Grateful

Lots of wonderful things have been happening lately, my friends have been incredibly supportive, and I thought I would write about a few of them.

Last week I wrote about my own personal challenge to see how long I can go without grocery shopping. It will be a week tomorrow, but so far I am doing pretty good. I still have plenty of things in the cupboards and plenty of culinary choices! I gave myself one exception - I could purchase items if I had to make or bring something to a gathering. Well, as it turns out I had a company potluck on Friday. However, I was able to make a delicious black bean salad with many ingredients I already had. I did have to pick up an extra can of beans, a can of corn and some cilantro, but I was able to pay for most of that with bottle returns - and the bottle return slip of a friend that went with me to the store. (Thanks Philip!)

Speaking of gatherings, I had a bridal shower on Friday night for friends of mine. At the end there was quite a bit of food and beverages left and when Maureen emphatically stated she didn't want to take it all home and asked if anyone would take anything I was right there with my hand up - and she loaded me up good. I was glad I had brought one of my extra tough cloth bags with me. I promised I would mention her in my blog - so here you go Maureen!! Thank you so much! I am having sliced cucumbers with my lunch today (The chicken salad is long gone, it was soooooo good.)

Speaking of generous folks, a friend of my mother's gave me a dinning room table and chairs! I am still getting settled into the house, but let me tell you, when you go from a 400 square foot apartment to a 2300 square foot house - that leaves a lot of blank space. One room that was empty was the dinning room as I had given my ex the table and chairs in the split. My mother has been looking for a dining set for me and it turns out that her friend Marilyn had one to give. My friend Kate had received the offer of a similar free couch from her mom, so she and I pooled resources and brute strength and rented a truck from Home Depot and picked up both the couch and dining set. Total cost was $20. Not bad at all!

To be honest, my new dining room table and chairs are a bit on the ugly side. Ok, more than a little - and this isn't the kind of ugly you can fix. However, beggars can't be choosers! I am planning on painting the table legs (which are a lovely mixture of 80's brass and wood) and then throwing a table cloth over the top. Unfortunately it can't be refinished because the top is veneer. The chairs.... well, umm.... they are comfortable. Ok, they are bad. And dirty. And there is no fixing them. They are upholstered and the frames are not good enough to recover. However, they will be perfectly fine until four new chairs find their way into my life.

I also got free entertainment, courtesy of a friend. Saturday Catie, David, Tommy and I got free tickets to see "The Antiques Roadshow" thanks, once again, to Philip! It was a long, long day of standing in line (funny, they don't show that part of tv) but fun for all of that. I will write more on that later, but the tickets were coveted and I was very lucky to get one.

And of course, I continue to be grateful to my sister Meg and friends Catie and Jen who have given me things to post on eBay. I am splitting the profits with Catie and Jen, but my sister said I can keep whatever I make. I have to laugh though - of the box of items my sister gave me - an awful lot of them I ended up keeping!

Another thanks to Passive Family Income, who put up this post: Make Money By Being Green. I used the links on recycling cell phones and was able to get a $8 visa card from My Bone Yard for an old cell phone I had laying around.

At one time, not so long ago, I used to be so stiff necked that I wouldn't accept help from anyone. I had a real hard time with taking "charity" though, oddly enough I had no problem giving it. I'm getting better at realizing that helping each other out is all part of what friendship is really about. By not being able to receive as well as give, I was shutting off half of my friendships. Of course, I have no wish to take advantage, but being open is part of what life should be about!

More to read:

Grocery store challenge - A Few Dollars Here, A Few Dollars There

Passive Family Income - New Ideas for Reducing Our Monthly Food Budget

eBay - Books Selling eBay vs Amazon vs Half.com