Last night my friend Nancy came over, with her family in tow. Amy and Andrew came out for a while, too. While the guys took care of the six kids, the girls sorted and tagged the items we had collected for the yard sale. If you've been to my place, imagine the dining room area, table pushed aside, floor COMPLETE covered in boxes and containers full of stuff - toys, books, trinkets, exercise equipment, funiture, baby gear, clothes, linens, off the top of my head. The piles overflowed into the kitchen and living area and that didnt' count the lawn mower outside. It took two overflowing truck load trips (and Steve's truck is BIG) with overflow and three kids in the van to get all the things to the site of the yard sale - THAT'S how much stuff there was.
The sale lasted from about 8 am to about 430 - Nancy and I manned the sale while the hubbies managed the kids. We were going to stop and pack up at 4, but more people kept coming. With the exception of a half hour in the early morning and a half hour around lunch time, the flow of people was steady. By the end of the day our pile was cut in more than half and my shoulder bag was heavy. We took most of the left overs to Value Village as a donation to Big Brothers and Big Sisters and headed home... exhausted, sun burnt and happy it was over. In the car I counted the money and was SHOCKED at the outcome - our little "yard sale" raised almost $1000! I have three or four things I will list on kijiji as they seemed worth too much to dump, and if I make even close to what I hope, we'll be over the $1000 mark! Can you believe it? That's likely to be 1/3rd of our donation! (unless they increase it before we get there) We are THRILLED!
I am so touched by the support we received today - Nancy and her family sacrificing thier days to help out (not to mention her help in planning, collecting and organizing before hand). Other friends helped set up last night then stopped in to check on us today and bring tea and check if we needed anything else. Clients who donated things, then came out today and jumped into selling while I was flustered over the setup process (and then took my kids on a drive to entertain them for a few minutes while they waited for Steve's second truck trip). A fellow adoptive family donated stuff, then returned to buy more stuff. Family friends stopped by to hand me rediculous amounts of money for tacky yard sale junk. A stranger came and bought $30 worth of stuff, then emptied her trunk out with 3-4 boxes/bags of items to donate for sell just because she read my ad on kijiji and thought it was a good cause. Strangers who ooh'd and aah'd over Anna Wen's picture with more than obligatory interest and paid more than I had asked for the items. So many people went out of their way today to make the day perfect, and I am so thankful and blessed and humbled.
N
2 comments:
You worked so hard. Congratulations. What great friends you have! :)
It truly brings tears to my eyes, to think of what you were all able to accomplish together! I'm so glad for you!
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