Checking things off the list.

Craigslist can be Win or Fail. This weekend, it was both. Mostly Win, but also some Fail.

I already mentioned that the stroller was a Win.

Sadly, the elliptical was a Fail. There’s a reason this guy was selling it for $250. We passed.

But Craigslist (well, really, Craigslist inspired by our neighborhood listserv) redeemed itself when I saw a Very Expensive glider for sale for less than I spend at the grocery store on a weekly basis. I saw the note on the listserv, checked out the Craigslist ad, and went by a few hours later.  We discovered the couple selling the glider went to UT, love Austin, and are hoping to move back there someday (file under People We Have Lots in Common With).  We sat in the chair and I wanted to immediately take a nap in it.  The fabric matches the paint in the “nursery” (the part of the master suite where we’re setting up all the baby stuff). The design is modern.

So we bought it and took it home and I still want to take a nap in it.

This baby thing is getting more real by the day.

Stroller win!

I picked up our new stroller yesterday. I feel like I’ve accomplished something, getting one of our bigger items.  Not that we’ll be using it for months and months and months, but we have it. And that’s something.

Working Craigslist

I’ve been monitoring several Craigslist searches for months now, looking for certain items that I don’t want to pay full price for in preparation for the baby.  I’m picky — unless it’s a really expensive item, I generally don’t want to have to haul myself out to a really far-away suburb for it, and I am generally looking for a specific item rather than just “some kind of X.”

Yesterday and today, this monitoring paid off!

We’ve been looking to buy an elliptical machine so that we can both cancel our gym memberships once the baby comes. It’s hard to schedule gym time before or after work right now; it’s going to get much harder when we have daycare pick-up and drop-off to contend with, as well as feeding times/bath time/bed time for an infant (and then a baby, and then a toddler).

Yesterday, I saw a Craigslist ad for a pretty decent model elliptical, on our side of town (about 4 miles away), for about 20% of retail. Tonight, we’re going to run by and look at it and, if we test it out and like it, it’s ours. Boom!

We also had decided (after multiple test-drives at various stores) which stroller we wanted to get. Now, this stroller will be for later — I think we’re going to use a Snap-n-Go when the baby is small and still in the bucket seat — but we know we’re going to need it eventually. It’s not the highest-priced model out there, but it’s definitely not a budget item either. So I’d been keeping an eye out on Craigslist for this particular model of stroller and today, someone posted an ad for one. Her price was only 15% or so less than retail, but I talked her down to 25% off retail (for a year-old model that was used for about 6 months and is basically in perfect condition).  This particular stroller doesn’t really go on sale and I don’t expect anyone to get it for us off our registry, so this seemed like a pretty good deal to me. In retrospect (remembering my law school negotiation class), I probably could have talked her down a little more on price, but I’m OK with the price I offered. I’ll be going by to pick it up tomorrow (on the Metro, even! We’ll learn how maneuverable the thing really is!).

I feel good about these two Craigslist wins. I usually don’t spend a lot of time looking for cheaper items (arranging to meet to pick stuff up is often not worth the $10-$30 you’ll save) but for bigger and more expensive items like these two? Totally worth it. Also: I feel good about being patient in passing up other ads for the same or similar items in much less convenient locations. My inner bargain hunter feels pretty good right now.

Word

None of these things merit an individual post, but all of them are worthy of note.

***

Despite five days of vacation in the land of lard (that would be Texas, where I ate Whataburger twice in 28 hours and more homemade flour tortillas than I want to count), I have managed to maintain on the weight loss front. Granted, I haven’t been on a scale since returning, but my clothes are continuing to fit in that lovely, slightly-loose way, so I’m not going to worry about the numbers on the scale.

***

My grandfather, who is ill and who is the reason we spent five days in Texas, is doing far better than expected.  He’s still dying and likely won’t make it through the summer, but he was well enough to spend several hours chatting with us and playing take-your-nose with my cousin’s kids. I had been told he was doing very poorly before we left and so didn’t expect to be able to interact with him much while we were there. But he was not only alert and mostly compos mentis, but also was mobile — getting out of bed and up and down from his chair, moving around the house. Since I’m 99% sure this visit was the last time I’ll see him, I’m glad it was a visit where I could actually talk with him.

***

Couch-to-5K is going so well I solicited a commitment from a friend of mine to run with me in the Race Judicata later this summer.  It will be my first 5K and, bonus, it’s the big fundraiser for the legal agency where I did a summer fellowship after law school. If I’m going to give money to any organization, I’m glad to give it to them — and to run my first 5K for them, too.

***

While in Texas, I saw this fun bag at my hometown surf shop, but wasn’t wild about the colors so I didn’t buy it. But I love the style and thought it would be a good shape and size for work, so I looked around online for it. Lo and behold, it comes in many other colors, including a very nice dark brown/gray. And that lovely color was available on Amazon for $22.  Bonus: eligible for Prime! So I bought it.

***

That dreamy interview I got a while ago? I went on that interview, had a great time, felt like I was a perfect fit, and then didn’t hear anything for a while. So I got stressed and applied for another federal job (one I was actually interested in, of course).  Three hours after hitting “Apply,” I got the call — I got the job. The dream job. “Relief” is too understated a word. Not only am I extremely glad to have any employment, I am ecstatic to have employment at a place where I feel like I fit in so well, both personally and professionally.

***

So it’s been a good month.

Things I’m too old for, #1

I think I’m too old for them, but I just bought these:

The spouse claims they look like stripper shoes. I think they make my legs look long, and I bought them for vacation and to wear with a cute embroidered cotton dress, so I figure they’re probably OK.

But I’m definitely too old for them.