Wisdom from the Beehive Lady on Moving

Last night we were in bed and I sighed,"I don't know why I make the bed every day, it just gets messy again." (This was one of my stellar thought-processes)....Lou said teasingly,"Well, I guess what the Beehive Lady said just doesn't work, huh?" (Me confused.) "Beehive Lady?" Lou said,"Yes, remember how you told me (at 6am, of course one morning) that she said if you made the bed as soon as you jumped out in the morning, you would have no urge to climb back in and take a nap?" Finally a light dawns, as I'm lying there still focused on "Beehive Lady". "Ooooh, you mean the FLY Lady?" He's like,"Yep, oh....... FLY/BEEHIVE, I knew it had something to do with flying/buzzing" Lots of laughter from me.....followed by him tickling me for my insolent dis-respectful un-wifelike behavior! :) Whew, sometimes having a moment like this at the end of a busy day makes it all wonderful! And what does the FLY Lady have to do with packing? She's a great motivational organizing coach! And this I need during packing for the move!
We are packing! We are leaving for Kentucky on Thursday, September 30th, Lord willing. We are doing a DITY move, moving ourselves. This last month has been full of collecting boxes from the ABC store (yes, our house is full of liquor store boxes- closet alcoholics that we are.) For all the un-movers who are thinking ?? about the liquor store boxes, they have many benefits.

1. They are designed for glass bottles and are re-inforced cardboard, so they hold books and glass without falling through-yay!
2. They are typically uniform in size which appeals greatly to the OCD personality of the packer (ie me). Can you imagine the pure joy in having boxes that are stacked evenly with all the same labels? 
3. If you're really nuts, you can categorize based on various brands.."Hmm, how about the Jack Daniels for the encyclopedias and the "Jose Cuervo for the mystery novels?" And yes, I even pack my Calvin's Commentaries and Concordances in them.
4. They are free free free! And some nice ABC store employees will give them out still whole, unbroken down. That way you don't have to put the box together and tape before you even begin putting stuff in it.

So, enough about boxes. In addition to packing, I am trying to get the last of Ebay clothing listed online and sold off....so there's not quite so much to pack. Right now I have 100 listings. I have a pile of 15 skirts and tops waiting to be measured and descripted (not a word, except in Kim's vocabulary) I am motivated by pure greed and dislike of packing to get rid of this pile ASAP. In the meantime, I have gotten over a dozen letters from friends in the last week who are interested in selling on Ebay and need just a little help to get started. This has gotten me thinking about writing a short "blurb" about Ebay selling, or perhaps starting a group/blog to just address Ebay Selling for the Post Recession World. (since we've been informed that the recession is now a thing of the past, this title seems highly appropriate) It can be a very rewarding way for a stay at home mom/wife to help supplement an income with "furniture fun(d) money", as Mom Crist does. She can excitedly show off her new/old set of 8 Windsor kitchen chairs that were purchased with "bag sale clothes" turned to profit!

It can help out with saving for a house fund, as I do. It does take time and effort and research, but in the last two years since I started I've learned so much. Selling on Ebay our first year of marriage, along with all the jobs we picked up on the weekends painting,plus not eating out,plus not taking vacations- helped us to pay off our $24,000 worth of car/student loans in a little over 14 months. All while Lou was still in school so it was such an encouragement for him to graduate and us to be debt-free the month before! Anyway, all this to encourage you out there, if you want to try, you can do it! You can start small-and then work your way up, a little at a time. Some of my most exciting moments are the ones when I find something as ugly as:

 

This parrot-adorned wonder from Michael Simon NYC at a little rescue thrift store in Panama City Beach, FL. Cost: $3

Sold: $50!

 

Or this dress that popped up at the local Goodwill here in Columbus, GA. The brand Diane Von Furstenberg looked familiar, but I just couldn't justify paying $6 for an ugly wrap dress in a size 14 without really remembering whether the brand was good or not. I went home and listed some clothing, and in the middle of listing looked up "Diane Von Furstenberg Vintage" and found dresses selling for as much as $300! Imagine my chagrin and then immediate want to rush back to north Columbus (a 30 minute drive) before it was snatched up by another savvy Ebayer! Lou took me that evening and it was still hanging there, so we had pizza to celebrate! I cleaned, ironed and listed it and within 2 days, it sold for $199!

These are obviously not my normal everyday sales, but I wanted to highlight them because they are so exciting to be able to share with you all! Found at a local thrift or Goodwill, and just a few dollars but yet someone out there is willing to pay much more to be able to purchase them with a click of the mouse. 

Most of what I sell is more in the $20-30 range. It adds up though throughout the month. And this helps. It helps us out when we have unexpected expenses, its encouraging to be able to give more to missionaries/Christian ministries, its just all in all a rewarding thing for me. Its not for everyone, I know.

A normal post-thrifting/rummage sale livingroom sight! (the dvd is Lou's sole purchase)

The "digging through old clothes looking at labels" and researching and visiting "thrift stores" on every vacation/trip I take are not what everyone wants to be doing. :) But, its a big part of my life right now and that's why I'm telling you about it. And for those of you who have contacted me with questions about it, I want to be to help you get started and begin to be able to save a little/make a little money without having to march out to an 8-5 job. You can do it on a smaller scale with your kids in tow-except for my wonder sister, who has 4 kids and has twice as many clothes listed as me! :) But she's just that awesomely organized!

Anyway, enough about Ebay and packing boxes.......we are moving....as long as we can get signed out of housing on Thursday. We will hopefully be staying for the weekend in Bowling Green, KY for a little siesta-during-moving process and visiting the Corvette Museum, maybe some parks/caves as well. Bowling Green looks like a lovely little place to spend some time relaxing-any hotel/cabin suggestions?

And then closing on our house in Vine Grove, KY on Monday, October 4th. This will happen as long as the title company has all the paperwork in order by that date. They have guaranteed closing by the 6th, but they think they will be able to have in on the 4th. This would work out so well for us!

We are going to unpack the moving van that day-and maybe on Tuesday if necessary. We plan to just "throw everything in the garage" as Lou poetically puts it! 

Then perhaps Wednesday or Thursday we're heading up to Mom and Dad Crist's house in New Jersey for a longer vacation....that is, as long as the Army grants us the leave. We won't actually know until we arrive to Fort Knox on Monday, just as we won't actually know until this Thursday if the main man who signs us out will do that/be in residence that morning TO sign us out! :) This is Army life, but its becoming more of a normal procedure around our house-planning based on last minute information! :) And if we can't leave Thursday, we'll head out Friday and camp out in a hotel somewhere for a while! And if we can't go to Jersey to see the family again, we'll just have to work it in sometime before Lou deploys!

Anyway, in the midst of packing and planning I wanted to give you all an update on life here and that I might not be updating for the next couple of weeks! Much love and appreciate all the thoughts and prayers for us as we transition from Georgia to Kentucky! We will be living here: (at the green star)

 

for those of you who are passing through the area we would love to see you and we have extra rooms at our house for sleepover parties, weary travelers, budding Ebay sellers and devoted fans. :)

Kim for the Touring Crists~