I brake for garage sales

Over the years I have gotten my mother things like a T-shirt that says "Garage Sale Goddess" and a bumper sticker that says: "I brake for garage sales." I remember many times when we'd be going somewhere and she's spot a bright sign and say, "LeRoy, pull over."

I used to make fun of the way she and her sister or girlfriends would always have to go "garage sale-ing." Now I find I am following in my mother's footsteps ... or tire tracks ... in the quest for the perfect bargain.

Actually, I'm not addicted to it or anything. I could stop going at any time. I could ... I honestly don't do it for the love of it. I do try to find a good bargain and I only go when I need something. For example, I'm sure I've saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars over the past 9 years getting clothes for Carter. When he was younger, finding 3T or 4T clothes was my mission. Now, if we run across something that fits, great.

We don't make special trips. But once in awhile in the summer, I'll say, "Carter, do you want to go garage sale-ing today?" He'll grab his coin bag and off we'll go. (Yes, I've passed it on to another generation. Stop the cycle!)

Of course, we had to go today. It was the community garage sale weekend so there must have been 50 of them! Garage sale utopia!

My mission today was to get some books. I usually buy a ton of books in May that I can read over the summer and winter then I sell them in the spring at my babysitter's sale. Today was my lucky day -- of course, I had pretty good odds. We stopped at maybe 5 or 6, though, before I found some books.

Carter wasn't even buying his usual junk. He found a few books, too. At the last sale we stopped at he bought a dictionary for 50 cents and a small globe for a quarter. He mentioned something about staying smart. I guess if you can get that at a garage sale, I'm going to keep "braking" at those bright pink signs!