It's That Time of Year

YARD SALES!

Ok, I totally love yardsaling. Yes, I know, that's technically not a word, but it should be. With everyone's focus on saving money, yardsales are a great way to live on less. I love getting a great deal on something, and I have to confess, I was born to haggle. I think it's a gift. I get some kind of high out of negotiating the best price.

It used to embarass my husband. He sees a price on something, he thinks, that's what it costs. If you want it, that's what you pay. Nah-uh. That's just a reference point from which to begin the negotiations. Once, I saw a particular item I wanted. The price said $50. For that? Nope. I whispered to my husband that I would buy it, but that I had no intention of paying more than $35. "The price says $50," he whispered back. "I'm going to try to get it for $35," I stubbornly replied. I turned to the man selling the item and offered him 30 bucks. I could see my husband's mouth about to open and I knew the words that would issue forth, I thought you said you'd pay $35, but thankfully the dear man kept his thoughts to himself. The man whose item I was trying to buy paused a moment, the wheels in his head whirring rapidly as he considered my offer. "How about $35?" I nodded thoughtfully and with feigned reluctance, agreed. Now my husband sets his embarassment aside and is thankful that his thrifty-minded self married a woman of like mind. He's even haggled a little himself on occassion.

I take yardsaling seriously. Therefore, I plan ahead to make sure I don't miss the perfect deal.

Here's my strategy:

1. Check Classified section of local papers online and on Craigslist for yardsales in my area.

2. Use the search engine on each website to search for those items I'm most interested in finding. This helps me weed through a sometimes lengthy list of yardsales. That way I know which ones are most likely worth my time.

3. Write down the addresses of all the yardsales I want to attend and the times they start.

4. Day of yardsales - get out my handy GPS and type in the address of the first yardsale I want to check out. I never thought I'd be a GPS kind of girl, but seriously, I'm not sure how I lived without it.

5. Continue to navigate from yardsale to yardsale using the GPS. Just type in the address of the next yardsale (from your prepared list, of course) and off you go.

6. When haggeling, I always offer a little lower than what I'm willing to pay. Then I hope that the other person is willing to negotiate and offers a price close to what I want to pay. Also, I don't haggle the small stuff. If they're asking a reasonable price on a small item, and it's within my price range, I pay it. Save your superb negotiation skills for those higher priced items where you'll really save a few bucks.

I've already found some great items this year. The other week I bought an antique Louis Vuitton trunk for $5! It's in pretty rough condition, so I'm not sure that's it's really worth much, but it'll make a neat coffee table at least and I'm thinking it's probably worth more than five bucks.

Do you yardsale? If so, do you have a story about a special "find" or "deal" of which you are particularly proud?

New Title, New Job

Ok, so I'm rather proud of my creativity in renaming this blog. Tete-a-tete is a French phrase, meaning a face to face conversation. I remember seeing it used in many of the classics and came across it again recently while I was rereading Pride and Prejudice. I thought this would be a perfect title for my blog because, while we're hardly face to face, I hope to create that same type of friendship with my readers.

Today is also the first day of my new job, or rather lack thereof. After much prayer and discussion, my husband and I decided it was finally time for me to resign from my day job and stay at home full-time, at least for the time being. One day into this new challenge, and so far I'm loving it. My house is clean, a homemade dinner is in the oven, and I'm hoping to have more time to work on my writing.

I'm going to make a point of trying to blog at least once a week. So check back often and leave me a comment to let me know what's going on in your life.

Happy Monday everyone!

Where I've Been

Ok, here's the brief update of where I've been the last few months, and why I haven't been blogging.

After I came home from the ACFW conference in September, my husband began to develop a cold and ear infection that just wouldn't go away. Numerous antibiotics later he still wasn't any better and finally started to get much worse very quickly. A week and a half before Christmas, we finally went back to the doctor determined to get the right medicine to make him well, and several tests later, left the doctor being told that they thought he had cancer and that it was already spreading throughout his body. Of course we got the whole "be positive" speech and "they're doing some really great new things in treatment," but the general impression we were given by our doctors that day, was that his days were numbered.

The most horrible three days of my life followed. I could go on and on about the emotions that took place during the long nights where I barely slept, and tried not to think about my likely future as a twenty-five year old widow, or how I might have to watch my husband suffer in the months ahead.

After three days of this anxiety and torture, we saw a specialist who gave us much better news. He said he did not think it was cancer, but a rare auto immune disorder which could explain all his various symptoms of the last few months. With proper treatment (which we were able to start a few weeks later), he could get back to normal.

It's been almost three months now since he was first diagnosed and he is doing fantastic. We've been going to Johns Hopkins for his appointments (which is such a blessing in and of itself, to have the best of the best so close to where we live and covered by our insurance) and at our last appointment there the doctor said "I see patients like you every day, and you're going to be fine." What a relief to hear those words!

Through all of this, he's only missed about two or three days of work besides what he's needed to take off to go to appointments. What a trooper! Now that he's feeling better, he's his old self again and is almost ready to finish his MCSA Certification (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator). The drama of the last few months make that an even bigger accomplishment. I'm so proud of my wonderful husband.

So many of you have been praying for us right from that first scary diagnosis, and we really appreciate it. I can't believe we went from thinking we were going to soon lose him to being able to look forward to a future together again, pretty much the same as we had before. The only prayer requests we really have now are that he would continue to respond well to treatment and that there would be no long-term side affects from the medication he's taking. We praise the Lord for a speedy diagnosis and a wonderful response to treatment.

So, that's where I've been the last few months. No, it hasn't taken every waking moment of my life by any means, and we're now down to just a once a month check-up. But I'm, how shall I say it... Emotional and a huge worrier. And being all worked up makes me not feel like writing, blogging, or doing much of anything beyond the basics of my life. But I feel like now I'm starting to calm down from all we've been through and feel like getting back to the writing. I've done major revisions on the first three chapters of my manuscript and am hoping to send it to the publisher who asked to see it back at ACFW, hopefully before Easter.

Again, thank you to everyone who has remembered us in prayer. We've seen the Lord work in amazing ways and are praying for that to continue.

My Favorite Book

I absolutely love Christian fiction. Historicals hold a special appeal because of my love of history, though I enjoy a good contemporary setting as well. Certain classics also command my allegiance and the result is a bookcase with titles written by authors such as Jane Austen to Janette Oke.

But my very favorite book is a little-known non-fiction book entitled The Family Nobody Wanted, by Helen Doss. In this book, Doss tells the story of herself and minister-husband Carl, as they struggle to have a "normal" little family.

The story starts out during the latter years of the Great Depression with the news that Helen and Carl will never be able to have children of their own. After grieving over this news for a time, Helen decides that motherhood is about more than just giving birth. So she transforms their spare bedroom into a nursery, then goes to the local orphanage to pick out a baby.

What she finds is directions to an adoption agency with a waiting list a mile long. And they're looking for financially stable couples. Not a poor seminary student and his wife. Helen continues to contact adoption agencies until unexpectedly, little Donny is placed in their home. His blond hair and blue eyes make him a perfect match for Helen and Carl. Carl is content with their little family and his consuming studies, but Helen wants just one more thing...

A little girl.

But nobody wants to place a second child in their home. As one social worker states "if you knew how many financially competent homes we have waiting without even one child, you wouldn't even ask for a second." Helen is discouraged but won't give up. At one adoption agency the receptionist casually remarks, "too bad you're not Turkish or Portuguese. We have a little Turkish-Portuguese boy that we can't find a home for. That's what happens with these mixed-blood children. Nobody wants them."

That comment sticks with Helen and Carl. Waiting lists that are years long, for the perfect child to be matched with the perfect home, while all the while these so called "unadoptables" are without hope of finding a home?

Helen starts writing to adoption agencies and ends up with two baby girls that nobody else wanted. Laura is a chubby Eurasian beauty, and Susie is a sickly infant with a disfiguring birthmark. As the little family grows, Helen is worn out from living in the little parsonage on Lake Michigan while Carl spends the week on the seminary campus, only coming home on weekends. She feeds babies and cleans up after Donny's mischief around the clock, wringing out laundry in the bathtub, and keeping milk cold without a refrigerator. Still, she is content with her little family. But this time somebody else isn't happy.

Donny sees his baby sisters playing together and decides he wants a little boy "the right size of me." Helen decides to look for just one more child. Carl is reluctant but finally agrees. "Alright, but this is it. The last one. Just this one more."

Till all is said and done, the Doss family ends up adopting 12 children, most of mixed racial (often Asian) descent, a daring first in the aftermath of WWII. Each time, Donny is hopeful to find a right-sized brother and Carl keeps insisting there will be no more. But in the end, this unusual family finds they are just the right sized, and wouldn't want to be any other way.

This book is full of the honest thoughts and feelings of a real woman's heart, as well as charming anecdotes from life raising twelve youngsters under the age of 10. Add to this the fact that Helen Doss is an accomplished writer, and you have a book that elicits a full range of emotions in the reader.

I read this book at least once a year and have even read it aloud to my husband who loved it. Out of print since the early 80's, this book is now available again with a new afterward by the author. I highly recommend this book to all, and would be interested in hearing the insights from any who may have read it.

The Decline of Domesticity

Sounds very serious.

I'm really not attempting anything profound, just momentarily bummed out. At myself.

Tonight was our church's annual barn party. Last year I made homemade sugar cookies that looked like candy corn.

This year I brought Oreos.

I'm blaming this Domestic Tragedy on the fact that I work full-time and have a very high-stress job. But really, this sad moment just confirms my long-held theory that a woman can do anything but not everything. At least not well.

I think maintaining a successful juggling act means choosing what to put your time into. And right now baking isn't as important as getting a good night's sleep, spending time with my husband, being focused at my job, and working on my book.

So, I tried to smother a sigh as I placed my sad little packaged cookies next to all the gooey goodness produced by so many gray-haired grandmas. Instead, I determined to enjoy the Christian fellowship. Because that helps me be a more supportive wife, inspired writer, and over-all contented person.

Do you ever find yourself making such choices? How do you maintain your life's juggling act?

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by friend and fellow writing buddy Winter Peck! So now I have to tell you five things you didn't know about me, which might be difficult considering the post I did a few weeks ago, but I'll try.

1. I met my husband when we were home missionaries traveling with Encounter Revival Ministries. I'll try to include the link here: www.encounterrevival.org

2. I'm afraid of squirrels.

3. I collect teacups.

4. My great-grandfather was given away as a baby and later took on that family's name even though he was never legally adopted, so my maiden name, Penica, should really have been Salinger. Oh, I'm glad great-grandpa switched last names, even if Penica is kind of weird, Sarah Salinger has too much alliteration for me.

5. I love anything with potatoes in it. My sister teases me that all of my favorite recipes start off "take six large potatoes..." I also can't seem to cook in small quantities. When I cook, my husband and I are usually eating the leftovers for days.

So, care to tell me five things about yourself? I'll settle for one or two if that's easier.

Happy Monday!

My Current WIP

I thought today I'd give a brief introduction to my current Work In Progress, Wings of Hope.

Here's the overview....

A past shadowed by heartbreak. The future clouded with war. Their love must rise above on Wings of Hope.

American nurse Caroline Reid finds herself alone in France when her private patient dies. Should she return to Pittsburgh and the solitary life she knew there? Or does the outbreak of The Great War in Europe present the chance for a greater purpose in her life?

Blake Montgomery's dreams require wings to make them come true. When the new plane he designed crashes in its test run, Caroline rushes to his aid and cares for his injury. What starts off as a promising romance is put to the test, not by Blake's own plans to leave for war, but the news that Caroline will go as well.

All of Europe is in a turmoil and the trenches of France are hardly the place to fall in love. Romance between a Red Cross nurse and a daring flying ace couldn't be more complicated. But their love may not even get the chance to fly after the simple message: wounded and missing.