Fall Cleaning and Memories.......

I hope you are all remembering Pink October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Do your self-exams and if you can, donate to BC research.......remember you can shop on my website and I will donate a portion of your purchase!!
DH and I have spent the last two weekends cleaning out the garage. I guess it is Fall Cleaning time? We filled several trash cans and plastic bags of things we had kept and never used. He thinks I am becoming radical.......I am actually getting rid of books! I am a keeper of books. I read and reread them. They are like friends but, now with the idea of downsizing in mind, I AM READY......many are being donated to the public library, some to friends, a few for sale on my website and even some have been disposed of, I mean actually trashed!! I find it most difficult, even now, to rid myself of my children's books. I guess it's the memories of reading, rereading and reading again that compels me to keep them. I wonder how many times I read the Richard Scarry books to my son, looking for the gold bug hidden in the pictures? I remember the hours of reading The Chronicles of Narnia to both of my kids. It was a joy to see their faces as the stories revealed themselves through my voice and then, as their reading skills increased, through their voices, too! The books are leaving but the memories remain!
All of this going through stuff, purging, is in preparation not only for downsizing to move but also for an upcoming Yard Sale. I have only had one such sale at my home and swore I would never do it again but here I am planning. Do any of you have suggestions to make it easier to handle??? Share them with me if you do.......leave a comment!
I would also love to hear how you all decorate for fall. With the warm air, I just can't get into it yet. I have decided without a young family it is not as much fun to put out things for Halloween so all I will be doing is autumn and Thanksgiving.....guess I better get it done!