The Nutcracker

My dad came to visit me this past weekend. It's always good when he visits 'cause he gets a hotel room, and he pays for everything. Since he's my only parent who pays for everything when he visits, I have no problem indulging him. He's also my only parent who's not married to a crazy person and my only parent who visits...so how could I shun him anyway?
In the last few years he's really gotten into antiquing. He collects flashlights (the collection's up to 150 - I kid you not) and he's expanded to toy robots because the flashlights turned out to be so easy to find. My step mom collects eye cups. They're these little glass cups that look like a small goblet and the cup is ovular. People used to use them to rinse their eyes. So anyway, we probably spent 75% of our waking time antiquing. This involved driving from Hermitage to Bell Buckle to Manchester to Murfreesboro. And then the next day from Hermitage to Murfreesboro to Franklin and back again. We also dined at Cracker Barrel, Chili's AND Shoney's this weekend. I ate my weight in disgusting, greasy food this weekend, that's for sure.

I actually enjoy antiquing because I like looking at every single knick-knack in the place. My dad kept saying how I needed to find something to collect to make it more interesting. I would get alternately excited and depressed about vintage ladies' hats and jewelry and furniture that I can't afford. There were also a few characters running the shops as well. I found a piece that made me laugh so much that my dad decided to buy it for me..."cause you just liked it so much." Without further ado, here she is, you crack the nut between her thighs...my kind of woman:


I just hope my dad doesn't start sending me antique nutcrackers now.