Emmy Photo / Second Garage Sale Aftermath / Leann Parties Hard
Here's a photo of my brother, Ryan's, Emmy award. It was taken by someone affiliated with one of Ryan's co-winners who actually claimed the award in person. It's a rather bad, dark photo that appears to have been taken with a cell phone camera. I've cleaned it up as best I can:
So yea, it's a plaque with a miniature statuette. Ryan says his new mission is to come up with the money ($200-ish) to pay the Emmy people to get his very own official reproduction of the actual award. It appears the college (Minnesota State) is keeping the original. Speaking of Ryan, he finally flies home this coming Saturday evening after spending nearly four months staying with his girlfriend in Ohio. More on his return as it occurs.
So over the last weekend from Friday the 2nd of October through the 4th, my family and I finally had our second garage sale! We'd been threatening to do another sale ever since the resounding success of our first garage sale back at the very beginning of August when we altogether made about $1,000. This time around, we gathered all kinds of random stuff from around the house and the shed in our backyard. We paid an exorbitant $26 to have an ad placed in two issues of the local newspaper. I spent several days working on large, colorful signs for the major neighborhood intersections. Plus, we made several Craigslist posts. Sadly, the weather was cold all weekend with rain Saturday on and off. We planned for that by clearing out our garage and putting all the tables inside. It was chilly, but we survived and everything worked great.
Unlike the August sale, we didn't have any major big ticket items. What we did have were lots of little Christmas-related items, so my dad wanted the sale to be advertised as "XMAS IN OCTOBER." My sister, Val, and even my girlfriend, Leann, participated as well. Leann was selling a lot of clothing and had never done a garage sale before, so she decided to test the water by pricing things in the $10+ range. On Friday during the sale while she was away at work, we had several snotty women pass through and complain that her wares were outrageously priced. We had it beaten into us that no one who goes to garage sales are willing to pay more than a couple dollars for anything, especially if it's clothing. We didn't sell clothing at the August sale, so we had to learn quickly. By Sunday, we'd figured it out: One to two dollars for each item seems to be what people are willing to pay for clothing. Once we figured that out, Leann sold almost everything she laid out. She did so well, in fact, that she made more money than I did.
Overall, the sale was excellent. Even without selling big expensive items, we managed to clear $600 altogether. Personally, I made about $60 selling lots of old toys, an old Xbox and my trusty 20" television that I've had since my junior year at EOU. I am thrilled it's out the door and I don't have to worry about trying to sell it elsewhere. By the end on Sunday afternoon, we'd all gotten rid of the things we wanted to and were finding it hard to keep tables from looking bare. Monday, I ran all around Hillsboro to deposit things with Goodwill and various recyclers. There's practically nothing left and it's a great feeling to be free of so much junk! Now hopefully my parents take heart and learn to think of the entire life of an item when they buy it so we aren't buried under junk and required to do a third garage sale someday soon. Although, I'm sure when Ryan gets home, he may find enough junk to do his own garage sale...
One last item. On Saturday night, Leann and I went to a wine tasting party hosted by one of our mutual friends, Christine. The party was a chance for her and I to meet some new people including Christine's new boyfriend who hails from Russia and turned out to be a pretty cool guy. I was the designated driver for a couple of the attendees, which allowed Leann to get loaded. And loaded is what she got. At one point, Leann had five glasses or red wine in front of her. She became somewhat uncontrollable at one point. She wasn't destructive or any more rambunctious than anyone else, but she certainly won the award for most-drunk. I'm not a huge fan of people who get totally plastered, especially people I'm supposed to be dating (Why shouldn't I hold my girlfriends to a higher standard?), so I'll admit I was a touch embarrassed and disappointed that she'd let herself go that badly around people we'd just met. She was so far gone that I couldn't take her home that evening and she slept on Christine's couch.
Sunday, I picked her up for the final day of the garage sale and we talked it over. She apologized profusely as I retold events she'd completely forgotten thanks to the alcohol. There was a quiet disappointment (Shame?) on her face and all day she continually asked if I was mad. I think we came to a conclusion that Leann found out how much alcohol is too much for her. She tried to explain how over-drinking is a social anxiety thing for her, and she agreed to learn to limit it in the future, but that's something women have told me in the past. While I'm hopeful that the communicating we're doing in the wake of Saturday night will be something that brings her and I closer together, Leann will need to show to me through her actions that she's in control and doesn't need that much alcohol to have a good time. Plus, I'd like to go to a party sometime when I'm not the designated driver! But I guess it doesn't really matter since I don't drink much if at all anyway...
So yea, it's a plaque with a miniature statuette. Ryan says his new mission is to come up with the money ($200-ish) to pay the Emmy people to get his very own official reproduction of the actual award. It appears the college (Minnesota State) is keeping the original. Speaking of Ryan, he finally flies home this coming Saturday evening after spending nearly four months staying with his girlfriend in Ohio. More on his return as it occurs.
So over the last weekend from Friday the 2nd of October through the 4th, my family and I finally had our second garage sale! We'd been threatening to do another sale ever since the resounding success of our first garage sale back at the very beginning of August when we altogether made about $1,000. This time around, we gathered all kinds of random stuff from around the house and the shed in our backyard. We paid an exorbitant $26 to have an ad placed in two issues of the local newspaper. I spent several days working on large, colorful signs for the major neighborhood intersections. Plus, we made several Craigslist posts. Sadly, the weather was cold all weekend with rain Saturday on and off. We planned for that by clearing out our garage and putting all the tables inside. It was chilly, but we survived and everything worked great.
Unlike the August sale, we didn't have any major big ticket items. What we did have were lots of little Christmas-related items, so my dad wanted the sale to be advertised as "XMAS IN OCTOBER." My sister, Val, and even my girlfriend, Leann, participated as well. Leann was selling a lot of clothing and had never done a garage sale before, so she decided to test the water by pricing things in the $10+ range. On Friday during the sale while she was away at work, we had several snotty women pass through and complain that her wares were outrageously priced. We had it beaten into us that no one who goes to garage sales are willing to pay more than a couple dollars for anything, especially if it's clothing. We didn't sell clothing at the August sale, so we had to learn quickly. By Sunday, we'd figured it out: One to two dollars for each item seems to be what people are willing to pay for clothing. Once we figured that out, Leann sold almost everything she laid out. She did so well, in fact, that she made more money than I did.
Overall, the sale was excellent. Even without selling big expensive items, we managed to clear $600 altogether. Personally, I made about $60 selling lots of old toys, an old Xbox and my trusty 20" television that I've had since my junior year at EOU. I am thrilled it's out the door and I don't have to worry about trying to sell it elsewhere. By the end on Sunday afternoon, we'd all gotten rid of the things we wanted to and were finding it hard to keep tables from looking bare. Monday, I ran all around Hillsboro to deposit things with Goodwill and various recyclers. There's practically nothing left and it's a great feeling to be free of so much junk! Now hopefully my parents take heart and learn to think of the entire life of an item when they buy it so we aren't buried under junk and required to do a third garage sale someday soon. Although, I'm sure when Ryan gets home, he may find enough junk to do his own garage sale...
One last item. On Saturday night, Leann and I went to a wine tasting party hosted by one of our mutual friends, Christine. The party was a chance for her and I to meet some new people including Christine's new boyfriend who hails from Russia and turned out to be a pretty cool guy. I was the designated driver for a couple of the attendees, which allowed Leann to get loaded. And loaded is what she got. At one point, Leann had five glasses or red wine in front of her. She became somewhat uncontrollable at one point. She wasn't destructive or any more rambunctious than anyone else, but she certainly won the award for most-drunk. I'm not a huge fan of people who get totally plastered, especially people I'm supposed to be dating (Why shouldn't I hold my girlfriends to a higher standard?), so I'll admit I was a touch embarrassed and disappointed that she'd let herself go that badly around people we'd just met. She was so far gone that I couldn't take her home that evening and she slept on Christine's couch.
Sunday, I picked her up for the final day of the garage sale and we talked it over. She apologized profusely as I retold events she'd completely forgotten thanks to the alcohol. There was a quiet disappointment (Shame?) on her face and all day she continually asked if I was mad. I think we came to a conclusion that Leann found out how much alcohol is too much for her. She tried to explain how over-drinking is a social anxiety thing for her, and she agreed to learn to limit it in the future, but that's something women have told me in the past. While I'm hopeful that the communicating we're doing in the wake of Saturday night will be something that brings her and I closer together, Leann will need to show to me through her actions that she's in control and doesn't need that much alcohol to have a good time. Plus, I'd like to go to a party sometime when I'm not the designated driver! But I guess it doesn't really matter since I don't drink much if at all anyway...