Collection or Obsession?

Ah, Lego. You never really grow out of it. In fact, I still have an ice cream bucket full of random Lego from my childhood.

Back then the Lego men (there were no women) came in city characters or space men (they may have just started to do a limited range of knights as well). They ALL had the same yellow heads with the same smiley faces, and that wasn't really a bad thing. It was just they way Lego men were.

Somebody at Lego finally came up with the idea of updating the figures. They now have awesome facial features. No more boring smiley face, lol.

Last year I was waiting in a checkout line at Target and saw a box full of packets of individual Lego figures in what appeared to be a “lucky dip” type arrangement. I bought one just to see which one I would get. That was Series 1 of the Minifigures. Had I known that in Series 1 each of the 16 different figures had individual barcodes, I probably would have gone back the next day to find the ones I wanted.   I didn’t.    I never saw another box of that series again.

Earlier this year I noticed a box or two of what turned out to be Series 3. (Not sure why I never saw any Series 2 figures.) This time I was determined to get several of them. I guess you could say I became obsessed, lol.

I spent a lot of time, in various stores, squeezing foil packets to try and figure out which figure might be inside. Random shoppers would give me odd looks (naturally) but several were intrigued enough to actually stand there and help me squeeze packets! (Lego had wised up that the identifying barcodes reduced sales because people only bought the ones they wanted, and they now had no obvious identifying marks). After many wasted hours a nice lady told me that, although they all looked the same, there were apparently some Braille-like dots on the back of the packs which would help. Five minutes on Google and I had the code breaker, so I managed to get the Fisherman, Biggles, Snowboarder and several others.

Series 4 has been harder to find. They were released in April but don’t seem to be stocked at the usual places.  The Braille dots are a wash this time round (damn you Lego), so I have gone back to squeezing packets again.  sigh...

At long last I have FINALLY found the Hazmat Guy that I’ve been searching for.  The expression on his face is priceless.  

Now I just have to find the urban skateboarder…

...sigh.

This could take a while.

Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows

... marshmallow socks, that is, LOL.

The chill of Winter is in the air, and that means it's time to drink hot chocolate and break out the bed socks.

All my life I've been cursed with bad circulation, so that means my hands and feet are usually like blocks of ice during the colder months of the year. When I'm lounging around the house, watching TV or headed for bed, I have my marshmallow socks. As you can see, I have a few pairs. OK, more than a few. I'll admit it - I may be obsessed with them. The aqua ones with the non-slip flowers on the sole were bought to match my paisley PJs, and the black, pink and white ones match my Pink Ribbon PJs (and they came in a 2 pack with the hot pink ones). The brown leopardy print ones were just too pretty and snugly to be left on the shelf in the shop.

Actually, that seems to be my downfall. I'm a tactile sock shopper. I don't obviously need another pair, but you can bet I'll see some in a colour I don't have, and once I touch them, I'm done for. Oh, they're so soft, so snugly, and pretty. I'll get them.

I've also recently bought a set of micro polar fleece sheets for our bed. Yes, you heard correctly. Not flannelette. Polar fleece. Sounds a bit odd, but they are to die for snugly, soft and warm, and I'm so glad I got them. Steve, however, is not so impressed. He reckons the pillowcase sticks to the stubble on his face like Velcro during the night. I've yet to see any actual evidence of this though, LOL.

$7.50 - Bargain!

"$7.50 ...Bargain!" - Jimeoin, comedian.

I'm going to a Black Friday trivia night tomorrow night and naturally, we are supposed to dress in black. OK, better rummage through the wardrobe... I have a perfectly good long black skirt and also a pair of black dress pants... but I seem to no longer own a black top (well, not one that still fits properly, anyway!)

I had to go down to Sandgate yesterday to do some banking for Steve, so while I was there I decided to have a look in a couple of op-shops.

Now, I don't usually have much luck with the op-shops. I either find nothing at all that I like, or I find heaps of fabulous items that are just too small to fit me. Or they fit but are too tight and then I have usual internal debate with myself, "I am going to the gym, maybe if I go a bit more I might actually fit into this eventually, so maybe I should buy it anyway?"



This time a had a blinder. I found a nice black top in the Asthma Foundation shop (see top photo). Halter neck, with cross-over straps in front and a handkerchief hemline. Drapes nicely to cover my pudgy belly. Originally from Espirit. Just have to repair 3 or 4 stitches that have come undone at the top near the straps, and it will be perfect. Cost? $7.50 - bargain! I also bought a cute skirt for Cheyenne for $3, but it will have to go into the cupboard until she grows into a size 6 !!

Then I went next door to the Lifeline store. Clearly, Sandgate gets the pick of the clothes amongst the northside stores... far better than what you can get at the Bracken Ridge one anyway!

I tried on heaps of items, including a gorgeous embroidered blouse and long denim skirt that had embroidered flowers with cut-out petals (both of which were sadly just too tight). Despite my internal debate, I reluctantly put them back.

Since I really needed a new pair of crop jeans (my favourite Target ones having worn through near the crotch), I focused on the rack of denim. I ended up coming away with two denim skirts - one a Levi's brand and the other a stretch denim with cute stars - and a pair of 3/4 hipster jeans (also in top photo). Originally from Colorado, and very, very comfy. Cost for each item? $7.50 - bargain!

I'm most impressed that I managed to acquire four items of clothing for myself for $30. So, even though it was pouring rain and windy at Sandgate and not a really nice day at all, it was still a great day of bargain hunting!

Gotta be happy with that!