Selling the kitchen sink: Hutchinson Citywide Garage Sales Saturday, Sept. 6

When it comes to conducting a garage sale, I’ve never considered myself an expert since I seldom go to them and I haven’t played a significant role in our  family’s past garage sales.

This all changed about six weeks ago, when we — my sister, Lynn, brother-in-law, Jim, nieces, Elisabeth and Rebecca, my mom, Marianne, and me — decided to conduct a three-day extravaganza the first weekend in August.

This would be my family’s second garage sale of the summer and my first. We called it a “whale of a sale” and that’s what it was.

It’s funny how stuff has a way of taking over available space. I don’t know how I managed to fill up my condo with enough possessions for a family of five, but the proof was in the drawers and on the shelves.

I guess the organizational experts would say that I had more things coming in the door than going out.
They would be right.

I found preparing for the garage sale to be a cathartic experience. The dictionary defines this as emotionally purging.

It felt good to remove the excess. How many sets of sheets, frying pans or dishes does a single person need?

I think you get the picture.

When I moved into my condo, I had a vision of how I wanted my life to be. I sought a serene picture-perfect world of gracious living. It was a bitter moment when I discovered Martha Stewart I’m not.

To read the entire column, see the print edition of the Hutchinson Leader for Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008.

(Kay Johnson is a staff writer at the Hutchinson Leader. She can be reached at johnson@hutchinsonleader.com).