I was joined today by my son Louie and Kim Collins. Kim is a friend from my mom community. Until today we had mostly bonded under the effects of liquor so I was glad for the chance to spend some time with her sober. She proved herself a fine yardsale associate. She was at my house promptly at 7AM, she had small bills, and she had a mental list of things she needs, most notably: candle paraphernalia and holiday decorations.

Without Laura as my VP of Research and Development I have been struggling to plot out my course for each yardsale adventure. Today I tried a new system. I took 2x3 white board and copied a map of Belleville onto its surface with permanent marker. Then, using the Belleville News-Democrat's list of sales (bnd.com) I plotted the interesting ones on my map in dry erase marker.

The idea is that after the sales I will wipe the dots clean but the map will remain. Atop this white board I placed the real paper map of Belleville, taped only at the top edge so that I can flip it up to reveal the dry erase map beneath. This system would have worked perfectly if I were alone in the car or at least if I were the sole navigator, but you will recall I had Louie with me today, my 13 year old math genius, who accompanies me solely for the opportunity to navigate with the intricate street-level map of St. Clair County.

Me: "What dots are nearby on the whiteboard map?"

Louie: "Just turn left."

Me: "But where are we going?"

Louie: "Just follow my directions and turn left."

Me: "I really want to look at the dry erase board."

Louie: "Just turn left, Mom."

This is what happens when a first born child has a first born child. It is an unavoidable "Battle of the Bossies". (Honestly, he did an excellent job navigating. I was only out-of-sorts because the directional control was out of my hands. He will be the death of me, that one.)

We enjoyed an early stop at QT. My taquitos were breakfast today. Our first sale was so near the wonderful QT establishment that we couldn't resist stopping. Plus Kim needed coffee and I had to pee. I ate a perfectly matched pair of chicken taquitos:

Louie had a chicken/bacon biscuit and some pink milk:

I took a picture of this lovely fruit display so that you will know QT offers fresh produce in addition to its delicious processed foods:

But then I had a very unfortunate QT experience. Readers, I didn't want to tell you about this. But the blog must be an accurate report of the day's adventure, so in the interest of honest humor-journalism I will report this embarrassing event:

I had to go number two. I had had a big cup of coffee and two taquitos and the urge was undeniable. So we ran back to the QT so I could make a speedy pit stop. The QT has two lovely restrooms, one for men and one for women. But they are each a single-user restroom with a sturdy lock. So when the women's room was occupied I confidently entered the men's room. They are identical, I swear.

I did my business.

But there was some sort of flushing malfunction.

I thought: Oh, I'll just wash my hands for a minute and try again with the flush.

But the second flush attempt was not successful. At this point someone (presumably a man) tried the door. It was locked so he stepped away. I knew at this moment that I had to rectify the toilet situation pronto because someone was waiting for the restroom and as its sole occupant I would be accurately identified as the toilet-using deviant who left the restroom less than pristine.

I tried again. Reader, the mess was just not going down. Short of clearing it out by hand I was at a loss. So I put a little wad of fresh TP atop the existing mess as a sort of cover-up and did the skeedaddle out of there lickety-split.

Thankfully, the waiting patron wasn't standing immediately outside the door. I was able to make an inconspicuous exit and hustled to the car before anyone engaged me in conversation. But you and I know, Readers. We know. And I am very, very sorry to the QT establishment, her employees, and the unlucky patron who followed me in the men's room.

Moving on.

We encountered a lovely neighborhood near Whiteside School with many sales. I found this magazine from 1986 which will delight and entertain my brother, an Apple product connoisseur:

Then we met Nathan. Nathan is a sweet young man who is building a maintenance deck on the back of his church as his Boy Scout Eagle Project. How frickin' wholesome is that? (Seriously. Re-read that sentence. It includes the words "building", "church", and "Eagle Scout".) He was polite and cheerful. His parents were lovely. I wish I could have found more to buy at their sale. I bought a box of 500 address labels for 50 cents or something. I seriously should have slipped Nathan a twenty. Here he is:

Later in the morning we experienced The Find. In every yardsale adventure there is The Find, the one best thing we purchase, the thing that we have been questing for, the Holy Grail of yardsaling... The Find is different each week and is always unexpected.

Imagine this week's Find on a personal level: you buy some beautiful glassware for the holidays. The goblets are intricately cut red crystal and they compliment your Christmas dishes perfectly. You buy eight. Some drunkard breaks one their first day out of the box. They are, of course, discontinued and unavailable at the store where you originally purchased them. You could try Ebay and pay through the nose, but you are a frugal girl and can't justify the expense. Then you find a like-new replacement at a garage sale!

Kim found her broken glass today. She found the exact goblet needed to complete her incomplete set. The price? One cool buck.

After that we could only go downhill. We met a woman walking her aged dog in a stroller.

We found a jock strap for sale:

But nothing could compare to the long-lost goblet or the unfortunate QT restroom experience.

Until next week, Readers. Please become a "follower". It makes us feel loved and popular when you do.