hey y'all,
who names their yard sale? that would be me. and the post title is what i called mine ... junker's delight ... which was yesterday, in all its glory.
first let me say that i will never, ever host another yard sale at my house. okay, i might have made that declaration a few times in the past, but this time, i. mean. it.
moving on. once i made the decision to have the sale, it was just a matter of psyching myself (and my kids) up for the challenge. notice i don't mention hubby. that's because when i told him of my plan, he not only said NO, but HELL NO.
now, before you get your hackers up, let me say that his only concern was for ME. he didn't think i was up to the task, physically. he didn't want me to get hurt, overdo it or generally-speaking, kill myself over a yard sale.
while it's true my health can be precarious, i was to the point where mind over matter had to prevail. my mind couldn't handle all the matter crammed into my garage. i was beginning to feel like a true hoarder, as in hoarders on A&E.
so to prove to myself that i actually could let go of stuff ... and to actually shed myself of the overflow, i was determined to pull off this sale.
alright. so the kids and i got busy in the garage. oh.dear.lord, the crap we pulled out of that place! some i hadn't seen in years, decades even ... some i remembered, some i didn't recognize! some was newer ... stuff spilled over from the house. you know the drill. garage stuff. half-heartedly, we pulled things from closets and other areas around the house that needed some weeding.
this was the first time that i held a sale in my backyard. with the pool filled in (it's a garden space now), it was a safe and pleasant place to use. but the BEST part about using the backyard was that we could set up early! at our leisure.
i can't even imagine how we would've set all that junk out early saturday morning! as it was, we worked the entire week on clearing and sorting and then setting up the display tables. sheesh.
i was thinking ... it is nothing short of a miracle that there are so many yard sale listings, considering all the time and labor that go into one! who, in their right minds, would do this to themselves?!?! okay, well, i guess i have my answer right there in the question.
and then there are other sundry details you must attend to. i know a little about advertising (by marriage, once removed and divorced) and promoting your event (from many years of, well, actually promoting events) so when it came time to do that, i was well-prepared.
schlepped down to city hall and shelled out my $5 for the yard sale permit (which i never thought of again until 1 hour before closing when a nosy ... er ... i mean ... helpful customer asked me if i had a permit from the city ... sigh).
since i have the gift of blah blah blah, i hacked out a semi-clever advert for craigslist and repeated it a couple of times. since the killeen daily herald charges per line, i had to be a little more succinct. pithy even. but that's okay. i think more and more yard sale regulars are checking craigslist.
apparently so, because we had lots of traffic. i think the yard/street signs helped too. i spent a full hour on those, but it was an hour well spent.
jannetta and tara were my handy dandy yard sale assistants ... they were AWESOME! thanks girls. we had a blast sitting at the umbrellaed table, people watching and people pleasing by giving them great deals ... and even giving toys to unsuspecting little ones. they were thrilled!
but i think we were even more thrilled to see the joy on their faces.
wish i'd taken more pics. but, well, i had my hands full. the stories i could tell you about the customers and their funny, quirky ways! i wonder if people talk about us (the FAGs) after we leave sales?? i just bet they do. we always make a such a scene out in public. okay, okay. it's usually me creating the scenes.
the best part of it all ... the optimist club will be picking up my leftovers on monday!! you might recall me blogging about their little thrift store in cove. they don't price anything ... you just donate what you think is fair. because it all goes to the children. with cancer. so i'm happy to be donating items for their charity. because i love children.
don't we all? heh heh
love and hugs,
terry lee
