Major Minimums Results

The Nike sneakers I thrifted for $12.99 arrived in pristine mint condition, with no wear marks or odor. They are very well made shoes and fit my guy perfectly. I think they were a display pair; I found a tiny scuff mark on one of the soles that suggested someone had maybe tried them on and walked around the store with them, but that's all. I can see someone happily paying $50.00 for them as they are now. Because new namebrand men's sneakers are so rare to be able to thrift, much less at the minimum bid, plus it took me months to find them, I'm going to call this my thrift of the year.

The lot of Vera Bradley bags I thrifted for $9.99 proved to be in much better shape than suggested by the listing title (some stains and rips were mentioned.) I found some stains on the inside of one tote that barely show on the outside, and a single rip in the outer pocket of the big duffel bag that is an easy fix for me. The rest are in very good condition, with three in what I'd call unused condition. To my delight one of the bags that I assumed was a purse actually turned out to be an insulated, plastic-lined lunch bag. I looked up the prices of what it would cost to buy these bags (three are evidently retired patterns and one is rare.) The total retail to buy all of them used -- yes, used -- is $307.90. I don't want to think about what they cost new.

The lot of eight quilting and craft books I thrifted with no challengers arrived in very good to mint condition, and will add greatly to my reading pleasure this fall. I can't tell you how many times I've almost bought The Quilter's Bible new. Anyway I looked at all the prices on the books and they totalled $174.72. At half price for used book resale they would cost $87.36. I paid $9.99 for all eight.

The savings by thrifting was wonderful, but what makes me confident all three of these listings were worth every penny of the minimum bids I won them for is simply the happiness they delivered. My guy has new sneakers, I have new purses and more books to read, and all of it won't be dumped in a landfill. It doesn't get any better than that.

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Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Journal Find

This is a page from my 2010 poetry journal. My handwriting isn't the best, so I'll transcribe it: If my heart survives to tell all the secrets kept inside it will be an abalone shell in which the beauty did reside. But I think I will always be lost to the tides that rage in me . . . humbling and polishing . . . I don't write many self-portrait poems, but this one isn't too embarrassing. A bit overly dramatic, but the girl I was eleven years ago went through some tough times. I'm in a much more peaceful place today.

The Numbers

Back in March my diabetes doctor changed my medication and encouraged me to alter my diet and exercise more in order to bring down my A1C, which at the time tested out at a dismal 8.3 (normal is 5.8.) So for the next two months I dealt with the increased meds, stuck to my decidedly grim diet and added a lot more walking to my exercise regime. P.S., it's never fun to be a diabetic, but over the last couple of months I've really tried to keep a good attitude about it. Attitude isn't everything, but it helps a lot when you have to make significant changes while battling a disease like this. Yesterday I performed a home A1C test, and I'm currently at 6.5. That's pretty amazing results, even for me. If I can get it down another half point before I see the doctor in July I'd be over the moon, but I feel like I've already done great. Image credit: Image by Daniele Liberatori from Pixabay

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