Garage Sales

Oh how I love garage sales.

We had literally the Best Yard Sale Ever! this weekend. We had 12 different families participate in one heck of a sale at our house. I have yet to recover. Two straight days of making deals and keeping kids from falling down the porch steps. Exhausting and yet so worth it. We were money making machines. It is ridiculous to think about how much stuff we have that we don't even need. But it feels so good to clean out the house. The sad thing is that this was our third yard sale at this house and we haven't even lived here a year. It's not just selling stuff though. We had a lot of fun hanging out with some friends for two days and having our kids run around laughing (and crying). It's been a good way to get to know people better (by hanging out and by seeing each others junk) and we made money doing it.

I also like going to garage sales. I used to be embarrassed by this a little because I felt like I was cheap. Then it was addicting because I started finding these unbelievable deals. I am a bargain hunter anyway so it's just my nature to never pay full price for something and I have come to terms with that. I have recently started to try going "green" in some areas of my life and realized that buying second hand is a way of doing that. I am recycling by buying and selling used things. That has turned me from being embarrassed to being an uppity enviromentalist. It's my Oregon roots.

The thing that anyone who has ever been to our house must congratulate us on is that we are getting a new couch with our yard sale money this week. You will no longer have your buns go numb or hit your funnybone on the wood sticking through the arm of our couch. Your Welcome.Haha.

Sweet Tea

Almost every restaraunt in this town serves sweet tea, even Taco Bell. Kevin and I have given up sodas for this year which we thought would be impossible and I am sure many others thought it was impossible for us. But we are almost 4 months clean. Kevin made it through a whole semester without a DR. Pepper. I am so proud. BUT....we did this for health reasons and that has become fruitless since we have replaced it with Sonic's sweet tea and, for Kevin, Cherry Limeades. When I was on the sauce I used to think that Sonic's tea could knock me out with the sugar. Now it is flowing through my veins like the blood once did. I like unsweet tea just fine so why am I so obsessed with the sweet stuff? If I cut out all sweet drinks I don't think I can make it through the day. Sweet tea was the back up for the soda. If I was craving soda then I could satisfy that with sweet tea or peach tea. Now I am at the same point with tea as I was with soda. What am I going to do? This is nonsense on many levels.

PCD

There are people that shovel 8 straight hours a day. There are people that work 48 straight hours or more saving lives as doctors and nurses. There are people that deal with horribly behaved teenagers all day in classrooms for too small of a paycheck. There are people that risk their lives to put out fires and to save others. But apparently being a Pussycat Doll is what defines "hard work". I mean, I never realized how much "hard work" it took to look, dance and sing like a PCD.



We record Gilmore Girls every Tuesday and this was on right after. What a treat. I think this might beat out America's Next Top Model and Flava of Love. If I think about the show for very long I will get too sad for them. So I will enjoy it and not give it another deep thought until after I watch the season finale next week.

Feeling like I've done something

You know that there are days that go by and you think "what did I even do today?" I have a lot of those. It's dumb because I know that when I make a list the night before I always feel better. Yet, I let too many days just happen. I don't want to be too organized because then I wouldn't be me. But, I want to be more purposeful about what I am doing. This is especially important with my kids. On days that I play hard with them we all get along better. On days that I keep working on a project long enough to say that it's done, I feel like I accomplished something and that is such a great feeling. My house is not exactly clean right now but it doesn't feel so bad because we had a full-on Zoo in my living room this morning with a snack bar and I priced 7 boxes of garage sale things. I played with my kids and finished a project. It's a snowball effect because now I have spent the last hour emailing and finally updating my blog instead of playing Gin Rummy on my computer. Look out world! I am on a roll. Or, maybe I'll just play a couple of games and go to bed. Let's not get carried away.

I Tunes

Even though I dabble with the occasional Top 40 on the radio, I have been out of the "good music" loop for a few years now. I have been relying on Beyonce and Sean Paul to meet my music needs and let's just say that those needs haven't been met. I mean, I love having those guilty pleasures but it's like eating junk food all the time. Not good Nelly.
It took me a few months to get the hang of I Tunes but now that I have, it is my good friend. Just the weekly free downloads alone have been the nutritious music that I have needed to remind me that there is more to life than bringing Sexy back(although I don't mind it's return).
Looking back on the CD's I have owned I realized that I only really like maybe 4 or 5 songs on each one. There are very few that you can listen to all the way through. That's the beauty of the $.99 song. It's wonderful.
Here's what I am buying....
1)Brandi Carlile. I HEART her. Love, Love, Love and Obsessed.
2)James Morrison. I like every song. Very rare.
3)Eighties Music. Rock me Amadeus. Seriously great stuff. Come on.
4)Ray LaMontagne. Reminds me of Van Morrison. I love the raspy voice that can make a meaningless run in a song mean everything.
5)Amy Winehouse. Although her lyrics are a little questionable, the melodies in her sound is really unique.

What's in your I Tunes?