My Addiction

For as long as I can remember, I've always been on the hunt for the best deal. I love, love, love a good deal. I can find them, too. A couple of weeks ago my mom asked my aunt and me, "Do you think everyone has an addiction?" As soon as she asked the question, my aunt said, "Yes!" and at the same time, I said, "No!" We all laughed. I've been thinking about it, though. I think I'm addicted to good deals. Man, do I love them. I get such a high and a rush when I happen upon a really, really good deal.

I didn't start using Craigslist until 2006. Once I started I had to start setting boundaries for myself. I could easily waste my life away on Craigslist, looking, dreaming, fantasizing about all the possibilities for next to nothing. We have little kids, so shiny and new is not appealing to me. I like things a little used and scratched, because then I don't have to be mad at my kids for making the first mark. It takes a lot of pressure off. One of my friends started walking dogs so she could have Craigslist money. It's true. She asked me to babysit (and offered to pay for the babysitting), so she could walk the dogs to support her habit. I think my first Craigslist purchase was our dining room table and chairs. Then it was the Pottery Barn computer armoire and both double strollers (one is tandem, the other is side-by-side). I had to take some time off once I filled our old house to the brim. I've been reunited with my dear friend Craig the past three months since we've moved. I got an amazing close-to-antique buffet for our entry way. Then it was the furniture for the screened porch.

The thing about Craigslist is that it can take over your life. Seriously. If you see something you want, you have to act quickly, because it will be gone if you don't. For the buffet, I called and someone else called before me but didn't confirm with the seller. The seller called and said, you can have it if you can be here in two hours. Of course the buffet was 45 minutes away. I had to arrange sitting for the kids (thanks mom!), take the car seats and seats out of the van, and hurry on over there with Dave. It was so worth it. The porch furniture was the same way. They gave us an extra $50 off if we could pick it up the next morning. So we rented a U-Haul cargo van to pick up the stuff. Again, totally worth it, but a big ordeal.

All last week, Gus woke up every night. The kid kept falling out of his toddler bed or waking up. It was a big deal, because if he cries, he wakes up Judson, and getting everyone back to sleep at 2am is not fun. We figured it might be that he's out grown his bed. He moves when he sleeps and he didn't have any room to turn around. I usually go out for a few hours on Saturday afternoons alone. This past Saturday I stayed home and looked at Craigslist for beds and I found bar stools. I've been looking at bar stools since we moved. The ones that came with the house were counter height (the bar was at your chin when you sat down) and we needed bar height. And ours were fabric. That alone skeeved (sp?) me out with the kids spilling stuff. Can you imagine the things growing in them? Ughhh. I hopped on Craigslist and the first posting was for three 30" barstools for $40! $40 total! Steal of the century! I called the guy, he said I was the first caller and I could have them. Of course, he was 45 minutes away. We took my mom's van, Lucy, and Judson, while she watched Gus (thanks mom!). Meanwhile, on the way out of the house, I saw an ad for Pier 1 kids bunk beds for $200, with the the mattresses. We weren't so interested in the mattreses, but whatever. I replied and the guy called me back within 10 minutes and said I was the first one of five. He said we could have them, we just needed to pick them up soon. So we arranged for Sunday morning at 9. The bar stools were 45 minutes south, and the beds were 45 minutes west of us. The stuff we get is never close by. When we picked up the bar stools the guy said he had 20 more calls, in two hours! Dave got the beds on Sunday morning (which meant taking out the van seats and the car seats). They are amazing! Amazing! We're able to use them as two separate beds, with a headboard and a footboard. So Judson will have a bed and it will match Gus'. The kid who was getting rid of it was 12 and only slept on one of the mattresses. They both look brand new. Dave ended up taking the mattresses, because they looked great. We're not using them yet, but Judson will probably end up with one. We got the bed set up and rearranged the boys room yesterday. Gus LOVED it! And he didn't wake up last night! Lucy and Judson did, but Gus didn't. I think we solved Gus' problem!

I've run out of room again in our house, which is a fine problem to have. So I will have to part with my dear friend Craig again. I'm loving what we got, though. Such a rush, such a relief. I'll post pictures later!