So Excited - It's Giving Day!!!

I am so excited that today is finally here that I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and have not been able to go back to sleep.  (Well, actually it would have been 5:00 a.m., but daylight sayings time ended last night, so it is earlier than a sane person would ever wake up.)

We have worked and planned for this day for weeks now, and we are looking forward to having some fun today.  It is Giving Day !

As those of you who regularly stop by here know, we moved about three weeks ago.

Younger, stronger backs unloading our stuff.

The home we had occupied for the past twenty years had about the same square footage as our new place, but it was divided into more rooms.  We had a formal living room (although ours was always pretty casual), a family room (where Holly, the resident Lhasa Apso was allowed on the furniture) and a sun room (where the LOC*, and Holly, and I would loll about on rainy days as we listened to the rain drops beat on the roof. (*Lovable Old Coot)

Now we do not have a family room or a sun room, we just have one big living room and all the stuff that was in those other two rooms needed a new home.  So we are giving it away!

The LOC said we could have a yard sale.  Yes, and after lots of work in tagging and hauling things out to the yard and then hauling off everything that did not sell, we would have a little bit of cash to show for our efforts.  Some people enjoy that kind of thing.  I do not.

I agree with the guy who once said, "If you go to enough yard sales, eventually you wind up with enough stuff to have one of your own."  :)  Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against yard sales.  I just do not have the time, energy or interest in hosting one of my own.  I'd rather give stuff away to someone who needs it.  And so would the LOC once he got into the swing of it.  He gave the people moving in across the street from our former home, a refrigerator, the big gas barbecue, his roll top desk, and other items we decided not to take to the new place.  They were a young family, who did not have much except for three young children plus a brand new baby, and they were thrilled to get those things.  Win,win.

So today, a couple of extended family members who recently lost pretty much everything they had and are now starting over, are arriving with a U-Haul to pick up our contributions to their new place.

Many years ago, my family lost everything we owned overnight.  It is a long story, and we will not recount it here, but we were suddenly left without (as I used to say) a chair to sit on, a bed to sleep in, or dish to eat from.  It was traumatic to say the least.

Many kind people gave us things to help us recover.  And some were generous beyond anything I could have imagined.  But I recall opening one donated box, and finding old clothes too worn to be worn, and even one sock  - not a pair, mind you, but one sock; and it had a hole in the toe!  I could not make this stuff up if I tried.

So I have always tried to be sure that when I give anything away, it is something that I would enjoy receiving.  If it is worn out, I recycle it or send it to the dump.  But I do not give it to another person.  To do so, for me, is disrespectful.

But today - oh, joy!  We are on a lollapalooza, bonanza of a give-away, and I can hardly contain myself.  We are giving away two wicker chairs, four small occasional tables, two lamps and a rocker/recliner.  Towels, sheets, bathroom accessories (we used to have three bathrooms and now we have two, so right there you have an extra set of throw rugs, soap dishes, towels, etc.)  Wall pictures, knick knacks, dishes, bedding, and a double bed.

Now my daughter, that would be Denise over at The Quiet Quill, will be thrilled to learn that we are replacing the double bed in our new, larger guest bedroom with a new queen sized bed.  Yea!!  She and her spouse have scrunched up for years, once or twice a year,  in that dinky little double bed.  No more!  :)

And the recipient of the double bed (and it is a good quality bed) has been sleeping on an air mattress on the floor for months now, so she is really excited, too!

An extra rocking chair, a candle holder, a floor fan (we now have two ceiling fans) ... and on and on it goes.  We gained an extra washer and dryer with our new house.  We already had new ones, so thus, we have this set which is less than five years old - good quality front loaders - to give away.  Isn't that just too much fun?

The LOC can hardly wait, as he will be able to really begin to sort out his new garage, once this stuff is hauled out of there. 

We have been blessed.  We know this.  And we are so happy to be able to share what we have with others.  Not just our stuff, but our hope and our joy in doing so.

So smile along with us today - it is Giving Day!  And we are excited.  Hope your day allows you to share something good with someone else.  Until next time ... your excited friend, Marsha