I get myself into some crazy stuff and the majority of my adventures involve craigslist...
yes, craigslist, the same website that murderers, pedophiles, and Congressmen lurk. Unlike them, I tend to lurk in the For Sale section, mostly under Art & Crafts.
Why buy at full price when I can purchase the same item on Craigslist for less??? So every now and then, I look out there for items of interest.
A few months ago I came across Craigslist and saw a posting that sparked my interest. A lady wanted to open up her home to others that wanted to scrapbook. In the scrapbooking community, this is called a 'crop' and it's normal to attend crops with friends at local craft stores, churches, and homes of friends. Her post indicated that she lived a good distance away from me and I did not think that I would attend. I am not sure why, but I sent her an email letting her know I thought what she was doing was very nice. Before sending the e-mail, I included my phone number.
I know what you are thinking and before you go on, you have to understand that I do not watch horror movies... I do however watch the news, but again, I don't know why I even reached out to her to begin with or better still, why I included my phone number??
Next thing you know, my phone is ringing... and it's her! We'll we talk about the event, I tell her that I am a craft hoarder, she tells me she is a three time widower, and the conversation lasted just about an hour. She tells me that she painted her mailbox with Tim Holtz paints, her craft room was just updated as a tree fell on the roof, her kitchen was under renovation, her family room was large enough to accomodate several long tables and chairs, and that she had a baby grand piano. I am not materialistic, but all of these things led me to believe she had a nice setup going on at her house.
So..... what do I do next???? I call my BWF/partner in crime and we decide to attend the event. If that's not bad enough, I was selling a Cricut tote bag on Craigslist and when the lady came to purchase it from me, I told her about the event. She went home, found the posting and she RSVP'd as well.
What have I done and what have I gotten these poor innocent people into????
So, to make this long story short, we head out to the other side of the Perimeter (which seemed like the other side of the world). We follow the directions she provided. We ran into the little country store with the ATM machine to grab snacks and cash. We make the next left, drive for a bit, and then turned right onto the dirt road). Actually, we drove past the dirt road and had to make a u-turn. In hindsight, I think that was God trying to tell us to keep on driving.
We arrive at the house, which if you look through distorted glasses, could be the house same she described in our conversations. I am really not one to judge, but the plywood covering the large hole in the front porch should have been another warning sign.
We ring the doorbell, we ring the doorbell again, we knock (after we realize the doorbell is not functioning), and then we finally open the door. We were greeted by the lovely lady that purchased the bag from me. We feel a sense of relief (there are normal people here), and then we follow her to the scrapbooking area.
I am going to stop here, and just summerize to say that we met a LOT of nice people (it felt good that we were not the only fools), we learned a lot, and we purchased some great tools. However, the house needed to be condemned (at least on a 30 day corrective action plan by the local health department or featured on an upcomming episode of Pet Hoarders), and that DFaCS should have been called (the lady's son appeared to have ringworm from head to toe and he was running around half dressed carry a large butcher knife).
Thank goodness we made it out and returned home safely. It was definately a learning experience and we made some great connections. We now have a great story to tell and everyone can laugh at my expense. It's all good.
Thanks for KeepinUpWKaren, until next time.
~K
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Who doesn't love the sautéed green beans from their local Chinese restaurant? I could eat them all-day. I decided to take a shot at them at home and they came out perfect on the first try!! Try these easy steps and be sure to let me know what you think.
