Wanted:

This.  I really want this coffee table.  But since it generally runs about $450.00 - over $500.00 with shipping, it's not going to be mine.
          

But this one - is made from pallets.  You have to know which pallets to pick, what they've been used for and which ones are made from treated wood and which are not.  But pallets are cheap - or free - if you know where to go.    

  

                                

Which brings me to - 

WANTED:  ONE MAN (or woman) IN THE NW SUBURBS OF CHICAGO WHO CAN BUILD ONE FOR ME.

Eh?  You think I'll find someone?  Cause I really like that table.  If I had the proper tools and knew where to look for pallets I might try it myself. 

.

How many good byes?

This week has been a lot of getting ready for Dani to leave for school again. This will be her last semester at school, and I wonder whether or not her leaving this time will be permanent. She is renting a house this time, with another girl, no more dorm-life. Here at home she is 5 hours away from her boyfriend, at school - only an hour and a half.

SHE IS TAKING HER BED THIS TIME PEOPLE!

Besides filling the house with boxes and littering the floor with odds and ends - we shopped for cleaning supplies and some kitchen utensils, a few tools, the things she will need in a house as opposed to a dorm room.

But um .. her house is almost as big as mine, and she has no furniture. Her bed, a side table, things like that do not fill a house. Her roommate will be bringing a few things but more is needed. So we did what any good mother/daughter team with no resources does - we went shopping at the curb, giggling and enjoying the heck out of it.

I know I've done it myself, had a piece of furniture that has seen better days but was still usable that I didn't know what to do with when I was ready to replace it. So I have put things out at the curb hoping someone would come by and snatch it up before the garbage collectors did. And it was usually gone before those trucks came rumbling by the next morning.

We managed to find a kitchen table with 4 chairs, an end table and a recliner. The table and chairs need some cleaning but are definitely in college student shape and the recliner is in surprisingly good repair and has no suspicious odors which was a big prerequisite for even making it into the car.

She leaves tomorrow.

I told her that when she graduates from school it would be a really good idea to move home for a few years to save money. That way she won't get stuck renting and can get some money saved, etc. Don't think she's buying it.

I am very proud of her growing up and being so independent. She's smart, has a good head on her shoulders and I'm sure she'll do fine.

But Mom just might miss her. Some.