As thrilled as I am that the heat and humidity might be gone (though you know it could still get stinkin’ hot before true cold sets in) – I also find myself a bit melancholy that September is half over and we seem to be hurdling at neck-breaking speed toward cold and snow and the holidays.
As much as I dearly love gathering with family and friends – and I even don’t mind the shopping (we have a somewhat modest budget that helps make gift purchasing less stressful) – I’m simply not ready to board the crazy-train that the approaching season seems to require of me.
Every year I say the same thing – yet every year I find myself caught up in the hustle and bustle – so this morning I had a radical thought. What if instead of moaning about the upcoming work and too packed schedule I focused on the relational part? Yes, there’s a lot that goes into each of the approaching holidays – but the connections made during these gatherings are – to quote the MasterCard commercials – priceless and well worth the time and effort on my part.
If I acknowledge, but not focus on, the cleaning and cooking and buying and wrapping and shoveling and nose-freezing cold – and instead focus on how much I enjoy reconnecting and catching up with my interesting and amazing nieces and thinking of creative and fun things for our family of four’s annual secret Santa (four gifts, each one no more than $5, a few wild card gifts thrown in to mix things up, and knowing a large $3 summer sausage – often bought at Menards - is going to make an appearance at some point), and how wonderfully sweaters hide my middle-age spread – then I immediately feel a lightening of my spirit!
Speaking of lightening – you might find your wallet weighs a little less after a visit to Jubilee Furniture either today (Friday) from 1 to 8 or tomorrow (Saturday) from 9 to 4 after you’ve purchased some of the fabulous things we currently have available!
Here’s a peek at some of our new-to-us inventory:
wonderful neutral Room and Board sofa (rip on one of the seat cushions along a seam) priced $145; matching love seat for $125 (overall, love seat is in better condition than the sofa)
beautiful, small sofa or hall table (weird rust colored “chalk” on unfinished parts of the the table) priced $85
I couldn’t find a brand name on these pieces – but they’re nice though a bit faded and frayed – sofa is priced $125; matching love seat for $85
super nice Lane square coffee table priced $95
wonderful old teacher’s desk (donor told me from the 1930s) top needs refinishing and too bad original hardware has been changed out – priced $65
We received an amazing donation from Bright Horizons in Itasca (thank you Bright Horizons!) when they replaced some of the center’s furniture and donated the still perfectly good and useable pieces to us! I spent a lot of time measuring and so took a photo of the price tag which provides both the measurements and the price.
there are three book racks and they’re priced $35 each
the cubbies have a hook (hence the photo of a hook) in each of the long spaces – Chris Jackson (Jubilee Furniture Truck Assistant) mentioned you could easily remove said hook and turn the piece so it would appear to stand on its side and it would make a jim-dandy bookcase (he didn’t say, “jim-dandy” but I felt it was implied) – we have four this size and one that isn’t as wide
there are three “kitchen” sets – the one shown with blue trim and then a red trimmed one and a purple – there is also a set which has some "issues” and so we’ve priced the three pieces separately (and now I can’t remember the prices – sorry!)
there are roughly 45 of these really sturdy (remember they came from a daycare) plastic building blocks – truly you could stand on these babies and they’d support you – they’re that well made. Now I did wonder about what I consider the less than safe corners on these blocks – you could really bean someone with one of ‘em – but since no mention was made that there’d been any issues – let’s assume all was well. As you can see – we’re selling them individually for $1 a block
the last photo is trying to give you a better idea of the number of pieces we received – I didn’t take a photo of every bookcase (there are a couple of different sizes that I didn’t share) – so I think you’ll just have to come in if you’re interested
dresser with side shelving (behind the door) priced $50
tall chest of drawer for $45 (missing one knob); student desk priced $25 (also missing one knob); smaller dresser with mirror priced $40 (not missing anything but the top has some scratches)
this is a beautiful black wood queen-size head board, foot board and side rails priced $165; gray queen-size mattress and box spring for $125
fabulous long, sturdy, able to perform many functions, upholstered bench priced $125 (fabric color is gray – it sorta looks purple on my computer)
not sure what happened to the one arm of this nice sofa – it almost looks like it was dragged in the moving process – but since I know neither Dan or Chris would ever do such a thing – I’m not sure what to think…regardless – I’m hoping it’s fairly easy to clean and have priced this sofa $85
after this week’s pickups we’re seriously thinking of changing our name to Papasan Chairs R Us since we added two more to our inventory of one (don’t think about it too much – it really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense) green cushion chair is priced $25 (and there’s some pet hair on the cushion); purple one with ottoman is priced $45
lovely drop leaf table for $65; four chairs almost priced $65
I don’t know where you are, emotionally, as we’re poised ready to dive into an especially busy time of the year – but my prayer for you, dear reader, and me – is that we’d be able to keep our eyes on what’s really important – connecting with others, valuing and appreciating them, deepening our relationships – and either recognize creating inviting, warm environments and making delicious meals takes work – or – start a new order-out tradition and invite the dust bunnies to the celebration!
Do I hear an “Amen”?
