GARAGE SALE

It's come to the time, tomorrow I start selling off old books, coats, shoes, clothes, children's things, and my heart, my knitting magazines and books.  Now, it brought tears to my eyes when I put a price on my knitting books.  I've spent a lifetime reading about knitting, knitting, and learning various styles of knitting.  So, whether the knitting books sell will depend, because I am not parting with them cheaply.,  I have gone online to Amazon.com to find out what those books would be worth were I to buy them used, and priced accordingly.  Some books I will give away, FREE, and some of the old shelves, and knick knacks around my house I will part with for a song, but my crystal champagne glasses, crystal clocks and figurines are things that I have because over the years you collect stuff.  And those stuff, I love, so parting with some of them will be difficult, but I will for the right price.  I don't want to price too high, but I also don't want to devalue my years of collecting.  

So... it's going to be a wonderful experience since I haven't had a garage sale in years, but it's also going to be a pleasure to get some of this stuff just cleared out. I was once a dressmaker, now I use my computer practically 3-4 hours a day.  Once I knitted sweaters, and crotchet aftghans. now I put puzzles together.  While the kids were young and I spent time reading childrens books, now I take my grandchildren to the library and borrow their books.  Once I spent long hours in the kitchen cooking being inspired by music on CD, now I have a iTune and it's quite compact.  Once I played with my childrens organ, now it sits in a closet collecting dust.  The things we collect over periods in our life truly gets out of hand when we don't go through it when we are done with those things.  And I am sure you've heard the phrase, "one mans junk, another man's treasure".  So, while the things i once cherished, are now dust collectors, they might fit just right in someone else's life.

I am hoping for the best.  Wirting to live, living to write.

Preparing for my Garage Sale

After more than thirty years of marriage there are bound to be things that need to be gotten rid of.  Especially when you are a professional at garage sales, and second hand store things.  In a consumer driven industry, when you don't have a lot of money, the second hand stores and garage sales provide you that release you need, shopping for something without spending a lot of money, and finding beautiful things that someone else owned, but discarded or lost, or maybe even passed on to the next life, and left.  Where it all comes from, doesn't even matter.  It's the idea that if you can't afford the mall, you go to the second hand store and you are destined to find something.  
Once I went out looking, and i mean searching, for a 'podium'.  I wanted a place to place my bible, so that whenever i got the mind to, i could just open it up and read it.  Like when I get on my soap box.  Or when I get a feeling of dread, or loneliness, the bible is my word, the living word.  Who wouldn't want a podium?  Right?  Well, believe it or not, i found one, but it was sold to a minister who wouldn't part with it.  I don't blame him, I wouldn't have either. 
But that didn't stop me from finding something of use that day.  Clothes for my granddaughters.  I love trinkets, and anything shiny things like champagne flutes, or wine glasses, or coffee mugs.  I even once went out in search of a desk, to place my sewing machine on, because the vibrations rattled the little 36" table that I picked up from (of all places) Walmart.
Well, it's time to get rid of things and possibly earn a little cash on the side, and going through all those things, brought up many memories.  I found pictures of my kids, when they were born... my oldest son being more than 30 years, and I thought I had all my pictures in one place, but I have more pictures than can be counted.  And there's something about going back and looking at photos, something about actually seeing them, turning the pages of the photo album that gives one a feeling indescribable.  The digital age makes a lot of things like pictures in albums obsolete, but I don't ever believe that a photo album gift isn't something that will always be cherished by the receiver of said gift.

So, while I continue to go through my house preparing for my garage sale, i know that there are a few things that i must do to make it successful.  It's important to advertise in a local paper.  And with Craig's List, it makes it more successful to advertise even there.  

 Now with all my things, I hope to make this day something better.  Living to Write, Writing to Live.

Everything must go!

 

Things they are a changin

I survived this day.  And now, it's at the end, I am finally able to sit my feeble ass down, and I am thank to God Almighty that I lived through the insanity that i saw today.  Some days are just full of goodness, you know, like the cool breeze blowing on your face after a long hot summer.  As simple as a child wanting to go to the park, to swing, ride on the slide, or just sit on a merry go round, or just taking my little dog for a walk.  But today, I saw my granddaughters full of glee as they ate donuts while their mother was in the doctor's office, walk into the library where the hope of their future was calling out to them and they couldn't decide which book to get, and then going through an attic of old stuff preparing for a garage sale, because the stuff i keep is just too old. 
What happened after that, i cannot even speak about, but I am yet alive, therefore, i can still say, I am happy within because despite the sever arthritis that caused my kids to become people i don't even know, or want to know, i live, and as long as there is breath in my body I will give all power to Him who believes in me more than I believe in myself. 
So, I do well, and since it's over, done, the end of this day, I sit and relax, and remember the trip to the library with little people who'll one day become big people, who'll hope and dream, and maybe even make magic happen, I thank God, I Live to 'Write', and I write to live.

Afterall, these are the moments worth living, and with that in mind, I bid you Good night!

It's Sunday Again,

This morning, Father,
I awoke, but knowing that we had no coffee I just went to the corner supermarket and purchased some coffee.  In addition, I purchased Amaretto cream; which i walked all the way over to the milk section thinking that I would find coffee mixes there.  Wrong.  They were on the same isle as the coffees!
It's still pretty quiet when I get up in the morning, so I am most relaxed, getting the body moving very slowly, and the same with the gray matter in my head, just moving slowly. 
I can hear the nuts hit the ground this morning, since there is a walnut tree right outside my back yard.
Last week, Friday, I paid for someone to take down the two trees in my life than have shaded our house for more than 12 (twelve) years.  The evergreen use to house woodpeckers, but i think when the new beetle moved in, the woodpeckers left, and i don't hear them any more.
The tree stood the tallest in the front yard, and every time you gazed upon it, you could feel the majesty.  You could tell that there was something grand there.

I'll miss you evergreen of the front yard.  And the little poor looking crab apple tree.  Who plants a fruit bearing tree in the front yard?  There was a peach tree out there right in front of the curb; you can just imagine what happened to it when the fruit fell to the street below it, and the cars ran over them.  Who would do that?

I've lived in this house for more than twelve years now, and I have learned that until you actually take special time to pay special attention to your house, you really don't have an investment.

I did the credit card thing so long, i bankrupted us.  And guess what?  No one came along to bail us out.  We had to budget, live less extravagantly, buy only the things we really needed, and spend more time as a family.  I've learned that those were the times we remember most in this life.  We put puzzles together, we create good food, and we eat together now frequently.  I like that a lot.  Especially when my children cook, and take the time to prepare a meal.  That's something money can't buy.

Our front yard is now a clean slate to create.  Being the creative person that i am I pray to Father, through Jesus Christ my Lord, to make something grand.

Living to Write, and Writing to live, this is my something special.

Make Money from Home

I went to the library today!  What a wonderful place to be.  All the books you could ever think of reading, and all the people happy, because people who read are generally happier.  Even better than that, I checked out books pertaining to "Home Businesses", and such related topics.  It's like everything that I've been thinking, someone was smart enough to write it all down, and categorize it.  Scams, real opportunities, and the like is really a matter of perspective.  But one thing I saw, I cannot help but repeat, Please forgive me if You wrote this, but; if you can earn minimum wage doing data input outside the home, why would you believe that you can make over 1400.00 dollars a day doing it part time from home?  That hit the mark for me.  Why do you think you can earn money mystery shopping, when the pay comes in the form of $10.00 or a reimbursement of your purchase, which has a ceiling?  How do you think that you can make money enough to earn a beautiful house, sporty car, and lying on a beach with a portable computer, when you don't ever get to find out what the job is?

I thought to myself, I could have written each and every article that I read today.  And I only read through the 1st 5 chapters.

I've seen it in the news, earn money from home, blah blah blah, I bought the course; it cost me $150.00 off my visa card, and the most I did was give my opinion on products I didn't even use.  Maybe now it's different, but that road I will not go back down.

Been there, done that.  Now, I blog.  Notice what goes on in the world and write it down.

Today I paid $2.50 for a dozen eggs.  It's time for me to purchase a chicken.  I bought a loaf of bread for more than $1.25, can I also bake my own bread?  Of course.  Will it be enlightening?  You bet.  Can I also raise a pig or a cow in my back yard?  Probably not, but becoming a vegetarian is not in my future.

The very good question is... What am I good at, and can I see myself doing it?

Am I prepared to work at home for real doing something I love rather than watching the idiot box all day?

Is it possible to manage my time, and proactively seek out my fortune?

These are all the best questions that require deep insight to know what I am going to spend the rest of my days doing.  Maybe, like my son, I have my whole life ahead of me, and rather than consider my entire life a failure because I didn't accomplish my goals, I could continue to try and not give up until I succeed.  That would sure make for a better ride through this thing called life than lying down, and wallowing in self pity.

I am going to continue to put forth my best foot, but another important point I want to make before I go... Unless I stand up for something, I will fall for anything.  Time for me to be the best that I can be, and that means making My Something Better.

I have never finished a puzzle and missed pieces, much less finished one that had so much black in it, but since my granddaughters have moved in with me, I am undone, but not failed.  I still Love that puzzle, Henry Lee Battle.  Thank You for that!

Pat Matheny

Have you seen him in concert? I haven't but I have listened to his traveling music for years. I don't want to date myself, but when I take a road trip, I play his music. His inspiration towards a better day will always be a part of my life.
Last night, a young friend took me and my daughter out, and when we were at the Jazz Lab in Edmond Oklahoma, I cannot tell you how wonderful it was just to be out there, Praising God through Christ in Rap, and without drink or drugs. I have to say that I was inspired, and enlightened. How do they say it? Music covers up all the dirt that drags us down in life. Well, that happened to me last night.
If you know anything about me, you know that I am continually trying to make something better out of life that money cannot buy. But it is going to take some money for me to get to the Pat Matheny jazz exhibition on September 28, 2011. And because of my handicap, I don't work a full time job, and right now, I am puzzling. The picture you see is the last puzzle that I put together. It took me more than a month to finish this puzzle. And when I got to the finish I found that I didn't have all the correct pieces, and in fact, I was missing a piece, but, because of the difficulty and beauty of this puzzle I will not take it apart. I love her. It's called, "Time Well Spent" by Henry Lee Battle, and I have written SunsOut to let them know my delima, but imperfect as she is, she's no different from me.
I believe through living we learn and grow, and many times we get bruised and battered, and finally if we live long enough, we become better people.

This blog is all over the place, but my hope is that you will see me, and help me through donations. $1.00 is not too much. because I want to see Pat Matheny in concert. Part of becoming and making something better is being able to accept help from others. I have always been the kind of person that counted on me and me alone. But with 4 grandchildren, all living with me, and a son and daughter still living at home, I need help. And if you see fit, I have an account with paypal. My entire name is Aleasha Jefferson. And I would appreciate anything you can send so that I can attend that concert. Thank You in advance for your generosity, and love.
May God bless you and keep you.