"On a mission to make somethin' happen..."

I am gearing up for a huge event. I have spent the last two weeks preparing: sorting, cleaning, scheduling, planning. Right now, I am so anxious for it to arrive, I can hardly stand it. I need an end to this seemingly never-ending buildup! So what could possibly illicit this sort of frenzied response?

A garage sale.

But, as you laugh about the silliness of my excitement, know this: mine is not going to be your average garage sale. First, it's in February. I am banking on all the hard-core summertime garage salers to be frothing at the bit for good sale after a winter of "sale famine." Second, my booth is going to be one of about 35 in the Barron Area Community Center on Saturday, at an event that historically brings in approximately 1500-2000 people. Location, location, location. Third, I am ready to get rid of some STUFF - no reasonable offer refused, full out inventory reduction, no-holds-barred Sale-a-bration. (In case you can't picture it, just think of the most obnoxious radio ad for a car dealership you've ever heard, then imagine the announcer screaming "SATURDAY, SATURDAY, SATURDAY ONLY!!)

Christmas was the breaking point for me. As I was getting out my Christmas decorations, I was cataloging the sheer amount of useless/unused things in my basement, and I finally snapped. I went on a cleaning frenzy about a month ago, sorting out a ton of things to take to Goodwill. That is, until I heard about the Sale. I figured this: a lot of my stuff is "leftover" stuff from combining households when B and I got married (an extra set of steak knives - when we have 3 already -, 15 wedding albums, etc); a majority of it is in new or like-new condition (unfortunately, quite a number of things are wedding presents that just didn't "fit..."); and of the things that are extra, everything is of better than usual quality (kudos to the givers for picking out good stuff). So rather than haul it all off to Goodwill right away, I figured a sale would be an opportune time to make my basement less full, while providing a treasure trove of "finds" for the garage sale inclined. Perfect solution.

So tonight finds me not (currently) with the one I love, but rather tagging items left and right, boxing up my merchandise, and getting ready for what I hope will be the SALE OF A LIFETIME!