Good will loses to Goodwill in yard sale struggle

He might not clean out his messy office for me, but for our daughter, well, she's already starting to pull at his pinky.

Clear the office to make room for my storage, which until now has occupied the baby's room, clean the garage, clean out closets, drawers, and cabinets (used for Jack's 20-plus year old collection of ... ), sell a couple of vehicles, make home repairs so we can move into a bigger place where space isn't so much of an issue, and oh my, the list goes on.

I'm not sure why he was hanging on to a bulky, old fashioned VHS recorder or much too small stone-washed jeans from the 80s (he hasn't yet figured out they're almost back in style ... hurray!), but, finally, baby Fowler and I convinced him it was time for them to go.

I myself had a good share of stuff to get rid of and so the last few weekends have been busy, boxing up things I don't want or need. Goodwill will be so appreciative of all of this stuff, I thought to myself, as I was clearing my closet.

"Where you going, honey?" asked Jack a couple of weekends ago as I dragged a giant bag toward the door.

"I am going to make my first trip to Goodwill," I replied, feeling a great sense of accomplishment.

"NO, don't do that!"

Jack was adamant ... and the next words that came from his mouth were the two words I had dreaded hearing.

"We're going to have a yard sale! It will be fun!"

Not that there's anything wrong with yard sales, I just don't have the patience, and I'm not sure the effort is worth the money. I am solution-minded and I like to see results -- fast. Clear out house, wave goodbye to items ... all in one day!

I was talking to my father on the phone last week and he asked what Jack and I were going to be doing over the weekend. I told him we were having a yard sale (actually, I told him garage sale, which is typically what people have up north).

His response, while laughing, "Who's idea was that? I know it wasn't yours (laugh). It must have been that hillbilly husband of yours idea (even more laughter). Have fun!"

Jack convinced me five years ago to have a yard sale, which we did, and actually we made a good chunk of change in doing so.

But things are different now, and last week, while preparing for the big day, I was reminded of just exactly how things had changed.

Yard sales take a lot of prep work! Clearing through your old stuff and boxing up items to sell are only the very beginning of having a yard sale.

Friday evening came and I realized we still had to get tables outside, clean the dust off everything, hang clothes, price items, and post signs.

The thing that has changed since the last yard sale is that I work now. Back then, I wasn't working full-time, so I had an entire day before the sale to actually prepare.

Tired from the week and racing against time, we worked our tails off Friday evening getting ready for the big day.

As dark approached, we had to stop what we were doing to put signs up. I had purchased a few signs from the Times-Gazette, which I was so excited about. They saved me the time of having to write out "yard sale" on a bunch of poster board. I showed Jack the signs, which I thought he'd love, but his reaction was disappointing to me.

"That's all you got?" he asked.

"Ummm ... I got six, that's totally enough!"

What I failed to think about was that each post needs two signs, to attract drivers from both directions. I was 50 percent short.

We put our signs up, and called it a night. My 5 a.m. alarm sure did come early Saturday, but I made coffee and got to work, pricing and cleaning items that didn't get attention the night before.

And then it happened ... the 20 percent, turned 30 percent, turned 60 percent chance of rain kicked in. It didn't just rain, it poured.

"I give up!" I said to Jack, as I headed back to bed around 8 a.m. "I guess I'LL just have to have YOUR yard sale next weekend."

Jack's response: "Do you want to just go to Goodwill?"

-- Sadie Fowler is the lifestyles editor for the Times-Gazette. She may be reached at 684-1200 or sfowler@t-g.com.