it has been 5 years, 7 months and 2 days since we have owned this house. that is 2041 days.
thats really not so many. but now think in terms of stuff-accumulation. still, you might look at that number and think,"how much crap could one tiny family (that values tidiness and abhors materialism and consumption) accumulate in that period that they didnt really want or need and yet still allowed to live there?"
the answer would be: TONS.
as much as i am learning to love living simply and buying less, it hasnt always been that way. i also have a big weird heart and am thrifty. the thrifty side has me saying, "i cant get rid of this! what if i NEED this portable ice cream maker ball one day? what if we have a power outage and i am having one of my dairy withdrawal rages? THEN WHAT!?!?!"
true story though, we registered for one of those balls like insane people and our friends bought us one because they are enablers. we used it once during the winter of 2007 while putting up christmas lights. that was the last time i saw it without thinking, "why the HELL is that still in my way!?!?" but Madame Frugal McWhatifs won out in the end and it was granted a stay of execution until its next appeal.
and then the big, weird heart part of me also projects the emotions that i am so terrible at expressing onto possessions. the Toy Story franchise has not helped me overcome this. when my family had a yardsale when i was 7, i snuck out of the house the night before and into the garage and "rescued" so many of the toys i hadnt touched in years because i couldnt bear to think about how lonely and rejected they might feel by getting cast out of my life.
sure that's cute (and somewhat telling as to why i am the way i am now) when it's a 7 year old and an old stuffed turtle that her grandpa won for her at her school's bingo fundraiser that she trying to retreive. but it's not nearly as charming when it's a 29 year old holding on like grim death to a pack of biore pore strips she last used in 2005 (though clearly not for lack of opportunity).
we are all about personal growth here at dukes farm, so we are trying to lure me slowly away from the bad place where every salad bowl, necklace and old sports bra that i contemplate throwing out/selling/giving away starts to look just like bravely resigned woody and buzz at the edge of the landfill inferno during the climactic scene of Toy Story 3 (which i still cry during, despite having seen/heard it 459 times this year) and i inevitably put it down and promise to play with it more next week. we are moving away from that bad place and towards the happy land where objects are emotionless and i am not insane.
so i spent a sweaty 2 hours in the last night in the attic, that first and final frontier of forgotten things.
this is what the garage looked like afterward:
we're just a TLC production crew away from my shot at reality stardom
my kids have already shown signs that the recessive insane-nostalgic-attachment gene is expressing itself in their DNA makeup by going bananas as they wandered through here today; visiting the graveyard of their babyhoods and begging to grant certain items clemency and let them back in the house. i say NO MORE!
so then i arranged for the godmothers to watch the kids on saturday (a trip to the zoo!) and invested in a pack of neon posterboard.
that's right, people:
it's on.
here's where i need you.
this is our first ever yard sale. never put one on, have only been to maybe 9 in my life. i need tips.
have you put on yard sales? which have been successful and why do you think they were?
as a garage sale buyer, what do you look for when deciding whether to stop or not?
haggling? accepting checks? bathroom usage? when do i post the signs?
i need everything youve got.
so far i have $150 in small bills and quarters, a dozen bright and simple signs (after i took the above picture i added blue dots in the middle of all of the arrows so that there would be continuity between the signs...since they are yellow and pink), a craigslist listing (and a few other online garage sale postings) and a stern warning to jesse that I am captain and supreme mugwump of this rodeo and i MUST be obeyed blindly in all things yard sale.
what am i missing?
i am counting on yall.
at
2:24 PM
