January 19 E-Bay shopping

Our trip to Vietnam is fast approaching (March 6th) so I have been busy shopping on E-Bay (it runs in the family, I inherited it from my daughter!).

One of the two bags we will take are for humanitarian projects...visits to orphanages, schools, old folk homes, convalescent centers. All of a sudden it is all coming to me via UPS and I am beginning to worry that I have gone a bit overboard. We have one volunteer who has been there before and is working with us via E-Mail to sort out and direct our efforts getting ready. When I told her how proud I was to have gotten a real "deal" on a case (120) slinkys she cautioned me that we would have to split them up between our bags so customs does not suspect we are going to "black market" them. Can you see Gary in a back alley with a trench coat on and all these slinkys under his coat...selling them on the "black market"...somehow I would expect black market would be more interested in other items. Instead the vision I have is of Gary with kids crowding around him as he demonstrates the new "toy" he brought for them.

Other volume deals I have picked up include:

• Over 150 toothbrushes
• 25 plastic bathroom drinking cups
• 24 girls purses with hair accessories
• 60 safety scissors
• 288 pencils with cartoon characters on them
• Box of 84 #2 pencils
• 20 boxes of crayons
• 24 dinosaur kaleidoscopes
• 60 hot wheel cars
• 25 turbo racer cars
• assorted musical instrument toys...flutes, recorders, etc.
• lots of hair clips, pins and ribbons
• it goes on and on more than I want to admit...but hey...I have a big heart!

I am also taking a dozen special dressed Bearington bears I have to give as gifts.

Now my latest E-bay shopping trip was last night when I spent several hours online finding two extra bags (Just “duffel” style zip up bags) that come right up to the baggage allowance to help us carry all this “stuff” over there. Drove Gary crazy (not a long trip) with my E-Bay shopping…guys just do not understand the thrill of the shop…even online it is a blast and a challenge to get the very best bargain…and “win” out on the bid. At least I got smart on the bags I purchased. Rather than bid on something that is going to go on for days and days, I found some good deals just minutes before they closed so I know what I have rather than having to continually check back to see how it is going.

Well it is time to get some rest. I am feeling particularly old tonight as I realize it is Cindy's 32nd birthday tomorrow. That makes me "ancient" doesn't it! A couple weeks ago I visited the Salem Hospital to get our travel shots...they wanted to know if I had ever been in that hospital before...Yep, 32 years ago when I gave birth to Cindy. I can still remember the old fashioned lights they had outside the delivery corridor...the fathers waited in the outside room until they turned on either a blue light or pink light. Gary was so sure it would be a boy that when the pink light went on he wanted to know how many babies they were delivering back there..."Just yours Mr. Stocker" was the answer. Thank you Cindy for making us so proud of you over the years. Enjoy life even at your advanced age of 32!

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