Yard Sale Days

Some of you know that I'm an advisor for my church's youth group.  I really enjoy it, and we get to do a lot of fun things together.  One of the things I enjoy most is going on the retreats that my synod hosts.  We have two weekend retreats, one for middle schoolers and one for high school students.  Then there is one BIG retreat, that is not just with my synod, but with all the ELCA Lutheran synods in the country.  This is the National Youth Gathering (NYG).  It is held every three years in a major city, because the city has to be able to host up to 40,000 youth at one time (it's usually done over two separate weeks.  That's a lot of youth!)  The first time I went, it was held in Atlanta, Georgia.  I had only recently become an advisor, as had my good friend Kelly.  We rented a bus and drove 12 hours to get there.  It was a horrible bus, and the AC broke and then the bus wouldn't start when we wanted to go home at the end of the week, but we still had fun.  The second time I went, it was held in San Antonio, Texas.  This time we flew on a plane (that was quite interesting, making sure all those kids made it through security and onto the plane and didn't lose any luggage...but we did it!).  Then, the last one was held in New Orleans.  I did not go because my daughter had recently been born.  Kelly didn't go because she was pregnant.  We were told it was hot there.  When I say hot, what I mean is "Intolerable levels of heat and humidity which drive one to wish for an icemaker to be installed in one's abdomen".  Very hot, the other advisors and kids said.  But Kelly and I missed out on that one.  Well, guess where they're going in 2012?  That's right, New Orleans again.  I can tell you that not all the kids are happy.  Not all the advisors are thrilled, either.  We were really hoping for a different city, which is what they usually do.  Anyway, we have massive levels of heat to look forward to, unless I happen to get pregnant again, he he!  (Poor Kelly.  She's not having any more kids.  She has to go!) (Please don't misunderstand:  we like going.  However, we are not looking forward to the heat and humidity levels as described to us by the advisors who did go last time)

So, what's this about yard sales?  Well, it costs roughly $1200+ per person to go to this event.  So as soon as one ends, we start fundraising for the next one.  Our biggest fundraiser by far is the yard sale we hold at our church.  Our church has a school attached, with a gymnasium that we fill to the brim with tables and items that congregation members and friends have donated.  I love this sale.  It is SO much work, but also really worth it.  We spend a week preparing for the sale, and hold the actual sale over two days, Friday and Saturday.  Kelly and I started out this year's sale by coordinating pickup of large items last Friday and Saturday.  Then, Monday we were in the gym sorting all the boxes and bags of items as well as the furniture.  Not only that, but this year we are selling a ton of furniture from the parsonage next door, where our pastor lived while he waited for his house to sell in another state (we have a new pastor).  We had to move, among other things, an ancient, hideous, 70s hideabed couch that weighed approximately 5,000 pounds; a large china hutch that did not separate into two pieces as most do (also old and heavy); a set of solid wood bunk beds with mattresses; and a kitchen's worth of dishes and china.  We also moved, but not from the parsonage, a vertical piano, a lighted curio cabinet, and an entertainment center.  We have clothes taking over one corner of the gym.  Books have run rampant in another.  Garden/lawn/sporting goods was so full that we had to rearrange it, and we never have to do that.  Kitchen goods and household goods are overflowing onto the floor.  We have more baby/kid items than ever before.   I love seeing what we get to sell.  There's always something interesting.  This year, we had not only the piano (1903!) but a real German squeeze-box (accordion) instrument that my friend Cali bought to restore.  That was pretty cool.  Last time we had this sale, we got some Limoges china, but it turned out not to be worth as much as we had hoped.  This year we have a foosball table and a poker tabletop.  We have a gaming chair (like for video games), a very heavy, ornate lamp, a flapper dress costume, a fake gold lame Elvis outfit, a power washer, and a kiddie kitchen.  We've been sorting and unpacking boxes and bags, and moving furniture across the parking lot from the very hot parsonage house to our gym, and organizing and reorganizing for two days, and we're making good progress.  But we haven't even begun pricing things, other than the stuff the church staff has already claimed! 

My long-winded point is this:  I'm tired.  My feet hurt.  I'm tired.  If I don't post much, or if you don't notice me online as much, this is why.  I will hopefully remember to take pictures tomorrow, and then you can see what I'm talking about.  Man I love this yard sale, though!  Next time I have the energy to post something, I'll tell you about Karina "helping" at the sale prep.  She was so funny!