have a garage sale

9(!!!!) times over! Yes, we had 9 sales before moving! And they weren’t those small, little, dinky sales you see, either. Oh, no! We had a 30-foot-long driveway that we loaded to the brim on all sides 9 different times! Our hours were 9am-3pm. This was within a span of less than 2 months. It was complete chaos. We would usually have our sales on Thursdays and Saturdays. My mom works nights Tuesdays-Saturdasy, so she would get off work and home at 7:30, we would have an hour-and-a-half to set up, and she would stay up all day, until th end of the sale, and until we all ate. So, she was going to sleep around 6pm, only to wake up at 9:30pm, to get to work by 10pm. We were all exhausted, but she WAS, especially.

So, 9 sales down, many items gone away, and approximately $2,500-$3,000 made in the end…totally worth it! Don’t want to ever do it again, but worth it. _{we will have to do this countless more times as we still have about 50 feet of crap in our names that needs to go buh-bye}

I can now say I have put on a successful sale, raised sufficient funds, met many of my neighbors (some would come every time to see all the new stuff we out out), made new friends, and had a chaotic, fun time.

For over a week now, I have spent many hours in my basement going through boxes of baby stuff, kid toys, knick-knacks, old clothes, and so on. And killing spiders on the side. I’ve got a whole system in one room to sort, clean, price and store stuff for our sale so that we can just bring ready-to-go boxes to the garage and setup the day of. Woohoo! This is good.

It doesn’t feel as though I’m drowning so much knowing that I’ve opened and sorted around 30 boxes and have only kept enough to fill three boxes, and those boxes include items that have been in my living room that I just wanted to pack now before the real hectic moving process begins.

This move, I hope, will be more sorted so that when we unpack after we move, everything is with similar things; Christmas with Christmas, sports with sports. We always just pack box-by-box, instead of organizing. It shall be different this time around.

This sale, when we finally get to having it, will be a big ol’ one.

And keep myself busy!

When my mom went to pay the bill for the storage unit we’ve had since we moved out of Colorado this last time (2004), she packed the car full to the brim of anything she could fit, while still being able to see kinda see out the windows.

Wow.

What I helped her carry in was a bunch of old clothes from when she was younger (heck, they’re all back in style, lol), some of my clothes too, and some random blankets and bedding. We need to sort and clean everything for either the garage sale or donation. We might do some of that tonight since it’s her night off. I need something to keep my mind occupied. Sorting through old clothes with a glass of whiskey&coke. Sounds good to me. :)

I don’t know how we’re going to get all this crap gone by the time we move BACK to Colorado! It’s like drowning in clutter. Quite the way to feel suffocation. Ugh. Too. Much. Stuff.

Mon, 2-20:
1 V-Tech Fly and Learn globe game
1 Labrynth game
2 packages of Little Swimmers
1 Glow Worm (I <3 glow worms!)
1 purse
1 fruit basket
1 jump and dance roll out dance mat
1 helmet
=80 items priced thus far

2/21—2/26:
0 items priced. The sick that’s been going around hit me pretty hard.

Mon, 2-13:
5 cookbooks
I vase
I snowman tea-light candle holder
=7

Tue, 2-14:
8 books
1 movie
1 air pump
8 veggie people
1 alarm clock
=19

Wed, 2-15:
2 halloween costumes
2 curling irons
1 metal sign of little girl
1 pack of ornamnets-pool balls
=6

Thu, 2-16:
2 books
1 knick-knack
1 giddy-up riding horse
1 twin duvet w/ pillow cases-IKEA
1 piano
1 picture frame
1 clay butterfly
3 hanging candle holders
1 glass container
3 turtle of different materials
1 alphabet stamp set
=16

Fri, 2-17:
1 flower pot
1 monster truck
1 Turbo Twist Math game
1 Tonka truck
1 Rescue Heroes felt book
1 pack of chalk
2 decorative Seattle-themed glasses
1 glass figurine
1 inflatable whale
1 pack of poetry dog tags
1 Vikings hat
1 FisherPrice backseat organizer
=13

Sat, 2-18:
1 Carseat Cover and Carry
1 windchime
1 set of four coasters
1 Bop-It game
1 dish drying rack
=5

Sun, 2-19:
I fell asleep before I got to mark anything :(

to get myself to see it on here and post about progress…or lack there of. I have done a little bit of sorting, cleaning, and pricing since I closed this last month. There is just soooo much! It’s not just a couple of boxes here and there or a few knick-knacks to bid adieu to—it’s A LOT. Seriously. I just want it all gone.

My new goal is to get at least 5 items priced every day. Little item, big item, doesn’t matter. I just need to GET IT GOING!!!

Today:
2 puzzles
2 picture frames
1 placemat
= 5

There is so much stuff to go through. Sorting, cleaning, checking to make sure any electronic items are working properly, pricing…it all seems so overwhelming, but needs to be done! My basement is full of stuff to sell. My storage until. My late uncles storage unit. Ugh, so much. So time consuming. My mom and I have gone through many boxes in the basement and have priced lots of things, but it is never-ending. We’re planning on moving at the end of October 2012, so this must be completed. We are hoping to have two garage sales before we leave. It’s just a matter of carving out time and energy to the cause.