Right this Minute

Time to praise Craig's List again. In this economy, I can't imagine how or why anyone buys anything new. Of course, there's the whole argument about needing to stimulate the economy in order for businesses to make it through these times....so if you're of that mind and able to do so, go for it. But the environmentalist in me (and we all have some of it in us somewhere) says, reduce, reuse, recycle - and of course Craig's List satisfies that particular need in me.

Ryan loves model trains, and has wanted to put together a track plan. We have absolutely no space....but figured out how to put together a 4 x 8 space in his room if we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and then moved everything around. So we thought about how to create even more space, and a loft bed seemed like a good option. If you look around at loft beds, they can be really flimsy....and expensive for what you get! But then I went to CL, and found this:

This was custom-made for a boy by his dad. The boy is now off to college.....and we get the benefit of being the second owner. This guy knew what he was doing....the craftsmanship is beautiful. By the way, he's moved on from woodworking....currently he's building an airplane in his garage....not a model airplane.....an actual airplane. We got to see the wings portion...very cool. Anyway, we paid way way way way way less than other beds that are out there - and they gave Ryan a deal because he was paying for it with his own money. It has 6 drawers - which then meant we could get rid of the huge dresser in his room as well....hooray! And the other side has a bookshelf - which meant we could get rid of a book shelf in his room....and mom and dad gained a bookshelf in their room....double hooray! So then, a small desk was needed. And where did I turn? CL natch. And in the small world category, the desk I found (which is identical to the one we already own in our office but in a different color) was being sold by a woman in my book club who then lowered the price by $10 when she found out it was me. So a desk that we paid around $200ish for a few years ago, I picked up for $70. Oh, and that drum stool under the desk? That was a bonus stool from the drum set Ryan bought off CL last year.....for some reason the kid had two drum stools (which we didn't originally know) so it's the purchase that keeps on giving.