We came up with a partial solution to our new dollhouse accommodations... Fire Sale!
The reality is our new place lacks both a family room and spare bedroom, so those are two rooms of furniture we'd have to pay to store, not to mention sundry other soon-to-be-homeless pieces of furniture. That simply isn't in the budget. And after moving three times in three years, we've decided to stay put for awhile, regardless of the circumstances, so there was little chance the stuff would be used again anytime soon. Plus, our move is going to be priced by the pound. A ton here, a ton there, it adds up quick. So if we can drop hundreds of pounds off the move, so much the better.
Everything went up on Craigslist last week and initially business didn't look promising. The only calls we received were from cracked out meth heads hoping we might be interested in, you know, giving it away for free.
Let me think on that a moment... NO.
Business picked up on the weekend. A woman called inquiring about the family room furniture and after checking it out, she decided to buy it. She said she'd return with some help to move it and was back in a surprisingly short time with what I assumed to be her family. There was a disheveled, middled aged man I took to be her husband, and three sketchy teenagers I guessed were her children. Turns out they weren't family in the traditional sense, but rather members of the same "group home", which was where our furniture was destined.
"It's a half-way house and it's right around the corner" the jittery teen girl announced. "There are a lot of them around here."
Well, that explains a lot.
And then there was Rachel.
Rachel and her husband were relocating here from LA. Her husband had accepted a job here six months ago and had been making the 300 mile round trip every day since. It had finally gotten the better of him and they reluctantly decided to move here. Rachel was interested in the bedroom furniture and came by to look it over.
She seemed anxious right off the bat and as she told her story she only got more so. When I told her that we too had moved here from LA, she looked to me for reassurance.
"It's nice here, right? she asked, almost pleading.
"Absolutely", I lied.
"Lots of things to do? Nice people?"
"Definitely", I lied.
Shameless, I know. But I couldn't afford to scare her off and lose the sale. Did I mention we pay for the move by the pound?
Rachel seemed visibly relieved and agreed to buy the whole room. She said she'd be back the next day with her husband to pick it up.
Sunday, they showed up to pick up the furniture and Rachel seemed somewhat stressed, her husband too. More than that, they both seemed apprehensive, maybe a little scared. I know the feeling well. That's how we were in the days before we moved here.
I wished I could tell them it would all be OK, but I'd already told enough lies for one weekend.
