9/14/07

In preparing for our move to the new house, I've been dealing with stuff, stuff, and more stuff, the stuff that has accumulated in in this house in almost 18 years, as well in the rental house that I inherited from my mother, which has had an 8-year long procession of tenants. Some of the tenants  left stuff in the basement: Broken chairs. TV sets. Boxes of college notebooks, CD's, magazines. And a sad little photograph album of family pictures, probably put together by someone's mother.

So last weekend we had a yard sale which included stuff  left by the previous owner of this house, our stuff we didn't want anymore, and stuff from the rental house. Oh, AND we sold stuff for a current tenant and for a friend. Our front yard was covered with STUFF that had come, mostly unbidden, into our lives. After a hot, muggy Saturday and a rainy Sunday with few shoppers,  the yard looked little different. On Monday, I called 1-800-GOTJUNK and two men arrived like knights in shining armor to haul all of it away. 

The results:    Total sales from yard sale           $265.00

                      Cost to haul off the remainder   $285.00 

Resolution: I will allow no new item to come casually into my life anymore. It is way more trouble to get rid of something than it is to acquire it in the first place. I have to say, though, the thrill of being liberated from possessions is almost as big as the thrill of acquiring them in the first place. Friends and family, please, if you have the urge to give me a present, rent a dumpster for me instead, and I will do the same for you.