Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some timely catching up with friends (old and new)!
If we were having coffee, I bet we’d be outside because the weather has been warm and sunny.
I’d tell you about how a friend opened my eyes to all the resale shops along Rand Road in Arlington Heights, which isn’t far from here. We went to four shops, all with ties to charities. I was impressed by how carefully the stores displayed their wares to make them inviting. I didn’t get much, but am delighted with the horse earrings I got for next year’s Kentucky Derby party and a Cheater’s Edition of Monopoly which I’ll give my uncle for our traditional Christmas Eve joke gift tradition. Not bad for $4 plus tax. I was really impressed with ReStore by Habitat for Humanity. I don’t have a house I’m remodeling, but if I did I now know I could go to Restore for just about everything I’d need: tiles, furnishings, doors, toilets, tools, you name it.
I thought Goodwill was clever to create these mystery packs for DVDs. All you know is the genre. There’s bound to be one or more good movies inside. I learned that some of these shops make a handsome sum for their charities. Before COVID the one my friend volunteers at made $80,000 a month. Now it’s half that but growing.
My Great Books Club met and discussed Paradise Lost. Lots of good comments from the club members, though the leader seems to get disappointed with our answers. I think he expects us to answer the same way the scholars he’s read does. He’s a nice guy and the people are quite sharp. No dullards in the group. I just think the leader just needs to relax, find some questions and allow people to talk to each other.
Tonight I’m meeting a local group for dinner and tomorrow I’m going to Wisconsin for lunch with my other book club.
smkelly8
No Fixed Plans 
I love the clever idea of a mystery pack. That is catching on for books in some places here in Australia too. Denyse #weekendcoffeeshare
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I don’t know that I’d buy one. I suppose for $3 that went to charity, I would. If the selection worked out, I’d try again.
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I love thrift shops – even better if they are for a charity. Enjoy your dinner and book club tomorrow.
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I think thrift shops have really improved. I remember when they didn’t organize their goods well so it was exhausting to look through things. That’s all changed.
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That is a clever way to pass along DVD’s.
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I thought so. I think it would be a fun surprise and a way to keep the merchandise moving.
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Thrifty shops are good to recycle or reuse things and reduce waste. Enjoy your group dinner and book club lunch. #weekendcoffeeshare
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Thrift shops have a game-like aspect. They offer a challenge to shopping and the prices are good. Stay tuned to next week for how the dinner and lunch went. 😉
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I love thrift shops – treasures and an abundance of stories! I love a good book club. It has been a long while since I met in person with one. I just signed up to do one online that starts next month so we will see how that mix goes. The pandemic but a damper on my enthusiasm for reading novels. I read a lot of other things still though. It doesn’t mean I don’t check them out of the library though.
I live in Southern Wisconsin! I hope your lunch was great.
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I loved my trip to Lake Geneva, your region. What a nice day! Blue skies, sunshine warm weather.
I did a project for a class in 2018 about running online book clubs and for our survey part people were pretty ho hum. Then we had the pandemic and it’s been the only way to go.
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Lake Geneva is such a cute town!!!
Your book club project sounds interesting. I like the convenience of zoom but miss some in person events for sure. When I moved here I was hoping to attend some events at the local bookstore but it closed. I am close to Madison though. The library here has some but I am still waiting for live stuff again
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That would be fun to explore! I’m part of a book club locally and can’t wait to meet in person. Zoom was a bit hard for me. I was very self conscious of seeing myself on the screen.
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