Tag Archives: Camelot Garage Sale

Insomnia Thursday Rundown

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I hope everyone is having a nice first week of June. Although May was a very hectic month and June promises to move at a slower pace, this initial week has been a very busy one for us. Have no fear, I still have the time to write a Thursday Rundown. Here we go…

Absolution! – In yesterday’s blog post, I wrote that Sloan was just about to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Well, I can confirm, she did in fact make her first confession last night. When she arrived home, she was glowing, a true sign that God’s grace had been bestowed upon her. I am proud of her for genuinely wanting to receive reconciliation, the prep she patiently went through, and then the good confession she humbly gave. Thanks be to God!

Sloan made her first confession on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at St. Mary Catholic Church in Spokane Valley. The middle photo is Sloan with Marie Bricher and Sloan’s friend, Charlotte. Marie is St. Mary’s director of religious education and led the reconciliation prep for Sloan.

Couch Memory – On this date two years ago, I sold the most comfortable couch I have ever owned. It was also the first joint item that Sid and I ever purchased. It followed us to four different houses but eventually it was time to say goodbye. The ironic part was that we had it for sale over the course of two days during an extremely busy community yard sale. After not receiving a single offer, I put it up on Facebook Marketplace and sold it in 10 minutes (go figure). Speaking of that community sale, the Camelot Yard Sale returns this weekend. If you want to see an impressive and slightly chaotic scene filled with a wide array of items/junk, head up to north Spokane to check it out for yourself. Just make sure to tell me “hi” as I will be hanging at my parents’ house who live in the neighborhood.

It only took 10 minutes on Facebook Marketplace for us to sell the couch. We then loaded it on my dad’s truck and we delivered the piece of furniture to its new owner.

Milkilicious – I took the kids with me to Dollar Tree over the weekend. When we returned home, I started unloading what we bought. Much to my chagrin, I pulled out a candy bar that I absolutely did not authorize the purchase of. Both Sloan and Beau promised they didn’t sneak it in my cart. Oh well, I guess I trust them. Anyway, I had never heard of a Hershey’s Milkilicious bar before. The description states “milk chocolate with creamy chocolate milk filling.” Even though I was still a little mad, we had to do something with the candy bar…so we ate it. I gave some to all four of us to sample. The verdict? Very underwhelming. Although I was intrigued with the idea of “chocolate milk filling,” the interior of the candy looked like any other chocolate bar…and it tasted the same too.

Wasn’t too impressed with this “Milkilicious” Hershey’s bar.

JUMANJI – On Friday night, I looked through Disney+ to find a movie for my family to watch. After taking too long to make a choice, I settled on the original “Jumanji” movie. I know I had seen it when it came out but I had absolutely no recollection of everything that went down in the film—cause come on people, it was made in 1995! And, according to Sloan, it definitely looked like it was 30 years old based on the special effects. But Sid and I explained to her that it truly was cutting edge for the time. Despite the “fakey” effects, Sloan loved the movie! I was pleased to have her captivated for nearly two hours. Beau on the other hand? He eventually went upstairs and watched his own show. For me personally, it was fun to watch a film from my childhood and I am always happy to watch something with Robin Williams in it.

Watching “Jumanji” was a fun way to spend a family-focused Friday night.

Insomnia Cookies – While we watched “Jumanji” on Friday night, my wife made a somewhat impulse purchase. She put in an order with Insomnia Cookies, a company that specializes in delivering hot cookies to the doors of customers. Sid ordered from Insomnia Cookies while a college student and was hoping for a little bit of taste bud nostalgia. Sloan enjoyed opening the door when the knock came. The cookies are sized like regular cookies (not ginormous like Crumbl or Crave) and they deliver on their promise…HOT! They weren’t bad for a Friday night treat.

Sloan posing with the Insomnia Cookies we ordered on Friday night.

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We have temperatures forecast in the 90s for this weekend! Hope everyone stays cool and I look forward to catching up next week. Don’t Blink.

Moving A Couch

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The neighborhood I grew up in had an annual community yard sale the same weekend every year. The only way to describe it was epic. Most of the houses in the ‘hood would participate and thousands of people from the Spokane area would converge on our streets to find that certain hidden treasure. It was like a carnival atmosphere. Outside vendors would come in to sell elephant ears, driving down the street would be near impossible, and music would boom from the garages of each participating house.

Well, guess what?…

1. My parents still live in the same neighborhood that they did 20 years ago.
2. The community yard sale was last weekend.
3. And Sidney had stuff to sell.

So there we were on Saturday and Sunday, selling tons of little kids clothes and toys, just trying to make an honest buck. Soggy weather on Saturday made it a wet affair but by Sunday the sun decided to poke through. But it didn’t matter if the weather was damp or warm because our merchandise seemed to fly off our tables. Sales were strong on Saturday and on Sunday we were able to clear out most of our remaining inventory but one thing remained…

On Saturday morning the rain was falling so we had to confine all our items to my parents’ garage. Luckily we had our marketing team, which consisted of my kids and my sister’s kids, to let people know that we were selling.

A couch.

Although most of our items were sold by Sunday afternoon, that couch you see just under the garage was still for sale.

The first “big” item that Sid and I ever bought together was a $688 couch we purchased from a furniture store in Myrtle Beach in April 2016. We wouldn’t live together until after we were married in June of that year but we wanted to start preparing. I still remember the salesperson and how comfortable the couch felt inside the store. I also remember the small shot of adrenaline that circulated through my veins as we made the joint purchase.

This was our couch when it was brand new and inside a Myrtle Beach furniture store.

Let me tell you, that couch was just as comfortable in the furniture store as it was in our living room…all four of them. Yep, that piece of furniture followed us to four different houses in South Carolina and Washington. It had a great run but last year we upgraded to a new couch and our first ever piece of furniture was regulated to the garage. It sat with our vehicle until this past weekend.

Sid and I took a photo after we made our first big purchase together because why not?

Unlike Sloan’s old jackets and Beau’s sleep sacks, the couch didn’t move during yard sale weekend. We didn’t price it and just asked for a best offer. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a bidding war let alone a single inquiry. As Sunday afternoon rolled in, I was starting to get nervous. The couch was still in my parents’ driveway and not selling it was out of the question. I had to take action.

Once Sunday afternoon came around we were selling the last of our items but the couch was still hanging around in my parents’ garage.

I threw up a photo of the couch on Facebook Marketplace and hoped for the best. I didn’t have to “hope” long. Within 10 minutes I already had someone message me to say they would gladly pay the $125 for the piece of furniture. It only took 30 minutes from my correspondence with the prospective buyer for my dad and I to have the couch in his (my father’s) truck and en route to its new owner. For the first time in nearly 3,000 days, the couch spent the night under the roof of a residence not inhabited by Sid and I.

It only took 10 minutes on Facebook Marketplace for us to sell the couch. We then loaded it on my dad’s truck and we delivered the piece of furniture to its new owner.

It’s funny. Sometimes a method you think will be a sure-fire way to get something done ends up not working out. However, once you make an adjustment and do something different, you sometimes see immediate results. It’s okay, Camelot Yard Sale, I won’t hold the couch against you. Don’t Blink.