Oh right, the reason.

When I decided to start a blog, one of the main reasons was so that I could showcase my hits, my finds, my treasure. I'm an obsessive yard sale fanatic. I also slam on the breaks when I see a pile of garbage on the side of the road. I will never own a regular four-door sedan. Not enough room for my loot.

I have a problem. A glorious disease that I will happily force upon all who know me. It's contagious. The addiction started when I was in high school. Nearly 15 years ago. Lordy. Probably, I shouldn't put that in print. Anyway, my family started going to yard sales and flea markets around that time and we each had our purple passion. Mine was Muppets. As in, The Muppet Show. Kermit and his friends. Anything and everything. I don't remember the item that started it, although truly, I have had quite a few Muppet items since I was young. I love those guys. Especially Kermie.

My mother collected vintage jewelry and has not ever stopped. Her collection is amazing and organized by color. It's just gorgeous to look at. Like a candy shop. My brother became crazy about Pez dispensers and has not stopped collecting those either. I'm not sure how his wife feels about it, but I do hope he passes the collecting gene to his soon-to-be-born daughter. My dad loves "cabin" type items and is drawn to hand made wooden things.

My obsession has now grown to include Jadeite, cream colored pottery/planters and items with Lily of the Valley graphics. I also love old linens and fake, plastic flowers and scottie dogs and things with polka dots. One of my favorite things is finding things for other people to love. I'm good at it.

Up here in New York state we have at least five months of winter. November to March. Those are what we yard sale enthusiasts refer to as "the lean months". I know what drug addicts feel like. I know what's it's like to need a hit without a score in sight. There are household sales and thrift stores, but they just aren't the same. You need the sun on your back, the newspaper clippings, the paper maps, the tank tops, the Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. You need it, but you can't have it. You crave it, but it isn't time yet. So you sit and stare at the wall and rock back and forth and wait as your mind slowly tunes out all else but the screaming need for a yard sale.

There were several birthdays around here in January. Us girls got together and did us some thrift shoppin'. I was (obviously) hard up for a hit, and boy was I lucky! A full sized vintage Kermit beach towel ($2.99) and a Jadeite-esque vase (.59 cents). Oh man. I can make it one more month. Can't I?