GARAGE SALE MUSINGS

My neighbor talked me into having a garage sale because she was having one and thought we could share traffic (as if I've ever desired to join a traffic share of any kind.)

So, she opened early (nice!) while I ran around like a seahag, tryin' to haul my chubby baby, his highchair and my cash drawer (a.k.a. cheapo plastic box) outside to "share" the traffic.

Wat wah!!! Traffic wasn't interested in being "shared."

Um, I would say 7 out of every 10 vehicles passed me right on by. Why?
Well, for starters, she was selling for four families. It was an enormous spread, I tell you. And I was selling for one very clutter-free family with very little to put out (because I regularly haul it away to Goodwill when I don't have need for it anymore).

So, I spent the next 4 hours in garage sale fog. Let me ask you, have you ever been in garage sale fog? It's tough, folks. People interrupting you as you count money because they really want your 10 cent bobble-ma-jig and don't know how much you're asking (even though you placed a 14x20 neon "blow out your retinas" sign directly above it).

Kids playing with all the toys you're selling. Not buying them. Not putting them back. Just playing with them (cleanup on aisle two, please).
Oh, and having your knickers scared clean off because you're bagging up someone's stuff when Garage Sale Gertie decides to bring your newspaper to you from the curb.
Only, she delivers it like a scud missile (seriously), heaving it at you from 20 feet (and Gertie could probably spit a gnat's eye out at 20 feet too, but that's another story).

So, when it was all said and done, I made a whopping $65.00. Dh figured I made $16.25 an hour to "toadie" out there and that I should be happy with that.

By the way, my garage sales, all two of them that I've ever had, take about 10 minutes to throw together because I'm a "one price fits all" gal. All individual clothing is 50 cents. All one and two piece outfits are a dollar. No price tags. No color coded dots. Just haul it away, people. Good riddens and enjoy ("Smiles, everyone. Smiles!")

There were a few neat moments though. A lady came in with a beautiful family. She had four children with her, ages 9 months up to 4 years old (with the middle two being only 10 months apart). She was a foster mom and we got to talking about that. I was able to share with her how my Brandon came to join us and we both felt very blessed by the children God placed in our care. Neat moment.

But this was my most favorite moment of the day. My Reece brought me a "potato bug", pretty much scudding it in like the newspaper that soared in earlier. Reece was in awe of the armored little creature, and simply let it crawl all across my desk. Then heads turned and smiles broke out when he affectionately said, "Look at that little fella." (where, oh where does he get this stuff?) And that's exactly what I was doing. Only, my "little fella" was Reece and not the bug. Glass half full.

UPDATE: And this last part is basically to document for myself so I can share it with my kids someday, God willing. Reece woke up today and apparently was calling me (I never heard him).
"Momma, why didn't you answer me when I called you?"
"Because, honey. I didn't hear you."
"Well, I was callin' you and you didnt' answer."
"Sorry, baby. Didn't hear you. What did you want?"
"Ummm,....I love you, Momma."

Toni