I really did it! With a lot of help and advice, I survived my first ever garage sale. Now that it is over it was a learning experience. I now realize that there is an art to having a garage sale. It also became clear to me that we are not all natural born artists. My garage by the way, is still full of items unsold that I refuse to put back in the house.
We will do it again, however, this time I will know that just short of paying each customer to take away different items is where I should stop. It is necessary to really understand that they are doing me a favor by carting off my former possessions for one tenth of it value. If I am attached to any of these items emotionally, the garage sale is the serving of final divorce papers between me and my stuff. Otherwise, I will be unable to sell it. Next time I won't have to stand by cooly as people laugh internally at my overpricing of what they consider to be junk. Yes, I now know (or think that I know) to secret to a successful garage sale.
So in the words of my husband, "Humility is the secret to a successful garage sale because no one is impressed with your junk."
Monday, November 19, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
A Soon To Be Expat
My name is Audrey. I live near Atlanta Georgia but will soon be living in Brussels, Belgium. How exciting is that! I am the mother of two beautiful girls ages 8 and 11. I will be what is known as an "accompanying spouse". I prefer this term to "trailing spouse" as it bring to my mind the image of a caveman pulling his mate behind him by the hair.
We have known for more than a few days that we are actually going to move to Brussels. This means that we have had time to jump on the emotional roller coaster on which shrieks of joy and excitement can easily convert to screams of frustration and fear. It is perhaps a good thing that preparation takes some time. It gives me time to settle down emotionally while trying to sort, pack up and sell seemingly endless household items.
I am going to have my first ever garage sale (believe it or not). I am selling furniture on craigslist and basically giving away clothes. As I do all this, I realize that I appear somewhat clueless (because I am). I am enjoying being clueless because in this case it is low pressure. I know that whether I sell everything or nothing, I will be moving.
The problem is that I do not know when I am moving exactly. Working with a phantom date is bothersome. I am hardly the first to pass by these phases of an international move. I can use all the advice that I can get. Writing about the move and life overseas (real vs imagined), is my way of coping as well as documenting all the changes, surprises and pitfalls of this process.
We have known for more than a few days that we are actually going to move to Brussels. This means that we have had time to jump on the emotional roller coaster on which shrieks of joy and excitement can easily convert to screams of frustration and fear. It is perhaps a good thing that preparation takes some time. It gives me time to settle down emotionally while trying to sort, pack up and sell seemingly endless household items.
I am going to have my first ever garage sale (believe it or not). I am selling furniture on craigslist and basically giving away clothes. As I do all this, I realize that I appear somewhat clueless (because I am). I am enjoying being clueless because in this case it is low pressure. I know that whether I sell everything or nothing, I will be moving.
The problem is that I do not know when I am moving exactly. Working with a phantom date is bothersome. I am hardly the first to pass by these phases of an international move. I can use all the advice that I can get. Writing about the move and life overseas (real vs imagined), is my way of coping as well as documenting all the changes, surprises and pitfalls of this process.
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