moving along

We are so close to settling into our new normal.

Jack's brother has almost unpacked all of his stuff and I'm going to take his empty boxes to the garage across the street for Stu to use when they move in over there.

Jack's dogs and our dogs are mostly getting along.  As long as there are no rawhide bones in the area that is part of their incredible dog sense of smell.  Rawhide bones are apparently worth fighting or tussling or at least arguing over.  Maybe they're dog kryptonite.  Like the dogs lose their sense of who they are and start bickering with everyone and everything and forget to--hello--listen--stop that nonsense. 

Everyone in the family has taken home the things they wanted that belonged to Jack's mom.  There was still a lot of stuff left and I just couldn't get myself to take it all to the DI even though that's what Jack and his sister thought we should do.  I wanted it all to go to someone who would love it and appreciate it like Jack's mom did.  So we had a yard sale yesterday, which is likely how and where Jack's mom got much of it, at estate sales and yard sales and garage sales.

As Ellie said, "It's my first yard sale I've ever had!"  Me too.  I've been to lots of yard sales but had never hosted one.  I knew I didn't want to barter or argue or have bad feelings about Jack's mom's things.  I wanted everything to go to new homes with people who felt good about what they got for what they paid.

And that is what happened.  We had waves and waves of buyers and almost everything was sold.  It was a lot of work--Shi and her mother haven't sat down for days--but it went well.

I know two things after having the yard sale.

1.  I was right to not want to take it all to the DI.  I couldn't stand the thought of pulling up with truckload after truckload and watching the people who work there throw it carelessly into bins.  It would have all been destroyed.  That was proven out to me when I took the last of it to DI.  We had one small truckload left over so I took it to my local DI and then I went to get a pedicure, only realizing there was stuff in the back seat of the truck after I'd already unloaded at the DI.  So I stopped at another DI on the way to the pedicure.  And that's where my DI nightmare came to life.  I opened the door of the truck, took out the first box, and as I was telling the guy that the box likely contained glass items, watched in horror as he turned and dropped it, amid loudly crashing and breaking sounds, three feet down into the bin.  Arghhhh.  Sadly my message didn't get received soon enough in his head.  After that, he was quite careful, but that scene was exactly what I feared would have happened with all of her things.  I'm telling myself that was a box of inexpensive glass vases, not a box full of lovely plates to display.  And I'm certain all of the effort for the yard sale was completely worth it.

2.  Jessie had the great idea to make cookies and cupcakes for the kids to sell at the yard sale.  She also added cold sodas and water, they made a sign, and they were off and selling.  It kept them entertained and they all made a few bucks because nobody can resist a homemade treat being sold by adorable little girls.  Having the kids all together for hours on a sunny day having a great time--selling treats, playing in the sprinkler, checking out the items they needed to take home--all of that was exactly what Jack's mom would have wanted and loved. 

Now we need to do a little tidying up, putting away the treasures we kept from Jack's mom's house, a little weeding, mowing, deadheading, watering, and some housework, and then, then we will be back to our new normal.