Hey, Macklemore! Can we go thrift shopping? What what what what?

I'm gonna pop some tags
Only got 20 dollars in my pocket...




So around here we have the Uptown Thrift Store.
I love to shop there on a Sunday, because Sunday is Green Bag day.
What it is, you purchase a reusable green bag for about a dollar, as many of them as you want (I have two). Then on Sunday, you take your green bags in, and they'll have a color posted for that day...say...orange (which it was, last Sunday).
Whatever clothes have orange (or whatever color they've chosen) tags can go in your green bags - as much as you can cram in there. When you check out, you're charged by the bagful, which is $5.95.

Electronics and appliances and such count as one green bag (as long as you have an empty green bag).
So Becca and I were getting Joshua some tee shirts (he chews them up - YES, CHEWS - at an alarming rate), and she was checking out the electronics and sees this ginormous teevee priced at $75...with an orange tag.
And I had only filled one of my green bags.

I should mention here that Josh is extremely nearsighted, but he will not tolerate anything on his face or head. No glasses, even with straps. Not happenin'.
And he watches a lot of teevee, because, you know, wheelchair, no walking, no talking, limbs that do not work properly, etc etc. And he's been watching on a 17" flat screen, squinting a lot.

So we scored this monstrosity for FIVE DOLLARS AND NINETY-FIVE CENTS PLUS TAX.
I'm pretty sure you could see it from the moon. It weighs approximately 47,000 pounds and it took me, my dad, my brother, and a dolly to get it from the car to the house - with several bashed knuckles, pulled shoulder and back muscles, and sore arms.

But Joshua will be able to see Scooby Doo in nearly life-size form:

That is, as long as his poor dresser holds up. I'm having my doubts about that.
It looks smaller in this picture than it is in real life. Of course, a lot of you people probably have those big ol' flat screen tvs, but we're used to a smaller scale. And it's not a "flat screen"...from front to back it's about 25 inches.
Did I mention it weighs about eleventy-three tons?

FIVE DOLLARS AND NINETY-FIVE CENTS, suckers.
YEAH.

Shoppin' from A-Z

First of all, anyone who really knows me knows that I HATE SHOPPING.
I hate spending money (okay, I like spending money on gifts for other people, but that's where I draw the line).
I hatehatehate the crowds - people become these horrible, fanged savage animals who trample innocent store employees just so they can satisfy their avaricious, greedy hearts and so their spoiled little brats do not have to go without The Very Latest (fill in the blank).
I hate dealing with people.
I don't like people in general.

But this time of year... well, shopping is a necessary evil.
SO!

I was introduced to a FANTASTICAL, MAGICAL website called SHOP.COM. I love it. AAAAAALLLL your favorite stores (and then some) consolidated into one user friendly website.
They do all the work for you!
Looking for clothes for the kids, a blue-tooth or golf clubs for the husband, jewelry or sexy FMPumps for the wife?
THEY HAVE THEM ALL.

Search for your item, and SHOP.COM gives you a list to choose from, with ALL SORTS OF PRICE RANGES listed for your convenience, and the stores from which they come. I saw iPod Touches from $300+ to $189. There were books, music, and videos. Clothes, shoes, handbags... perfume, toys, electronics, and game systems.

IT'S LIKE WONDERLAND, and I DO NOT HAVE TO BE SHOVED, KNOCKED AROUND, or most importantly, TALK TO ANYONE.

That makes me so happy I could almost cry, and I'm not even joking. No standing in interminable lines. No sour-faced idiots snatching the last (whatever) right out of your hand.

Shop.Com also offers recommendations for kids, teen boys & girls, men & women... this is helpful to me because really? I have NO IDEA what people like.
And it beats the hell out of giving gift cards (which personally I LOVE to receive, but then I have to go SHOP with them, so, catch-22) when I can't think of anything else.

I'd like to thank the wonderful ladies at Mom Central for turning me on to SHOP.COM...they are my holiday saviors.