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neighbors next door have a garage sale. One of my cherished childhood memories is going garage sale-ing with my mom, the neighbor next door, and her daughter "L". Mrs. J. would plot out a course that would allow for maximum garage sales in the least amount of time. Mom was a master at finding new, or nearly new, stuff for low prices. L and I would usually be given some coins--maybe a dime, maybe a whole quarter--and be allowed to pick out something for ourselves. I vividly remember the summer we each purchased a warped wooden tennis racket for a nickel, brought them home, painted them and then attempted to play tennis in the street. We were terrible but it was a lot of fun (and good exercise).

Anyways...Mrs. J approached me a few weeks ago and asked if the next time I walked around the block, could I put her homemade flyers in everyone's mailbox on our street? She wanted to have a "street long" garage sale (why she didn't ask the other two streets on our block to join, I don't know). So I did. Mrs. J also told me to bring over anything I might want to sell. Now I cleaned out the attic last year for another friend's garage sale--and wound up having to take 90% of the items to Goodwill afterwards--so I only had a couple medium size boxes of stuff, which I took over this morning. I spent a couple hours sitting with Mrs. J and her brother (most of what's in the sale are her brother's and wife's things and was the only reason Mrs. J agreed to another sale, swearing THIS one will be the last. Which...yeah, heard that before). A couple other relatives and friends came over to spend a little time. The sale started slowly this morning--a change from the 70s, when Mom and I and the two Js were going and people would not only show up first thing, they'd show up early--but it picked up a bit around 11:00 AM. I have to say, I'm disappointed only 2 of the other 24 houses on our street opted to also have a sale...and both the other sales aren't particularly big. Are garage sales on the decline? It's a shame if they are; I get not being able to get to one because of your schedule but honestly, you can find some great things at a sale, and these days, it's often cheaper than thrift stores (I could do a whole 'nuther post about Goodwill getting too pricey).

As of noon, I've made $4.50 <g>. I probably only took about $25 worth of stuff over there, so I'm happy. I have to admit though...I hate it when people want to bargain, especially on the first day. Here, it's tradition to make the last day of your sale half price day. If there's a brand new, still in the package, $50 item that's priced for $5, don't ask me if I'll take $1 for it. I mean, you *can* ask, but don't be miffed when you're told no or told to come back on Saturday when--if it's still around--it'll be $2.50.