It's dumpster season!!!

Hurrah!  The first dumpster harvest! And not a bad one at that.  Last weekend was graduation at the university.  Since we are the last owner occupied house on our block (in fact, the last for several blocks) we are surrounded by lots of students who are now moving at the end of the school year.  This evening, V and I were out on the front porch (picture posted yesterday!) when some guys pulled up to the dumpster for the apartment complex across the street and began unloading lots of stuff.  This is the time of year when even people who don't live there begin to dump things off as they are moving out.  

Over the years we have come up with some amazing stuff- that we're not too proud to use.  We've got bookshelves, a TV stand, clothing, coats, a tux, a trumpet, computers and over $400 in music CDs over the years.  

Tonight, J15 and I went across the street when those guys left.  A lot of what they left was junk- or at least nothing we would want.  They left lots of ripped up particle board shelves and a ruined sleeping bag.  But we did get this:

Part of the haul!

We got 2 of what look like plant stands (or speaker stands) in oak but painted bright blue. A small wall shelf (white) that looks like the right size for DVDs and 4 folding chairs- some that are much nicer than the ones we have now.  

Not a bad haul for free.  Of course, we had the brief discussion that  here we are, trying to downsize and picking up more stuff out of dumpsters.  But J15 wants the blue stands and the shelf (if we don't usurp it for movies) and we can always use more folding chairs- especially since we now have more space to store them.  

We did have an extended discussion of  goals and priorities for the next week.  I work tomorrow- it's my weekend to work.  Of course, that means that I get next Friday as a comp day and since Monday is a Holiday- I am taking the entire week off next week, using only 3 vacation days.  Not a bad deal and my co-workers are good with it.  Our goal- which may or may not happen- is to focus on this house so we can have enough stuff moved out and have enough of the fixes done so we can call our realtor and have our house listed by June 1.  It's doable but it will take lots of work.  I've already warned the children that they need to focus on getting their rooms in shape.  We need to take down all the glow in the dark stars that the boys have on their walls and ceilings and work on getting their room painted.  I've also got lots of other painting to do around the house.  Like I said, it's doable but will be a challenge.  I don't think we need to have everything done but we need to have it presentable enough that they can take pictures to put on the realty website that may make people interested in buying our house.  

But now, I need to worry about getting my last load of laundry hung in the basement so I can get to bed and get up to work tomorrow.  6 days in a row is a bit draining but it shouldn't be too bad.  I haven't had to work a weekend since March so I'm out of practice.

But first, another Friday night margarita before bed....