Yard Sale Day!

Boy, what a relief that this day is over and done!

It was, you see, yard sale time at our church and for several years now running (except for last year when we didn't have enough response to help with this event) our Women's Group at Church has been having not a yard sale per se, but a hot dog, brownies and beverage sale on the front lawn of the church on the Saturday of the Lanse Community Yard Sale as our summer fund raiser.

I put up sign-up sheets in the Narthex about a month ago to try to get people to sign up for the items we needed to have donated for the sale and last night, as we were doing the set-up for today, I was getting worried that we wouldn't have enough food, nor enough help today either for that matter.

I was also worried how things were going to go for me too today as I had to take Maya and Kurtis out with me from the time I was scheduled to start working on serving at the sale (10 a.m.) until 2 p.m. when we would be finished up and then, trying to get the social hall and kitchen all tidied up by 3 p.m.!

Thankfully, both kids behaved fairly well today!

No, they weren't perfect little angels. Oh my goodness, that would have been a total shock to my system for openers if they were THAT good, but they only had a couple minor squabbles -mostly reports from Kurtis that Maya was trying to boss him, which is nothing newsworthy! She does that all the time whether he reports on her to me or not and doesn't look too promising for Kurtis that she is going to stop acting like that any time soon either!

But although it was gray and even misty when we arrived at church this morning and we had a couple of little misty spells between 10 a.m. and noon, after noon, things seemed to clear up somewhat -at least no more misty stuff -and by 4 p.m., the sun was shining brightly then!

We had, as it turned out, more than enough items donated so we didn't run out of anything, which is good. We even got a bit more help to serve the customers too than we anticipated and that was a big assist there, for sure. Maya even helped out from time to time in getting out sodas or water bottles as customers requested them as she had each cooler memorized as to what kind of beverage was in each one and she willingly offered to get the drinks! Yay, yay, for Maya volunteering to help in what ever way she could be useful. At several points during the sale, Kurtis and Maya both stood by the sign we had out front advertising food and beverages and they called out to people driving by to stop and get a hot dog! That was pretty cute, really -to watch those two in action there!

But for me, the best thing of all was after we finished cleaning everything up and I was walking out with another lady from our group, she turned to me and told me how good she thought both kids behaved today as it had to be hard on them to be with us for that long and not get totally bored and thus, start behaving badly, but they had done quite well today and I was extremely proud of both of them for the way they both acted today. And, you better believe I complimented them and thanked them too for making Grammy very proud of them today!

After we got home, the kids both disappeared to their rooms and played quietly for quite some time while I played on the computer with my e-mail and facebook for a bit. (I also confess that I sort of dozed off in front of the computer for a couple little catnaps then too though, as I was really beat.)

The heat, combined with the humidity today, even after we got home, was still pretty oppressive but about 6 p.m. I noticed it was starting to cool off somewhat. So I decided then that around 7 p.m. I was going to go out and fire up ye olde lawn mower and see how much of the grass I could get knocked down an inch or so!

I hammered away at the grass cutting for a solid two hours -huffing and puffing, yes and also sweating like there was no tomorrow either, ya know! But when I put the lawn mower back in the shed, I had finished cutting all the grass in front and along the sides of the house as well as the entire back lot too!
Came inside and got the mutt to take him for his evening stroll, then ran up to the Moose to pick up a copy of tonight's paper and finally -at 9:30 tonight -I was fixing pancakes for supper for the two kids and myself. They both ate with no complaints -every bit of the pancakes I had cooked, buttered and put syrup on for them while I wolfed down my meal of the day then too! Good thing pancakes are fast, easy, good meals for them and me as we all three of us, love 'em!

After that, time to get the kids showered and ready for bed and then, finally -got my sweaty, sticky and probably very stinky too, self into the shower and now, here I sit, typing this post and all ready to hit the sack now too!

Back to church in the morning and all three of us are ready so come morning, we just need to wash our faces, brush the teeth, grab some cereal for at least Kurtis and definitely a cup or two of good hot coffee for me for my normal morning wake-up and then get dressed and out the door on our way to start our Sunday in the best way possible.

In the afternoon, I get a break as the kids will be going up to spend the afternoon and evening with their Dad. For me, that break means time to drink some more coffee, read the Sunday Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and struggle to find some answers to the two crossword puzzles they always publish every week!

Maybe I'll even catch a couple more catnaps then too along the way.

But whatever, I'm thankful for how well our efforts paid off today with our hot dog sale, for how well the kids handled themselves and now, that the three of us can sleep peacefully tonight and allow the comfort of a nice bed and a rest will give renewed strength and energy to face the day, come morning's light!

Hope everyone else can do the same too! Peace.