There are so many things I love about this time of year, but one of my all time favorite activities that starts in spring and goes till fall is GARAGE SALING. I love garage sales! And I consider myself fortunate to live where I do because the people in my town love themselves some garage sales too. Of course the bad thing about going garage saling in a town where garage sales abound is that people take these things very seriously.
You could meet a woman in the grocery store and think her to be a sweet friendly soccer mom but reach for the same Baby Gap outfit as her on the $0.50 table at a yard sale and you’ll find out that Xena the Warrior Princess is hiding behind that jogging outfit and tennis shoes. And whatever you do, do not be late! If you don’t get there on time YOU WILL MISS OUT. Stuff goes fast.
I’m nowhere near that serious about it, but nevertheless, it’s still fun for me to go check out all the “junk” that other people are selling, and there’s nothing quite like the thrill of finding that great sale – the kind where everything is priced right and they have exactly the items you are looking for. I’ve managed to outfit Lily very stylishly thanks to the cheap deals I’ve found at garage sales.
So I was pretty excited yesterday when I saw a garage sale advertising tons of baby items, including BRAND NAME girl clothes sizes 0-12 months. Right up my alley.
I was so eager to get there and to GET THERE ON TIME for heaven’s sake!
What’s that old saying? “The hurrier I go the behinder I get.” Yeah. This is pretty much how it all went down:
- I leave 15 minutes early, priding myself on my punctuality.
- Backtrack because I remember I need to stop at the ATM.
- Accidentally try to stick a Cold Stone Creamery gift card in the ATM machine.
- Get frustrated when machine won’t take said gift card and try to shove it in the slot again.
- Realize my stupidity.
- In my haste, type in the wrong pin.
- Lock up the ATM machine.
- Wait 1 minute for the machine to reset itself.
- Get cash.
- Check the clock – still 10 minutes, plenty of time.
- Hear a fast song I really like on the radio and unknowingly speed up to the match the beat of the song (I have a very bad habit of doing this – driving fast to fast songs and slow to slow songs. As you can imagine, I am a delight to follow).
- Pass a cop and automatically check the speedometer only to realize I am going over the speed limit.
- Wonder if they will accept, “The song made me do it,” as an excuse for speeding.
- Sigh in relief when I don’t get pulled over.
- Turn the corner and witness someone else getting pulled over.
- In my distraction, miss the road I was supposed to turn on.
- Convince myself that I can go “the back way”.
- Get lost in a subdivision.
- Turn around and go back to the main road only to realize that I have now forgotten the name of the road I was supposed to turn on in the first place.
- Call Dave to have him check the name of the road.
- Accidentally run a stop sign while leaving Dave a message with my cell phone.
- Realize that I have done all of this right in front of yet another police officer.
- Unbelievably still do not get pulled over.
- Check the clock, I am now 5 minutes late.
- Find the road I’m supposed to turn on.
- Turn the wrong way.
- Drive 5 blocks before realizing I have turned the wrong way.
- Turn around and FINALLY FIND THE GARAGE SALE. Fifteen minutes late.
***Do not worry, Lily was safe at home with Daddy during this escapade. And I’m really not a bad driver. Really.***
A few of the goodies I got:
Brand new summer outfits, tags attached for only $1.00!
Brand new sweaters, tags attached for this fall for $2!
Shirts for $0.50!
My favorite -- this hat for next winter for only a quarter! You can't beat that!
As a side note – our church has a ministry called Wee Ones (click on the name to read more)We collect new and gently used baby items for moms in need. It has been a really great way to reach out to a lot of women in our area who are genuinely in need – both physically and spiritually as each woman is provided with a Bible and has a chance to hear about Jesus along with receiving much needed items for her children. If you have a garage sale and have any leftover baby items, we’d be happy to take them off your hands and give you a tax receipt for your donation to boot! Let me know!
1 comment:
I'm totally with you on the garage sale-ing! I always try to be there right away and somehow always get lost or forget my cash or my girls' snacks, etc, etc. Last Friday I had mapped out my entire morning on a piece of paper and it blew out the window after my first sale! I figured that was God telling me I had spent enough already so I headed home. Hey, if you need more girl stuff, I'm having a sale May 8-9 with brand name baby girl stuff too (0-18 mo)!
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