Just a weekend hanging out in the garage…

A ‘Garage Sale’ doesn’t sound quite like the place a slef-declared introvert/homebody/semi-hermit type-person would want to find themselves on a weekend, as either a shopper or a host. I hadn’t realized what I’d been missing… It was just the pattern interrupt I’d needed to jog me out of my humdrum work-at-home routine and force me into a ‘hostess with the mostest’ demeanor for a few days.

I decided we needed to have a garage sale to declutter our apartment and to pay down our debt snowball… (I’ve become a total Ramsey fan-girl.) There wasn’t anywhere in our complex to have a sale, so I went to my sister-in-law’s house, in ‘West Fancy-ville’. She was 100% IN on the plan and dug up her own treasures to contribute to the sale. We made some silly looking cardboard signs and attached some dollar store smiley-face balloons to direct potential shoppers. We crossed our fingers it wouldn’t rain and some shoppers would see the signs and balloons from the main roads.

It did not rain much to speak of after the morning of the first day. I sat in the fresh outdoor air of the garage- sometimes muggy and (post-rain) sometimes rather fall-like and enjoyable. I like to call it “sweatshirt weather”- enough to put your hoodie on, but not enough to be encumbered by a coat- my absolute favorite time to be outdoors. Sometimes there was tea and cookies courtesy of my s-i-l, and sometimes there were dog shenanigans to watch.

I had the company of various relatives for the weekend, including my Mom, my sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, and my husband, and we just talked- to each other and to customers- while curating the sale items. Organizing and staging items is ‘my jam’, and for a dyed-in-the-wool introvert, I’m pretty agreeable to banter when it comes to sales negotiations and general joking around. I just need a big ol’ nap later…

And the characters! From the guy who tried to hard-sell everything we had to his wife, to the guy who had 5 questions about every item, to the company president readying for a weekend seminar who purchased an enamel lapel pin that read “I have no idea what I’m doing”- there was a constant parade of personalities. We met a plumber/electrician/boiler repair guy from Camaroon (BEST negotiator of the weekend), the owner/manager of a nearby group home (probably an actual MODEL), a real estate mogul from down the street (very knowledgeable about flipping houses), several other dog lovers (some who had pockets full of treats), lots of families out for a walk, and so many more. Then there was the lady who was interested to buy the camping cot so she could cut out a large hole at the chest region to use it to recover from her upcoming elective surgery!!! @_@ OMGoodness people tell you a lot!!! Ordinarily it’s a rare day that I meet even 2 new people! It exhausted my social battery completely each day, but in the most worthwhile way.

We ended up clearing well beyond our predicted sales. We also made some connections that could benefit our personal and professional pursuits. We got quality time with each other. We breathed in the cool air of fall, and we played with the dog. We had a few days completely unlike the days surrounding them. Oh yeah, and we busied ourselves with completely cleaning out the garage while we were doing other things, but we hardly noticed that part. It’s noticeable now though- once we cleared out the unsold items to take for donation, that garage looked amazing!

Go out and sit in a garage. Breathe the air. (Open the garage door first.) Talk to people who walk by. It’s all very underrated. This may not be news at all to you. I guess I just need to get out of my apartment more. Go figure.

Garage sitting. 5/5 would recommend. Thoroughly enjoyable and rejuvenating.