Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Tomorrow I'm holding a yard sale to get rid of some things before the move. I'm hoping the weather holds. Right now it's gray and a bit cool, but at least it's not raining. This has got to be one of the coldest springs on record. I can't believe it's this chilly in May, holding steady at about 50-60 degrees.

A quick check at Weather.com reveals that it should be much the same this weekend. That's good, because my other option would be to hold it on the porch, which is too small to display things attractively.

I've been preparing for this yard sale for awhile as I've gone through my stuff, separating out things for the sale.

There are bags and bags of clothing, as well. One of my problems is that I don't have a way to hang up clothing, so I'll have to fold them up and put them on tables and boxes. That's not the ideal way to display them. It is, however, my only option.

I spent a lot of time this week going through the clothes and separating them out into different size groupings, to be stacked in different sections. Those items that needed ironing, I ironed, and I repaired anything that needed sewing.

In addition, I've cleaned up the other objects I'm selling, making sure that those items which needs batteries have them so that people can see that they work.

One of the things I'm selling is a bike left in the basement by a prior tenant. All it seems to need is to have its tires pumped up, which is a more challenging task than it should be. I own a bike pump. I saw it while I was packing. I went through boxes and boxes but still can't find it. So later today, I'll wheel it over to the local air pump and fill the tires there.

A number of other objects had been left by prior tenants in the basement, but many of them were so gross no one would want to ever use them, so they went in today's trash.

Today there's more to do. I have to label the items with prices, for example. Since the main priority is to get rid of things, I'll be pricing them low. I also stopped by the bank this morning to get change, since I'm certain I'll need it.

I made some yard sale signs and went around during my morning dog walk to hang them up. The tricky thing was balancing the signs, the tacks and the dog leash. Once hung, they weren't as easy to read as they'd been in my apartment. So if I get a chance, I'll do some with larger lettering. In the meantime, maybe some people will see them and plan on going to the yard sale tomorrow.

I've got an ad running in the local newspaper, listing some of the items for sale. I thought it was important to mention women's clothing sizes 10-20, because I remember when I was a size 20 how frustrating it was to go to yard sales and look for clothes in my size.

My cold is marginally better today, partially because I took it easy yesterday. I hope to see marked improvement for the big move next weekend. Last night I skipped belly dancing class, not only because I was trying to take it easy but also because some of my classmates have small children and I didn't want them to catch something and take it home with them.

In between the yard sale preparation, I'm taking care of other things, like buying a new shredder to replace the one that died on me while shredding all my old bills. I also got a digital phone/answering machine for the new place to go downstairs. My speaker phone will go in my office. The phone we had hooked up there just to test the line is an old one that's only worth using as a backup.

Yesterday I hooked up the new phone and called The Gryphon, asking him to call back and leave a message. He called back to leave a message for "Joe's Pizza," saying that he needed a large extra cheese immediately.

As I go down the list of things that need to be done for the move, my stress related anxiety dreams are disappearing. Last night, for example, I dreamt random dreams about dancing, I think. Maybe to make up for missing belly dancing class!

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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