>Dearest Darling Husband, a.k.a. Chuck, suggested holding another rummage sale in June of this year. I responded, “What?! Already?! But…but…” So he explained his rationale.

1. Daughter will be coming home from college. Economic woes will probably mean she’ll live here for a while. We’ll sell of anything of hers that we can’t store, and we don’t have much room for storage.
2. We may be remodeling a bathroom and building a new and improved laundry room. This could lead to more “usable junk” hitting the rummage tables.
3. I’ve been cleaning the bookshelves and the basement with a quiet vengeance. If there’s a rummage sale looming in our future, I’ll save a few for sale rather than donate them to thrift stores.
4. We’ll have an extra twin size mattress and box spring. It’s a long story, including daughter moving home and in-laws downsizing to a condo and teen’s bedding still in decent shape – don’t ask.
5. In the cleaning process, I’ve emptied two file cabinets. They can go.
6. We’ve lived here for 14 years now: the longest we’ve ever been in one location. It’s time to seriously stop stashing (it’s not hoarding yet- I hope) and purge.

Meanwhile, I’m still cleaning the basement. It’s not the most efficient method, but it’s working. It has to do with laundry – a cliffhanger of a plot, not. Every time I’m starting a load of laundry, I take a minute or two while the washer is filling and the detergent is dissolving, and I empty a box from the storage shelves. The contents either go in the garbage, the thrift donation boxes, or the Save crates. So far, very little has needed saving. As each box moves off the shelf, I have storage space for: my spare crockpot, canning jars, shopping bags for the summer markets, and other newly and truly important things.

On the rummage list so far:
*a stack of Berenstain Bears books. My kiddos and my preschool students enjoyed them, but they’re of limited use now that my own children are 17 and 23 and my students are in fourth grade. Rather than post them all of Paperbackswap, I’ll set up a book box at the sale. If nothing else, it’ll keep young kids busy while their parents browse.
*various luggage pieces. I have several messenger bags that I no longer use. I can keep one for judging music festivals, and the others will hit the rummage tables.
*twin mattress and boxspring (see above)
*lunch bags and coolers: I have several that are still good and look good, but I no longer use them.

So far the list is fairly small and all cheap items. If this is all we have by June, we’ll donate to a thrift store rather than put the time and money into a sale. Chuck feels confident we’ll have more of the Big Stuff by then, especially with the daughter’s impending move. Okay, dear, I’m willing to wait.