so quiet

We are back from our Branson vacation...sans kiddos. They are staying the week with Trav's parents. The house is soooo quiet. It's almost like we're getting that vacation from our vacation that you always wish you got when you are home from a trip and more exhausted than when you left. (I think here is where I'm supposed to throw in that I miss them already) We have a major project to accomplish with our freedom, oops I mean boredom, in the evenings after work...turning the nursery into a bunk bed room. Pics soon to follow - hopefully.

formal

this one reminded me of a boutonniere...

bye bye barbie

So my mom doesn't get rid of much. In fact, not too long after Trav and I were married and settled into our first home I was greeted at the front door with 6 tubs of Barbies, 3 tubs of baby dolls and 1 huge tub containing my doll house. Did I mention we were newly weds and we didn't have any kiddos yet? My mom had figured out that she could get credit for getting rid of things by giving them to me, but since they were now in my basement she wasn't actually getting rid of them. Oh yeah and maybe she thought I really did want them. And maybe for a while I did too. I mean, they were in our 1st basement for 4 years, our storage unit for 1 year, and our 2nd basement for 3 years. I have 2 girls after all. Well, turns out they want NEW Barbies of their own. And who can blame them really? The modern 5 year old doesn't exactly appreciate the value of a good Barbie and the Rockers tape. Or a 3 story cardboard house complete with an orange string-pulled elevator. Or an ankle length crimped hair do.
So in the midst of my week long rampage through every nook and cranny of the house in the name of uncluttering and making a little moola...I decided that biding farewell to the Barbies was long overdue. I didn't even open the tubs. I didn't want to spark any childhood memories or feelings that would cause me to want to keep them. I slapped a sign on them in the garage sale that said "$10 a tub or $50 you take all". And nothing happened. Now I'd taken a vow that the garage sale items would NOT go back into the house no matter what and I'm facing 8 more years only this time with a Barbie tub tower in the garage. Then craigslist came to the rescue. I posted the above picture and a price of $75 (knowing that I would be talked back down to $50). And I had a bite. A very complicated bite. She wanted me to open the tubs and take pictures of the contents. Honestly I was a little scared. I have hording in my blood and as hard as I work on not following in my mother's footsteps I still get caught off guard every once in a while. But something very strange happened. Nothing. I opened the tubs and snapped the pictures without even one little ounce of regret. It was so refreshing. So powerful. After seeing the detailed pictures she offered me $60...and since the tubs were now unsealed and opened, I decided to dump everything into trash bags and keep the tubs. The tubs that cost more than $60 alone. Score.
Although I appreciate all of the effort my mom went to for what she believed was my best interest, it was so huge for me to be able to have them GONE. Huge for me to open those and feel nothing and know that for my own girls the rules for saving keepsakes will be different. Quality over quantity. Less is more. Memories are forever. People are more important than things.

tippy toes

this one reminded me of a ballet slipper...

summer time

So I'm not blogging a lot lately. Besides the 2 weeks that the garage sale consumed my every thought and action, I am also planning/packing for our upcoming vacation. Oh, and then there's the driveway. We spend every single night in the driveway talking and playing and people watching until it's dark. Most nights dinner consists of a quick PB & J break if we can get the girls to slow down for even that long. All of the neighbor's and their kids seem to end up at our house and I absolutely love it. I have always wanted to be that house. Post garage sale we still had the couch for about a week before a craigslister came and got it. We spent that week lounging in our temporary outside living room. So comfy I was almost sad to sell it.
Probably a good thing we did though, people were starting to stare.

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days spent deciding to have a garage sale - 3
nights spent preparing for the garage sale until at least midnight - 4
number of unpacked boxes gone through from the move (4 years ago) - 10+
tape rolls used pricing every single item - 2
times girls were threatened not to drag stuff back into the house - 55
big ticket items also posted on craigslist - 7
impromptu items sold that weren't set out - 1 (thanks Tracey!)
net profit made from sales - 650
days spent bagging up the garage sale leftovers - 3
trips to goodwill - 2
knowing that that was most likely our first and last garage sale ever - priceless!!!