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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.

Yard Sale, Take One

Phew, that was hot.  But I guess I shouldn't complain, since half of the weathermen kept telling me half of the time that it was going to pour all weekend, and all we had today was a few short showers (and most of my sale items were up on the covered front porch.)

Did I make a lot of money?  No, but I made SOME money.  And I got rid of some stuff.  And what didn't sell is already priced and boxed up for YARD SALE #2 NEXT WEEKEND, which I have to follow through on now because I told several customers to come back next week for more, more, more!

I can see the "dent" in my belongings, but I asked my mom - who is fully aware of the extent of my clutter - if she could say it, and she said no.  Still a ways to go...

Visible Progress!

There is a noticeable lack of clutter in a few areas of the house, finally, not to mention a lot less dust/dirt because I swept and vacuumed.  Yesterday morning I cleaned the parlor and was then able to start making use of all the storage bins I've been waiting to put to use:

They have since been emptied of adorable children and filled with STUFF.  Each bin is labeled - donate, Lewes (storage for now), sell, ? (this one is more for my clueless men helpers), recycle, trash - as well as labeled with a specific symbol such as a heart, star, etc. for the illiterate in the family unit.  What followed this snapshot was a GAME called "put this in the star box," and so on.  Each of the bins is now almost full, plus I have another box or two for the yard sale, and ANOTHER 2 boxes of books to get rid of.  GAH.  So. many. books.  When we have money I'm totally buying myself a Kindle.  Meanwhile, I will start frequenting the library in my (ha!) free time.

I'm also in the process of deconstructing my brown & blue guest room, for anyone who is interested.  There is lots of bedding for both a queen size and 2 twin size  beds, as well as some really nice striped blackout curtains.  I'm still washing/folding/photographing all this stuff, but here is one of the 2 queen bedspreads:

The trash can is full for pickup on Tuesday or Wednesday (not sure when they are coming on account of the holiday) and I am getting some of my artsier-craftier-kitschier books ready to list on Etsy.  

Today I excavated the dining room table and pushed it over to one side of the room so I can get to all the STUFF in the rest of the dining room (aka home for homeless stuff) and I can utilize the table as a workspace for photographing, listing, pricing, etc.  Hoping to have a yard sale next weekend.

Oh!  And this isn't stuff, but it was cluttering my life - I had Husband mow the lawn yesterday and then today I went through the front and back and clipped the heck out of some bushes and hedges, as well as some weeds that the lawnmower wasn't able to reach.  It now only feels like a jungle with regard to the nasty humidity level.  

Husband also cleared/cleaned off the top of the dryer - without me even asking!  He's a keeper.

A few more sales on Amazon but kind of a slow week.  I can't wait to get this DONE!  If only there were more hours in the day, and if only my son slept for a few more of them...