Thrift store treasures

Since the weather turned colder, J14 has been complaining that she doesn't have many long sleeved shirts that still fit her (that child had the audacity to grow!! although I think she is about done).  I plan to get her some new things for holiday gifts but in the meantime I took her to a local thrift store (run by the local Mennonite community) to pick up some new shirts. We were fortunate that they were having a sale (even at the thrift store!) so she got several shirts for $.25 each.  I also let her get a gorgeous midnight blue formal since she informed me that the winter formal dance is coming up on Dec. 13 and I'm NOT going to pay retail prices for a dress.  It will need hemmed because it is too long but it was definitely a good find. I told her I would only get it if she promised she would wear it more than once.  I think formal dresses are such a waste (hence my thrift store wedding dress). I'll have to post some pictures before the dance.

We also purchased several used books.  J14 got "The Seed Starter's Handbook" that she plans to give me for a holiday gift (Hmm, I wonder who could have clued her in on that $.75  gift idea).  The most interesting we got was a total impulse buy.  We were looking through the foreign language section (since J is taking German) and came across an old book about the Johnstown flood in Pennsylvania. Since V is originally from PA and also knows German we decided to get it for him, especially since it is a first edition printed in 1889.  We paid $.63 for it (a half price item).  This afternoon I did some research online about it.  I only found 2 or 3 sites with information about this particular volume (there were lots about the edition in English) but the ones I did find had it listed for sale anywhere from $38 to $130 depending on condition.  We're not planning to put it up for sale but what a great find.  I love old books and we have quite a collection, many of which I have no idea how much they are worth.  Maybe we should up the home insurance...