Baby step: shopping for second-hand clothing out of season

If there's one thing this extremely snowy winter here in Portland has taught me, it's that I totally blew it shopping at rummage sales last summer. At the time, I thought I was doing great. We got some screaming deals on sandals and swim suits, flip-flops and beach towels. Where I blew it was in picking up that great Hanna Anderson winter parka for my older daughter, and those snuggly looking LLBean snow pants, then putting them back down and walking away! Because for crying out loud -- it was 90 degrees that day! Near impossible to spend any of our hard-earned dollars on a winter coat in the dog days of summer! Or snow pants! Or snow boots. Or ski mittens.

Flash forward to now. This 2008-2009 winter has been the snowiest Portland on record since I've lived here. Every time it snows again, and some kind soul asks my kids if they've made snow angels or played in the snow, I have to stop myself from grimacing. "No, they'd haven't. Because they don't have any snow gear that fits." And I've scoured the consignment stores around town, and they have nothing in our size. Sadly, the skimpy clothes the girls put on for playing in the snow in our 2008 YouTube video card isn't very different from what they really wear these days. Sigh.

So that's why I'm making up my summer rummage sale shopping list now. And you'll find me in June, July and August throwing elbows to get to the kids' parkas, snow boots and snow pants. Shopping a season or two ahead, and shopping with estimated sizes for 6-months hence. Y'll are welcome to buy all the beach towels and flipflops. But if you want to fight me over the girly looking parkas, you better be ready to really duke it out.