A Busy Weekend and New Things

This weekend I went out to my school for our annual Auction. I haven't been in years, but on Saturday I met up with my best friend, and we bought chicken corn soup and apple dumplings and watched the bidding on home goods, furniture, and the "class baskets." I ran into some old friends and soaked up some nostalgia. It was perfect. Later in the day, I went over to the school where Peter teaches where there was a similar homecoming event. We ate BBQ chicken and watched a soccer game, then Pete played in a staff vs. alumni volleyball tournament. It was a lot of fun, and we even won a rocking chair at the silent auction.

When we were ready to go home, I decided to drive out to a nearby furniture outlet first. They're going out of business and I thought I'd check for a cheap love seat. All the furniture in our apartment - and I mean all of it - was used. It was either mine previously, Peter's previously, or we bought it second hand, or it belonged to a family member who graciously gave it to us. We did not own a single new item. Our beautiful queen bed belonged to my cousin. I haggled for our retro kitchen table set at an antique store. The hutch by the door was in Pete's parents' basement and Dad repainted it for us. Many of these items we love partially for the stories that come with them. They are family pieces that we were proud to inherit. Our love seat, though, which belonged to Peter's grandmother, was one piece we did not plan to keep for long.

The love seat on move-in day... when the living room was clean.

The pattern was a seventies floral, brown and mustard and splashes of turquoise. But the whole thing was a few shades darker than its original color, made dirty by the years. It was a sturdy piece of furniture, and we appreciated having it when we moved in, but it was first on the list to be replaced.

Thus, I went to the furniture outlet. As I came in the door, I was greeted by a tall man in a white button down shirt with greying hair.

"I guess I'm your furniture salesman," he said. "I'm Rick. What are you looking for?"

I told him just a love seat, and he said most things were being sold in sets, but he knew of two love seats being sold singly. I liked one, texted a picture of it to Pete, called Dad to ask if it was a good deal, and within a half hour, I was driving to the warehouse to pick it. Peter's dad met me with the pick up truck, and then brought it over to our house.

The new love seat, in Olympic Chocolate.

Now, it's in the living room, our first truly "new" home item. I like it. Pete loves it. He napped on it this afternoon. I'm cozied up on it now. It's settling in and becoming part of the things that make up home.

In other weekend news, I hung out with my Bible Study girls Friday night to throw Jen a baby shower, Sunday afternoon we celebrated Peter's dad's birthday, and just this evening I made bread pudding. Most interesting of all, though, on Saturday I met a woman in the parking lot of Martin's who told me her whole life story as if I were an old friend. She saw me taking a picture in the parking lot (because I'll miss Martin's and I wanted a picture of it) and she pulled up beside me in her minivan and said, "Oh, I'm so glad you're taking a picture! I was just going to take a picture, because I'm out in the middle of nowhere, aren't I, and I wanted to show my son where I went to get fabric for his little girl, but I was worried I'd offend someone by taking a picture of this place!" It was quite sweet, actually. She told me how tough her job is and what it was like being a single mom who wasn't out to land a new husband, but was focused on her kids, and how people always think she's younger than she is which was always fine, but now she's a grandmother and she doesn't want people to think she's a "hoochie-mama," so now she wants to look her age for the first time... I'll be praying for this woman, a special ed teacher in Philadelphia who's helping her son raise a 9-year-old granddaughter whose mom died four years ago. Her name is Laura, and you can pray for her too.

New things: Jen's coming-in-two-weeks baby. Laura's story. A rocking chair. Our chocolate love seat. The bread pudding cooling on the counter. And the week that's about to begin.