Our cool moving sale signs!
Our moving sale is over. We worked our tails off as did all the family and friends who came to help sort, price, display, organize, run to the bank for change, bring food, watch children, move heavy furniture, etc. There were thousands of items, many of them quite large, to pull out into the driveway and back inside both day (albeit much fewer each day.) We couldn’t have done it without them. (Yes, we owe you all dinner or a beer!)
Our friend Josh made these signs for us and boy, did that bring people! We had people come by the sale just to inquire about the signs and hear our story. We had friends, neighbors, and complete strangers come to wish us safe travels. And, there were plenty of interesting people with their own stories to tell of the different places they’d traveled or experiences they’ve had. After so long in the planning, it sure was fun to tell everyone about it and to share our excitement.
Strangers would tell us stories about how they’d always wanted to do a similar trip but never made it happen. A few told us they were worried for us. The majority, however, seemed in awe and told us how brave they thought we are. While I don’t feel particularly brave, I do realize that this idea is scary to many (or even completely loony.) One neighbor told us that he greatly admired us but admitted that he liked his home and structure too much to give it up. Life really is about choices, and we were thrilled to have so much support for our crazy adventure. It is now really starting to sink in!
Not only did we pad our travel fund and purge the house of an immense amount of stuff, but we really enjoyed seeing our treasures head out to good homes. We saw lots of our Asian collectibles go to homes of folks who really loved and appreciated them. Special stuffed animals left in the firm embraces of little customers, and older children left with huge smiles and toys in hand. One family of three walked their dog to our sale and each of them left with treasure – even the dog! Their beautiful retriever walked away carrying a large plush soccer ball in his mouth.
For me, this was truly the best part of the whole weekend. While I had emotionally detached myself from most of the items by the day of the sale, they still conjured up warm memories of the experiences that went along with them. Seeing the items head to new homes was worth every minute of the work this weekend. I even had a 9 year old say “You made my day!” when he left.
No, sweetie,… you just made mine.
The sign is such a good idea! Our sale is this weekend, I might have to steal it. 🙂 Our neighbors probably don’t know why we’re moving (or if), so I guess it might be a good conversation starter. Hard watching your stuff walk away, really hard to leave your home, but as I said to Shawn the other day (to remind both of us), our home really is with us.