I Had a Yard Sale...

... which is my only explanation for disappearing off the face of the world wide web for the past two weeks.  Ugh, ugh, UGH!  There are a lot of easier ways to earn three hundred bucks (and spend two weeks... one preparing and then one *recovering*)!

We sort of spontaneously decided to go ahead, take the plunge, and have a yard sale with about a week's notice.  We had already been setting junk aside in the corner of the basement, and the first weekend in April looked very promising weather-wise and schedule-wise.  Although a few wrenches got thrown in there (like my husband ending up working six days last week and couldn't be home on yard sale day!), praise the Lord that we *did* get rid of a ton of junk, made enough to reserve our mini-vacation hotel room; and the storm didn't show up until right after we hauled all the leftover clutter out of the driveway to the church for our youth group to use in their yard sale next month!

Speaking of vacation, I thought I'd throw in a little note about my experience with Hotwire.  I was actually able to get a 4-star $150 room for $57 per night, which is awesome.  I can't review on the entire experience until the trip is over (obviously), but if I could start from scratch, knowing this past Monday what I know now... I would not even bid on a 4-star hotel for a family with five children!  We scored a Hyatt Regency that is pretty plush with lots of cool amenities... but most of them are business-traveler-friendly or romantic-getaway-friendly, not family-friendly.  No pool, no free continental breakfast, just some really overpriced on-site restaurants (Ruth's Chris, Starbucks, etc.) and... $19/day parking!!!    $25/day if we use valet parking!  So I kind of went into the deal with one eye closed, which is *so* unlike me.  I'm a total geek who likes to plan every minute detail of a trip from the itinerary to the hotel and every restaurant ahead of time.

The good news is that there is a parking garage a block and a half away that only charges $3 on weekends, so guess what, Beloved Hubby ~ you get to drop us off at the hotel and take a little stroll!  ☺  I'll keep you posted...