A month has passed since I spilled my soul and uncovered the secrets deep in my basement. My decision to come clean has been cathartic, and we've actually made progress, people... some real progress!
Step One: The Piles... CHECK.
We toiled and trudged through every square inch of our basement. We combed through boxes and boxes and more boxes. Each item required a destination. Anything and EVERYTHING had to fit into one of four categories: keep, sell, donate or toss. After just one weekend, we were able to scale down the disaster from this...
... to this (aka the keep pile).
Step Two: The Garage Sale... CHECK.
I borrowed tables, racks, hangers and shopping bags. I bought signs, placed ads, made posters and flyers... I was committed. There was NO TURNING BACK. As expected, I got in WAY over my head in an effort to host Westminster's most organized garage sale. I spent hours and hours cleaning, sorting, categorizing and pricing the items deemed "worthy to be sold." Although I unloaded many of our large items on Craigslist the week preceding the sale, this was my garage at 2 a.m. last Thursday (with just 6 hours to go).
Remarkably, at 7:58 a.m. (after my first all-nighter since college), we were ready with muffins, orange juice and big smiles on our faces.
With Paul on childcare duty, Jill was invaluable!
A slow and steady stream of people scoured through our stuff Thursday and Friday. Over the two days, we contended with rain, displaced signs and other garage sales. Nonetheless, our efforts were fruitful. We were able to donate truckfuls of our posessions to the Cancer Federation and the Parenting Place,we made more than enough money to purchase the shelves and bins we were hoping for, I left the experience distinctly aware of how much we have been blessed with and far more appreciative of our "stuff," and I can now say that we successfully completed our first (and LAST) garage sale!Step Three: The Shelves, The Storage Bins... CHECK.
...now we just have to unpack, assemble and use them!Step Four: The Recovery
Honestly, the remaining task ahead is by far the most daunting. Where do we begin??? Baby steps, right? I'll keep you posted.
2 comments:
you should totally be on one of those shows where they organize people's lives! you are truly amazing! great work with the sale. i really admire you.
i bet you could have even sold that garage sale sign if you wanted! your printing is perfectly cool!
WOW... you really had a lot of crap in your basement... an who knew??
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