Classified Vultures

When we moved we had quite a bit of stuff to get rid of in order to fit into our new apartment. A few of the items were big, (i.e. a gas drier, a queen sized mattress and box spring, and a car.) We had luck selling the drier on craigslist, but hadn’t decided what to do with the mattress and we weren’t quite ready to sell the car. We learned about the classified section on KSL.com from Shafer’s sister so we decided to check it out. It’s like craigslist, only better! They’ve got thumbnail pictures on each item, you can sort it much easier, and it’s just for Utahans! We got kind of addicted. We went ahead and listed the car and started getting some interest.
I was still debating about what to do with the mattress when I noticed the free section. I didn’t want to just throw the mattress away, but no one we knew needed one and it who wants to spend money on a used mattres? So, I thought this would be perfect we could just list it for free and someone would need one. I had no idea what we were in for! About one minute (literally) after posting the mattress I got a call from someone wanting it. He was just up State Street and could be at our place in 5 minutes. No sooner had I hung up the phone when another call came in. I had to explain to this person that we’d already promised it to someone else. I hung up and, you guessed it, another call came in. I decided to stop answering the phone while I hurried to take the ad off the classifieds! So, if anyone out there has beds to get rid of, you know where to go, just prepare yourself for an onslaught of calls immediately after posting! There are classified vultures out there just waiting to pounce on some good free stuff!
The fun doesn’t stop there. The guy who got the mattress called when he was in our parking lot. I went out on the deck to direct him where to go. I was expecting to see a big truck and at least two guys to move the mattress out. I looked out and saw a guy wearing a shirt and tie, by himself, driving a tiny little car. He said he’d been out looking for jobs and that he had some twine in the trunk to tie the mattress on top of the car.
He kept assuring us that he was fine to do it by himself. I obviously couldn’t help lift the mattress in my condition and Shafer still needs to be careful with his back since the surgery, so we watched. Shafer ended up helping him slide the mattress out to the car just so he wouldn’t have to drag it. Then we watched from our window as the guy tried several different ways of propelling the mattress onto his car. It took him a while to get everything situated and tied on securely. Our whole family was watching the spectacle out our window and laughing about what a funny experience it was. He got all set and drove away. We didn’t realize what we were getting ourselves into when we posted the mattress, but it was funny! The next day we had a couple come to look at the car and they ended up buying it. I think Big Boy was a bit confused about why people kept coming to our house and taking our stuff away. He kept asking, ‘They’re taking our car? We don’t need it?’ We spent the night explaining about how we’re having a baby and that car wasn’t big enough, so we needed to buy a van. I don’t think it really sunk in until we bought our van that weekend.
Let me just say that car shopping with two toddlers is not a good idea! We found a few cars on KSL and drove out to check them out. They ended up being a lot farther away than we thought so the boys were already tired by the time we got there. We decided to check out a dealership on the way home and everything fell apart. Cheeks did not want to be in the stroller and was letting us know. Big Boy was sad because he didn’t have a stroller. Meanwhile the salesman was trying to tell us about what vans they had on the lot. For once, I actually felt kind of bad for the salesman because our kids were SUPER distracting! After using up my entire supply of emergency suckers on the boys we left. The next day we were able to bring the boys up to my Mom to watched them while we went out with my Dad to check out a few of his favorite car lots. We ended up finding the perfect van for us and it was a fabulous deal. We got a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan and it was loaded. It has the full stow and go, power doors, low miles, alloy wheels, and even a DVD player! The price was better than all the vans we’d looked at online, so we were thrilled with it. So, its official, we’re now members of the mini van club. Big Boy couldn’t believe we had a TV in the car, so he’s excited about the new van! We're officially ready for baby number 3 now!