Let the Good Times Roll!!

So, our camera died, as you know, and I had this brilliant idea that we could have a yard sale to help fund the purchase of a new one, because the idea of not being having photographic evidence of the best time of our lives saddens me. So the Mr. cranked up the Cricut machine, and I broke out the spray glue, and we made some super signs. I posted on Craigslist, (super awesome!!) and the Mr. went around stapling up the signs. Just as he put the last staple in the last sign, RAIN!! buckets of it!! A sudden isolated thunderstorm it seemed, specifically centered on our yard sale signs!! AHHHH!

Well, when The Mr. returned home, we both kinda shrugged, and said, you know.. if it's meant to be.. it will be, and there just isn't much to be said about it. As in all things, His will be done.

The Mr. deposited the doughnuts we planned to bribe the kids with during the sale on the table and we went to bed.

At 5:30 in the morning, we started pulling out our sale items and arranging them in a true pottery barn meets yard sale style.. I even had the most awesome idea ever (if I do say so myself) to take the cover off our pop up tent and use it as a huge clothes rack. I wrote prices in colorful sidewalk chalk on the driveway.. and then.. we waited.

We didn't have to wait long, because at 15 minutes before we "opened" while we were still steeling our nerves, a man and his dog walked up. No they didn't buy anything.. but at least it seemed that people would be coming!

The day continued and it was awesome. People were coming and they were genuinely interested in our items, and we met a lot of people from the neighborhood that we hadn't seen before. We had a couple of items sell right away, and some people were a little sad they hadn't gotten there sooner.

One thing that I thought was really funny.. when we were cleaning stuff up and choosing items to put out, I pulled out the Mr.'s cleats (he used them maybe one season).

"No one's going to want those!!" he said with indignation.. "I'll bet you someone will" I countered, because really they are great cleats, hardly worn.. and we are taking Yard Sale prices...

Yep you guessed it.. Those were the first things we sold. Three bucks!

Another big hit, all the clothes were $1. Unless of course you bought a lot.. in which case.. I said make me a deal. Even the maternity clothes (which have been around the block obviously!!) went for $1, and you should have just seen the parade of pregnant bellies that came along.

So the Mr. and I had just one regret, and that is that there was a little boy who desperately wanted both Ape Escape games, but his mother told him he could only have one. We both confessed we had just wanted to give it to him, but didn't want to go against the mother.

A little boy from around the corner came with his dad, the dad bought a CD and the little boy bought 4 tall shot glasses, I looked wearily at the dad to make sure it was okay, and asked the little boy if he was planning on using them for flowers, no he looked sheepish, I use them for making potions and stuff. I love science! So cute!

It was neat to see couples stumble onto our extra glassware as if it was exactly what they'd been looking for. To see them smile with pleasant surprise at 25 cents a glass, was even better.

So at the end we had a few toys left, and buckets of clothes, a feeling of great appreciation for our neighbors, and the kind of God that would allow us to have surplus, and to disperse it in this way. To bring joy to others, to see a mother picking through my maternity wear for her first grand baby still in belly, to see another gramma find the perfect winter wear for her new grand daughter... was awesome!

Generally, we are people who give it away, when we are finished we do just try to pass it on to someone that will use it, but often this transfer is blind. It was uplifting to see his love connecting us to people. There is a different kind of joy to be witnessed upon someone finding what they want, and being able to get it for themselves.

The bottom line.. not only did we get to meet and greet people, to hear their stories, and see their kids. We ended up with extra space in the garage and shed, and we made $400!! Seriously, so I'm thinking a camera is definitely in our future!! This is the Canon G10 which is currently topping my list of favorite, although the sx200 is right behind it.

The most priceless gift if you ask me, was seeing His care for us. We had a desire, and he met it, the downpour did not obliterate our signs, Craigslist did not delete me when I accidently reposted before deleting, and people came, and they bargained.

Also since we still don't have a camera, I got to browse through flickr to find these! NEAT.

Let the good times ROLL!!