'Tis the Season

Today officially marked the beginning of "Garage Sale Season" for us. Let me tell you a little bit about what we, as a family, do during this short season. Out here, the big nights for Garage Sales are Thursdays. So, we go to the Garage Sale Board during the day (a big board where people put up their signs) and write down any sales we may be interested in. We do not, I repeat, DO NOT, go to sales in town, though. Experience has shown that they're not really what we're looking for. Then, we go through last week's paper, where I haved ripped out the ad's for garage sales. After looking through them all and figuring out the route which we will take, I make up a "Picnic Dinner" for us....you guessed it. Peanut Butter & Jam sandwiches. Plus some fun snacks to make the night a success. Then, we load up the van, the girls with toys and books, and me, with my list, and head out. We drive through the countyside, enjoying the time as a family, hanging out, and checking out a few sales. The Girls usually stay in the van (carseats are a hassle!!), eat their dinner, and hang out. Here's the crazy thing about this ritual. Our Girls love it!! Absolutely love it!! They can't wait for next Thursday to go again, and sit in the van for hours while we drive around. Crazy, don't you think?

So back to last night. We were driving home last night, and noticed a Garage Sale sign up at the corner. So, we pulled over and read the sign, realizing it was our neighbor. This news provoked several feelings, but for me, mostly I felt agog (that's really a word!). Mainly because it's always hard (for me) to go to someone's house you know, look through their garage sale and say "No thanks!". I feel bad not wanting to buy the crap that they don't want. Also, if you find something you do like, you don't want to give them a low ball offer to offend them since you'll be seeing them at the mailbox every so often. However, Art prevailed, and we popped out this morning, bright and early at 9 am to scope out who the neighbors were that were having a sale, and to see if there was anything that we took a fancy to. Wow!! Am I ever glad that I listened to my wonderful, wise husband. We scored!!

I was talking to a friend later (that's you, Karen), and told her all that I had bought. Then I told her to guess what I paid. She guess 4 times higher than what I bought it for... I really did score! Here's what I bought:

1. One gallon Medalta crock
2. Ten gallon Medalta crock
3. two old washtubs (for my flowers!)
4. an antique cash drawer - very cool. It was from their Dad's old country gas station

"So, what did you pay for this all," you might ask? Well, to draw out my story a little bit longer, I took a look on e-bay (what I do to justify my spending $$ on old things at garage sales, regardless of if I need them or not) at the one gallon crock, exactly like mine, the opening bid on it was for $50 (US), and they expected to get between $180-220 for it. And, I've seen the big crocks go at auctions for a couple hundred dollars. So, again, "What did you pay for this all?". Twenty Dollars. Twenty Dollars!! Can you believe it?

Oh friends, it's a good sign....it's gonna be a good Garage Sale season!!