Monday, July 2, 2007

The Whole Story

Boyd and I have only been married for a year and a half. We lived in two different cities about an hour's drive apart and we both owned homes. We decided to live in his house because it was several rooms bigger... more space for scrapbooking and craft supplies . He, he, he. However, I wasn't ready to part with my own house yet. It was so lovingly decorated, so cozy & inviting, and soooo FULL OF STUFF! The basement alone was like a gift shop. OVERWHELMING!! It was the perfect spot for the girls to stay when they came home to the city where they grew up. When Wendy became engaged to Darin, it was time for her to leave DC and move to Arizona where he is a golf pro. Luckily her job as an Event Planner could be continued from Phoenix as she travels much of the time anyway. I had taken from my house a few favorite things but there was a lot of great furniture for Wendy to take to her Arizona home. So she arrived last Tuesday night... drove here from DC with her dog Shamrock. We spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday putting sold signs on the things she wanted to keep and pricing everything else. Trips up and down and up and down the basement stairs... bringing up treasures from the basement storage. And then, like knights on white horses, Darin's parents arrived from Iowa and saved our aching & tired bodies. Barb and Oz are wonderful... our first meeting! I loved them from the first hug. My oldest daughter Kristin arrived soon after. WOW... does she have energy!! My husband Boyd was given the job of 'errand runner', sign maker, and cashier. By Friday night my body felt as though it was hit by a truck. New muscles had been discovered. Saturday morning arrived quickly... "LET THE SALE BEGIN!" It was crazy fun and a beautiful day... sunny and cool. The shoppers arrived early and left with armloads of treasures. It's always fun chatting with new people. I played around on all the exercise equipment outside and my back is in spasms at the moment. Someday I'll learn.
We had a Christmas area. I took this photo after it had been picked over.

The quest room bed was covered in pillows and a million other things.


Fall decor was in the hallway... on shelves, the floor, and small tables



Living room had miscellaneous goodies. This is just a taste of what we sold. The dining room table was covered with sets of dishes I couldn't live without. The kitchen was loaded with cookery and cookbooks... and more dishes and glassware. Even the grass outside of the house was covered with hooked rugs, skis, and so on. By Sunday afternoon we were all worn out and getting goofy. We had eaten thousands of calories from 'fast food'. Called it quits and we all went home. The $$$$ (did very, very well) went to Wendy and Darin to cover their gas, rental truck, and other moving expenses.
Here's the quote of the day: Boyd to me as we pulled in our driveway Sunday, "I have a good idea honey! Why don't WE have a rummage sale?" I just scowled at him. He got the message.




4 comments:

Pam said...

Goodness me, that sounds like quite an event. We don't really have garage sales here, though we do have car boot sales - you go to a designated area with your car boot full of stuff and start selling. I've never been to one.

Your house looks lovely. British houses don't have basements, and in some ways this is perhaps a good thing, for a hoarder like me anyway.

I'm just about to stop blogging and start tidying my study. Here I go!

BarbO said...

Thank you for the nice compliments, Joan!! We too were so glad to meet you and Boyd, and work included, we enjoyed spending 3 days with you. I felt kind of sad seeing all of your things being sold, but seeing Wendy load so much in to the truck and knowing she and Darin will get so much use out it offset the sadness. And knowing Kristin has her "memories", and that you took a lot of your favorite things helped too. I could just feel the love that went into that house, though. But now you and Boyd have your own place together, and that has brought you happiness. And the "treasures" I brought home made me happy! I will send some photos in the next few days, and we will plan your trip to Iowa soon. Looking forward to one more evening with Darin and Wendy on their way through today. Then of course there's always Christmas in Arizona to look forward to!

AMY said...

WOW! Looks like a fantastic sale! Too bad I couldn't attend. That would be quite a road trip to get there. It's a good thing that it was worth all the work.

Wanda said...

No wonder you are "dragging", What a super sale!!! I hope most of what you wanted to sell, sold!!

Now you need to take a nice long nap....