Did They Leave Yet?

Econo-Girl is sure that by now only the hard-core reader is still with her. Good.

The value of ostentatious antiques has not fallen, unlike housing prices, and Econo-Girl is making good because of it. In the hurly-burly days of Y2K profits, a huge, seven foot tall, antique armoire with all inlaid and hand carved wood came into Econo-Girl's possession. It is now being sold at almost twice my initial cost. The damn thing's HUGE. It totally dominates my living room. I just grew to a point where eliciting gasps of delight and envy from my female visitors was no longer as important as having more comfortable seating. Cozy wins.

Of course, such microeconomic wins leads Econo-Girl's gimlet eyes towards other antiques in her house, which might prove to provide an equally good return on investment.

If there's one thing that sells in the Washington, DC area, it's ostentatious. And pretention. I am printing digitized photos of old ancestors, putting them in nice frames, and selling those, too. Of course, people will buy them to pretend they had respectable ancestors, too. Isn't it all sad?

An inventory revealed six sets of china. SIX! My husband is ecstatic that I am getting rid of all this stuff. Of course, a girl needs at least three sets of china. There's the special holiday set, blue with gold stars. Then there's the everyday stoneware. Then there's the minor holiday set.

And as my father said when my Mother announced she was downsizing her wardrobe: "Don't be fooled. It's to make room to buy more clothes."

Ah, well. Hope springs eternal.