One Man's Trash...

There are 2 very different sides to this story.

One-
Most Saturday mornings, my friend Mari and I find ourselves consuming the ONE quiet cup of coffee and breakfast we enjoy all week on the road to garage sales. It's not everybody's thing but we really like it and it gets us away from kids for that ONE hour of coffee time so it's worth it just for that. I don't usually have anything in mind to "look" for but sometimes I think of things. I have been on the lookout lately for Jackson a pair of closed toe shoes for school. NOT the character sneaker type but cute ones that match his wardrobe. Also, just this week, our DVD/VHS combo decided to quit working. It is a necessary object in our house using both media so I fully intended to replace it. AND, in another conversation between Jason and Jackson, they decided to go camping, REAL camping, sometime soon. (Please note, I will be staying home, I don't do "camping" unless it has a shower/mirror so I can assess my appearance!) We don't own a tent and intended to borrow one.
So, back to the garage sale morning, Mari and I just visited the military neighborhood across the street and wouldn't you know we came upon a guy selling his entire household goods. Many military families sell their whole household and just by new rather than move it across the country/world with them. Lucky for me he had a DVD/VHS combo for a mere $10! He promised it worked with remote and all and said if it didn't, I could bring it back to him. He also had a 3-4 person tent that had NEVER been opened. 5 bucks brought it home with us! Next, I happened upon Jackson's size in a cute pair of barely worn closed toe Teva shoes. My last $4 made them mine and I went home feeling happy and thrifty! It doesn't happen everywhere but around here where things are more disposable rather than movable...One Man's Trash is another man's treasure.




Two-
Are we seeing double again? Kind of, in different seasons that is. This tonka truck has spanned the last 4 years in our possession. Before that, someone in my dad's neighborhood put it out for trash. Dad walks in the neighborhood late at night for exercise and the day before trash day he can really find some good things. Now don't think for a second that we don't joke and kid with him about going through the other people's trash but these things are usually just sitting there for someone to take anyway. This particular stop he really racked up in the toy department. He got all kinds of STILL WORKING toys for the boys. This Tonka truck and a kid size leaf blower are among the things my kids still play with today. So again, I say...One Man's Trash is another kid's dream toy!