"I'm going to have to ask $1 for that..."

I have a confession...or we have a confession, rather. We are garage sale junkies.

It's true and I am not ashamed. In fact, we consider ourselves regulars at certain homes near our neighborhood. One man we have nicknamed "Old Man Rivers" for the mere fact that he is old as Methusalem and he walks around on a cane wheeling and dealing in a southern drawl. He even has a helper that he shouts orders to...though I have never heard his helper speak back. If he weren't right next to one of the biggest roads in Tallahassee, I'd imagine him in an old plantation home near Charleston, South Carolina.

So per our regular Friday night, we peaked into his driveway as we drove by to see if he was going to bless us with his purging-after-a-life-of-hoarding ways. Much to our dismay lately, we have had no such luck... until this past Sunday.

We were getting ready to make a run to Home Depot to pick up our gallon of "Banana Cream" bedroom paint, when I asked if we could stop by and see if our old friend was up to old tricks. We slowed as we neared his house...and....YAHTZEE! Umbrellas set up over tables of whosits and whatsits galore. We just couldn't help ourselves.

We walked away about 20 minutes later (including a run to go get some cash at the nearest Circle K) with a set of fine crystal, 3 lamps, and salt and pepper shakers (we needed those). Total: $13. We needed the lamps, which were the whole point of the venture. The rest were all "want" items.

However, it turns out the crystal was his mother-in-laws and was her "nice" stuff... so he said we'd have to pay $1 for each glass. Fine, we'll give. Google told a different story though. What we really bought was a set of crystal made by an English company that started in 1776...estimate? 50 Euros a glass...

It is true, one man's trash really is another man's treasure. A cheers to you, "Old Man Rivers" (in a crystal glass, of course).