Just Ask Ida

Yard Sale Pointers

Spring has sprung here in Mahoosuc Mills. The daffodils are in bloom, the trees are buddin’, and we’re fast approaching my favorite time of the year: yard sale season. 

I just love yard sales! I love goin’ to them and I love havin’ them. Because the thing is, if you go to a lot of yard sales, you have to have a yard sale every once and a while to get rid of all the stuff you bought at the other yard sales.

I’ve learned through experience that havin’ a successful yard sale is about marketing and product placement. If you’re thinkin’ about having one, it’s not too early to start getting organized. Here are some of my yard sale pointers.

I’d suggest taking out an ad in the local newspaper, and if you’re near a big city, like Bangor or Waterville, get an ad in that paper, too. That way, you’ll get people from away. You can charge them more.

Now, you need something snappy in your ad to get folks’ attention. Here’s mine: If you saw something you liked on the Home Shopping Network that you wished you’d bought but didn’t, most likely I did, and I’ll be selling it on Saturday. Yard Sale 8:00-3:00. Collectibles, furniture, tools, all sorts of bargains. Early birds welcome.

See, I started with the bit about the Home Shopping Network. That’s the hook. That’s what gets them to read more. Then you have to say you have collectibles, ‘cause that’s trendy. And if you don’t think you have ‘em, you do, because everything’s collectible to someone. I’ve seen Antiques Roadshow.

Furniture is important. You need a few big pieces to draw people in, make them stop and get out of their car. It’s not worth your time to have a jelly jar yard sale. That’s when there’s a couple tables with lots of little trinkets on ‘em. You’ll just get drive-bys with those. A car will slow down, checking out your stuff and then drive on by to the next yard sale on their list.

If you don’t have any furniture that you’re ready to part with, just have your husband bring out a chest of drawers, a desk, a trunk: anything big. Then, put a few things on ‘em that are for sale. People will stop to look at the furniture, and when they ask what the price is, you say, “Oh, I’m sorry, dear. That’s not for sale. I’m just using it to display those collectibles.”

Now, tools. I’m not big on ‘em myself, but you need to put them in your ad for three reasons. Number one: it might get your husband to tidy up the shed. Number two: it keeps him occupied, so he’s there when you need him to carry heavy things out to a car or truck. Number three: it’s a code. It lets you women know that there’s going to be something at the yard sale to occupy your husband so you can really look around, and then he’s there when you need him to lug stuff.

You have to make sure your yard sale signs are fresh and new. You can make them by hand if you want, or use the ones that the newspaper gives you for taking out the ad. Just don’t put up old ones. Then it looks like you’re one of those places that’s having a permanent yard sale. You’ve seen them: a house with lots of junk piled up in the yard all summer long, yard sale signs all weather beaten because they’ve been out for years, blue tarps everywhere. I stopped at one once where they were trying to sell little packets of mustard and catsup like you get at McDonalds. I mean, come on! Half used boxes of laundry detergent, an old bed pan. Swear to God, an old bed pan!

Now, let me say something about early birds. You know you’re going to get ‘em. Why fight a force of nature? These people bought newspapers, planned their route and got up in the middle of the night in order to buy stuff. You have to respect that kind of dedication. If you say your yard sale starts at 8:00, you can bet you’re going to have folks linin’ up at 6:00, 6:30. Don’t start the day off on the wrong foot by gettin’ aggravated at something inevitable.

You need to be ready to go by 5:45. I can’t stress this enough. I mean, everything priced, displayed, your cash box organized, signs out, hair and makeup done, breakfast eaten and coffee in a travel mug. This takes planning. In order to have a successful yard sale, you need to spend the week before hand getting ready.

And when I say “early birds welcome,” I mean it. I have a couple big boxes of Dunkin Munchkins waitin’ for them. I mean the big box, the ones with 50 munchkins, smile on my face, lip gloss, power bra. These are people from away looking for a deal out in the country, and I am ready to dicker. My motto: distract ‘em with sweetness, then drive a hard bargain.

That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side! 

IDA'S PODCAST: Yard Sale Pointers

Coming Up:

May 4: The Moose in Me, The Moose in You! to benefit the Friends of the South Berwick Library, 7:30pm, South Berwick, ME
May 9: Author Visit, Forest Hills Elementary, Jackman, ME
May 11: Signing, Cozy Nest, 11:00-1:00, Somersworth, NH
May 16: Reading, Walker Memorial Library, 7:00pm, Westbrook, ME

For more information on upcoming appearances, visit my website: idaswebsite.com

If you’d like me to do a reading at your library, organization or what not, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line: [email protected]

And if your book group wants to read Finding Your Inner Moose, I’d love to be part of the discussion. Especially if food’s involved!

Warm Up, Cool Down

When I was younger and on a real fitness kick, you know what I hated most? The warm up and cool down. If I was takin’ a class, or doin’ an exercise video at home, I’d usually skip it all together. Especially the cool down. Just seemed like a waste of time to me. As Larry the Cable Guy says, “Get ‘er done.” That was my motto, too. Get ‘er done and get goin’ with my day.

Funny how things change. Now, my favorite parts of workin’ out are the warm up and cool down. I actually like kind of slowly waking up my body and easing into it. And I love cooling down, leaning into the stretches and thanking my body for being there for me.

And you know, at this point, it’s the same with my day in general. I spend more time gearin’ up and winding down than I used to. Heck, I remember going from dead asleep to up and about, bing, bang, boom. Zero to one hundred in thirty seconds. Ah, youth. Now I like laying in bed a bit, wakin’ up slowly. I’m not lazyin’ around, mind you, I’m thinking about things. How grateful I am for another day, for Charlie laying beside me and Scamp on his little dog bed. Having a job to go to or a day off, depending. For my family, the Women Who Run With the Moose, and my life here in Mahoosuc Mills. I plan my day. I stretch and yawn and sometimes, I just kind of drift around in my head. Warming up.

Same in the evenings. I used to putter around after supper, right up until bedtime. Even watchin’ TV, I’d jump up every commercial and do things. Even during the program, there I’d be, folding laundry, ironing, sortin’ out the junk drawer or something.

“Sit down, Ida,” Charlie’d tell me. “You’re makin’ me dizzy.”

One day I realized I was makin’ myself dizzy, so I stopped. I mean, who am I tryin’ to impress? Besides, if I’m active like that in the evening, I have a hard time getting to sleep (which is a whole other can of worms). Nowadays, I sit and relax and enjoy my evenings with Charlie and Scamp. Oh, I may leaf through a magazine or knit while watchin’ the tube, but I’m “in the room” as my niece Caitlin likes to say. By that I think she means, I’m in the here and now, all present and accounted for.

Once I get into bed, I lay there a few minutes, thinkin’ about my day and what happened or didn’t happen, givin’ thanks for it all. Or, if it’s been a bad day, I give thanks that it’s over, that I can start fresh tomorrow, if you know what I’m sayin’. I think it’s good to take stock before ending your day. It’s all part of coolin’ down.

I gotta admit, I don’t sleep as good as I used to. If I can go four or five hours without wakin’ up and havin’ to pee, it’s a major accomplishment. Most of the time, I go right back to sleep. But every now and then, my mind goes into overdrive. It’s 3:00 in the mornin’ and I’m deciding what I’m goin’ to make for supper next Saturday or planning my outfit for the Fourth of July barbeque. Then I start tryin’ not to think of anything, which makes me think even more. Used to bug the bejesus out of me. But now I try to remember somethin’ my Uncle David once said to me.

“I love that time in the middle of the night when I’m awake, no distractions. I get some of my best thinking done then. Don’t fight it, Ida. Enjoy it.”

Smart man, my Uncle David! It takes practice, but once I stopped trying to fall asleep, and just let my mind go where it wanted, not only did I fall asleep quicker, I got some quality thinking done to boot!

So, whatever you’re doing, take time to warm up and cool down. You’ll be glad you did.

That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!

IDA'S PODCAST: Warm Up, Cool Down

Coming Up:

May 4: The Moose in Me, The Moose in You! to benefit the Friends of the South Berwick Library, 7:30pm, South Berwick, ME
May 9: Author Visit, Forest Hills Elementary, Jackman, ME
May 11: Signing, Cozy Nest, 11:00-1:00, Somersworth, NH
May 16: Reading, Walker Memorial Library, 7:00pm, Westbrook, ME

For more information on upcoming appearances, visit my website: idaswebsite.com

If you’d like me to do a reading at your library, organization or what not, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line: [email protected].
And if your book group wants to read Finding Your Inner Moose, I’d love to be part of the discussion. Especially if food’s involved!

Ida’s Law of Vacuuming

It’s spring here in Mahoosuc Mills, and you know what that means? Spring cleaning, of course. I’m not sayin’ I go hog wild like my mother and grandmother, taking apart each room of the house, but it’s good to do a deep cleaning every now and then.

In preparation for this ritual, I bought a new vacuum cleaner head. The old one had seen better days. Finally, the lever that switches back and forth from “carpet” to “floor” broke, and it was permanently stuck on “carpet.” Hard to get good suction goin’ on a wood floor, I’ll tell ya. It’s sad how excited I was about gettin’ my new vacuum cleaner head, but hey, I’m a Franco-American woman of a certain age, and I love a clean house.

When I got the new head home, I couldn’t wait to give it a test drive. I needed to do a little spiffin’ up of the place anyways, so I fired up my vacuum. Wow, what great suction! Scamp seemed a little concerned and hid in his crate, but I loved it! Zoom, zoom, zoom!

I believe in investin’ in a good vacuum cleaner. I mean, with some of those cheap ones, you could suck up more with your nose than with the hose.

If your husband is anything like Charlie, most likely he has a big, honkin’ lawn mower and snow blower, too, for that matter. Why? ‘Cause if you have good equipment, it does a better job in less time. A vacuum is something you use all year ‘round, so I say invest in a good one. I’ve had mine for ages. Every once in awhile, I bring it in for an overhaul, you know, tune it up. I take care of it, and it takes care of me. Most of the time.

Now as fond as I am of my vacuum, I have a love-hate relationship with vacuuming. I like how my house looks when it’s done, but doin’ it can sometimes try my patience. That’s because of something I call “Ida’s Law of Vacuuming.”

You’ve heard of Murphy’s Law, right? "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Well, Ida’s Law of Vacuuming is similar. “Anything your vacuum cleaner can catch on, it will catch on.” It’s so irritating! You just need to reach a little further into that corner of the bathroom, a couple of inches is all, and you can’t. Why? Your vacuum cleanser is caught on the edge of the door jam or the rug or something, it’s stuck and is stubbornly diggin’ in it’s heels.

Or like me on Saturday, I just wanted to do a quick spiff-up of the house, right? Everything’s goin’ great until I get to the bedroom, the last room I have to do. The vac is still plugged into the bathroom outlet. I’m going fast and OK, I forget to unplug and replug in the bedroom. The vacuum reaches the end of it’s chord, and I tug, thinkin’ it’s just caught on the door jam. Nope! The cord, yanked from the outlet, comes whipping back into the vac. Bugger!

I pull the cord back out, plug it into the bedroom outlet and I step a little too hard, I have to admit, on the off/on switch. The vacuum comes to life with a scream of protest and promptly dies. My vacuum! Dead! Let’s all take a moment to ponder the significance of this situation: a Franco-American woman of a certain age without a working vacuum! Mon Dieu! And I was almost done.

Needless to say, spring cleaning is on hold while my vacuum is in the hospital. I’m waiting on a phone call to see if my man Stan can resuscitate the poor thing. I’m hopeful. Me and my vacuum have been through a lot together. She wouldn’t desert me, right? ‘Cause if that vacuum cleaner dies, well wouldn’t that just suck?

That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!

IDA'S PODCAST: Ida's Law of Vacuuming

 

Comin’ up this week:
April 16: Reading-Bangor Public Library, 2:00pm
April 16: Reading-Dirigo Pines, 7:15pm, Orono, ME

Later this spring:
May 4: The Moose in Me, The Moose in You! to benefit the Friends of the South Berwick Library, 7:30pm, South Berwick, ME
May 9: Author Visit, Forest Hills Elementary, Jackman, ME
May 11: Signing, Cozy Nest, 11:00-1:00, Somersworth, NH
May 16: Reading, Walker Memorial Library, 7:00pm, Westbrook, ME

For more information on upcoming appearances, visit my website: idaswebsite.com

If you’d like me to do a reading at your library, organization or what not, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line: [email protected]

And if your book group wants to read Finding Your Inner Moose, I’d love to be part of the discussion. Especially if food’s involved!