"Considering Fields"

That's my metaphor for garage saling ("sailing"?). It comes from the passage we all know, about that Proverbs 31 woman who gets up early and gets more done in a day than I do in a month. (She has servants, I notice!) But we have this in common: "She considers a field...and she buys it!"

Now, I'm not one who lets myself go very often in the spending department. But garage sales are the one place where I let the silver flow through my fingers freely.

I love the ones in subdivisions where 20-plus families participate and you spend most of your time at garage sales instead of driving around. Today I spent $7 and got 4 pairs of like-new adorable little girls' shoes for Chicklet 3--so she's set for the summer and fall, at least. For another $7, I got 4 shirts, a pink track jacket that matches the one her older sister is wearing here, a darling brand-new dress for spring/summer/fall, and another fancy dress that will work for Christmas AND Easter. It won't fit her for about 2 years--but it's un-trendy, gorgeous and was only $1!

Bitty Bantam (14m) is the one I was really hoping to find things for. I didn't save much from my older boys after we found out #5 was a girl--stuff gets dated and worn after it's gone through a few boys. And it's so cheap and easy to replace with cuter things at garage sales! I was delighted to find 4 like-new shirt/shorts outfits--for $1 each; and I got another 15 items--all like new!--for a whopping total of $7.50.

YESsssssssssss.

I also forked out a whole dollar for a nice old hardbound copy of the play Cyrano de Bergerac, which I enjoyed writing a paper on in high school. I didn't even think to look at the date till I got home: 1898! (By the way, this movie version was great, and our kids loved it.) I also got 4 beautiful hardbound art books for .50 each, plus a few paperback titles and a picture book about pirates, now long out of print, that I had enjoyed as a kid--all for .10 and .25 each.


Finally, with a little deception--pretending I really didn't want it badly enough to pay $5 for it, but for $3, I would take it off her hands--I got Chicklet 3 a new tricycle to replace the one we had to throw out last summer. We back over one about every other year, so $3 is as high as I go for trikes.

The Proverbs 31 woman returneth;
she unloadeth her car full of treasures.
Her daughters exclaim over their raiment;
her sons rise up and ask, "Any Legos?"