1 Mother 2 Another

This Saturday our neighborhood is having
its annual garage sale; hundreds of houses throw their undesirables
on their front lawns and everyone chips in five bucks for
advertising. Cars begin circling the neighborhood around 6:30 a.m.;
chaos reigns supreme from 8-9:30 or so, and then it’s a
steady trickle until perhaps noon.


For the past three years Maddie and Cora have had a lemonade stand
on garage sale day, making fresh-squeezed lemonade and baked goods
to sell to all the early-morning souls. It’s their one
money-maker of the year, and both girls now eagerly look forward to
it each May.


Last year we expanded and offered coffee as well, and this year
we’re adding bottles of water. We’ve been baking for a
week with more to do, and the event is getting bigger by the
minute.

This past Sunday the girls sat in church
and heard about a wonderful local ministry for troubled teens, and
on the drive home determined that part of the money they earn on
Saturday will go to this ministry. Then Maddie wanted her artistic
friend Elise to make the signs for the stand, and Elise liked the
idea of the lemonade stand so much that she decided to add on to
the morning a bit.


Which is how we arrived at the lemonade stand/live entertainment
concept. Elise will be bringing over her karaoke machine and
singing for all the passersby as they imbibe their morning coffee
and munch on organic muffins. Maddie, enchanted with the idea of
music and a semi-captivated audience, has declared her intention to
dance along with the music, thereby luring in even more customers.


And as if all this weren’t enough, we will apparently be an
actual garage sale, as well. I spent time yesterday cleaning out
some storage space for my church, and as I worked alongside church
staff creating quite a nice pile of things to freecycle, I
described Saturday’s coming adventure. And somehow the
suggestion was made that instead of freecycling the stuff,
I’d sell it at our house during the morning and put all the
proceeds toward the same charity.


So if you’re in the north Texas area Saturday morning, drop
on by our house and check us out. Look for the ten square feet of
Astroturf (yep, an actual item we’re selling) laid out next
to a couple tables of lemonade, coffee, and baked goods. Of course,
you’ll hear us before you see us and I’m sure the
Shania Twain cover songs will lure you in even before you are
enchanted with the al fresco dancing.


Lemonade stand, three-ring circus; same thing, right?