Making the Most of a Bad Situation

Source: Uploaded by user via Tara on Pinterest

Delaware, or my area of it, at least, was spared the wrath of Hurricane Sandy.  Mother Nature took a last-minute deep breath and blew Sandy just slightly north and south of us, whalloping the coasts of Maryland to the south and New Jersey to the north.  The Delaware coast got its share of damage but nothing like the previously mentioned places, and we're used to flooding and to high winds from nearby hurricanes.

It's scary, though, to see such damage so close to home.  I also used to live in NJ (as a kid) and NYC (as a college student) and saw familiar places and people affected by the damage.

Staten Island (and many other parts of NYC) got hit really hard, not only by flood and wind but also by resulting fires.  Some people lost everything.  My heart goes out to them.

I don't have a lot of money right now so it's hard to hear the calls from the Red Cross and other organizations asking for financial help.  I did find, though, ways to help which actually helped ME as well:  Some friends and local citizens have organized trips up to NY with loads of most-needed supplies like dry clothes and outerwear, blankets, toiletries, easily prepped food.  LOTS of things I had too much of.

Yes, some of the food we could have/would have eaten, but I'd rather they have it.  Sure, we'll need to buy new toothbrushes and toothpaste soon, but it will be there for us.  I could sell some of the clothes.  And we DEFINITELY did not need the amount of coats, jeans, hats, sweaters, scarves that we had (a mind-blowing quantity.)  I'm so happy that not only is this stuff out of my house, but it is going to people who really need it.

Major Pile of Trash -- GONE!

The trash men were so on the ball that they had picked up half of it before we were done, and before I could take a pic!  Instead, I bring you this quote via Facebook.

Curbside "treasures" to the curb included:

• 2 mattresses
• 2 box springs
• 1 enormous futon mattress
• 6 bags of garbage
• 1 can of garbage
• 4 boxes of "treasures"
• 1 huge bin of recycling
• 2 small bins of recycling
• 1 old dishwasher
• several disgusting old bed pillows
• an ancient decrepit baby exersaucer
• much, much more...

And there's still more to go!  Two more days left.  My body is aching (most of this stuff was up in the attic and had to be lugged down 3 flights of stairs) but my soul feels so good!  There is a lot of work left to go but we have made a major dent in the downsizing.  I only wish I had done (or at least started) this AGES ago.  People, if you're getting the urge to purge, don't put it off!  It's only stuff, and it will weigh you down.

Gearing Up For Trash Week!

The first round of garbage is on the curb, with more ready to head out tomorrow.  There was only so many trips down to the basement and only so much dust we could inhale during Son's naptime.

(This is in addition to the giant trash bin full of stuff which we put to curb after this pic was taken.)

There are also more bags/piles in the basement waited to be carried out, and piles and bags of recycling to go out.  Even in this mass purge, I find it very hard not to recycle.

I'm so sick of looking at STUFF.

Moms Club Sale is DONE!

I have honestly been too busy to post! This is a good thing, though. Today is Monday - who would have ever thought a Monday could feel like such a relaxing day? Saturday was the Moms Club Sale, and I volunteered the day before for setup. Got a lot of stuff out of the house and a good amount of it sold at the sale :D and the rest is packed up for... drumroll... another garage sale, this one to come in the near future to my parents' garage (actual garage on actual street with actual parking, plus in a wealthier town.)

Sent a box of kid stuff home with my brother for my niece.  I am just about done culling stuff for kids younger than my kid.  Woohoo!  Kids have a lot of stuff.

Have also boxed/bagged up a lot of non-kid-related items for the sale, and brought some of them (more tomorrow) over to my parents' garage.  They're not technically "gone" yet, but they are not coming back to this house EVER!

Mistakenly told Husband that this week was trash pickup week, when it is actually next week.  But that's ok, it got our butts in gear and we're ahead of the game, and we sure can use the extra week to get more junk ready to go.

Got my business cards for my new enterprise - "Holly, Queen of Junk" as my dad so lovingly puts it.

Also lined up another job managing a contents sale, and have to return a call tomorrow regarding a second sale.  I don't know how I will find the time to do both (plus my sale) before the weather turns too cold - fingers crossed that something good will come of global warming for once.  I can't believe that I, Packrat,  am crazy enough to be trying to help other people downsize WHILE downsizing my own life, but these jobs seem to be coming my way and who am to turn down work?  Plus it feels good to help people.  People who pay me.  That doesn't hurt either.

My house is a disaster and I have BOXES of books waiting to be listed and sent to Amazon's warehouse.  I need them out!

Treading Water at Home

but kicking butt out in the workplace. I am about to commit, officially, to this side gig of managing estate/contents sales, and get myself some business cards, since I lost count of how many times at last weekend's sale I wished I had one to give out. I also got the domain name, but there's nothing happening there yet. My entrepreurial venture of helping other people get rid of THEIR stuff shall henceforth be known as

Second Impression Objects

Details to follow soon!

Back to my own house... well, I finally got the many, many, MANY toys up off the living room floor long enough today to vacuum the area rug.  That was kind of my big accomplishment for today. 

In recent days since my last post, I DID...

• get the garbage out to the curb in time for pickup today, but the bin was only about 2/3 full.  
• got nearly everything together to sell at the Moms' Club sale this month, and I picked up the tags, so I just need to price them, and clean off a few items. 
• went through a(nother) pile of papers and recycled what could go, put the rest in my to-file box.  
• packed up some extraneous (but occasionally necessary) blankets, sheets, etc. in one of those huge vacuum-seal bags.
• packed up the majority of my summer clothes in a suitcase.
• sold a few more books on Amazon (though I still have boxes all over my dining room waiting to be sent out to the warehouse.)

I'm sure there was more, but life has been so nuts that I can't remember.

Source: wherelovelygirlsgo.tumblr.com via Holly on Pinterest

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Crazy busy lately.

donated:
(note: all bags = huge trash bags)

bags & 2 boxes
3 stacks of magazines from parents' house
1 box books from parents' house
2 bags old curtains (yes, 2.)
1/2 of yard sale leftovers (1 full carload)

Very full trash can to the curb.

Picked up consignment packet & 100 tags for Moms' Club Sale in 19 days.

Plus managing another whole house contents sale this weekend for commission, and appraising the contents of 2 other homes. Phew!

Yard Sale, Take Two

Did another yard sale yesterday, made a little money, got rid of some stuff, and brought all remaining sellable (but not worth selling on Amazon) books to the Goodwill donation afterward.  I am thisclose to being DONE with books!

Other than that, I don't have any huge-huge milestones to brag about.  Honestly, I feel like I have been so busy just keeping up with the house and family/daily grind that I haven't had any time to get PAST the regular stuff to the culling.  Due to a series of not-quite-comical mishaps this morning, my regular chores for the day extended through the afternoon.  The pile of books that is halfway ready to send to Amazon is sitting in the same spot it was a week ago, still half ready.  I DID clean and thoroughly mop the kitchen/laundry/hall/powder room area today, but again, that's just maintaining.  But it looks nice.

I have a few deadlines coming up:

October 12 - drop off consignment items that I will be selling in the Mom's Club Sale.  Yay for not having to ship things!  I have a bunch of stuff set aside already, but I want to get more.  I optimistically ordered 100 tags.  As if.

Week of Oct 22-26 - City of Milford's Fall Clean-Up Week, where you can put as much trash out to the curb as many days as you want to and they'll haul it away for free.  I REALLY want to take advantage of this.  I bought a 40-pack of Glad Forceflex Super Heavy Duty large trash bags specifically for this purpose.  I want to get started on this soon but I don't want a mountain of trash bags piled up on my front porch while I wait for the week to arrive.