Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for shopping
wrapping, wrapping, wrapping…
I was determined tonight to finish all of our wrapping. I holed myself up in our room just after the kids went to bed with all of our gifts. I swear that it’s harder to pull out and sort through everything than it is to do the actual wrapping! Once I sifted through bag after bag I settled in and started.
I really do love wrapping presents, although in recent years my gifts don’t seem to look nearly as good as they used to. So sitting down with all the presents seemed exciting at first. The more I wrap, though, the more I’m just ready to be done. It’s 10:00 p.m. and I’m taking a little break, but in a minute I’m going to get back to it, because I really think if I focus I can get completely done tonight. I am on a mission, people. Wish me luck.
Shopping day
Today was the second annual Mother/Daughter Christmas shopping day in Bloomington/Normal. Unfortunately, because we were having 40 mph winds and it was snowing up in Sycamore, Mom and Nancy decided they better not brave the elements and come down. We were all so disappointed, but it really wasn’t a good idea for them to be on the road when the weather was so ugly. So much for our “annual” event…it lasted one year! But I had taken a personal day off of work, so I was determined to get through my shopping list today.
I was uber-organized, which of course everyone thinks is hilarious. I’m sure that not many people make detailed spreadsheets for their Christmas shopping lists. But it’s the way that I work best…planning everything out before I ever leave the house. Because the weather was so crappy I wanted to be as efficient as possible, too. Being out in it as little as possible was a definite plus.
I started with a few stops at department stores like Wal-Mart and Target, and then headed to the mall. It was hard to make some decisions by myself, but I really did well overall. By 1:00 pm I was close to being done with all the big presents. I just had a few gift cards and some stocking stuffers to get, so I was feeling great. Then I hit the book store and everything came to a screeching halt.
Each year Santa brings each of my kids a nice, hardcover book. So far, Dave and I have gone together to pick these out, and we really try to pick books that we think the kids will like. This year, it was really hard for me. I swear I looked at every picture book they had on display and again as many that were on the shelves. I did find two great choices, but it seemed to take me forever! Finally I was out of there and just had a few more stops to make before heading home.
I spent a lot of money and had to call Dave about a dozen times, but I did get done with my list and really enjoyed my day. I do love buying gifts for my family and friends. Now to get them all wrapped…
Fun times at NCHS
The NCHS Family, Career and Consumer Leaders of America (FCCLA…what used to be called FHA) sponsors a babysitting night at the high school once per month as a fundraiser. We’ve debated taking the kids before, but to be honest, we get most of our babysitting for free, so it’s sometimes hard to shell out the cash for it. But tonight I decided that it was finally the right time. I thought the kids would have fun there, I knew Dave and I could use the time for more Christmas shopping, and of course it’s a great cause. So off to the high school we went tonight at 5:00 p.m.
It’s always so funny to take the kids somewhere in the evening. Of course it’s already dark at 5:00, and they think that means it’s late. Emma said, “Ooo…it’s VEWY wate!” as soon as we pulled out of the garage, even though we hadn’t had dinner yet. Cracks me up. Ben was so thrilled that we were going to his ”old preschool”, and as soon as we got inside the room they both bee-lined it to the toys and forgot all about us. I was a little concerned about Emma being happy the whole time we were gone. Lately she’s been a bit of a mama’s girl, and I wasn’t sure that she’d make it through the whole night.
Three hours later we returned to the high school to pick them up, and of course neither of them wanted to go home. They had such a great time playing with new toys and with other kids. Ben’s face was beet red from running around with two other 4 year-old boys. I should have known that we’d have nothing to worry about…except getting them out the door to go home. That wasn’t an easy task. It was a great night for all of us. Dave and I got almost finished Christmas shopping for the kids, the kids had way more fun than they would have at home with us, and the FCCLA got a donation to help fund their trip to the state convention. Well worth the $20 it cost us.
Early shopping
I have never been an early Christmas shopper. I like shopping when I’m in the Christmas spirit. And it super annoys me when people skip over Thanksgiving…my favorite holiday of the year. But this year, since we’re leaving for Florida on the 18th, I feel more urgency and stress surrounding our holidays. So this afternoon Dave and I started shopping for the kids. We went to Farm & Fleet with the intention of simply browsing and getting ideas, but we ended up getting several gifts for the kids that we think they will love. We also got a few gifts for some friends, and more importantly, we got organized. That helped me calm down a lot. Later, while grocery shopping, I even picked up some stocking stuffers! Me…buying stocking stuffers in November…when it’s still fall outside and our Christmas lights, while already hung due to nice weather, will not be turned on until the day after Thanksgiving. Unheard of!
I still hate shopping early, and I did miss shopping while being caught up in the spirit of the holidays. But you gotta do what you gotta do, and if being ready to leave on December 18th means I have to shop early, I’ll gladly do it.
Thank you, Christopher Columbus
We all know that there is a lot of controversy surrounding Christopher Columbus and his “discovering” of America. He, according to most accounts, was a bigoted, self-centered jerk who was only looking for glory as opposed to a man exploring for the sake of science or discovery. I can’t really say that giving him credit for finding one of the best countries in the world seems really fair.
However…that being known, there is still one day every year I absolutely love ol’ Chris. You got it, it’s today…Columbus Day. Columbus Day (or our first real day off of school) always seems to get here just when you need it most. The newness of school has worn off, and the first quarter is almost done, and the day-to-day routine has become just a little bit too routine. Then comes this glorious three day weekend, just when we need it.
Today I took the kids to the babysitter in order to have the day to “get stuff done”. I felt guilty about it, but I knew that it was necessary in many ways. I had a million errands to run, laundry to do, and I really needed to sort through the kids’ clothes to get all of the summer clothes put away and all of the winter clothes inventoried, washed up, and put into their dressers. None of those things could have been done with the kids here. So, I dealt with the guilt and set out. I did get all of the previous chores listed, and I even had time to make an apple pie with the apples we picked at the apple orchard. It was a great feeling to get so much done.
Although the guilt never did completely go away, today was a really great day. Thanks, Chris…I needed it!
It’s a yellow day
Today was yellow day at preschool. You would think that would be cause for great celebration to have a special day already, but alas, it again caused Mommy preschool stress. Ben did not own a single article of clothing that is yellow. The closest thing we had is a black t-shirt that has the Batman symbol on it in yellow. I didn’t think that would do the trick, so of course I was off to find him something cheap and yellow to wear to school.
Here’s the real gist of the problem…almost anything made for a boy in yellow includes navy blue, and I just can NOT put my son in Michigan colors. I know, I know…it may seem ridiculous to many of you, but for me it’s a real commitment of hatred to all things maize and blue. Blech! So, really, it’s just easier to avoid yellow clothes at all costs. Thankfully, after only three stores, I found (on clearance at Target) a dark yellow t-shirt with dark gray lettering that said “Camping” and had a red tent on it. Perfect.
Thankfully, my preschool stress was relieved rather quickly again. I’m not sure I can handle this kind of constant pressure. I need to relax about this school, or I won’t make it through first semester!!
The big garage sale, day 2
Today was a very different sale day. First of all, the weather totally changed overnight and it was freezing today! Ok, freezing may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was chilly sitting out there. It was overcast, breezy, and it started to spit rain a couple times. That definitely had a bit of an effect on the crowd, I’m sure, but I certainly can’t complain. While it was not a steady stream of people all day, they were on a mission, and we had a lot of buyers come through. I was so excited to sell the rocker, and I did so very early on this morning. In fact, almost all of the big things sold, and a lot of the little things (including some things that I thought would never sell) went, too.
The biggest disappointment to me is how many clothes we have left. I really thought that baby clothes would go better than they did. Man, some of the clothes we still have are in fantastic shape! It really surprised me, to be honest. At this point we’re not really sure what we’re going to do with all these clothes we have left. We definitely have some things to go to Good Will, and obviously we could take all of the clothes there, but I’m just not sure if we’re ready to part with all of them that easily. I guess I just need to give myself a little time to decide what I’m going to do. I’m sure that Dave and I will begin to box things up in the morning, and hopefully I’ll have a better idea then.
Oh, I haven’t even mentioned the money yet! We made a killing!! Well, maybe not a killing to some, but let’s just say we surpassed my goal of $500 profit with ease. Sure it was a ton of work, but seriously…having our house cleared out of a whole lotta stuff and getting a wad of cash for it all? Totally worth it!
The big garage sale, day 1
So today was the opening day of the big sale. I got everything out into the garage, but I’m telling you there was not a single solitary empty spot on any of the eight huge tables I had in there. In addition to the garage being full, I had at least 15-20 things out on the driveway, as well. Needless to say I was hoping for a huge turnout.
Grandma Judy came down to help with the kids and the sale. Thank goodness she was here, because there was no way I could have done it being the only adult here. The kids were all excited for the sale and were very interested in people coming to buy things from us. However, we had a box marked “FREE” with a bunch of little toys in it. There were mostly things in it that the kids had gotten in Happy Meals from McDonald’s. You get the idea…it was a box full of junk that I was sick of picking up in our house. When we were collecting all of these things, Ben was all about getting rid of them. But then, the morning of the sale, he freaked. He didn’t want anyone to have anything in that box, and he “just wanted to take it all back inside!!!” It wasn’t even that the stuff was free…he didn’t even know that part. It was just suddenly harder for him to part with his “treasures” than he thought. After several minutes of trying to convince him that we weren’t keeping any of that crap, he spent some time on the couch crying. Eventually, he got over it and for the rest of the day he was all about people getting things out of the box. Go figure.
All in all, it was a great sale day. We had a lot of traffic in and out all day. I had a few people negotiating prices, but not too many, so that wasn’t too annoying. There is still a lot of stuff to get rid of tomorrow, so I hope that we have just as many come through. I still need to get rid of the rocking chair…that’s the one big thing I really don’t want to have after the sale is done. Keep your fingers crossed that we’ll get rid of more tomorrow!!
More garage sale woes
Ok, this thing is getting out of hand. I can’t even put into words…just look.
I know it’s only Tuesday, but there is still a lot of work to do to get this thing ready to open on Friday. Wish me luck!
Garage sale woes
Next week we’re having a huge garage sale. We’ve decided that we’re done having babies, so we’re getting rid of all of our baby stuff. This includes baby clothes (of course I’ve picked out some things from each kid that I just had to keep), bouncy seats, a pack ‘n play, the high chair, the double stroller, the jungle gym, the rocker glider and footstool in Emma’s room, the baby bathtub and a million little baby related items like bottles, sippy cups, silverware and burpcloths. Then we move to toys. I don’t feel like our kids are totally spoiled, but when you start sorting through them, the stuff they’ve outgrown or don’t play with anymore adds up really quickly. Throw in some random household things from the basement and office and stuff that Dave brought from the farm, and we’ll be lucky to fit it all in the garage!
Of course it’s been a lot of work pulling stuff out and hauling it up to the garage, but I’m afraid that the real stress is ahead of me. I’m having a hard time figuring out how to price things. I want stuff to sell, and I’m really not doing it for the money, but yet it’s hard to just give away nice things that were hardly used or worn, too. I’m struggling a bit. Right now I’m thinking that I’ll put most of the clothes on a table with a sign that says “All Items $1.00″. Then on another table I can put the more special or nicer items with individual prices on them. I haven’t decided for sure if that’s my strategy yet, but I do think that would probably be the easiest. It would also make for an easy check out with my math deficient brain!
I know that this is all a process, but it’s been more difficult than I thought it would be, and I think that has a lot to do with my pricing dilemmas. Getting rid of all this stuff is just so final. We’ll never use a bouncy seat again…or an infant bathtub or even a high chair for that matter! It makes me sad, even though I’m thrilled to have the space we’re freeing up in our storage area. I have a feeling that next Friday will be a challenging day for me.
