I should probably not be surprised, between the stress and having eaten a can of pineapple for lunch three times this week whilst also drinking pop, but at this point it is driving me mad enough to actually google "canker sore treatment." So I tried the "put an aspirin paste on it for a few minutes" method, and HOLY COW. Pain neutralized. Magic!

Speaking of super great things, I went to a quadruple-win estate sale today, all because my dad was kind enough to call from there and say, "Do you have a book called Waggin' Tails?" I do, actually, and in the interest of not hoarding/having a good copy already I declined it, but what I heard was maybe other old dog and/or children's books?? So I threw caution to the wind, dropped work for an hour and tore out of there like a bat out of hell, and OH GOODNESS. In no particular order, here's what made it epic:

• A miniature poodle off leash out front, greeting all visitors


• Beautiful architecture inside (for instance: a master suite with dutch doors leading to the bedroom from a little study)


• LOTS of old stuff, including non-crappy books and toys and even a couple of what seemed like genuine vintage dresses. Plus antiques. And not the usual boring glass/kitchenware type of antiques, but interesting stuff.


• EXTREMELY REASONABLE PRICES

I ended up getting a giant under-the-bed storage container for $2 (I was actually going to buy one new, either for books or to store winter clothes) and then a lovely old book (1940s or earlier -- the copyright is 1901 but this must be a newer publication), Neighbors of Field, Wood and Stream, a collection of juvenile stories about wildlife illustrated with photographs with a lovely embossed cover. It was really cool because most of the books (even vintage ones) were inside, but on my way out I found a big box of old books from the first half of the 20th century in the garage. It was next to a box of dolls marked "$50/box," but the books were not marked, so I asked if they were selling them as a lot or individually.

One of the women said, "Oh, I don't know. We were going to have a dealer look at them," (DISAPPOINTED!) but then asked the other woman, who looked at me and said, "Well -- I don't know, do you have any idea what they're worth?" (Me: *PLAYS VERY DUMB* Although in fairness, I really wasn't sure -- the religious books and school readers, probably not much, but I didn't recognize the other titles. Many were in excellent shape, but old books are often worth surprisingly little if they are not children's books, and I couldn't quite tell if any of these were.)

Luckily, she asked if I wanted to look through them, to which I was like "oh whoops already did," and showed her the one I wanted* to ask on price. I expected her to quote me $5, since many of the 1960s books inside were marked at $5, but she just looked hesitant and asked, "$3?" to which I was like HELL YEAH!! She seemed worried about offending me, it was kind of funny -- even after I said "sure," she asked again, "Is that okay?"

(*There was another really pretty book in amazing shape, with a 1920s inscription, called A Sweet Girl Graduate that I kind of wanted too, but not as much as the animals, and I am still mad at myself for not going for broke. It doesn't seem to be a super-rare title, but that was just a really pretty edition and edit: oh, damn it, I should have just gone back last night and not been so worried about everything. I sent Dad back at the last minute, being fully snowed under by work, but they sold the box this morning.)