To sell or not to sell? That is the question...

Well the signs are down, the items unsold tucked back in the garage, and the money counted. The yard sale has come and gone and somehow we survived. 

Prior to YSD (yard sale day) I went through stuff in closets, cabinets, the enormous attic and whatever Phil would let me get rid of in the garage. We ended up with a mountain of crap. A Mt. Everest of crap. A Mt. Fuji of crap. 

Unsold items
Our leftovers are more than what some people even start with for a yard sale.
All of this is headed to Goodwill today.

But, prior to the yard sale, as I was going through all this stuff, the memories just flooded over me. Most things I was able to part with sans guilt as I continued to repeat the mantra of, "When I'm dead someday, someone would have to go through all this and they will forever spit on my grave". But there were just some things that tugged at my heart for one reason or another and I just couldn't let go.

I could NOT bring myself to sell:

Standing ready to fight evil!

 * The original red and blue Power Rangers My parents searched hither and yon (way before ebay) to get these for their grandson. They were THE BEST grandparents!

•  Beloved books that were read nightly to both kids - like the hardcover copy of The Little Engine That Could. I'd like to think that in Army Ranger Training my son, Anthony, said to himself, "I think I can , I think I can, I think I can,". Although it might have been more like "I f**king think I can, Sh*t, D*mn, I f**king think I can!" Army Ranger training is not for wimps by any means.
•  Barbie's Motorhome - I can't even begin to describe how

  

  I couldn't find a pic of the motorhome with the chins ,but
  Barbie had multiple vehicles in which
  Squeaky and Nibbles had adventures

  much fun both my kids had with this and our two chinchillas -  yes that's right - we had chinchillas.That is a whole other story for a whole other post.

• Annamarie's favorite blow up floatie she used summer after summer. It

  

  20 years later and I still have that floatie.
  Does that make me a hoarder? Oh my...

  probably has 12 holes in it but I still couldn't part with it. 
•  Record albums that were sentimental to us - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Donna Summer, Village People (don't ask).

  

  Who doesn't love Macho Man?

So maybe ...eventually... I will finally let go of these things.  But not just yet.


As much as Phil hates yard sales I must admit he was a trooper - patient, helpful to the customers, and truly I could not have done this without him. I think we both went way past a 48 hour time investment in this thing and I'm happy to report that we raked in a grand total of.... drum roll please.... $378.00! The money was a plus, but the best part is that the attic is now semi clean (yes there is still more shisnick up there). It's amazing though -  I just feel so much lighter. Really I do. It's kind of like how you feel after a colonoscopy when your plumbing is all cleaned out. We'll just call this an attic-oscopy, when your rafters (instead of intestines) are all cleaned out. Only, you can eat more than just scrambled eggs afterwards - as a matter of fact we had beer and pizza. Perfect ending to YSD. 

Do you think Marilyn Monroe ever grouted tile?

It's been a big week for me - officially retired from my position as assistant principal and finished renovating the back patio. Two difficult tasks - one filled with emotion, the other with sore knees and back. Sometimes the physical tasks are easier for me to handle than the ones involving the heart.


As an assistant principal, I was just a little cog in a monstrous wheel known as a school. I worked hard and tried to be exemplary which is no different from any other employee that (come August) will still walk through those doors on a daily basis. I am humbled by the send off and well wishes from my colleagues. Putting my face on the body of Marilyn Monroe would definitely be categorized as "in my dreams"! I loved being a part of something bigger and better than I am as a single human being. Working collaboratively with fantastic people made all the frustrations and crap I had to deal with on a daily basis bearable. 
So now it's truly on to....renovating, reinventing and re- imagining!

Which brings us back to the patio...

I always think any renovation is going to be easier than it actually is. You know ... like it looks on TV. But even though it was difficult and hard work, I think it was worth the struggle (although Phil was the one lifting the 50 pound boxes of tile, bags of mortar, and mulch - hey! I was nursing a sore elbow!). 

I don't think these shoes would have been
a part of Marilyn's wardrobe.

We bought the tile on clearance and with the landscaping, mortar, grout, lights and chair, the total spent came in at about $200.00. Not bad for a total transformation. I went with large grout lines to give it more of a rustic, paved brick-type look. I'll let you know how it fares outside exposed to the elements.

AND... a plus!  I only stabbed myself with the trowel once which led to minimal bloodshed so all in all, a successful renovation. 

Before

The tile cutter ended up breaking so Phil had to use the wet saw.
What a pain! No fingers lost - thank goodness.

The wounded reno-warrior

Pre-grout

Very happy with the results

View from the deck

See below if you are interested in the budget and cost

Porcelain indoor/outdoor tile - 9 boxes of 12 tiles on clearance at Lowes /63 cents a tile = $68
3 bags of mortar (we used the cheap brick mortar) @ $4 each = $12
2 -25 pound bags of grout @ $15 each = $30
2 cans of grout sealer @ $5 each - $10
5 bags of brown mulch on sale at Lowes/5 bags for $10
8 day lilies on clearance at Lowes for $3 each = $24
Adirondack chair - Target = $19
6 outdoor solar lights (Lowes) = $30
Total $203

Having a yard sale? Think twice my friend...

Top Ten reasons NOT to have a yard sale:

#10 - You may sell something for 25 cents only to have the person list it on ebay for $2500.00
#9 - You may spend $3.00 in cleaning products and water sprucing up an article that will sell for 50 cents
#8 - You will have hundreds of strangers touching your stuff 
#7 - You only speak English
#6 - Your neighbors will be pissed at the traffic you created
#5 - You will put in 48 hours of labor for a total profit of $125.11 which is approximately 2.61 an hour
#4 - You have to make and put up ugly signs and then go back and take them down.
#3-  Without fail you will be haggling over 10 cents
#2 - You will have people knocking on your door at 6AM (the pros) and your sale doesn't start until 9AM.

And the #1 reason - drum roll please......

#1 YOUR HUSBAND HATES THEM and you will have to hear a smug "I told you so" multiple times

But... even with all the above reasons I'm going forward and preparing for a yard sale. 

I told myself about 15 years ago I would never put myself through this again. From that point on multiple charities reaped the benefits of my hiatus from having yard sales and I've been OK with that. And now here I am - putting little price stickers on old stuff from the attic and closets hoping that someone else will see treasure in my junk. Call me crazy, or just plain stupid, or maybe call me drowning in crap we don't use or need.

About 1/3 of the stuff from the attic and closets is ready. So far, I've spent about 10 hours on this. I'll let you know when I get to 48 hours.

Garage is becoming overloaded as a staging area so I'm ...

using my daughter's former bedroom. Anyone want a Barbie Fold and Fun house...cheap?

T-minus 2 weeks until the yard sale. I'm sure I'll survive. Phil????...questionable.

Deck is done - Who's ready to party????

After the pressure washer incident and injury, Phil finally got us on track after two - count 'em - two 60 mile round trips to get it fixed. 

What about those nasty furniture covers? Generic spray mildew remover, soap and water, scrub brush, elbow grease, some sunshine and see what happens...

Before

After

And that mildewed, disgusting, "maintenance-free" composite deck?

Before

 After

We may have a pressure washer, but cleaning this massive deck and all the items on it was still back-breaking work. Take a look and see if it was worth it! I think it looks pretty damn good!

Before (mid- April)

After

Before

After

Before

After

You probably think I'm crazy to have white cushions outside. Even though we keep them covered, they still manage to get dirty. Actually, going white was one of the smartest things I've done. When we bought the furniture about nine years ago, the cushions were a dark, burnt sienna-type color. After 4 years, they naturally faded and looked worn. I bought white, sunbrella material online and took the cushions and material to a guy that makes custom cushion covers for boats. It wasn't cheap (about $700) but he did a fabulous job. With white I never have to worry about fading and can use the mildew cleaner that contains bleach. They are now 5 years old, and I bet I can get another 5 years out of them.

P.S. Phil's arm finally stopped bleeding with the help of a gazillion butterfly stitches and gobs of gauze and bandages. It's a tough contest as to who, between the two of us, is the most clutsy - we both seem to excel in this area.

Next project -
Take a look at our lower patio.

Shameful. We were perusing the clearance section in Lowe's tile department and lo and behold...cheap (really nice) indoor/outdoor tile! At $.63 each we (meaning I) couldn't pass it up. Phil is probably saying to himself, "Do I have to have another hernia operation to get some rest around here?" Well, after lifting twelve boxes of these tiles he may need another trip to the doctor!

Stay tuned. Where Patti and Phil renovate or revive - shisnick follows! 

Spring cleaning...are we having fun yet?

We planted this 29 years ago. It was about 8 inches high then.

There are lots of reasons why people both love and hate spring in Georgia. On the positive side, the flowers are a painter's palette displaying the glory of nature renewed. The weather is becoming pleasant and people and objects are "thawing out".  We human hibernators are coming out of our caves to enjoy the sun's warmth. It also means school employees are getting near the light at the end of the tunnel. YAHOO!

The downsides of spring are that if you are afflicted with allergies you are most likely spewing, hacking, watering and all the other gross things that the pollen will cause you to do, yard work is back on the weekend schedule, and those five to ten pounds packed on from lollygagging on the couch watching the Food Network now need to come off before donning the bathing suit. I, for one, love spring and the opportunity to be outside. However, spring means some heavy duty work.

We installed a composite deck about 10 years ago thinking that there would not be any maintenance (at least that was how it was advertised). Unfortunately we purchased this material in its pioneer stage. It certainly had not been perfected yet - meaning THEY LIED ABOUT THE MAINTENANCE!

So for now, our renovating (or reviving) will focus on getting the deck, grills (note plural, as in three -  remember my husband with the nails in the crown molding? If one is good then 30 must be better? Same concept with tools and grills) and outdoor furniture ready for summer. Everything needs a spring cleaning. And by the way - best gift I ever gave my husband...a pressure washer. If you own a home and don't have one - get one. You won't be sorry - except of course when the water bill comes due.

"Before" pictures say it all:

In the winter, even the fans (plural again as in three...sigh) get covered.

Maintenance-free my ..."foot"!

Is that disgusting or what? Combination of tree gunk, dirt, pollen and mildew.

The three grills waiting for summer barbecues.

Under the blue tarps is wood for the fireplace, which has to be carried off the deck to the edge of the property. Who needs a gym when you can get an arm workout for free in your backyard? Should have made more fires this winter.

So here's how I see it. We buy covers to protect the furniture so we don't have to clean the cushions, grills etc, but then we work like dogs to clean the covers. Does anyone else see this as stupid?

Even with all the cleaning to do, I love this time of year. It's almost like everything has been asleep under the blankets and is now ready to wake up and face the warmth and sunshine.

So let the scrubbing begin!

P.S. Just as I was espousing the virtues of owning a pressure washer the darn pump died. Phil had to drive 60 miles round trip to buy another pump and then severely gashed his arm while trying to replace it. Out of his mouth, "That condo in Florida is looking better and better!" I couldn't agree more.

FANTASY...

REALITY