The craziness in Spam-a-lot continues as Operation Downsize swings into high gear.
Tuesday, my cousin, Shayna, arrived to assist with my efforts. We started with having lunch at Coney Island - it's a tradition with us and then dug into hauling things up and arranging things for sale. She designed several "theme baskets" to group items for quick sale. Clever girl! Later that night I took her with me to Camera Club to meet some of my other strange friends. It was a full day and we crawled into bed early and tired. This worked out nicely as Left Brain had a banquet to attend and left all dressed up in a suit and tie. It was nice to not feel guilty about going out to eat and then to my meeting and leaving him all alone.
Wednesday she hauled and hauled and hauled things for me and assisted with getting the heavy bookcases out to the garage to use for display and then sell. Left Brain told me that he had dressed up for nothing - had the wrong week. Then he continued his work on the staining the decks. The Divine Miss M arrived at lunch time to run to Subway for us. This was so perfect as I was too tired to even put together a simple sandwich. My first sale started at 1:00 and ran until 4:00. This was done with just an online classified ad and was less than stellar in the turnout. Although I had a lot of traffic just from neighbors and people seeing the sign. Then a lady and her daughter stopped by when they saw the sign and asked for a tour of the house. They were on their way to another house in the valley and spotted the sign. Since I still had Shayna's assistance for another half hour I took them through the house and gardens. She was very interested in the gardens and seemed very excited by the prospects the house and yard had to offer. After saying goodbye to Shayna I continued with the hauling of yet more stuff.
Thursday brought an early breakfast and yet more hauling. I can see that I'm making some progress though. Left Brain accepted a driving job that would safely keep him out of the house until Sunday...smart man. Nothing like a rummage sale to drive men out of the house. I think I'm developing some very strong legs by hauling furniture and stuff out and out. Not to mention the bicep development from lifing and lifting....and lifting. I worked hard all day long to clear the basement and then clean the house as they were coming at 2:00 to videotape the house for the website. I was just finishing up the vacuuming when the real estate agent arrived. He helped me move the lawn furniture I was trying to sell on Wednesday during my first sale to get that out of the photos. When a man in a pickup truck arrived I assumed it was the photographer. Wrong. It was the husband of an earlier shopper here to pick up the large rolling table she had purchased. Yikes! I apologized and asked if he could come back after the weekend as the stain on the front steps was still tacky and the house was about to be videotaped. He wasn't thrilled but agreed to come back and took part of her purchases with him. When the video guy arrived I finished vacuuming the last room and when I realized they didn't need me there I put on my jeans and hauled my sweaty stinky body out of there. It was about 3:00 and I wolfed down some food at Fazzoli's and read my Kindle for a while. It felt so good to have a break! Then I went back and dug into it some more, stripped my bed and washed the sheets...putting on the percale sheets so I could give the flannel ones to the kids. Then I drew a nice hot bath with epsom salts and was ready to soak and relax. Aaaaah - this will feel SO good. That's when the Divine Miss M called to tell me she'd pick me up at 5:30 for Garden Club. This was at 5:10. So, I showered instead and ran a brush through my hair and hustled to meet up with her. At least I smelled better. I would have preferred skipping the meeting, but knew she would never "allow" that so I just went along willingly. And it was a good thing. It was so nice to sit and chat with my garden buddies and answer their questions about our radical new lifestyle decision. When I got home I settled into my new clean sheets and read for a little bit and prepared for the next day.
Friday started early with disassembling the bringing up three large heavy metal shelving units. I can only carry two shelves at one time and had to make several trips up the stairs. I will NEVER have a basement again! I wanted to get this done first as I had a massage scheduled for 11:00 and then lunch afterwards with a friend at Pickerman's for soup. Another long needed break! Since I knew I had a showing at 6:00 or 6:30 that night I hustled to achieve my other goals for the day. First to check out motorhomes at one of the local deals - not much to see there, so it didn't take long. Then to convert a sock full of coins to cash at the bank. The quarters kept getting stuck and it took a lengthy time. Then to the post office to ship a book I sold on Amazon. As soon as I got home I hustled to start setting up the metal shelving outside for tomorrow's sale. My goal was to get things on the metal rolling shelves that could get wet in case it rained. But it was a beautiful blue sky, so no worry. I decided to try on clothes so I could get rid of things that wouldn't be going with me. I was standing there in my bra and panties in between outfits when I heard a man's voice say "hello?". Holy crap Batman! Who's in my house now! I shouted out to wait just a minute and grabbed a bathrobe to greet him. He had come in through the side door of the garage and said the real estate agent had said he had tried to call me and they should just go over. Yikes! I asked him and his wife to wait just a minute while I got dressed. Then I quickly rinsed out the bathtub from the bath that never happened and let them in and gave them a tour of the house and gardens. Now I've abandoned trying on clothes and went back outside to work on the set up for tomorrow.
Then a couple pulled up and asked to see the camper for sale. I stopped what I was doing and gave them a tour of the canned ham. After they left I resumed sorting things inside the garage and...was that thunder I heard. No, it couldn't be! Yes it could. Not a heavy rain...but enough to wet everything outside. Oh well. Some neighbors stopped by to shop and talk - then more neighbors driving by stopped to talk. Where were my people that were coming to see the house? After everybody left I finished up and went inside about 7PM and got the message that they had already seen it (it was the people I had shown) so the appointment was cancelled. Even though it was late I ordered another pizza and She Devil and I settled down to watch a little TV and get his blog posted.
I'm exhausted but not unhappy. This all feels right and I'm on schedule with cleaning out the house. I hope to have everything we won't take with us sold or given away by the end of the month. Then we just need someone to make an offer and get things rolling!
The weather is unseasonably warm - who would expect the 80's in March? So, I need to get going on the yard clean up earlier than I had planned to. The yard looks great, especially in the spring when all the dead stuff is removed and that is really critical right not to have curb appeal.
So, I will finish watching "In Plain Sight" even though it runs from 9 - 10 as it is one of my favorite shows. Then I will collapse into bed so I can get up early and have a good breakfast before the sale starts at 9:00. I know how this works and that people will show up as soon as the doors open. So, if I can get out there at 8:00 to finish hauling stuff out and they are ready to shop - so be it. I'm ready. Bring on the shoppers!
Long Live the Queen of Chaos
Tuesday, my cousin, Shayna, arrived to assist with my efforts. We started with having lunch at Coney Island - it's a tradition with us and then dug into hauling things up and arranging things for sale. She designed several "theme baskets" to group items for quick sale. Clever girl! Later that night I took her with me to Camera Club to meet some of my other strange friends. It was a full day and we crawled into bed early and tired. This worked out nicely as Left Brain had a banquet to attend and left all dressed up in a suit and tie. It was nice to not feel guilty about going out to eat and then to my meeting and leaving him all alone.
Wednesday she hauled and hauled and hauled things for me and assisted with getting the heavy bookcases out to the garage to use for display and then sell. Left Brain told me that he had dressed up for nothing - had the wrong week. Then he continued his work on the staining the decks. The Divine Miss M arrived at lunch time to run to Subway for us. This was so perfect as I was too tired to even put together a simple sandwich. My first sale started at 1:00 and ran until 4:00. This was done with just an online classified ad and was less than stellar in the turnout. Although I had a lot of traffic just from neighbors and people seeing the sign. Then a lady and her daughter stopped by when they saw the sign and asked for a tour of the house. They were on their way to another house in the valley and spotted the sign. Since I still had Shayna's assistance for another half hour I took them through the house and gardens. She was very interested in the gardens and seemed very excited by the prospects the house and yard had to offer. After saying goodbye to Shayna I continued with the hauling of yet more stuff.
Thursday brought an early breakfast and yet more hauling. I can see that I'm making some progress though. Left Brain accepted a driving job that would safely keep him out of the house until Sunday...smart man. Nothing like a rummage sale to drive men out of the house. I think I'm developing some very strong legs by hauling furniture and stuff out and out. Not to mention the bicep development from lifing and lifting....and lifting. I worked hard all day long to clear the basement and then clean the house as they were coming at 2:00 to videotape the house for the website. I was just finishing up the vacuuming when the real estate agent arrived. He helped me move the lawn furniture I was trying to sell on Wednesday during my first sale to get that out of the photos. When a man in a pickup truck arrived I assumed it was the photographer. Wrong. It was the husband of an earlier shopper here to pick up the large rolling table she had purchased. Yikes! I apologized and asked if he could come back after the weekend as the stain on the front steps was still tacky and the house was about to be videotaped. He wasn't thrilled but agreed to come back and took part of her purchases with him. When the video guy arrived I finished vacuuming the last room and when I realized they didn't need me there I put on my jeans and hauled my sweaty stinky body out of there. It was about 3:00 and I wolfed down some food at Fazzoli's and read my Kindle for a while. It felt so good to have a break! Then I went back and dug into it some more, stripped my bed and washed the sheets...putting on the percale sheets so I could give the flannel ones to the kids. Then I drew a nice hot bath with epsom salts and was ready to soak and relax. Aaaaah - this will feel SO good. That's when the Divine Miss M called to tell me she'd pick me up at 5:30 for Garden Club. This was at 5:10. So, I showered instead and ran a brush through my hair and hustled to meet up with her. At least I smelled better. I would have preferred skipping the meeting, but knew she would never "allow" that so I just went along willingly. And it was a good thing. It was so nice to sit and chat with my garden buddies and answer their questions about our radical new lifestyle decision. When I got home I settled into my new clean sheets and read for a little bit and prepared for the next day.
Friday started early with disassembling the bringing up three large heavy metal shelving units. I can only carry two shelves at one time and had to make several trips up the stairs. I will NEVER have a basement again! I wanted to get this done first as I had a massage scheduled for 11:00 and then lunch afterwards with a friend at Pickerman's for soup. Another long needed break! Since I knew I had a showing at 6:00 or 6:30 that night I hustled to achieve my other goals for the day. First to check out motorhomes at one of the local deals - not much to see there, so it didn't take long. Then to convert a sock full of coins to cash at the bank. The quarters kept getting stuck and it took a lengthy time. Then to the post office to ship a book I sold on Amazon. As soon as I got home I hustled to start setting up the metal shelving outside for tomorrow's sale. My goal was to get things on the metal rolling shelves that could get wet in case it rained. But it was a beautiful blue sky, so no worry. I decided to try on clothes so I could get rid of things that wouldn't be going with me. I was standing there in my bra and panties in between outfits when I heard a man's voice say "hello?". Holy crap Batman! Who's in my house now! I shouted out to wait just a minute and grabbed a bathrobe to greet him. He had come in through the side door of the garage and said the real estate agent had said he had tried to call me and they should just go over. Yikes! I asked him and his wife to wait just a minute while I got dressed. Then I quickly rinsed out the bathtub from the bath that never happened and let them in and gave them a tour of the house and gardens. Now I've abandoned trying on clothes and went back outside to work on the set up for tomorrow.
Then a couple pulled up and asked to see the camper for sale. I stopped what I was doing and gave them a tour of the canned ham. After they left I resumed sorting things inside the garage and...was that thunder I heard. No, it couldn't be! Yes it could. Not a heavy rain...but enough to wet everything outside. Oh well. Some neighbors stopped by to shop and talk - then more neighbors driving by stopped to talk. Where were my people that were coming to see the house? After everybody left I finished up and went inside about 7PM and got the message that they had already seen it (it was the people I had shown) so the appointment was cancelled. Even though it was late I ordered another pizza and She Devil and I settled down to watch a little TV and get his blog posted.
I'm exhausted but not unhappy. This all feels right and I'm on schedule with cleaning out the house. I hope to have everything we won't take with us sold or given away by the end of the month. Then we just need someone to make an offer and get things rolling!
The weather is unseasonably warm - who would expect the 80's in March? So, I need to get going on the yard clean up earlier than I had planned to. The yard looks great, especially in the spring when all the dead stuff is removed and that is really critical right not to have curb appeal.
So, I will finish watching "In Plain Sight" even though it runs from 9 - 10 as it is one of my favorite shows. Then I will collapse into bed so I can get up early and have a good breakfast before the sale starts at 9:00. I know how this works and that people will show up as soon as the doors open. So, if I can get out there at 8:00 to finish hauling stuff out and they are ready to shop - so be it. I'm ready. Bring on the shoppers!
Long Live the Queen of Chaos
Wow! Where do you get all the energy? I hope that after all this work, your yard sale goes well. As for your house, your garden should help sell the house quicker than usual. Tootsie and I are wishing you lots of sunshine and good sales! Have a great day, hugs, Edna B.
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