It is a very good thing that I did not hear about the Typo Hunt Across America. I would have gladly participated, most likely resulting in probabtion just like my idols Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson of the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL).
Due to the new laws in Michigan, I would have to notify my personnel department at school if I was convicted of any crime. However, would they be upset since as a language arts teacher, I would have been fixing public typos?
See http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/22/sign.vandals.ap/index.html for the whole story.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
It's a Success!
We had our garage sale this past weekend. Amy, Alicia, Addy, and Madison came down to help and try to sell some stuff that hadn't sold in their garage sale last weekend. We were going to have just one mammoth garage sale this past weekend at Amy and Lisa's, but we decided that we had way too much crap to haul up. It would have taken several trips in the van, which would have had us spending whatever we made on gas. So Amy and Lisa had their own earlier.
Rob and I had been purging our house, as I had mentioned on my previous blog entry. No, Mom, we didn't sell any of the Polish pottery. We just sold the things we haven't used in over a year and did not ever anticipate using again. So, yes, we did sell the baby stuff. It was bittersweet, and I was all emotional at times. Poor Alicia had to witness both Amy and me tearing up throughout the weekend, especially when we had to pack up. Then, on my way to drop the remaining items off at St. Vincent's and the Salvation Army, I was very emotional. *sigh* I just need to rememeber that it is all just stuff. It wasn't doing me any good. It was just taking up space. (Besides, I kept a few things that I couldn't bear to part with that no one else would find nearly as precious as I do.)
Speaking of space, we filled (and I mean filled) six 6-foot tables and a large table made from sawhorses and a piece of paneling from our basement. We also had items filling a 5-shelf system, a garment rack, and lots of stuff lining the driveway (out to almost the end on the right and out about halfway on the left). Lots of stuff. And as Amy said, I priced it to move. I did not want to make more than one trip to donate the remaining items.
Business as a whole was pretty slow. We didn't have anyone buy anything on Saturday until around 10:30, and we had opened at 8:00. I was worried, but while Rob and I left to test drive our new car, Amy sold her little heart out. Apparently, she could have had a promising career in retail, too. In the end, we made quite a bundle, and Amy made almost enough to cover her dumbness. :)
Here's hoping that I don't stay too attached to "stuff", that I can have a garage sale again next summer, and that I don't have nearly that much stuff again to sell.
Rob and I had been purging our house, as I had mentioned on my previous blog entry. No, Mom, we didn't sell any of the Polish pottery. We just sold the things we haven't used in over a year and did not ever anticipate using again. So, yes, we did sell the baby stuff. It was bittersweet, and I was all emotional at times. Poor Alicia had to witness both Amy and me tearing up throughout the weekend, especially when we had to pack up. Then, on my way to drop the remaining items off at St. Vincent's and the Salvation Army, I was very emotional. *sigh* I just need to rememeber that it is all just stuff. It wasn't doing me any good. It was just taking up space. (Besides, I kept a few things that I couldn't bear to part with that no one else would find nearly as precious as I do.)
Speaking of space, we filled (and I mean filled) six 6-foot tables and a large table made from sawhorses and a piece of paneling from our basement. We also had items filling a 5-shelf system, a garment rack, and lots of stuff lining the driveway (out to almost the end on the right and out about halfway on the left). Lots of stuff. And as Amy said, I priced it to move. I did not want to make more than one trip to donate the remaining items.
Business as a whole was pretty slow. We didn't have anyone buy anything on Saturday until around 10:30, and we had opened at 8:00. I was worried, but while Rob and I left to test drive our new car, Amy sold her little heart out. Apparently, she could have had a promising career in retail, too. In the end, we made quite a bundle, and Amy made almost enough to cover her dumbness. :)
Here's hoping that I don't stay too attached to "stuff", that I can have a garage sale again next summer, and that I don't have nearly that much stuff again to sell.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Just a Quick Stop, Then We're Off!
Some people stay in hotels over the summer. We seem to visit our house like a hotel instead. We are home for an astonishing 68 hours before leaving again, this time for Tennessee. The only problem is, no maid comes in to make the beds, empty the trash, clean the bathroom, etc. Although we aren't really home that much to mess it up.
Amy's blog is right. The worst thing about vacation is the thinking about everything that has to be done when you get back. Now granted, we don't have to haul our camping stuff downstairs. That sure does make it easier. But we tend to still bring in several loads of crap, from laundry to dirty dishes to purchases made while on vacation. It seems to get deposited by the front door, making a nice "gate" to keep Lily away from the stairs. However, it is a not-so-pleasant reminder of what still needs to be done.
Luckily, Rob and I, in between Rockband, surfing the Internet, NCAA Football '09, lounging on carpeting and comfy couches, and Wii, have managed to unpack and put away everything, do all the laundry, put it away, and pack for this next trip. Makes me tired just thinking about it.
That's the thing, though. I don't get overwhelmed about laundry, dishes, or cleaning when I am camping. It's not that we don't do it. The camper still gets cleaned and swept. The outside mat gets swept. Toys and books get put away. Dishes are done and put away before we go to bed each night.
I think it is that we take only what we need. Anything extra is scrutinized as to whether or not it is worth the extra space to store it. When Rob and I come home, we see everything that needs to be done and all the crap we have accumulated and don't need. It's nice to have some of the stuff, but why have so much that we barely use a couple of times each year?
Some things are important to me, and I love my collections. But as I look around, I realize that I don't need or want quite a bit of what I have. How do I go about purging the unnecessary to unearth the things most important and dear to me? The garage sale is a good start, but I need more. I need to find a good charity that would appreciate the crap I like, but don't need.
Coming back from our long vacation is like seeing my house through refreshed eyes. Do I really need to redo the kitchen soon? No, it is functional right now. Not ideal or beautiful, but it works for us. Do I need to redo my bathrooms? Yes. Crappy sinks and floor=crabby Sarah. Do I need to fix my landscaping? Yes, both in the front yard and in the backyard. I enjoy being outside during the summer, but not when I embarass myself with my backyard. Ugh. Damn weeds. Do I need to repaint my "sunset" bedroom? Eventually, but I am not up there too much during the school year anyway. By being gone so long in the summer, I have a chance to think about what really bothers me about our house and what would just be nice to do. The nice-to-do can wait.
Amy's blog is right. The worst thing about vacation is the thinking about everything that has to be done when you get back. Now granted, we don't have to haul our camping stuff downstairs. That sure does make it easier. But we tend to still bring in several loads of crap, from laundry to dirty dishes to purchases made while on vacation. It seems to get deposited by the front door, making a nice "gate" to keep Lily away from the stairs. However, it is a not-so-pleasant reminder of what still needs to be done.
Luckily, Rob and I, in between Rockband, surfing the Internet, NCAA Football '09, lounging on carpeting and comfy couches, and Wii, have managed to unpack and put away everything, do all the laundry, put it away, and pack for this next trip. Makes me tired just thinking about it.
That's the thing, though. I don't get overwhelmed about laundry, dishes, or cleaning when I am camping. It's not that we don't do it. The camper still gets cleaned and swept. The outside mat gets swept. Toys and books get put away. Dishes are done and put away before we go to bed each night.
I think it is that we take only what we need. Anything extra is scrutinized as to whether or not it is worth the extra space to store it. When Rob and I come home, we see everything that needs to be done and all the crap we have accumulated and don't need. It's nice to have some of the stuff, but why have so much that we barely use a couple of times each year?
Some things are important to me, and I love my collections. But as I look around, I realize that I don't need or want quite a bit of what I have. How do I go about purging the unnecessary to unearth the things most important and dear to me? The garage sale is a good start, but I need more. I need to find a good charity that would appreciate the crap I like, but don't need.
Coming back from our long vacation is like seeing my house through refreshed eyes. Do I really need to redo the kitchen soon? No, it is functional right now. Not ideal or beautiful, but it works for us. Do I need to redo my bathrooms? Yes. Crappy sinks and floor=crabby Sarah. Do I need to fix my landscaping? Yes, both in the front yard and in the backyard. I enjoy being outside during the summer, but not when I embarass myself with my backyard. Ugh. Damn weeds. Do I need to repaint my "sunset" bedroom? Eventually, but I am not up there too much during the school year anyway. By being gone so long in the summer, I have a chance to think about what really bothers me about our house and what would just be nice to do. The nice-to-do can wait.
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