My Name is John; I'm a Garage Saler.

I still think of it as recreation, this seeking a thrill at garage and estate sales. It's fun to browse a good sale (and we found a doozy this morning) and catch a deal or negotiate a sharp price on some interesting or useful item. Now don't be alarmed. I am keeping to the spirit of my reformation, but I still like the "hunt" on a sunny morning.

Friday is best around here, but the ratio of "young mommy sales" with kiddie stuff and plastic baby goods and massive plastic toys in primary colors is large compared to the more interesting "estate type sales" with the complete accumulations of years - sometimes decades - of living in the same location. These are sometimes family affairs, sometimes run by the professionals, sometimes are triggered by downsizing, sometimes relocation to assisted living situations, and sometimes by death. They are the best kind of sale to locate. In the process of withdrawal, I have totally stopped stopping at moving sales, and I no longer drool at the words "books" or "tools" on a garage sale sign. Saturday is the main day as all the work-a-weekers are trying to get their sales in on the same sunny spring weekends. That is also the best day for concentrated sales in compact neighborhoods. Yeah, I'm still going, but I told someone today I was in recovery in respect to stocking up on everything at such sales. And I am.

I admit, I will still buy items I know I use, expecially consumables. It is fun to find something clever for the grandgirls. And I am still interested in finding items in certain select categories. But I no longer come home with the whole back seat loaded with treasures. I almost never buy books anymore (unless they are on a deeply reduced search list), only the most urgent of tools, nothing a duplicate of anything I already have, and I never buy glassware/dishes/ceramics/clothing/etc. Finally I can pass by many sales and sale signs with little or no regret or even a sideways glance. Really!

Today Patty and I spent late morning/early afternoon doing a garage sale neighborhood and lunch and I barely spent six bucks. Time with the super-daughter was reason enough for the time spent. As to my little bagful of trinkets... I have a clear and definite use for all I snagged. Some of the loot will be given away. And I feel good about that. So OK, I'm not cured, but I am better than I used to be, and I'm not cluttering up the garage anymore. And GS-lite is still fun.