Today’s Fortune: You will have a very pleasant experience.

I’m pretty sure this fortune will come true because I always have a very pleasant experience. Today was no different. In fact, I had too many of them to talk about in one day.

The first pleasant experience was that it was cold today, and I got to wear my new baseball jacket.  It is very good.  I got it yesterday, but I will have to talk about getting it later, because there’s too much else to tell about.  The second pleasant experience was taking ValenTina to the Post Office! I even wrote a really good poem about it. It is called, “Ode to ValenTina”:

ValenTina’s on her way
to sunny Cali-for-ni-ay.
She’ll be back again someday,
but not for a really long time…. so, Yay!!!

After the Post Office, me and Mom went to a place called Buchanan’s.   This is a big thing called a “flea market”.  I do not know why it is called a flea market, because there are never any fleas there.  At least not that I have seen.  They have it at the fairgrounds once a month. I did not want to go, because that is where I came from a few months ago, and I didn’t want to get given back. Mom told me we would have a good time, and that she would never ever return me.

I am really glad I decided to go.  They had all kinds of neat old stuff.  Mom sat me down near some old quilts and jewelry while she shopped for an old camera for Dad.  I was so glad she was not returning me that I didn’t even care that it was kind of boring.

After Mom bought Dad’s camera, it got a lot better.  I got to ride a really old tricycle.  It was red and matched my jacket.  I liked it a lot, but it was $125.00.  I got my allowance again today, so I had a total of 24 quarters, but that was not enough.

After I rode the tricycle,  Mom found another old monkey for her “old monkeys that are not sock monkeys” collection.  He is very cute.  He is a salt shaker.  There is no pepper shaker to match him.

The people that sell stuff at the flea market are called “dealers”.  Mom says the same dealer has had that monkey for months, because she has been wanting him for a while.  He started out being $15.00, and Mom has asked about him every month, and every month he is still there.  Today he was $2.00, and Mom did not even try to negotiate.  She just bought him.  He is very good.  He will not be there again next month.

Mom says that if you wait, sometimes you get a better deal.  Maybe I can get that tricycle for a few quarters next month.   Maybe I will bring Calvin Klein with me, so he can negotiate for it.

The next thing I got to ride on was a big fancy horse.  He was $140.00.   He was good, but he was even more expensive than the tricycle, and not as much fun.

I also got to sit in a big old scale.  It was very good.  It was like riding in a swing.  Mom has weighed me on her good scale at home, and she says I weigh about 6 ounces.  I don’t think this scale was correct, but it was still a lot of fun.

Then, I got to ride another horse!  I have noticed that shopping for antiques is sometimes like that – you see interesting stuff that all seems to have a theme.  This horse was made of wood, and did not move, because he did not have wheels like a tricycle.    The wood horse was $60.00.  That was a little more affordable, but still not something I could get with 24 quarters.

There was also a thing called a “gum machine”  there.  Mom says that those used to be everywhere when she was a kid, but you do not see them very often any more.  You have to put money in it to get gum.  I think that is a waste of money, because I can just get gum out of Mom’s purse.

Those things were all pretty good, but then we found the very best thing of all!  A booth that had a whole huge box full of pezzes!!!  Mom told me that my 24 quarters would buy six of them.

I had a very hard time deciding on the pezzes.  I narrowed it down to ten, and Mom said she would buy me the other four!  She also bought me a lunchbox, some little books to read, and some very old wooden blocks.

I will have to show pictures of all of my new stuff from the flea market later.  I am hungry, and me and Mom are going to make spaghetti because Dad is out of town tonight.   We love spaghetti, but Dad does not like it, so Mom says we have to live it up while he is gone!

I have a very good Mom. She bought me four extra pezzes, and a lot of other stuff, and took me to several other good places today, that I will have to talk about later.  Today was just filled with pleasant experiences.  I do miss my Dad, though.  I will be glad when he is home.

I love my Mom a lot.  I am glad she did not return me, or send me to California instead of ValenTina.

Today’s Vocabulary Words: Dealer, gum machine.