Free to a good home: 0% bedbugs

Never done: Free couch

It was the end of the workday, and it had been an intense work day at that -- with a last-minute request to re-write a grant proposal for a film I am involved with, on top of regularly-schedule work. I really wanted to come through on the last-minute request, and prioritized it over other work for the second half of the day, and ended up quite pleased with what I accomplished.

I had made plans with Josh to go to a 7 PM movie (it was going to be the Never Done du jour, to walk 1 block to the Pavillion) but was just finishing writing at 6:45, and I couldn't imagine sitting in a chair any longer, so I negotiated a switch in plans to go to the gym instead. The negotiation was lengthy, and morphed into secondary and terciary negotiations (do we eat first? should we go to a later movie, even it's a Tyler Perry movie?) and eventually we left the apartment, Josh having eaten, and me not, and headed to the gym. We got a half a block away, and there was a beautiful, perfect-green, feather couch, with a sign taped to it that said, FREE TO A GOOD HOME. 0% BEDBUGS.

Regular readers might remember that when we moved into this apartment, the couch didn't fit in the door, so we have been sans sofa for a few weeks. So we were, in fact, in the market for a new couch. If it had said "no bedbugs" I would have walked past. But it said "0% bedbugs" and the definitive nature of that declaration made me stop and think -- is it true? Is it safe? How long has it been out on the street? I don't even pick up free books off the street anymore, since my friend told me that's where bedbugs go to hang out when they're not in the bed. We started to inspect it -- it looked pretty great, but ..... when two guys came out of a nearby apartment, and we asked them if they knew anything about it. Why, yes they did. They had tried to give it away through Craigslist, but people kept flaking on them, so they had just, not ten minutes earlier, brought it to the street. They had just bought a newer, bigger, purpler couch. And really, there are no bedbugs.

So they helped us carry it down the block, and even helped us maneuver it into the apartment, where it fit perfectly, looks wonderful with the rug, and clashes with the walls. I love it. And I learned, once again, that even when there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything on my list, accepting my limitations can bring me exactly where I am meant to be.