Ebay is my Weakness!

This week I think I have spent more time on Ebay than anywhere else. We're in the Christmas (present) season. For the last few years my family has been on a spending diet. We have trained ourselves to live "frugally". So in thinking about what I would like to get the kids for Christmas, I came up with a few ideas and went to ebay to see if I could find some good deals. What I really found was that I could sit and browse through the vast selections for HOURS on end. I DID! UGH. SHEESH. And then I realized I was looking for things I liked as a kid. Not the things that are cool today. I looked at My Friend Becky and Cabbage Patch Kids until my eyes were crossed and I had like 150 of each on my "watch list". And then I had another realization. I am getting old. Why? Because I don't even know what is COOL today. We don't have cable, so I don't keep up.
Then I found myself looking for vintage doll sewing patterns. My great-grandma, Mimmie, used to make dolls for all the granddaughters every Christmas. I am thinking about re-birthing that tradition with my daughters and maybe nieces. We'll see. Backtrack with me for a moment. Yesterday while I was yet again caught in 1983 and looking at the CPK's on ebay, I remembered that a few years back I still had all 3 of mine. Valentina Cornelia, Hetty Tara, and Olive Candace. They were my all time favorite dolls. And believe you me, I was NOT a doll person growing up. I hated Barbie, I didn't care for paper dolls. I loved my Billy the Kid cap gun, A-Team walkie talkies, and I wanted to be a stunt man when I grew up. (Some dreams do die!! Thank heavens.) But I loved my Cabbage Patch Kids. Well, I had saved them well into adulthood. I couldn't bear to part with them. Then after AJ was born, I pulled them out of storage and cleaned them up, and "lent" them to her to play with. But much to my dismay she didn't like them. She didn't play with them. She didn't dress them. She didn't want to take them with us in the car, she didn't want to take them to church, she didn't want to sleep with them or have tea parties with them. She didn't like them. Period. So finally after years of being a pack rat, I read some books on organization, and cleaning up the clutter, and how to keep memories without keeping things, and I went on a purging binge, and added my CPK's to the boxes of "stuff" to go to Open Door or Salvation Army. And I took them! Yesterday I vaguely remembered doing so, but in hopes that maybe, just maybe "their" box didn't go bye bye, I went through all my boxes in the storage closet to see if I could find them. I wanted to cry. The girls are gone. But I did find my boxes of handmade dolls from my great-grandma. I let little Curly Top pick 2 to play with. She likes them, but she doesn't want to see them when she's going to sleep. Sheesh. I also remember having My Friend Becky. I mean having her well into adulthood as well. And I remember purging her as well. But memories! She had a green dress with little pink flowers, white slip on shoes, and a white straw hat with an elastic band to hold it in place. She had the sweetest smile, and red hair. And my big sister had one just like her. My sis, DJ, and I used to share a room with a full size bed. When making the bed, we would mirror image our stuffed animals and dolls for display. It totally makes me want to go back to 1983!!!!! Had I kept Becky to ebay her (instead of donating her to charity) I could get $50 or more! Its crazy. Anyway, because I loved these dolls so much I was once again thinking maybe my little Curly Top might love them, too. So I spent time on Ebay looking for the perfect ones for her. I saved so many to my watch list! And then I got hit with a reality check. If the dolls are mint in box now, they are priced so high I won't pay for it. And if they are not mint in box, they've been out for around 30 years! collecting dust and germs and whatever! And do I want to spend good money on 30 year old dolls for my daughter who might hate them??? Probably not. A better question would be, "Tara, do you want one of these dolls for Christmas?" To which I would reply, "Shh, don't tell anyone, but YES!!!" I wouldn't play with them or take them to the store. But I would sew clothes for them. I have my grandma's vintage CPK sewing patterns. But the Fisher Price My Friends patterns are hard to come by. Ok, its getting late and my eyes are crossing. Time to say goodnight!!