One man's trash

...is another man's treasure. And so I found out when we visited our friend's garage sale today.

Tobey brought his money from his treasure box and I told him about the art of bargaining. But maybe I should have made sure he knew which numbers were bigger and which were smaller because in his first bargain with Auntie A, she said, "That costs 10 cents." and he said, "How about 25 cents?"

I went home with far more than I thought I would. I mainly went to let Tobey buy something with his own money, not spoil my kids. And so the exact opposite happened. Tobey knows nothing about money (he asked where his dime was after he bought his 10 cent toys) and I went home with 3 toys, including one I really didn't expect to buy when we visited the neighbor's garage sale across the street. It's just that when you see your kids really interested in something, sometimes it's hard to deny it, especially when it costs 50 cents.

I also spent far more time than I thought I would, but that was a pleasant surprise. Tom is out playing Ou-Tang golf today and I really had no plan with the kids. We just lingered a while and next thing we know we have a generous invitation for grilled burgers. It was quite the Saturday daytime thing to do -- garage sale and an impromptu BBQ in the garage.

And so the boys are playing with 2 of their garage sale treasures right now as we wait for Tom to come home from his day of golf. Tobey with a 50 cent car track set (a little retro, I don't see toys like that anymore) and Eli with a simple Thomas remote control train. Not bad for a day completely unplanned.

Actually, come to think of it, I think because of lack of small bills, I even forgot to pay A for our loot.