The Estate Sale

It has finally happened! We now live in a 5th wheel! Honalee is warm and inviting and feels like home. Our Estate Sale was 2-18-17 and we sold a LOT! Sasha and Ryan (and Parker!) came down and helped out. Our friend Joe came over and watched Parker a lot so that Ryan and Sasha could help us. The sale was very successful! So successful that we didn't have a bed, a TV, a washer/dryer or a chair to sit on. So we ended up going to the hotel where Sasha and Ryan were staying so that we could sleep. We had gotten up at 4:00am! It was a busy and yet exciting day!

Estate Sale day!
 It was a very busy but successful day and we deserved a break!

The next day we got Honalee out of storage and parked in an RV area in North Newton. It's got full hookups but it's really just a place someone stays if they just need to pull in for the night. We are all alone out there and it's is pretty isolated. So, we won't be there long.

This week we have been working all day and going to the house to clean and get it ready to sell and also continue to purge the items that didn't sell in the estate sale. I took a large load to Etcetera, which is where we have taken over 10 truck loads over the last year. I also have a large pile to donate to the Woman's Shelter in March. We have a few things listed on Craigslist. Anyway, we have been working at the house until around 8:00 and then going back to Honalee to sleep. It has been an exhausting week!! Last night Tom didn't feel well and we went back to Honalee to rest early. I think we are getting too run down!

At the sale, I watched things/items leave that used to mean something to me. Things I bought and thought I needed and couldn't live without. In addition, I have been downsizing for over a year now and I don't miss a thing! At the estate sale, I sold a model ship that my father made. As I watched it walk away, I felt nothing. I never really liked it and never displayed it. Why did I think I wanted it or needed it? And those Snowbabies that I thought I had to collect! Why?? What useful purpose do they serve? Why did I think I needed so many sets of dishes? The sale made me happy!!

There is a whole movement out there about minimalist living and I am a huge proponent of it! We don't need "stuff" to make us happy. Remember the George Carlin comedian's sketch about "Stuff" back in the 1980's?  Here are some quotes:

"Stuff is important. You gotta take care of your stuff. You gotta have a place for your stuff. That's what life is all about, tryin' to find a place for your stuff!"

"When you get right down to it, your house is nothing more than a place to keep your stuff... while you go out and get .... more stuff! Cause that's what this country is all about. Tryin' to get more stuff. Stuff you don't want, stuff you don't need, stuff that's poorly made, stuff that's overpriced. Even stuff you can't afford! Gotta keep on getting' more stuff. Otherwise someone else might wind up with more stuff. Can't let that happen. Gotta have the most stuff."  

And even though you might like your house, you gotta move. Why? Gotta get a bigger house!  Too much stuff!"

"Or maybe you put some stuff in storage. Storage! Imagine that. There's a whole industry based on keepin' an eye on other people's stuff."

So, we have very little stuff. We have clothes, food, cooking items, a TV, a bed and some places to sit. That's it! We are on our way to living minimally and enjoying the serendipitous moments we will encounter along our journey!