Burst or Blossom, that wonderful set of emotions that takes us through difficult times and decisions. An emotional roller coaster. You may handle those hills and valleys okay, but you probably won’t want to get on again.
That is what this past few days has felt like to me. It started Thursday and Friday when my daughter, Caroline, came over to take apart and move a few things in preparation for our yard sale. She disassembled a baby bed, moved a book case, then took apart and moved a computer. Everything was moved into a spare bedroom and by the time she left that room was packed.
On Friday while I was at work my Caroline and her boyfriend, Rob, came over and moved one computer desk out of an upstairs bedroom and put it out for the yard sale and moved a different one I had into the room. Then later Caroline came back and we worked on setting things out for the sale and tarped them to sit overnight.
During the weekend I finally made the plunge and started cleaning my deceased husband’s clothes out of our closet. I only did the jeans so far, but now that I have started I will finish. The man had 40 pair of jeans! His clothes should be put to good use, so if they don’t sell in lots locally I will donate them.
Sorting through a small portion of the items Ron had purchased or found in scrapping, at garage sales and estate sales I made a few discoveries, items that were “keepers” such as a nice pot for an indoor plant and a really neat looking nightlight/mini lamp that is now in my bedroom.
In the process of prepping for the yard sale I made some changes to the decor, and have plans for further changes. Slowly changing the house and removing things Ron liked that I didn’t care for. Making it more mine rather than ours. It is a slow process, and the changes are only minor, but after nine months I am finally ready to make them.
Labor Day weekend arrived and was beautiful weather for a 3-day yard sale. The amount of items my husband had obtained through scrap, garage sale and estate sales was massive. There is still more we haven’t even touched. When the sale was done there were some things we saved for another sale next year, some items we threw out, and some that we sent to a charity.
So, on my roller coaster ride of emotions from once again tearing up my house and eliminating possessions of Ron’s I have a choice – I can burst from all the frustration or blossom under the change and strength I gain from moving forward. Regardless of what I am thinking, I prefer to do the later. And so I forge ahead in the sorting and changing of my home.
In trying to clean things out and prepare for a yard sale this weekend when walking through my home it is difficult to determine if things are better or worse then they were a week, month, or year ago. I’m in that messy time when things appear worse even though they are getting better.
I’m bringing things up from the basement and pricing them for garage sale, then stacking the boxes under a table in my TV room. I am preparing to put a desk into the garage sale and bring a different desk into it’s spot. To do that I had to empty out other furniture and items in the landing and the scrapbooking room itself to allow space for the exchange to take place.
--- LIFE IS A MELTING POT --- Grace Grogan...Writer, Photographer 