Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

In hopes of clearing out some stuff before moving, I held a yard sale this weekend, with The Gryphon's help. We got up bright and early on Saturday to prepare. I could never have done it without him.

First of all, he was helpful with setting it up, bringing out tables and such. He helped figure out how to display things properly. And then he very kindly sat on the porch in the cool morning air while it was busiest, because I had an assignment to do.

He sat on the porch with his laptop, playing a game, answering questions cheerfully for yard salers and collecting their money. I was grateful, even after I finished my assignment, that he had no problems staying there. Sick as I am, I didn't want to sit in the cool air.

My dog, Una, had been happy to follow us around as we'd prepared for the yard sale, but the minute someone arrived, she started barking and had to be taken indoors. I joked that she thought we were crazy for talking to strangers and letting them take our things. She probably thought that we had no idea this was going to happen when we set them out on the lawn.

At around noon, I got us turkey hoagies at the corner deli, and we both ate them on the porch. It was starting to get warmer by that point. In fact, by the end of the afternoon, it was warm enough for only a light jacket.

We sold many of the larger things fairly quickly, such as a bike I'd rescued from the basement, cleaned up and put air in the tires. I also sold a FAX machine that had been given to me but which I had no need for. And we sold much of the household stuff, including all the baskets.

I'd hoped the clothing would sell better, but none of the winter stuff was moving at all, only stuff that could be worn right away.

At 4, we brought everything inside and The Gryphon and I went out for diner and a movie. I was a little concerned about making it through a movie, because my cough had gotten worse. But we got me some cough syrup and cough drops and figured that would help.

We ate at the New Orleans Cafe in Media, where I had some delicious blackened crab cakes. Then we saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That movie was a lot of fun, matching the spirit of both the books and the original radio series upon which the books were based. I'm not surprised, given that Douglas Adams worked on the script. Honestly, I felt it could stand alone, but some critics said they felt you needed to already be familiar with the "Hitchhiker's" series to appreciate it.

Sunday morning, we put the stuff out again. This was a quieter day, with fewer people stopping by, but we still made some sales. At the close of the day, we brought all the boxes in. I'd been asked to do some extra assignments, so I worked on them while The Gryphon watched animation on FOX. I got enough of a break that we could get sushi at a local restaurant.

At the end of the evening, we relaxed by watching an episode of Angel together. All in all, the total amount I brought in wasn't great when you subtracted the cost of the yard sale ad I'd run. Still, I achieved my goal of lightening my load a bit before next week's move.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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