Round Three DONE!

Recipe cards written in my Mother’s hand… Artwork from the boys when they were little…

I love you cards from John…

The Paris box…

Sigh.

I save this stuff to comfort me in my old age. These are the nursing home boxes. But ohmigod what to do with them in the mean time. So we now have a storage unit. In fact we have to have a place to store our 3rd car, OK my 2nd car. And we put up shelving Sunday to hold all this memorabilia that cannot be parted with. I know this big simplifying will be good for me if I can only get through it. I really do want more new experiences not more new stuff.

We shall see.

Soooo Sweet...

In our neighborhood we have 4 cute little kids ages 2 to maybe 6. They ride madly around the the cul-de-sac on their tiny bikes. When we are out they ride on over to visit. We were getting ready for the Sneak Preview Sale Wednesday night. I was setting up in the garage and John was outside making a fire in the fire pit. The kids dropped by. The little girl asked John where the beauuuuuuuuutiful blond with the beauuuuuuutiful red lips was. He pointed to me and I blew them beauuuuuuuuutiful red lipped kisses.

So sweet.

And one of the neighbors brought me a lovely bottle of red wine. Wow, a guy who come to a garage sale, takes stuff away and brings a nice bottle of red. Can't beat that.

And not sure if the photo show it but LOTS of stuff has gone. Of course tomorrow at noon we start hauling the rest away. But it has been so much better than I expected... not to mention profitable.

Shit'o'ree

Ah yes, gone are the days when without a moments hesitation you just opened a garbage bag and threw stuff you no longer wanted in it and tossed it out. I yearn for those good old days. OK, I recycle, I get it, I reuse, I make found art stuff, I hate too much packaging, I understand getting rid of things in a way that is easy on the earth. But I have an exhausting move ahead of me from Eau Claire to Madison, from 2800 sq. ft to probably 1100.

So I am having a 3 day garage sale with an evening (by popular demand) sneak preview sale this week. And I am tired already. I believe in Feng Shui. I have unearthed childhood books, many, many, many boxes of Christmas decorations, way too many vases, candlesticks, espresso cups (and I don't even really drink coffee) and on and on and on.

We want a condo instead of another big house. That will free us up to travel instead of care for stuff. I hope to feel lighter after this purging. I have things that I have hauled around through 3, yes 3 states and 4 moves. It is time.

One part of me does feel a little sad to see these 'treasures' go. But I am happy to say that friends and family apparently want my stuff. So I will be happy to visit and see my treasures become someone else's treasures.