B+C+B+C+B+C: Yard Sale-ing

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Yard Sale-ing

My Facebook status last Friday afternoon was, "Confession: I love going to yard sales. Trashy? Maybe. But I've seriously scored the last few weekends, and just had a very lucrative start to another!" I got a dozen or so responses negating my suggestion that yard sales are anything less than totally classy. Hmmm.... well, whatever they are, I've been hitting more of them this summer than ever before in my life. I even make a list on Thursday night of all the ones I've seen advertised and mapquest them to find the best routes (cuz you can't depend on signage - people make crappy signs). Sometimes they're a big waste of my time, and it's nothing but junk at the sale. Or worse - overpriced junk. I get seriously frustrated with people who expect near-retail prices for their used - or even unused - belongings at their yard sales. Five bucks for a shirt? Sure, at TJMaxx or Ross. Not at a yard sale. Two bucks, max.
But I'd say over half the time I find something I actually really, really wanted/needed, for an awesome deal. Like this weekend - we needed a longer hose and a watering bucket. Found 'em - a few quarters each. I need some post-maternity clothes to wear til I'm in my prepreg clothes - found 'em! I bought some girl's collection of solid colored vneck loooooong tshirts (perfect for nursing and hiding the tummy pooch) for .50 each! And her new-looking Lucky jeans - size LONG - same price! This past weekend we also got beach toys, baby stuff, a present for mom, sliding organizer bins, a swimsuit for Brianna, 5 pairs of shoes for her.... I won't bore you with the list - but you get the point. I got cool stuff. For cheap. And a little bit of an adernaline rush along with it. Not joking - anybody else get a little high off of finding a fabulous deal on something you really wanted/needed? *sigh* I'm going to miss my weekend yard sales when the babes come and I can't really go (Brian works every Saturday - even when he technically has the day off).
Related story: here's a photo from a yard sale fundraiser we held here in Cedar (actually, the next town up in Enoch) for our La Leche League group:

I'm in the red shirt on the left. If you click on it, you'll see a belly photo. But that was back at 28 weeks, when I constantly was told how small I looked for carrying twins. That doesn't happen very much anymore :) I promise I was actually helping at the sale, not just shopping. The whole experience made me appreciate how much work goes into doing a yard sale right! Organizing, pricing, advertising, crowd control, cashiering, negotiating.... ugh. I was pretty wiped out by the end. I doubt I'll ever hold my own yard sale - not worth the effort. I just freecycle everything I don't need, or sell via craigslist. Even someday when we're filthy rich (like - we can afford to actually own two cars) I'll still be a yardsaler. Brian says I don't do my part supporting the economy. Psh. I just love the whole concept of one's person's trash being another's treasure.

1 comment:

DeAnne said...: I LOVE! Yard-sale-ing. I can totally relate to that HIGH; July 26, 2010 at 1:30 PM

Quotes I want to remember

"The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain."
- Neal A. Maxwell

"It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence."
-Ezra Taft Benson

“Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.
-Jeffrey R. Holland

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."
-Neil L. Andersen

"Certainly there are times when getting the family together to read the scriptures does not stack up as a spiritual experience worthy of a journal entry. But we must not be deterred. There are special times when the spirit of a son or daughter is just right and the power of these great scriptures goes down into their heart like fire. As we honor our Heavenly Father in our homes, He will honor our efforts."
-Neil L. Andersen

President Hinckley admonished both men and women to be nurturers. He said, ‘How much more beautiful would be the society in which we live if every father . . . and . . . mother regarded [their] children . . . as gifts from the God of heaven . . . and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord.’ ”
-Susan W. Tanner

"Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (22:6). That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. president George Bush, spoke wisely: 'Your success as a family, our success as society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.' "
-Gordon B. Hinckley

“I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”
-Henry B. Eyring

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.”
-Margaret S. Lifferth

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."
- M. Russell Ballard

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’?”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
-Kent D. Watson

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Yard Sale-ing

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