The Boyz Are Back

by Brigid McAlpin April 19, 2026

I am back after a week off from the blog. I needed to take the time to get my taxes finished and I did so on Tax Day which was last Wednesday. I had signed up for Rocket Money to keep track of expenses sometime in 2024 and since I had a full year's worth of information in the system for 2025, I was able to give it a try. Overall I really liked it! The system is user-friendly, categorizing expenses was easy but with so many of them and two different businesses to keep track of it took time. These past two years, I used a spreadsheet which I purchased from Etsy. The only drawback with Rocket Money is that once the data is all ready to go, all I can do is download all of the details to a .CSV file for Excel and I then need to manually calculate the category totals. At first glance (and with a quick Google search) I did not see a way to run the totals for the year but I will look into it again when I am not under the gun. I keep up with recording income on a monthly basis and always tell myself I will do the same with expenses but now I feel it will be possible. When I finish estate sale packages for the month, the next step will be to go into Rocket Money and categorize expenses for that same month. Along the way I was able to set up rules for recurring expenses so as time goes on there will be less to do. Future me will thank current me!

By nature I am a very positive person and always see the glass half-full. However lately there has been some negativity which started with a couple of negative reviews. I feel like I do not have control over our Google and Yelp ratings, all I can do is respond to the reviews we receive. Virtually every time (including these cases) there is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why we handled the situation the way we did but the reviewer left that pertinent information out of their review. The nature of the estate sale business in general is that people tend to more easily leave negative reviews and those who have a great experience with us do not express those views as often.

When I answered the second negative review, I noticed a comment that the platform did not notify me about from the week prior. I think I was not notified because there was no way for me to leave a response. Someone had left a 1-star review with no description and I responded at the time that I cannot speak to their issue but they were welcome to give us a call or email and we would be happy to discuss it with them. Five months after that, the reviewer posted a personal attack. I do not know this person and they do not know me. It left me a bit sad about the state of humanity that people continue to hide behind keyboards and lash out at people like this. One thing I have always stood by is that no one is going to affect the trajectory of my life, that is within my control and no, I will not be taking their "advice" to fold up the estate sale business and move it out of Illinois. I thought about discontinuing the blog but I enjoy writing it and know that there are people out there who enjoy reading it. So for now, I will keep things as they are.

Kuochun is still in China so I continue to hold everything down on the home front. We both really try to be considerate neighbors. To minimize barking we walk the girls on a time schedule and on a path where we would run into the least amount of people. I found that if I walked out the door with the girls at 6:00 AM, a man would be walking right in front of my house and they would totally bark at him, especially Vivi because she feels it is her job to protect the house. So I adjusted things a bit and now we are walking out the door at 6:10 AM. Vivi has been "sleeping in" these past couple of days to 5:55 AM so maybe she caught onto this. This man walks all around the neighborhood so sometimes were seeing him 2-3 times on a single walk. I am doing my best to avoid him because I do not want the girls to disturb the neighbors, especially so early in the morning. This past Saturday morning, we were walking down our street and after we walked about two blocks, there was a person and a dog across the street. Vivi was under control this time and just gave two very small barks. Margot did not bark at all. I heard the person clearly say "get out of here." I nearly whirled around and said I have just as much of a right to be here as you do but did not want to make things worse. I just ignored them.

On Sunday I had an experience which helped me to feel better about people. I have a big beautiful wall in my living room which is paneled in the original cypress wood from 1964. When I had a designer helping me several years ago, she and her assistant hung art for me and I had found two gorgeous Mexican tin mirrors - one at an antique mall in Goodyear, AZ and the other at a consignment store in north Scottsdale. They had the idea to hang them on my living room wall. I loved what they did but I always felt it needed a third mirror because odd numbers are more interesting and it would take up more space. Prior to my two mirrors being hung up, I saw a mirror at an antique mall that would have been perfect but at the time I did not have a use for it so I did not buy it. Afterwards, the antique mall moved and I searched for the mirror at the new location but it was not there. I have been looking for a mirror for four years now but on Saturday this gorgeous gem popped up on Facebook Marketplace. I asked the seller if I could come see it and pick it up the next day and he said I could. It was located about 1/2 hour away in North Phoenix. I have met the nicest people through Facebook Marketplace and this couple was no exception. Without hesitation, they invited me into their home (which is under construction) to see their beautiful collections of art, decor and furniture. They have been in the current home for about a year and a half, downsizing from a 7,100 square foot home in Florida. I really enjoyed seeing what they had staged thus far as well as their items lined up on shelving that they do not have room for. They even showed me their attached unit which is accessed through the backyard. Before entering the backyard they said sorry, we have three barking Yorkies. I said no problem, I have two barking Schnauzers! I wish Kuochun could have been there to see this home. They would like to sell more so maybe once Kuochun comes back from China we will set a time to go there.

They are thinking about selling this fantastic king size Mexican tin headboard. I never knew that these existed so I was amazed to see it. This would have been Mother's dream headboard. She had trouble finding the right thing when she stayed in the first floor bedroom and tried several ideas over time. This would be perfect for the room because the ceilings are very tall. We will see what they decide!

The mirror I purchased is so huge that it did not fit in Kuochun's car, even on the diagonal. They kindly offered to drive it home for me in their van. I gave them an extra $100 for delivery. They were such good sports about it and thought the development where I live was cool. The next step will be to see if the handyman can hang it up, or if I need to hire a picture hanger. The handyman did come on Saturday but only ended up staying a half day. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep upstairs and my ringer was off so I did not know he was texting me asking what to do next. By the time I woke up, he had just left. I am supposed to order a new pocket door for my room but I was waiting until the Prescott project was finished. I may end up waiting until the fall to resume handyman work in Scottsdale. Hopefully they are not mad at me, it was totally accidental.

Over these past two weeks, I was able to post 10 new items, including 8 pieces by The Boyz Silver. This jewelry is made in Mexico and absolutely gorgeous! I purchased a number of pieces from them in the first 3 years of attending the Tucson Gem Show. I love the man who mans this booth but he is such a good salesman he always talked me into purchasing additional pieces. As a result, for the past several years I have sprinted past his booth so he does not see me. I have sold a few pieces at my pop-up sales over time but for the most part they have not seen the light of day. Kuochun noticed them before he left and thought they were so beautiful it encouraged me to post a few. I have not sold any yet but they just need to find their people. The cuff bracelets are on the larger side, ranging from 7" to 7.25" which is too large even for me but I know there are people out there in this size.

I also made the decision to try and sell this heart pendant by Navajo artist Tom Hawk. This artist is famous for his "railroad" design jewelry. It was a gift from Mother but I do feel that I need to downsize my collection, especially since I am not getting out much. I searched the internet, eBay and Etsy and did not see another one currently for sale. At the moment, it is currently one of a kind!

I finally completed my online inventory and was able to put the pieces which are online back in their containers which has helped with the jewelry clutter. I am still surrounded by jewelry that needs to be priced but I am starting with taking care of everything on my desk. I thought I had these earrings online but it turns out there was only a partial draft from 2023. I shined them up, updated the photos, completed the draft and posted these earrings this past week. Since the silver has a mirror finish, it is reflecting my photo light box but these earrings are not scratched. The lines are the sides of the box. They are lined in black suede and the pieces of turquoise are embedded in the suede. I have never seen a pair like this before. I linked the photo to the listing on my website. These earrings are only $40 shipped!

I have been continuing to attend physical therapy twice a week but I feel like I am not making any progress. However on the last visit Cody my therapist had been thinking about it and decided to retest me in one area. Although I have never had back problems, he said my lower back is curved and this causes the vertebrae to kind of crunch together. He showed me on a spine model. This is connected to the sciatic nerve and the area on the side of the knee, the areas where I am experiencing pain. He gave me some new exercises to try which involve stretching and flattening out the lower back. On Wednesday especially I came in with extreme pain and these exercises gave me some relief. However pounding the pavement walking the girls several times a day is aggravating things, I know. I was supposed to go use the NuStep every other day but my fitness center membership is expired and I have to go to two different offices to renew it. They are not open on weekends. I have a dental appointment this coming Monday at the same time as PT so I had to cancel it so I will be back to it again next Wednesday. Then Cody will be out the following Monday so for the next two weeks there will be just one session per week. Unfortunately life is getting in the way of being able to perfectly follow my homework. Since this has been going on for six months I do feel someone needs to look at my knee to see what is wrong, beyond a normal X-ray.

Next week the plan is to start posting regularly again with a minimum of one item per day to keep my shops active. I hit a bit of a snag when I photographed some rose rings and a pendant by Navajo artist Leander Tahe but decided to keep the pendant. I found the two similar pendants I purchased to resell so I just need to photograph them because I would like to post them just ahead of the rings. I have another set of flower pendants and rings by Leander Tahe, they have scalloped edges and kind of a geometric design. I found that the flower pendant looks great with my multi-strand Sleeping Beauty turquoise necklace but I will have the other one up for sale soon, along with a couple of matching rings. The rose pendant looks beautiful with my fluted Navajo pearls, so for now the two pendants are in the keep section.

I sold three items online these past two weeks - one each on eBay, Etsy and Poshmark. My favorite of the three was this beautiful butterfly pendant by Rosella Paxton featuring Hubei turquoise from China. I still have more of these butterflies available for sale, each one is a little different!

I have a follow-up to this necklace, which I mentioned last time that I had a request to model but then the person came back five days later saying "no longer interested." I sold it through Facebook Marketplace to a woman who was visiting the area from Wyoming. She thought she was looking for a squash blossom necklace but came across this one and changed her mind! Instead of a naja, which is the classic horseshoe shaped centerpiece of a squash blossom necklace, this one has a pendant in the center. When she tried it on, she felt it was a little too long so I directed her to my friends at Old Town Jewels. I am not sure if they were able to help her by shortening it while she waited but I hope so!

I received Poshmark offers on two different statement necklaces which were both artist signed - a new lariat and a vintage squash blossom. As I usually do, I came back with my rock bottom price but neither one ended up purchasing. With Poshmark's 20% commission and paying shipping, I would have lost money on the lariat by accepting that offer. I would have broken even on the squash blossom. As much as I would have loved to sell the lariat especially, I did purchase these pieces to resell. They are still at "old" silver pricing, before silver skyrocketed. I did not change my prices just because of the silver market.

Well that is all the news for now, Kuochun is past the halfway point for his trip! Almost three weeks down and two more to go. When we text, the phone gives his city location and I noticed one day that he was in Hong Kong. He said he went there to visit his lifetime friend who is very ill and it is probably the last time he will see him. This is what matters, being there for the ones who are most important.

I will be back!