Lisa Carnley is managing editor of the Lampasas Dispatch Record. Boy, do I love garage sales. My best friend, Jan, and I have been going to them together for years. You rarely see one of us at a garage sale without the other nearby.

Lots of close friends have things they like to do together -- whether it’s shopping, going to a movie or museum, or just sitting around talking and drinking a glass of wine.

Well, our thing is garage sales. And we like to start early -- in fact, the earlier the better.

Generally, the day starts with a car horn honk. Jan is the pilot, and I am the navigator, because even after living in Lampasas all her life, she still gets mixed up on the streets -- or so she says. I think she just likes to be the one driving, the one “in charge.” I don’t mind; I’d rather point the way.

On Friday night, I get out the list of garage sales and write down the addresses, plotting the driving route that will take the least amount of time but cover the most ground.

And on Saturday morning, Jan shows up at my house usually just before 7 a.m. With my list in hand, we are ready to get going.

We usually drive up to a house and decide whether or not to stop by taking a quick glance as we pass by. If it looks like the garage sale goodies were -- as Jan puts it -- “puked up” on the front lawn, we just keep on driving.

Now, I don’t mind delving through racks of clothing and stacks of stuff on tables, but I don’t like to dig through a bunch of items tossed on the ground. You never know what has crawled into the stack, and I’m not about to stick my hands under there to find out.

And if items don’t have prices, I’m not wasting my time either. If you are going to get up at 5 a.m. to get ready for a garage sale, I think people should at least have the stuff priced so shoppers don’t have to wait in line just to find out how much an item is selling for.

I like to buy paperback books at garage sales. But I’m cheap. I won’t spend over a quarter apiece. Jan knows me well. If she sees books for sale and they are more than a quarter, she tells me so I don’t waste my time.

I want to buy books cheap because I resell them just as cheap. I have a bookcase full of 25-cent books, so I know people sell them at that price. If you’ve already read them, so why not get rid of them cheaply? It’s not like you can get a refund at the store.

I also like to go through the clothing racks. Most of my clothing purchases at garage sales are for my grandson and his sisters. The clothes generally are clean but outgrown by a previous wearer. You can get name-brand items at much less than half the cost of brand-new ones.

And lots of times I get clothing with the store tags still on them. Why not? Kids don’t know the difference, nor do they care.

I even buy a lot of my clothes at yard sales.

Jan likes to concentrate on an assortment of items. She loves old pillowcases. No, not the antique, beautifully embroidered ones, but the OLD, soft ones that have been washed to the point of being nearly see-through. She must have a collection of several hundred pillowcases stashed somewhere.

She used to like teapots and crosses until she acquired too many, and those were thinned out. And don't even get me started on her lamp obsession!

Jan also likes to buy rugs for her dogs to sleep on and various glass items for her daughter.

Jan is attracted to anything that sparkles or glitters -- to the point of distraction. But like me, she does the bulk of her “shopping” at sales for her kids and grandkids.

We really look forward to those Saturday mornings out -- away from jobs and kids. And we make a morning of it, too. Sometimes we stop for breakfast after we finish, because it’s always kind of depressing to complete the last garage sale on the list. A plate of hot biscuits and eggs does have a way of cheering one up.

Well, I’d better grab my list. I think I can hear her Jeep honking right now. It doesn’t really matter that it’s still dark outside. As garage sale aficionados, we can spot a bargain -- even before the sun comes up.