn't realize what a huge promise that was or how powerful that was going to be.  When Mocha passed away in Dec of 2011, my life fell apart and at the time I had no idea why.  It's all because my heart and my soul knew that I had to make that decision.  Do I stay or do I go?   It took me almost a year from her death to actually act, but it was the right thing.

I had been telling my husband on and off for years that things weren't right, we needed to be more affectionate, we should kiss daily, we needed to work on our relationship as a married couple as we were becoming roommates who cooked dinner every so often, etc.   He thought everything was just fine, but I think he just didn't want change.  Asking him for a divorce opened his eyes, that's for sure!   Since it came as such a shock, I decided to give him a couple of months of working together to get us back to a comfortable center, now that he was very aware I was serious.  

We managed to make it through December and January with very little to show for it.  February was our seven day trip to Barbados and I could see that trip would be best spent saying goodbye and getting the closure we both needed.  (see the post here) It was one of the best soul cleansing weeks I have ever had.  I said goodbye, I cried ten million tears and I had a good time with my husband.  By the end of the week I knew deep into my very core that I had done the right thing for both of us.  I love him but our 18 year relationship has run its course.  Now we just had to get to the paperwork.

I have been in my own apartment since March, we have put our condo on the market and we currently have a signed offer, he sold his business to his partner and ultimately moved out of state.  We packed up most of the condo contents together and asked friends to come help us pack and relocate our belongings, too.   Thank goodness for friends!  I thank them every day for helping us.  Tom and I still aren't divorced, the attorney we hired, who handles uncontested divorces has his feet in mud, I swear.  Hopefully before the end of the summer it will be final.  

I intended from the very beginning that there would be no fighting, no anger, nothing to make this awful.  The decision to end the marriage was emotional enough, I wasn't going to allow anger to make its way into the ending.   The only emotions I could control of course were mine.  Thankfully Tom was onboard for a good outcome.  So far our split has been calm.  It hasn't been stress-free, but I am so proud of us.  

Sunshine has absolutely come back into my life. My deep sadness has gone away.  I marvel at the way a body can both protect and heal itself.  Last year was protection mode, that's for sure.  This year is for healing.  

I'll tie up this story into a nice bow in the next installment.  

Kristin

Unrecognizable

tylerknott.com

My life is almost unrecognizable from the way it was just a year ago.
Sure I do a lot of the same things, but I am very different.

Last year I was trying to bolster myself up so I could ask my husband for a divorce.  

Last year I was getting my antique booth up and running so I might have some money coming in.

Last year I was scared that once again, I would push the idea of divorce out of my mind and go on pretending to be happy. 

Last year I said yes to my friend, Steve, and told him that I would be his caregiver.  He lived alone and needed someone who would help him get to and from dialysis three times a week and be there for him for appointments, doctor visits and ultimately be his caregiver full time (for a few weeks) when he got the call to get his kidney transplant.  This full time role could be years away.  We were told 3 to 5 years.

Last year I was bone weary, emotionally drained, walking through my days praying something good would happen so I could hold on to that feeling to make it until the next day.  

Last year the thought of blogging was so overwhelming that I had to quit.

Last year the thought of taking a picture was mind numbing.

Last year walking into my house every day without my kitty there to greet me was just heartbreaking. 

I seriously felt that everything in my life was sad.  Even volunteering to take Steve to dialysis was sad.  He was usually happy and upbeat when I picked him up to take him to dialysis but by the time I got back a few hours later the dialysis had literally drained him, gave him a headache and he rarely ever felt decent again until the next day.  

It was actually the weekly trips (Tue, Thur and Sat) picking up Steve, taking him to D (as we called it) and then coming back an hour or so before he got unhooked from the dialysis machine, that got me living again.  They say if you can't help yourself then you can help someone else and that will in turn help you.  Well, I decided to listen to whoever THEY is!  I decided that if we had to go through 3 to 5 YEARS of dialysis, I couldn't be heartbroken every single time I dropped him off and picked him up.  I had to make it the best experience possible for both of us.  I had to make the day worth it.  So I just started being my goofy self, I laughed as much as possible, we talked about happy things, I asked questions about Steve's life and teased him about those things later (I love to tease!) and he responded with fun and laughter, too.   It was a light, a big, huge, giant light!  D days were still a bit depressing, but it was almost always a nice time together and I believe Steve got stronger and so did I during that time.

Found on Pinterest - unknown origin

I went on an adventure in August (leaving Steve in the capable hands of our transplant community who shuttled him back and forth while I was gone.)  I once again went up the East Coast and spent a few weeks with friends.  My friend Bob, who I've talked about quite a bit on here, is one of my best friends.  She and I are quite a pair and we always have a good time together.  She needed help getting her house cleaned out so she could put it on the market and I spent two weeks or more maybe with her and we played a little and packed and sorted and had a garage sale and stuff.  We talked and watched Downton Abbey Seasons One and Two and laughed and cried.  It was another incredible adventure.  More light was coming in to make me stronger.

I spent a week in Amish country with my friend Lynn.  She had set up a transplant recipient reunion at her place, so I helped in the final few days before the event.  It was so great to have so many friends from around the country come to the reunion.  My transplant community is my home, I've come to realize that more and more.  I love being a part of it.  I think a spotlight is now shining on me by this time.

I went home to Michigan in October for two weeks.  Home.  I always love being home, but this time I had so much hope for myself that I knew I had it in me to change my life.  It was this trip home that gave me the thinking time without any pressure.  I cried a million tears that trip.  It's funny how coming home can do that.  

To be continued...

Kristin

Cat Wedding

My niece changed all of the faces of a wedding party picture on the fridge to cat faces, from her magnet collection.  This is just such a hoot that I laugh every time I see it in my pictures.

Have a great day!
Kristin

He loves me and I love him...

Where we swam in Barbados - just outside of Speightstown
Photo by Kristin Corlett

One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was to admit that I was wrong. I get a lot of practice at that particular sport as I am not as right as I wished I was. Most of the time I can just glide over the fact that I was wrong and just change my position a bit and not actually have to admit the wrongness. If it's not a big issue then that's pretty easy to do.

Sometimes it's the really big things in life that need to be adjusted and that's probably the hardest thing to do, ever. I'm in the middle of one of those Big Things in Life and I can whole heartedly agree, it's just heartbreaking. I've felt for a long time that just a few tweaks in my marriage and I would finally be happy. How hard would it be just change that a little bit? Well, it turns out that it's much harder than I anticipated. I'm ever the optimist as I believe I can do anything, make anything happen and create the life that I want. I've been feeling more and more that my husband and I were not on the same page and a lot of the time not even reading the same book! We don't argue, we don't fight, we just seem to exist in each others space. We aren't even angry with each other. In fact I do love my husband but we are truly living as roommates and have for many years.

If it wasn't for my husband I would not have found the purpose in my life. I've been searching for the place where I fit in for over 40 years. I was beginning to believe that I truly was a lost soul, that I was never going to find the place in the world where my heart would sing and my garden would grow. If it wasn't for my husband needing a liver transplant seven years ago, I would have never found the support group. It took many years of attendance to realize that being a part of that group, in those lives, was where I was meant to be. At the same time I was finding my place with them my marriage had turned from marriage to friendship. He loves me, I love him, but...

Sunset in Barbados - Photo by Kristin Corlett

My husband and I vacation really well together. We seriously do. We usually agree on what to do, where to go eat, how much to rest, how much to sightsee and we have a really great time. Our last vacation together was just last week. We spent a whole week on the Island of Barbados. His parents invited us to come visit and so we did. I would suggest that anyone in the midst of getting a divorce consider renting a beachside cottage and spend a week there. We had tons of alone time, no work, no cell phones, no internet. We talked for hours. We discussed, we bargained, we held hands and we cried. We left the island with some souvenirs, sand flea bites and the realization that we were doing the right thing for both of us and we had a plan.

To be fair, my husband since the very mention of it, does not want the divorce. He's very happy with me as his wife and has never thought of living his life without me. This divorce is all me. I'm the one who isn't happy and I'm the one who wants it. What we came away from in Barbados was that he finally sees my side and accepts that I want the divorce. We discussed finances, furniture, who gets what, what to keep, what to sell and where we will live. We decided to sell our condo. We also discussed how we would live with each other in our lives after the divorce. We don't have children together nor do we have any animals that we need to share, so we could go off into the sunset and never speak again, but he's too much a part of my life for that. I'm sure we'll see how it goes in the future, but I expect we will be good friends.

I wasn't sure I wanted to make this public until we signed the papers, but he announced on facebook the other day about our upcoming divorce, so the cat is out of the bag. It's been made public. It looks like he will live part time in Michigan and part time in Florida. I will live full time in Florida.

The word of the year for me is Intention. I intend to make this the happiest, most agreeable divorce that has ever been filed. So far my year of Intention has been working very well for me. Here's to a successful future for all of us.

Have a great day,
Kristin


FYI - I realize I sound pretty happy-go-lucky about the whole thing.  I lightened the mood for blogging and didn't get into problems and issues.  There's no need to put any of that into print.

I'm in Love

Photo by Kristin Corlett

I'm in Love.

I am!

I just can't help it.

I wake up each morning (or late morning as the case may be)
and I love the mood I'm in.
I love the sheets I'm sleeping in.
I love the comforter that is pushed nearly off the bed by morning.
I love the way the light filters in through the curtains.

I love knowing that I have a day ahead of me to do all sorts of things!
I love the days that I don't have to shower.
I love meeting new people and giving them something to smile about.
I love making people laugh.
I love knowing that there are people out there thinking of me, at least for a few minutes each day.
I love being a part of this world.

I am head-over-heels, absolutely, completely and totally in Love.

How about you?


Have a great day!
Kristin

Follow-through

Source

I am a good friend to have.  It has taken more years than I care to admit to, but I've finally learned how to be a pretty good friend.  However, in order for me to be a friend, you need to be right in front of me.  This is becoming more and more apparent to me. The problem that I seem to have is with the follow-through.  I think I've mentioned a few million times that I work with Liver Transplant Families.  They need friends and they need people to become their friend instantly.  We don't have a lot of time to hash out all of the details of our lives to each other to see if we'd get along, we just love them as they come into our group.  So far it's worked out real well the past 7 years.  

Follow-through.  

Boy that's tough for me.  If someone doesn't call me asking for help or to do something, I just won't call.  If someone emails and asks a question, it seems to take me  F O R E V E R to write them back.  When someone is living right here in the area, we don't send cards when someone isn't feeling well (our group is made up entirely of sick people or people recovering from surgery) but those that live far away, I feel like I should write them a note every so often.  Send an email.  Maybe even make a phone call.  

I don't.

I think I got a butt-dial from someone today out in California.  They didn't leave a message and didn't call back, so I'm assuming that it was a mistake.  However, it made me happy that I was still in their phone!  Then I started thinking about the last time I spoke with them.  It occurred to me that the last three times I've called these folks it's been to tell them that someone had passed away.  I don't want to be the person no one wants to hear from because all I've got is sad news. 

Follow-through.  

I need to work on that.

One of the members of our group got a liver transplant last week.   I haven't been up to see them.  Someone else is having cancer treatments in another state but they've heard hardly a word from me.  If these folks were right in front of me or came to one of our meetings or social events, I would smoother them with love, listen all night long to what's going on or go out of my way to get them something that need.  Once that visual connection is gone it's like Out of Sight, Out of Mind.  

My heart is so big and I care for these folks so much and yet I seem to fail when they might need me most.  One of the main reasons I started asking people (pestering relentlessly is more like it) to move to Jacksonville after their transplant is so the new folks will have dozens of people with big hearts who can fill in the gaps and who have qualities and personalities that appeal to our patients and friends.  I know a few folks who have moved here that are so good with follow-through that it boggles my mind how they do it.  Hmmm, I wonder if they could teach a class?

The quote in the picture above is what started me on this subject.  It struck a nerve.  A good nerve, but also showed a weakness in me.  Thank you to whomever posted that quote.    

Have a great day!

Kristin

Confit Pots

Confit Pots by Kristin Corlett

While in Alabama my Mom and I went to Fairhope, AL for a little shopping and dining excursion.  Hands down, Fairhope is one of the loveliest towns.  Even in the winter time the downtown area is full of flowers, the trees are decorated with lights and almost every building has a unique shop.  This time we shopped the main road and some of the side streets.  On one of those side streets we found an incredible antique shop called Aubergine.  They had just received a shipment of confit pots, straight from France and I admit, I was instantly in love.

When I inquired what a confit pot was I learned that they were pots where meats such as duck and goose were preserved.  (This is where we get duck confit!) They would bury the pots in the ground all the way up to the glazing in order to keep the contents cool and fresh.  This is why so many of the confit pots have dirt ground into the unglazed portions of the pot.  The chips and imperfections are common as they were used regularly in the South of France.

The pots, so gorgeous, were out of my price range, so the only part of them that I came home with was this photograph.

Enjoy!
Kristin

100 ThingsThat Make Me Happy - part IV

A couple of years ago I started a list of 100 Things that make me Happy.  I looked at the list yesterday and realized that I hadn't gotten to 100 things yet and it has been well over a year since I wrote a list.  While I was getting my car serviced and I had an hour long wait ahead of me, I wrote down all of the things I'd posted so far and then HAPPILY added a few dozen more!

I'm still not at 100, but I find that to be just silly.  I find things to be happy about each day, but so many of them are either hard to describe or are just fleeting moments of joy.  The ones I've written so far are pretty standard daily happiness things.

If you'd like to read the entire list, so far, here are the links to Part I, Part II, and Part III.


61.  My red plaid down blanket from Target.  If I had known how awesome that blanket was going to be, I would have purchased more than one.

62.  Finding excellent condition retro furniture.  My heart just goes pitter pat! Even the stuff I can fix up is pretty awesome, but just seeing cool retro furniture is enough. Contrary to popular belief, I don't have to own or buy everything I like :)

63.  Cleaning something really dirty until it shines like the top of the Chrysler Building!

64.  Magic Erasers. Original and Extra Power.  No scent, no bathroom bubbles, just Original or Extra Power.

65. A warm sunny day with no humidity.  This makes me very very happy!

Image Source

66. Having my keys made in cool designs.

67. Kissing.  Yep, I'm a kisser.  If a boy I wanted to date wasn't a good kisser then there was no hope for us!

68. The Liver Transplant Support Group meetings that I attend each Thursday.  I love to go, to be with those people and to be a part of something so wonderful.

69. Thursday lunch with the Support Group friends is a highlight.  This is where we chat and laugh and really get to know one another.

70.  Receiving a message asking if I want to hang out, or have lunch, or meet up somewhere to take photos.  I feel like I do a lot of asking, so when I get the invite I'm thrilled!

Ilee Papergood's 2013 Calendar

71.  Finally being able to use the new calendar! Ilee Papergoods sells a gorgeous calendar.  I didn't get one last year, after having one the previous two years and I missed it.

72. Going to an auction determined to come home with something and doing just that.

73.  I am instantly happy when given a compliment.  It's taken a long time to be able to accept the compliments and not try to brush them off as not true.  It's good to feel happy about receiving them.

74. Painting Furniture.  I enjoy painting furniture more than I ever would have imagined.

75.  Receiving bread bag tags or fortune cookie fortunes from friends.



Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Dick and Jane Book

One of my auction scores from last year (remember waaay back then in 2012?) there was a teacher edition Dick and Jane book.  It had a giant blue hard cover and a flap and snap that could turn that big book into a stand alone piece - like an easel.  The book is almost three feet tall and was designed so that the teacher could stand up in front of the class with her book and the kids would all have their books and everyone could read along.

The teacher's edition that I have is in excellent condition.  You can tell that the pages were flipped and turned a time or two, but the little ones obviously didn't get their hands on this book.

The only ruckus these pages have seen are the antics of Fluffy and Spot with Dick, Jane and Sally running behind.

Each child has their own four page section and Spot and Fluffy have a few pages each, too.

I've had these for a couple of months and I honestly can't decide how to display them and sell them in my booth.  I don't want fingers touching all of the beautiful artwork and I don't want the pages ripped or dropped.  I may have to invest in some heavy duty page protectors like I've seen for large photography.

Thankfully this book came with almost two complete sets of the same book, so I can sell one book whole and the other book as sections.

If anyone of you folks would love to own your own copy, just drop me a line and I'll get back to you about the specific sizes, price, etc.  Kirby3131@gmail.com


Bye, bye.

Just bye.

Kristin says bye!

Silver platter wreath

I am completely and totally in love with this wreath made of sliver platters.  Ever since I first saw it on Pinterest I have had my eye out for silver platters.  I don't want to pay too much, obviously, because this wreath with 16 platters could get real pricey, real fast.  I've already found a couple platters, but the other night at an auction I was SO excited because I won a box lot of silver plate that included several platters for $5.  Five Dollars!

Those platters would put me just over 1/4 of the way around the circle.  By Christmas time next year I could have the whole wreath!  As fate would have it, there were two box lots of silver and the one with all the platters was given to the wrong person.  I ended up with bowls and gravy boats.  Not what I was hoping for.  I left the box at the auction house, hoping that the person who got the wrong box would return it for the one they bid on and won.  I'll find out in a couple of days if that happened.  crossing my fingers.

The two photos above are from the Bachman House Christmas of 2011.  There are dozens of pictures of the interior all decorated and it's gorgeous!  Take a look and enjoy.

I'm not taking this minor setback in my accumulation of platters dampen my enthusiasm.  I will create this wreath and I intend to accomplish it this year, just in time for Christmas, 2013.

Have a great day!
Kristin


*Just saying Silver Platter makes me think of the Brady Bunch.  Anyone else think of that, too?

New Year - Let's stir it up a bit.

Happy New Year!

I had a friend from Pennsylvania staying with me for a few days over the New Year holidays.  She was itching to warm her feet from the snowy PA weather and thankfully, after a few days, Jacksonville did warm up a bit.

We went to Jacksonville Beach one afternoon, the tide was moving out making the sand hard packed and easy for strolling and shell collecting.

The seagulls were enjoying the weather by just hanging out by the waters edge.  Along came this young boy determined to walk right into the flock.   It was quite a hoot when they all (except this fella in front) started squawking and taking flight!  The boy was startled for a moment, but quickly enjoyed the happenings all around him.

*Please click to enlarge the photos

I'm a lot like that boy this year.  I'm determined to stir it up a bit this year.  I have a list a mile long of all the things I'd like to do, the things I'd like to start back up again (photography and blogging being two of those things) and new projects I want to tackle.  I want to expand my antique business, paint more furniture and get my name out there.

My goal for The Goat this year, 2013, is to blog at least once a week.  I think I can probably dip my feet into the water that much in the beginning and hopefully by the middle of the year, I'll be able to add in a couple more days a week.

One of my very favorite messages that I've received from The Universe (www.tut.com) is how I'm going to end this post.

In all things, always and forever, simply wish the best for all involved, without stating what you think that is. And then, whatever does happen, no matter what happens, know that it was.  All the best,      The Universe

The Libra balancing act

The past couple of months I have really been noticing my astrological sign in my words, deeds and actions.  I'm a Libra.  I'd say 75% Libra and 25% Sagittarius, my moon sign.   I am ruled by indecision and pleasure.  I'm happy as can be, smile at nearly everything and fall in love with anything from kittens to chandeliers.  I can't sleep because my mind is going 10 times the speed of light and when I do finally get tired I can fall asleep in a matter of seconds.  I can work on something for days straight and sleep the same number of days when the project is completed.  I used to curse my sun sign when I was a kid because my heart was always getting crushed.  It's taken years but I have come to love my sign and me, too!


Here's just a little bit about me as it relates to the balancing act that is Libra.

Source

If you were to ask me on the spur of the moment to pick which restaurant to have dinner that night, you have basically asked me to have a mini meltdown right on your doorstep.  I'd have to consider your feelings, who is driving, how much gas is in the gas tank, what I've had for dinner the past week, what you've had for dinner, etc.  My usual response is "Food.  I'd like food, please."  If you then pick a place I don't like, I will speak up and ask you to choose another, but I am not likely to decide.

My poor Libra scales have to balance everything with as much impartiality as possible and it becomes exhausting for some of the tiniest things.  I am truly amazed I get anything done.  The funny thing is that if I am asked to make a decision based on what we should do with the support group folks - I can answer in a New York Minute.  I know what they need and what would be best for them.  I've already hashed that out in my head a million times, so that's easy.  Just don't ask me where to take them for lunch!  (Actually we solved the lunch problem - we made a list of about 30 places and we are now just going in order, right down the list.  Whew!)

I am forever interested in how things work, how people think, what folks are thinking about right now, what could make that person's day or if what I just said was as acidic to the listener as it sounded when it came out?  I certainly didn't mean that, it just flew out of my mouth.  I want to know about relationships, how people met, their personal story, how it could possibly relate to mine (I like talking about me) and what funny stories they have.  I love to laugh.  I want as much information on any given subject so that I can put it into my rolodex of pros and cons the next time I need it.

Libra's are master manipulators.  I know I am.  I hadn't really thought about it much until it was pointed out to me recently and then examples of it just kept coming up.  Manipulation isn't always a bad thing, honest! When people ask me what I do in our transplant support group I say that I am a soother.  I can calm down even the most heated discussions and handle nearly any patient or caregiver meltdown.  A joke or a laugh is usually the easiest, but if not, then I carefully redirect the energy of the room to something less explosive.  Sometimes the redirecting is so easy it even amazes me!  I smile, I hug, I laugh and I can actually listen, despite how much I love to talk.  I give everyone my very carefully balanced advice and my phone number to call any time.  Soothing the hearts and minds of the transplant community is what I was born to do, it seems.

A friend of mine is on dialysis three times a week and I usually take him and pick him a majority of the time.  He takes a backpack with him that's not very heavy, but after 4 hours of dialysis he's totally wiped out and even that backpack is not as easy to carry.  The first couple of weeks I'd ask if I could take the backpack for him.  He always said no no, he had it.  Then I started packing up his backpack when he had a few minutes left on the machine and taking it with me to the other room while they got him disconnected.  When he came out, I just never gave it back to him until we got to the car.  Clearly, I manipulated the entire situation so that I could assist him without him having to give up his power.

They say that Libras love to have fabulous clothes, great smelling lotions, perfumes and potions.  Unfortunately that's one part of the Libra that I do not have.  I'm allergic to anything with a scent, so if the air is perfumed around me, it's someone else!  The fabulous, well tailored clothes also go to some other incredible person as I am a dresser of comfort.  Yoga pants and a pullover shirt is my daily uniform, although the summers are so hot here in FL that I do have to resort to shorts and capri pants during the very hottest days.  I do have a lovely home that when cleaned up is a lot of fun to see and be in.  Maybe that's where the fabulous dressing comes in.  I just need a maid.

I love to be loved.
I sure do.
I also need to hear it.
A lot.

When I first started going to the Liver Transplant Support Group I knew I had finally found my home.  I could give as much love as I wanted and I was given more than enough in return.  Who knew that a life threatening illness like my husband's liver disease could connect me with my heart's desire.

My Libra scales will never stay balanced for too long but I will always be closer to center with my friends by my side.

Happy Thanksgiving.
Kristin

Missing you

A cool window in Portland, ME, that I took with my phone.

I miss blogging.
I miss taking photos all the time.
I miss my blogging friends!

I am doing a lot of new creative things.
I am doing more with the transplant community.
I am attending auctions and having a ball.
I am staying home more.

The break has been needed.
I can feel it in my bones the relief of not making myself take a photo
a day or create a blog post each day.
I loved doing it, but I didn't realize the stress I heaped on myself
until it was gone.

I cannot deny that I miss you all.
I love writing and photographing things for you as well as for myself.

The break has been long and it will be longer still, but I find
myself wanting to come back.
Wanting to take photos.
It's a good feeling.
But I'm not there yet.

This is just a note to say that I'm doing well.  I love painting furniture, am enjoying buying for my antique booths and just as happy to see stuff sell.  I am no longer feeling sad and depressed.  I found my happy place!

See you around!
Kristin

French Fries and Blogging

My redo of a blah wooden telephone bench (gossip bench.)  

It now sports shiny black paint and a black and white upholstery fabric.  

One day my mother just decided that she didn't like french fries anymore.  To most people that would seem odd to eat fries one day and the next day declare that you didn't like them.  To me, a kid at the time,  and my Dad the General Manager of my Grandfather's Burger King Franchise, it just seemed unheard of to NOT eat something that we sold.  I later understood that she did it for health reasons and it had nothing to do with Burger King specifically - except that we were there a lot.  She was learning about the fat and calories from french fries and what they could potentially do to her body, so she cut them out of her diet.  Smart lady!

Well, for health reasons, mental health reasons, I took a very long, very extended break from photography and blogging.   I don't think that I will ever be able to understand why I had to stop writing or why I had to stop taking pictures, I just had to do something completely different.  You know the saying "If you continue to do the same things, you will continue to get the same results" or is that the definition of insanity ...is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?!!  Well, I'd been doing the same thing over and over again and I wasn't getting anywhere near the results I was hoping to achieve after 5 years or so.  When Mocha passed away it started a whole new chapter of my life and it's been a doozy.

No moss is growing under my feet though.  I've been incredibly busy the past few months now that I'm done sulking.  In February I rented a 6 x6 booth space in an antique mall and shared that space with a friend of mine.  It was an easy way to take some of the treasures that I have and put them in the booth for sale.  The idea of course, is to make some money.  Well, I spent more than I made, that's for sure, but I was having a great time doing it.  Next thing you know I'd been to a dozen auctions and found myself with a garage full of furniture!  There's no way that a 6 x 6 shared booth space is big enough to showcase and sell all of this furniture that I have, so I went looking for a second location and I found it.

This weekend is the Grand Opening of Emily's Antiques and Design in Jacksonville, FL although they have officially been open since April 1st.  I rent a 10 x 11 booth at Emily's and I'm all by myself on that one.  It was quite scary to think about paying the rent and hoping that the customers would come to a new place and buy my stuff - but thankfully they did arrive and they have purchased a lot of my furniture.  The very first weekend Emily's was open I sold all the furniture in my booth except for a patio table and chairs.   I came home from a trip to Alabama to a nearly empty booth!  I was elated!!

This is the booth as of a few days ago, but 

if the patio table hasn't sold yet, it's getting yanked out today.

Just a few months into my antique booth business and I found myself overwhelmed with going literally in two directions.  One booth was near the beach and the other was 25 miles away from that one.  I wasn't balancing the two very well, so I decided to give up the little booth and let my friend have the space all to herself.  (She wanted her own booth by this time, too, so it worked out perfectly!)  As of 24 hours ago, I'm back down to one location, but that won't last too long I'm sure.  I'll figure out how to have multiple places, it's just going to take some organization.  (I may have to hire that part out! haha!)

I have discovered the JOY of painting furniture and I have also discovered that I do have an eye for the types of pieces that people like to purchase (with the exception of that patio table and chairs.)  I don't want to price myself out of a sale, so I really research what my furniture sells for locally and online and I price it just a little below that.  If I got a great deal on that piece of furniture at auction, I pass along that great deal to the customer.  I rarely get anything that very common, so it's not like I'm selling Pier One furniture for a hundred dollars less than Pier One, I'm usually selling 20 - 50 year old pieces that have seen their better days.  HOWEVER!  I just discovered a new paint and I'm taking a class in two weeks on how to use it.  I already love it and I think it is going to be my next true love.

I will absolutely write about the furniture painting class.  I'm so excited about it!

Have a wonderful day.
Kristin


To see what I've got for sale and what I've recently purchased you can LIKE my FB page "Look what we found. Items destined for sale."

Friday Fragments

Welcome to Friday Fragments!  This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival.  For more Friday Fragments finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time.  Thanks!

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Excuse me while I have a Twilight moment.... I do not believe that Jessica could have ever been the Valedictorian at Forks High School.  It just isn't possible.  I know, that movie came out years ago but it still bugs me.

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I got all the laundry done today, even a few rugs.  It really feels weird not to have a pile lurking in the corner taunting me.

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I've brought home many pieces of derelict furniture from the side of the road, but this one was a hard one to leave behind.  My car was empty and I was in the right place at the right time to pick this puppy up.  I took out the drawers to see the condition of the piece and roaches seemed to come out from nowhere!  I banged on it, stomped on them and banged on the pieces some more.  When I thought I had gotten them all, there were more.  I couldn't do it.  I couldn't take home a roach motel, so I left it behind.

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Our new guest bed arrives in the morning and the old one is leaving.  I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  The old one has been passed around so many times and now sports a large donut hole in the middle.  No matter where you start off on the bed, you end up in the hole.  Good riddance!

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I've started listing all of the fun stuff I've found at auction and have for sale at "Look what we've found" on Facebook.  Go ahead and LIKE us to get the updates.  The more the merrier!  Right now I kinda feel like I'm talking to myself!

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I just got notification that I can start moving my furniture into my booth space starting Monday.  There is a new antique mall opening up and I secured a booth a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately I'm going to be out of town the week of the grand opening and I was starting to get nervous that I wouldn't be able to get all of my stuff in my booth before I left town.  I certainly didn't want to leave that to my husband.  He's got plenty to do without doing my job!

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Oh my goodness, I'm so happy I can start moving furniture on Monday!  I know I just said that, but I'm just jumping with JOY!  I've got a whole painting party going on downstairs in a neighbors garage, so far nothing is completed, but now that I know I can move in on Monday -- YAY!  I can get finished and know it's being moved out.

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Hope you have a wonderful weekend and Happy St. Patrick's Day!  If I were in Lansing, MI, I'd be going to the McNamara's party.  That party used to be held in their business warehouse but the many hundreds who came just spilled out into the parking lot when the building got full.  Finally they had to move it to a larger location.  I'm happy that I attended the original, though.  That was cool.

Kristin

Friday Fragments

Welcome to Friday Fragments!  This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival.  For more Friday Fragments finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time.  Thanks!

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I liked this idea the first week I was on Pinterest.  It has taken me many weeks to find the jars I want to use.  It took me another week or two to wash the jars I wanted to use.  It has taken me two weeks to get the salad ingredients to put in the jars.  It took me several days to actually make the salad to have for dinner and then fill the jars.  So this picture took me about three months to accomplish and it's just a salad!

(by the way - I heard that you shouldn't put mushrooms into the jar, if you are going to store them for many days, because of mold spores or something.  I don't know if it's true, but that's what I heard)

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I spotted this photo on pinterest and asked if anyone wanted to make it for our next potluck?  I got a volunteer and yesterday, this beautiful creation came to potluck.

I have no idea what the creamy marshmallow dip was, but it went fast!

Thanks Deborah!

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My husband did something funny a few weeks ago, but I forgot what it was.

OH!  I finally remembered (hours later, I might add)

I made up some homemade maple syrup for french toast and the remaining syrup I put into a jar and put it in the fridge.  A few days later I made a pot roast.  My husband wasn't home that day, so I packaged most of it up (I ate some for my dinner!) and put it in the fridge.  I saved the liquid in a jar and put that in the fridge so that when my husband did get a chance to eat this wonderful dinner, he could make some gravy with the liquid.

I come home the next evening to the smell of breakfast in the air!  Hot syrup sure has a distinctive smell.  Yep, you guessed it - he used the syrup to make gravy.  Then when he smelled breakfast, he realized his mistake.  When I got home he was just in the middle of dumping out the flour and syrup mess that he had created.   It's hard wanting pot roast after smelling french toast!

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I purchased a box of something or other at auction a while back - in that box was a 45 record case with a bunch of 45s.  My husband and I were going through the records and discovered that quite a few of the records were quite collectable.  A Chuck Berry record that we found was quite rare and last sold on eBay for $40.  Whoo hooo ohhhh ours is broken nearly in half.  Guess that makes it worth zilch.

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Well, it's taken me nearly two days to get this written, but even though it's Saturday, I'm still joining up with Friday Fragment.  If you get a chance, go see what everyone has been doing this week.

Have a Great Weekend!
Kristin

The Realomatic

I purchased several boxes of  slides at an estate sale awhile back.  All of them say "Realomatic" on the top and sides.  I may have to disassemble one of those box tops and frame the darned thing because I have got to get real.  There is just no way at this point, that I'm going to be able to blog every day or even post a photo a day.  I tried, I really did, but I'm in way over my head.  It seems like every time I start to think about something fun or start editing photos I burst into tears.  This is not a way to write a blog!  Well, not the type of blog that "I" want to write or read.

...and it's not every time, but it sure feels like it.

I called a friend of mine who lost her dog years ago.  I knew she had a hard time with his death and my Mom even suggested that I might like to give her a call - well, she didn't tell me anything that I didn't know already, but it was good to know that I wasn't totally off my rocker.  It was also great to talk to another Mom figure without it being mine.  She suggested that I talk to my Dr and that it took her six months or a bit more to get over the daily sadness over the loss.  I'm into month three.  My antiquing is certainly a distraction, but given the slightest chance to get emotional about anything, I fall off the deep end.  It's not always just about my dear Mocha.

Yes, yes, I have an appt. to see my Doctor.
We'll see what he has to say about all this.

On a brighter note - I am having a lot of fun with the antique booth.  There is no question about that.  I even rented a second space in a brand new mall and I may even rent a third.  The second space isn't open yet, but should be by the first of April.  I sure hope so because I have totally run out of space to store all of this stuff.  I'm also needing a place to sand and paint, but I've filled my garages so full that I have to haul the stuff outside of the garage and I'm not so sure the condo association is too keen on that type of activity.  I have two dressers to refinish, a shelving unit and several night stands to also redo.  OH and that telephone bench that I showed you all last week.  I have to do that one.  I even have a rotary dial phone to put on it - for sale of course.  

My first booth that I share with my friend Bettyann is 6' wide by 6' deep.  It's teeny tiny, but boy can we pack a lot in there.  The second booth I've rented all alone (biting my nails!) is a 10 x 11.  I can put large pieces of furniture in there, but goodness, it is going to be a challenge to keep it looking "decorated."  I'm going to have my photos for sale, too, so I'm grateful for a nice big space for those.   The ideas I have for that 10x11 are vast.  I think I have redecorated it in my mind a few million times.  I want the Grand Opening to be a smash and I want my booth to look fabulous.  Fabulous enough that everyone wants to buy everything in it!   When that happens, then I can go back to the auctions and buy more nifty stuff!


So that's the short list of what I've been doing...crying and buying.  I just hope that leads to happiness and a paycheck.

Have a wonderful week and I'll see you soon!

Kristin

POTD - Strength

POTD - Strength

©2012 Kristin Corlett

This is just one of the finds that I got at auction in the past week or two - a table top foosball table.  It's actually in great shape and all of the guys are intact and everything.    I have a Facebook page set up just for the items that I'm selling in my antique booths, it's called "Look what we found! Items destined for sale."  I didn't think that last sentence was going to end up as part of the title, but I clicked the submit button or something too quickly!  If you'd like to LIKE that page while you're there, you can see all of the goodies that my friend Bettyann and I are finding.  No pressure of course :)

Enjoy!
Kristin

Chairs and more chairs by Doris Salcedo

"1550 Chairs Stacked Between Two City Buildings" location based installation by artist Doris Salcedo (2003) for the Istanbul Biennial. 

I have been asking for bread bag tags from friends and family and I routinely get little bundles in the mail.  Sometimes I get 4 or 5 tags and sometimes, like at the restaurant the other night with friends, I am handed a bag stuffed to the gills with them.  The joy of receiving things in the mail is incredible!  I hope to start sending out more snail mail this year to spread the JOY of real physical mail.

Back to the bread bag tags.

My requests for the tags is always followed by, "What are you going to do with them?"

Well, I can now tell you what I'm NOT going to do.  I will not toss them all between two buildings to make an art installation.  I cannot even begin to imagine how many chairs it would take to make a pile that size**, but what I can tell you, is that the number of bread bags tags to make a pile that size would be in the hundreds of millions if not hundreds of trillions.

I have several hundred tags now, so I'm really pleased that at some point in the very near future I can start using them in art projects.  I'm thinking the first project will be fairly small - maybe filling an art canvas.  If you are saving bread bag tags for me, don't stop!  My ultimate goal is to be able to fill an entire wall in my house with the tags.  I still need thousands more tags and I, personally, only come across one or two a month.  I'm finding that it takes a village to collect bread bag tags.  I bet it took more than a village for Doris Salcedo to collect all of those chairs!

**I guess I didn't even read the photo caption - there are 1550 chairs in this installation!  (where is that V8 when you need it?)

More on Doris Salcedo here

Have a wonderful day!!
Kristin

POTD - Vintage Lighting

POTD - Vintage Lighting

©2012 Kristin Corlett

Please enjoy another view of the Tampa, FL Amtrak station.  The other day I used the train stops as my photo of the day and today it's the lighting.  I cannot determine if the lighting is original.  The steel poles probably are, but I'm assuming the glass globes are not, or at least not all of them.  What intrigues me about this specific viewpoint are all of the different shapes you can see.  Round, square, triangle, semi-circle, and rectangles just to name a few.  You'd think with all that going on that it would look cluttered and busy, like my livingroom, but it doesn't.  My livingroom is a totally different story.

The history of the Tampa Amtrak station is glorious, sad and glorious once again!
You can use the Amtrak station history as a jumping off point to read more - here.

Enjoy!
Kristin