making room for baby- a yard sale & a tricky leftover

Nailed it! We got rid of so much stuff on Saturday at our yard sale! I wish I had taken a before picture of our shed and of our sale so you could have gotten an idea of how much stuff we had. This shot was taken 3 hours into it, after our morning rush.

Here's a tip. Besides putting big man items up front (like our two grills), putting a sold (joke) sign on your car helps attract attention, too! The wives had an easier time convincing the husbands to stop. Brandon would tell everyone that the price of the sold car was indicative of the amazing deals they could find here.



sold for $150!

Ok, so we didn't cash out since we didn't sell big ticket items, but considering 1/3 of the stuff Tommy and I sold were garbage picked (like the two grills!), between Brandon, Maria, Tommy and I, we made $215 and had fun on a beautiful day.

I DID sell one of my bad strip job Windsor chairs out of 4 that I ruined last summer (Photographic evidence here). I was shooting for $5 or FREE for all four just to get them OUT since I had no bites on Craigslist for months. I was more than pleased to get $5 for one. I'm shocked someone wanted it. The other three were leftovers that I gave away when one of the ladies came back to pick up the sold table. Finally! Our shed is half cleared out! The other half is holding our baby stuff, camping stuff and other shed-approved items.

At 1:15pm we loaded the car with the few remaining items and dropped them off at Goodwill after a failed attempt at St. Vincent de Paul. Good riddance to all that stuff!

We do however have one leftover to deal with...

See that mattress? Oh, let me tell you the story...

That's Maria's mattress. It had gone to a free-for-4-weeks storage unit when she moved to her new place. Now the deadline was coming up on the freebie and it had to go. At 8:30pm on Friday night after dinner, Tommy and I suggested that she rent the $19.99 for 75 min truck from Home Depot and try to get rid of it at the garage sale. Off we flew to Home Depot and she managed to get the paperwork done with exactly 75 min left 'til closing time. She and Brandon peeled off to the storage unit with us behind them. We pulled into the unit (with us tailgating praying the HUGE gate wouldn't slam down on us) with 10 minutes to go until the gate would lock us in there. And we did NOT want to get locked in there because... there are people living in the units! Brandon warned us, but I was still pretty much freaked out to see a black arm reaching out to close the door across from Maria's unit when we showed up. Needless to say that was the fastest mattress-snatching and peeling-out of a place I've ever experienced. It was so comical, especially with the racket of a beeping noise the truck was making whenever it was reversing, and us running with the mattress down the hall into the elevator and out through the gate before getting locked up with the crazies, Walking Dead  style. Oh yes. It all happened. We all hot-rodded to our place (25 min drive), the mattress flew out of the truck onto our lawn, and then Maria & Brandon hot-rodded back to Home Depot to drop off the truck just at the deadline.  Phew!

We all tried our best sales skills at getting rid of that mattress, but to no avail. (BOGO anyone?) I hope Freecycle saves us, or else... what DO we do with it? You can't donate mattresses, and you get charged a pick-up fee by the trash collectors. I guess the mattress saga continues.

But then again, we're a few coins, dollars, and a gangster experience richer after all!



Father's Day!

 Happy Father's Day to the wonderful dads in my life!

 

my baby's daddy

my dad

best pic ever!

my dad-in-law



 after his 'conversion'

my tech-savvy abu!

 

my lolo, now in Heaven

Tommy and I celebrated by doing nothing on the to-do list and instead, only relaxing and enjoying a beautiful day. We started off with a leisurely breakfast at Alon's, a French bakery/market.


 

Then we finally completed two items on our Atlanta summer bucket list: 

1.  We walked to Piedmont Park via a nearby trail and then strolled around the park. Next time we're going to picnic there.

source: Mike Schinkel for U.S. News

2. King of Pops! It's an Atlanta staple. I'd been holding out to try it with Tommy at the park. It was so hot that we ended up getting them along the way in the trail. It made that mile walk so much better.

source: Suits Before Aprons

 I didn't make it on the way back. The heat really got to me. Having a portable baby heater on me didn't help. Tommy had to walk back on his own and swing by and pick me up from Trader Joe's where I was cooling off in the produce section for about 20 minutes!

 

I redeemed myself with the handmade card, which he loved! Here's a close up of the version I mailed my dad last week. I came across this blog via pinterest and nailed it!

 

I stink at blogging & some quick takes

1.

I stink at blogging. I really enjoy it when I'm on a roll and feel connected with all my friends and readers, but then all of a sudden a bunch of big (like my pregnancy) or fun (trips, craigslist motherlode of cloth diapers find, visits, projects, etc) things happen and I feel overwhelmed to start writing it all down in a timely manner. Then the weeks keep passing and then it just feels lame to go back and recap after a few months. But then again, maybe it would still be worth it, if anything, for me to be able to look back on and laugh.  I tried to import my first blog from back in the days I had just started blogging, even though it's all messed up as far as the formatting is concerned, but I tend to give up easily when technology puts up a good fight. Blogging takes time!! And in the last few months, all I ever want to do after a 9 hour work day is sleeeeeeeeeeeep or perhaps try and catch up on home stuff so my house doesn't look like a tornado went through it by Friday. Seriously, I need to get more organized or how will I ever manage when baby R arrives?!

I really want to get back in the swing of things with this here blog because my favorite thing about it is keeping in touch! I haven't had made as much time to write letters and make phone calls as I used to, and I am determined to improve on this, or perhaps if it's still hard, peer pressure more friends into blogging! Just think friends, you write it once, and don't have to repeat/recap to every single person! I also have some deeper topics and testimonies I'd love to share, and it's a scary thing opening up, but if it can help someone else, then it's always worth it, right?

Okay so now that you see where I hope to be heading with this blog... I'll just finish up with some actual quick takes for today.

 

2.

Beth came and visited! I absolutely love it when friends feel comfortable calling us up and asking to crash randomly when they're passing through. It was such a nice visit with her! I switched my day off and was able to have a whole day with her catching up, eating lots of good food, exploring some areas, and she even treated me to a pedicure! By the way, she's the reason for my blogging comeback... but she has to keep her end of the bargain and start her blog!

3.

Verily came in! If you haven't heard of this amazing new woman's magazine, you need to head on over to their site, read up and suscribe! It is beautiful and full of amazing articles. Their About page says it all:

It is no secret that women today are more educated, influential, and affluent than ever before. Yet we report record levels of anxiety and decreased happiness. Is this what we were striving for?
In a world that seems to offer us limitless choices, somehow the modern narrative about women – what we should look like, how we should date, how to be successful, what should make us happy – can ring hollow. So Verily is starting a new conversation – one for those who want a fresh take on life; an honest message that relates to their experiences which is uplifting, affirming, and true.

I had to stop myself from devouring the entire issue at the pool yesterday so I could savor it longer. I am so proud of my good friend Ashley, the relationship editor and all her friends for their hard and valuable work.

 

4.

Garage sale. We're having one tomorrow! Woowhoo! We've been purging and cleaning in the last few weekends, trying to make room for all the baby stuff coming in.  I bet no one will come, or they'll drive by, roll down the window, and once they get a load of all our junk will just think, DUD!! and move on.  At least there's a 0% chance of rain and we talked some friends who are getting married soon to go in on it with us.  If no one comes, we can always laugh about it and just drive all our crap down to the thrift store... I saved us one embarrassment already. It turns out you need a PERMIT to have a garage sale! I think that's ridiculous, but thankfully a co-worker warned me yesterday and I managed to get one. No cops are going to shut us down at least!

5.

Baby stuff. We got some! Some wonderful friends (Tommy worked with the husband last summer for his internship) gave us their beautiful, hardwood dresser that also functions as a baby dresser and the matching crib.  It didn't stop there. They gave us every baby thing they had! I pretty much got set up with all sorts of goodies (baby swing, Ergo carrier, a Bjorn carrier, stroller, exersaucer, the Sears books, nursing cover, some toys, pump, bottles, and a few other things).  We're still in awe of how God provides.

 

6.

Montessori. I'm intrigued. I need to find some good blogs or articles about this. Does anyone have any suggestions of where to start? I realize some of the stuff we were given might not be Montessori-approved but who knows, maybe I'll want to do some kind of tailored version, or if I get really into it when I learn more, then I can donate the stuff I don't need or pass it on to a friend.

7.

Doulas & birth classes. I have an OB and I will be delivering in the hospital, but I'm really thinking I'd like to have a doula there with me. My OB is very doula-friendly so it should be a good combo.  It's pricey, but perhaps it's worth it to ease the anxiety and to encourage/support me to be able to do a natural, drug-free birth.  But the dilemma is, what about birth classes? I feel like I'm running out of time- I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow! But I also don't know if the birth classes will be helpful unless they are the same method the doula uses...and it sounds pretty New-Agey to me from the description... eek! Plus, I've heard several friends say that what they were taught "goes out the window" when you're in labor... thoughts anyone? I'm feeling the pressure to make a decision soon!

Now go see Jen for more quick takes!

My day just got better

If you need a laugh right now, especially you, Miss Martha, do head on over to the Pregnant Husband.