Feeling Just a Notch or Two Above Hillbilly and Hooker

My daughter is getting married in May and I have to buy myself a new dress. Most women enjoy shopping for new clothes. I don't. I have been to all of the retail clothing stores in town that have reasonable prices (like JCPenney and Kohl's) and have not found a single thing that I like. The fact that I could stand to lose a few pounds doesn't help, but body weight is not the point I want to make here. This is the problem. I have had to resort to shopping at the more expensive department stores and I have major insecurity issues when I walk through their doors. I feel like there might as well be a big black tattoo on my forehead that says "I don't belong here." You know, kinda like Vivian (Julia Roberts) in the Pretty Woman scene where she is shopping in a boutique on Rodeo Drive in her prostitute garb. Yep. I can totally relate. That is exactly how I feel, only I wear "camping clothes" (jeans and a t-shirt) instead of hooker attire.





This reminds me of a time in the '90s, when Don and I drove a 1985 Chevy Astro Van and decided to buy tickets to the Parade of Homes. For those of you who do not know what the Parade of Homes is, it is an opportunity for the public to tour brand new houses, usually in the $1,000,000 +  range. Seriously, we might as well have been riding in the Clampett contraption from the television series the Beverly Hillbilly's.

Gifts That Say Something

Over the years, I have ordered several items for Cody (visually impaired) from Speak to Me Catalog. They offer numerous talking products such as: electronic and plush toys, watches, clocks, kitchen items, calculators, graduation gifts and much more.

You can browse and order items from Speak to Me Catalog by visiting their website http://www.speaktomecatalog.com/ . They also have a link in the bottom right hand corner of their home page, where you can request to have a free catalog sent to your home.

If You Have a DOT, Expose It

Usually I stay away from thrift stores for a couple of reasons.

#1- I rarely find anything worth having.

#2- I usually leave slathering my hands with sanitizer and feeling like I have lice in my hair (psychological, I know).

My last visit to the thrift store proved satisfactory, however. I found the vintage game Probe.

In the 1980's, Don and I use to play this game at my aunt and uncle's house.

We've often wanted to play it again, but somewhere along the line, Parker Brothers stopped manufacturing it.

Probe is a great word game, kind of like Hang Man meets Scrabble. Each person chooses a secret word and writes it in their word tray.

Players then draw cards and follows the instructions given. Here are three examples...

Everyone tries to guess each other's words, accumulating points as one letter after another is exposed.

 

This particular game is in excellent condition. It even came with plenty of the original paper inserts.

Have any of you ever found hella good deals at a thrift store?

Black Friday

If you plan to shop on Black Friday, the following website may be of interest:
http://www.black-friday.net

Talking and Musical Gifts for Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, I thought some of you may like to look at the following website:

http://www.speaktomecatalog.com/

Speak to Me Catalog is a great place to find gifts for anyone, especially the visually impaired. I have ordered products for Cody from this website several times and been very happy with them.

Braille Superstore

While browsing the Internet today, I came across The Braille Superstore.

This website has books, toys, games, greeting cards, talking clocks/watches and more.

If you know someone who is visually impaired, you may want to visit http://www.braillebookstore.com/. Especially with Christmas just around the corner!