This morning, Brandon took the back seats out of the van, we left instructions for the kids, and drove to north Philly. We found the address we had been given easily and picked up the Craigslist find: a desk for the kitchen. Roll top, perfect size, great price!
After dropping the desk off (and trying to organize it a bit) and eating, we grabbed #1, left #2 in charge and drove 30 minutes northwest. This time, it was a bit harder to find the right address, but we didn't mind, because this was the best find: A dining room set. A six piece hutch/cabinet set (including two glass door hutches), five chairs, and a dining room table (solid, including the pads) that seats up to 12 very comfortably! A Craigslist gold mine! The woman who was selling it was asking a ridiculous low price (I thought the ad was too good to be true at first), but when we got there I learned why: she was moving in with her mother and couldn't take it with her because of lack of room, and the reason she was moving in with her mother was because her husband had just died.
Oh, I felt so bad. I hugged her and told her how sorry I was, and we actually ended up giving her some more money, just because we could and she deserved it. (Say a prayer for her in your heart if you can, dear reader. I can't imagine her grief right now.)
It didn't take too long to carry everything to the van, it took a bit longer to figure out how to fit it in the van, and we drove carefully back home. We unloaded the furniture, cleaned some more (all of us), paid some bills (me), built a fire in the fireplace (Brandon), played video games with the kids (Brandon), and then went shopping (Brandon and me). Chairs and a table cloth or two later, and we had ourselves a dining room!
"But, Cheryl, wait... I'm confused... didn't you say you were going to buy a beautiful custom-built Amish dining room table and chairs?"
I was. But we decided that it would be wiser to wait. We are hoping to buy a home in just a few years, and we'd rather wait until we know exactly where we are going to be, what the size of room will be, etc. before we make such a big purchase. And this dining room set (I promise I'll show pictures later) is really quite nice. It's really sturdy, but simple and pretty --just what I like. No frills for a no-frills kind of girl!
The best part of the day was eating dinner at our new table! I made Salmon, rice, and salad --and we were able to sit at our table with loads of room (four on one side, four on the other) and more room to spare! To complete the beautiful situation, our kids loved dinner and actually ate most of it!
And the peasants rejoiced.
It's amazing to me how furniture can help make a home. Just the right couch, bed, or table, and things are easier and more pleasant. Hmmm... I feel really grateful right now. But man alive, I'm tired. Moving furniture all day, along with other chores, the feeding of children, the bathing of children, the dishes, helping #3 with his Primary talk tomorrow, rocking a restless #6 to sleep, getting done what we could get done (plus, I hurt my wrist while moving furniture)... it was such a busy, tired, and very good day. Very good.
Hey, so tell me: what's the best Craigslist (or KSL or other used-goods store/website) experience/find you've ever had?
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