Letting Go (Rey's Fundraiser Weekend)

The yard sale went REALLY good. We had a $356 Saturday and a $131 Sunday, for a total of $487 Weekend. That is really fairly good. Most of it was de-cluttering my house and just getting rid of stuff.

I had some very difficult moments. I cried (seriously) when Marissa's stroller was loaded into someone's truck. This was a "Mommy" moment. She is grown-up enough to walk everywhere, and those places where she might get tired of walking (you know... D-land, Knott's, etc - like we go there a lot... lol!), we can just rent one at the park of our choice. It wasn't only that... This was a good-bye to a built in shopping cart (where the heck am I supposed to put my packages when Christmas shopping!?!) and an all-around carrier. I used it for many things. My fave? When going to one of the girls' tennis matches, it carried the cooler, chairs, sheets (for the ground) and Marissa's toys (to occupy her attention). *sigh* I guess I'll just have to get used to carrying stuff and making multiple trips to the car. 'Cause you know... I'm too cool (and much too young) to get a "Granny Cart" to put my wares in! But for the most part I cried because I realized. This was a little era of our life... gone... She is no longer a baby, even though I still refer to her as "the baby". *sniff, sniff* It still bothers me...

Have you ever seen the show "Hoarders" on A&E? Me, either. BUT, I have read articles and seen pictures. Those were enough to get me going through my stuff, because, well... I just didn't want to be One. Of. Those. People. You know... the one's who "need" the help. Heck! I can can help myself. But it was REALLY hard. As I was going through craft stuff and fabric (omg! no!), I held up un-started and un-finished projects (some that haven't been touched in over 10 years) and had to head-slap my other self and say, "GET REAL!" While I had the one self saying, "Some day..." the other self was ready to kick her ass. I'll admit, there were some items I picked up, held it up, held it in a different light, a different angle, and still wondered, "WTF did I get THIS for?" or "WHAT was I thinking?" I saw my tastes completely change.

The Stationary Bike? That was another, "Yeah... right..." item. It sits and doesn't get used. Wait. It did get used! We hung so many things on it at different times, it was multi-purposed. But alas, it didn't get used for its original purpose. Besides, we got a Wii... which DOES get used.

Going through my closet was the hardest thing I've ever done. I did it as quickly as possible. I did it quickly so I wouldn't give my one self a chance to grab it back from that discard pile (you know... the one that was growing at an alarming rate) that my other self had put there. Gone are my size 2 and 4's. Gone are those really cool Levi 501, straight legs that are perfectly worn out and faded and ripped at the knee that were so comfortable, they could be just as perfect as the pair of sweats I have on right now... but haven't fit me in 7 or so years... Those... I would like to have kept. And those... are what almost got grabbed back if my one self had bigger balls (or a smaller butt). Gone is stuff that was held on to that "might" come back in style, just like so many other things have from the past. (I so wish I had stashed away all those "Dittos" and awesome clothes from the 70's and 80's. We could've all made a fortune just selling them on e-Bay!) But maybe I would have worn them again... Yeah, right...

As I watched everything go, I realized it all had a story. And believe it or not, I remembered that story. I remembered where everything came from (and sometimes how much it cost-so some of the items still had price tags on them... so what!). And so I weeded out and sold things. Lots. of. Things. $487 worth of Things. All for my darling daughter, Rey. I cried when I let go of a stroller. *sigh* I'll cry again in August, when I watch her go up the escalator to the boarding area. (Thank you 911 for taking the actual departure away from me!) And with mothers everywhere, we'll let them go...