Garage Sales are fun

I was down at my folks' house over the weekend helping with the first garage sale of the season. I say the "first" because my mom claims she wants to have at least 4 or 5. Riiiight. We'll see about that.

The truth is, I love HAVING garage sales way more than I like going to them. I think it's so fun and interesting. First, even though we wake up feeling sooo tired, it's just so fun getting ready for it the night before. For whatever reason, my sisters and mom and I think everything is funny, and really, there isn't anything much funnier than finding things to put in a garage sale. With us, anyway. Most people probably don't think it's funny, but somehow, it's a regular comedy routine on garage sale eve. Ohhh the stories I could tell... and maybe I will.

But mostly, I love watching who buys what. I always feel just a tad guilty selling my junk to others. I don't want it, so why would someone else? We made fun of Amy's Christmas cactus hand towels, and wouldn't you know it... the first sale of the day! That old man thought they were pretty stinkin' cool. I made fun of Abby for selling half used bottles of bubble bath and shower gel... that stuff sold like hotcakes! I always wonder if these people are desperate for this stuff and they find it for so cheap they can't resist, or if they can't afford it unless they find it at a garage sale, or if they just love a good bargain... or what?! I don't get it. We had PILES of old, outdated, gently used clothes and I can't believe it sold so well.

I just love watching all of the people at garage sales. I love watching them "hunt" for things. I love bargaining with them for the good price. (Really, they feel so much better when they get something for 25 cents rather than 50 cents.) I love watching couples interact. (The fact that women can get their husbands to go garage saling with them impresses me. Gary would rather... do just about anything!) I love watching my mom trying to communicate with the Spanish-speaking customers. Now THERE'S a good laugh!

I loved every second. :)

My mom suggested having the next one on my birthday. C'mon, mom. I don't love them THAT much. On second thought...

ABC's

My friend Cam had this on her blog, and being the copy-cat that I am, now it's on mine!

A is for Age - 28, but I'll be 29 in just a few weeks!

B is for Beer of choice - Uhhh... root beer? I don't drink Beer.

C is for Career - I'm lucky enough to have my dream job - I'm a stay at home mom!

D is for Dog's name - Well, his name was Obie (short for Obadiah) but he has a new home now.

E is for Essential item you use every day - Contacts

F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment - I haven't listened to much music lately...! How sad.

G is for Game you play - Scrabble (or "Literati" as it's called on Yahoo games - come play with me!)

H is for Hometown - Highlands Ranch.

I is for Instrument you play - Piano & Flute

J is for favorite Juice - Raspberry Apple

K is for Kids - Emma & Addie

L is for Living arrangement - I live in a house with my husband and two girls

M is for Mom's name - Kim

N is for Names of your last ex - Umm... this is up for debate! LOL!

O is for overnight hospital stays - Only after having my babies

P is for Phobias - Drowning, moths, mouse poop, mold

Q is for Quote you like -

R is for Regrets - Not graduating from college (my deep, dark secret!)

S is for Siblings - Two younger sisters, Amy and Abby

T is for Time you wake up - Ugh! Somewhere around 6 or earlier. How did this night owl get two early risers?

U is for Unique trait - I have a fairly vivid imagination that makes me see things much differently than others. I can find humor in just about anything!

V is for Vegetable you love - Green beans. Mmmmmmm!

W is for Worst traits - I'm one of those "late" people you all know and love.

X - is for XRays you've had - I think only my teeth at routine dental exams.

Y is for Yummy food you make - I made some mean ribs the other night!

Z is for Zodiac sign - Gemini, but I don't like or follow horoscopes so it means nothing to me.

Being a friend... being a mom

I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with a blog! I'm going to try to be more consistent now though. A few things have slowed down around here with the year ending, and I'm really hoping to get into a routine. I have all these things I want to do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis... right now I'm trying to figure out a way to get my life a little more organized! More to come about that... stay tuned.

Well! My first in-real-life friend is now reading my blog. Hi Michelle! I felt rather anonymous before since the only people who even knew about my blog were people who would find the link from my message boards, or my on-line mom friends. But I'm so happy that Michelle knows about my really exciting blog now. I hope it gives you a giggle every once in awhile!

Speaking of Michelle, I got to spend a few hours with her and another friend today and we had a GREAT time. We did the yuppie mom thing and pushed our strollers around the mall with kids in tow, stopping at Orange Julius to end the day. SO FUN. With six kids all 2 and under, it was a little chaotic at times, but those kiddos were troopers. I wish I did that kind of thing more... I "know" so many other moms, but I don't know if I'm really qualified to call them friends. I don't feel like I'm a good friend. I always feel really intimidated to call people, because I think that they probably don't want to talk with me or hang out with me. I know that's probably not true, but it keeps me from reaching out to girls I'd really love to know better. I call all of these girls my friends, but I rarely see them or talk to them outside of an organized kind of setting (MOPS, church, etc.). I'm really going to work on reaching out and learning how to "befriend" and be a better friend to people. I think I forget that friendship takes work - it's not like we're in school anymore and will just naturally spend lots of time together to grow those deep friendships. You have to work at it. I love the friendship that Michelle and I have... we seem to be able to pick up wherever we left off, even when it's been weeks (or months!) between talking or seeing eachother. It's effortless, and yet there's still sooo much friendship yet to discover! I love it. And Michelle, I'm not just writing this because you might read it someday... I just sort of spewed. That can't surprise you though! :)

Well! I got way side-tracked. What I keep meaning to blog about so I don't forget are a few short little Emma stories. That way I won't forget them.

Short Nap: Over the weekend, Gary's folks were visiting and Margaret was putting Emma down for a nap. She had on jeans and a top - nothing special. I think it was late in the day, so Margaret told her, "You're just going to take a short nap, okay?" Well, nothing gets by Emma. She immediately hopped out of bed to change into shorts. Afterall, she was taking a SHORT nap, right? She cracks me up.

Ms. Understood: (Didja like that, Cam?) Also over the weekend, I had a bout of some 24-hour bug that caused me to throw up a couple of times. Yuck. Well, as a result, I felt all achy and hurty. Yes, hurty. Anyway, we were all eating lunch the next day and Margaret asked how I was feeling, and I said that my whole body hurt. Later that day, Emma grabbed my crotch (!) and said, "Potty hurt, mom?" I almost died laughing. It was just as funny the second time... and still pretty darn funny the third!

Here are a couple of cute pictures from Mother's Day. One of Addie's toes in my flowers... her toes are perfect and so sweet. The other one is my mom and dad with the girls. I wish I would've gotten one with my mom and ME and my girls. Oh well... the other 300 we took on Sunday will have to suffice.




























And then just two cute ones of my girls. I'm pretty biased... but they're pretty cute. Life is good being a mom to them.