"I Sold My Life in a Yard Sale" and Other Recent Musings

A lot has happened since we last spoke. Last weekend was my much anticipated "Super Huge Moving Sale" (as I so eloquently named it) which I am pleased to share went exceptionally well. I filled up my little tin Beatles lunchbox with oodles of ones and fives. And even one crisp hundred. I kid you not. It was a good day.

I meant to take pictures of all the loot before the yard salers started trickling in, but I wasn't speedy enough. And I was horribly and disgustingly hungover, which put things like "Don't hurl" way higher on my mental priority list than "Take pics for blog." I'm sure all the shoppers were glad I made "Don't hurl" a priority. Besides, looking back at photos of all that stuff would probably have bummed me out anyway. It's forward I'm looking, not backward.

This weekend was incredibly bittersweet for this Daddy's girl. I skipped out on work Friday so I could spend an extra day in good ole Golden, Mississippi, with my parents. I don't know if they didn't realize it or were just refusing to discuss it, but the fact that it was my last trip home before the big move weighed heavy on me. A lot of small, simple things suddenly became precious. Almost sacred. Call me cheesy if you want, but that's how it felt.

Some examples (because if I don't make a list soon my brain might explode):

• Shopping at the local Big Star with my Daddy and seeing a guy behind us with a jar of strange yellow stuff labeled Hillbilly Soppin' Chow-Chow (Mild). I have no idea what that is, but I'm damn sure I won't be able to buy any in So-Cal.
• Smelling my Daddy's aftershave on Sunday morning like I did every Sunday morning of my young life. That's a smell I'll never forget.
• Hearing the giggles of my gorgeous, toe-headed cousins when I attacked them with unexpected TTs (Tickle Treatments - a longstanding tradition in my family. Really lucky people may get a Triple Tickle Treatment, or TTT, if you will).
• Singing hymns in church without looking at the words (because I've known them since I could talk).
• Sampling the homemade strawberry pie that the neighbors brought over as part of some neverending (and seemingly competitive!) food sharing situation.

Pulling away from my house on Sunday evening was much harder than I thought it would be. I'll see my family again at my sister's wedding in a couple of weeks, but I won't be home again for a very long time. Seeing my Daddy in my rearview as he stood in the doorway and watched me drive away is an image that will be emblazoned into my memory for the rest of my days. But for now, I'll focus on what's to come. A killer Going Away Party, the marriage of my beautiful sister and a journey across these United States to my new home in sunny San Clemente...