We must've spent 6 weeks getting ready for my neighbor's garage sale.

The sale took place on Saturday and Sunday, and my neighbor netted about $335. I brought a few things over and made $27. My friend Shawn, who cuts my neighbor's lawn, also sold some stuff.

At the end of the day, I put a few items down by the road with a "Free" sign, including a small sleeper bed, a wobbly coat rack, upholstered chair, ironing board and old filing cabinet, plus a real tobaggan. Every one of those things was taken.

Now she can park her car in the garage!

Tomorrow I'll help her load all the unsold stuff to drop off at either the landfill, Good Will or the Senior Center for their white elephant sale.

She's thinking about having her NEXT sale in the spring becus she has a houseful of unwanted possessions, and what we sold this weekend was just the stuff stored in the garage.

She said she might use the money to take all of us out to a nice lunch. (She had 2 other friends who showed up for the tag sale.) I urged her to spend it on something she's always wanted but couldn't afford, so now she said she might buy a digital camera with it. (She's always used those disposables, which are so not practical.)

All I can say is that it sure was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it becus I'm a natural de-clutterer.

Yesterday, I got up on the ladder and did touch up painting of three separate spots on the front of the house where the paint is peeling. Actually, the paint is peeling all over the place, but these were among the most visible places. I plan to forestall painting, or possibly vinyl siding until next spring.

I also got my new printer hooked up to the computer and I cut up the last of a huge 7-foot length of that Tree of Paradise branch that had fallen in my yard a month ago. I added it to the small wood pile growing in my driveway which I plan to try to sell on Craig's List for some cash. As soon as I calculate what fraction of a cord my pile represents, cus I know a cord goes for $200 around here, delivered.

Today I'll be biking over to the farmer's market for a nice loaf of whole grain bread. I may also read the local weekly paper at the library, a favorite haunt of mine, and I hope to hear from one or the other of the 2 jobs I interviewed with sometime this week.