Sorry I've been away from the blog... again. We've been really busy.
Here's one thing that has kept me from the blog... our yard sale:
Yes, I know.
Kinda late in the year to throw a yard sale. But we'd been away off and on this summer, not to mention, this summer was unseasonably HOT! So I kept putting it off. I didn't want to wait until Spring, though, because I'd already started organizing some clothes/boxes in the garage, and I really didn't want them to sit there all winter. So I figured we'd give it our best shot before it got cold (it *had* been in the 70s/80s still).
This was also our FIRST garage sale since moving out to the "country" so we weren't sure how it would go, but again, figured it wouldn't hurt to try.
The result: we had around 10 shoppers. And made just under $150.
Soooooooo not worth it.
Perhaps if we had done it BEFORE the cool front rolled in, or during the summer when people are off and looking for yard sales, then maybe... just maybe... we would have done better. Although, I doubt much better.
Anyway, despite my shear exhaustion from the event... it did serve a few good purposes.
A) It gave me an excuse to NEVER have a yard sale AGAIN... at least, not where we live currently. This is a good thing. This means, I can start donating our things, vs. saving them for a hypothetical yard sale that I promise myself I'll have "one day." Although, I'll admit, this will be hard for me. Growing up, my family always had at least one yard sale per year, often two. And the amount of money they'd bring in to go towards the family was always WELL worth the work, often close to a thousand dollars! Not chump change by any means! So it's going to be hard for me to just donate things when I know how much I could be making back home. But I suppose I will just have to learn to let that go.
B) While the garage sale was not lucrative, it was definitely productive. I was able to go through a lot of things, get rid of a lot of things, and although my house is still SUPER messy from the chaos that comes w/having a big sale like this... I know once I get everything donated and organized, my house will be WAY better off than it was before. Definitely a plus!
C) The garage sale was TONS of work, but actually kind of fun--especially for the kids! They thought the garage sale was the coolest thing... EVER! Elizabeth understood exactly what was going on. Although, she did get emotional over a few items/toys that she hasn't played with in years, telling me she didn't want to sell them because she wanted "to save them for her baby one day" (especially her yellow Sunshine Carebear!). Of course, I let her keep those items. But on the actual day, she was so happy to help. When people w/kids arrived, she went out to play w/the kids, and a few times I'd even catch her picking up some of her toys and telling the kids, "Hey girls! Do you want to buy my princess castle?" or picking up another toy, saying, "Or what about this violin." Such the little salesmen. She also LOVED helping me make the sign for the Apple Cider stand. I loved how her apples (with seeds!) turned out! And Liam... well, Liam didn't really "get" the whole garage sale concept. Whenever I'd mention the garage sale, he'd tell me, "A blue one." I'd say "A blue one, what?" And he'd reply, "A blue garage sale." lol! But, he LOVED seeing all his old toys/things out on the driveway, and seemed to think we did this all for his benefit!
D) Last but not least, while we didn't make much money, we did meet a lot of nice neighbors. Including the newest family to our neighborhood, a couple about our age w/a 7 month old. While chatting, we somehow got on the topic of churches, and how they'd had a hard time finding a good church in the area, and that they are Baptist. Of course, I was SO excited to tell them that not only were we Baptist, but that we'd been in the same situation when we first moved here, but that we found a church we love! They seemed genuinely excited about it as well! So I'm hoping that even if we didn't make much money, that on some level, this garage sale was meant to be.
Anyway... on to big project #2: Our guest bath. Yes, somehow BEFORE the craziness of throwing a garage sale, I decided I was going to redecorate our horribly outdated, and terribly plain downstairs/guest bath. So far, I've changed the faucet (very proud of myself for that one!), removed the glass shower doors, removed the mirror, removed all the silver fixtures, patched all the holes, added some decorative wood pieces to the white cabinet, painted the white (non-wood) linoleum cabinet w/a special paint for linoleum--too many coats to even remember, replaced the knobs on the cabinet, and did a spray-paint technique on the fixtures I couldn't replace (budget-wise) to match the new faucet and other new fixtures using 4 different types/colors of paint. Anyway, it's looking fabulous, but no where near done. I have yet to paint the walls (not a big room, but bathrooms are hard to paint w/all the nooks/crannies--and painting behind the toilet is always hard for me!), and still need to change out the light fixture, and hang the new fixtures (toilet paper roll/towel wrack/etc), and hang the shower curtain/decorations. I'm also toying w/re-grouting the tile, because the builder used white (gasp!) grout, and white grout is just notorious for staining and looking dirty, even when it's not--which drives me crazy! But not sure how complicated this would be, or what color I'd do. Definitely not white.
Anyway... we've been busy w/lots of other things. Preschool, Sunday School, a trip to the zoo, two trips to the Pumpkin Patch, and lots more! I will be sure to fill you in on all of this and more ASAP because I'm sure you'd LOVE to see THOSE pictures instead of these... but just wanted to fill you all in on the business around here so you'd know why we're quiet on the blog-front.
Post again soon... promise!
