The Thrill of the Hunt

There are certain things that I've always wanted simply because they are so old-school, just so cool; like a library card catalog cabinet or a sewing bobbin drawer or...an old type set drawer (I guess I like things with lots of compartments!)  I found this type set drawer in Stillwater last week.  I eyed it at an antique mall, way back in the corner, and rushed over casually so that noone else would notice my interest and get there before me.  Nevermind that there were barely any other shoppers there and that two of them were my Mom and my Aunt.  It was a great price and I grabbed it, carried it around for awhile, and started thinking...ugh...can you imagine the dust in these little pockets.  I am not a clean freak (not even on the same planet) but the dust, I can just imagine the task.  And, really, I thought, what would I do with it?  I'm not a knick knack person so I have nothing to display in it.  It could just hang on the wall as kind-of-architectural-art.  But, again, is the dust worth it.  So, I put it back.  Then my Mom had a GREAT idea and I ran back and scooped it up again, paid for it, and took it out to the car.  You, however, will have to wait until I have the idea fulfilled - I will show you then.  Oooooh, the suspense.
When Mark and I visit garage sales or antique shops with the kids, we've always made a game of it.  Before anyone can get out of the car, they have to name one item that they're looking for at this sale.  Whoever finds their item, wins a point.  We don't actually buy the items...it's just the thrill of the hunt.  So, while we were shopping in Stillwater last week, my aunt kept feeling the bottoms of coffee cups.  And then my mom was.  So, I asked them, why are you doing that, what are you looking for?  Flat Bottoms.  They're looking for flat bottomed coffee cups that won't collect water in the dishwasher.  I cracked up.  That was our joke for the rest of the day - looking for flat bottoms - ha!  By the way, they are very difficult to find.

Have I mentioned that John loves trains?  He got an awesome electric train set from Santa a few years ago but it needs a very large table to be set on.  So, I bought two identical folding banquet tables which work wonderfully.  They have to be the same height because, as with real life trains, the engine can only handle an extremely slight inclination.  The tables are identical so...perfect.  Until.  My family, my extended family, spends every Christmas Eve together.  This means somewhere between 35-45 people and we share a sit down meal so we need to bring extra folding tables and chairs.  Last Christmas Eve, we brought our banquet tables...without our names on them.  Yep.  At the end of the festivities,we brought home two different tables.  And it has taken us until this past week to figure out who we need to trade with to get our identical heights back.  So, what do you think John wanted to do this weekend?  Uh-huh.  But one of his favorite boxcars had a coupler (I think that's the right term) that needed to be replaced.  Mark was deer hunting so it fell on my to fix the train.  We got it taken apart and I got everything back in place.  Until we turned it rightside up and everything fell off.  (This was, unfortunately, after I did my little victory dance and reminded John, see, Mom can do everything Dad can do - apparently not)  So, off to the hobby store to find out that the threads inside the train are worn and...wah, wah, wah, wah (the Charlie Brown voice).  I'll have Mark fix it.  But...

on the way home from the hobby store, we stopped at a consignment store.  I've never collected these Christmas village sets but John found this train station and wants to create a village to set inside the tracks.  I agree...that would be cool.  I know it may sound boring to just flip a lever and watch the train go round and round the track but...try it...it becomes fascinating and you want to slow it down when you come to the curve.  And, of course, you want to stop when the train pulls up in front of the station.  It is...fun!

And so, I'll end with a book recommendation - train related.  If you haven't ever read Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, you really should.  (1) Because it is Agatha Christie AND the Orient Express = perfect combo, (2) it's entirely unique in it's adherence to the "mystery formula", and (3) it is Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, for goodness sake!

If you like mysteries, are interested in writing a mystery or would enjoy hearing an author speak, I recommend, if you're in the Minneapolis area, going to hear Ellen Hart and RD Zimmerman talk "mystery" on Thursday, November 29 at 7:00 at the Elmer L. Anderson Library on the University of MN campus.  I attended a mystery writing course led by Ellen Hart (that's her pen name, can't remember her real name) years ago.  She is a wonderful teacher and great speaker.  I don't know RD Zimmerman, but I bet he's great also.