Craigslist is CLOSED!

We had a big flood in our basement last Spring when a pipe burst. It was a mess! My husband turned the sprinkler on before he left on a run. By the time he returned over an hour later, we had several inches of water all over the basement. The walls in over half the basement had to be replaced. We lost a lot of things. Most of it doesn't bother me. The things that hurt that we lost are things the kids made in school. I had the presence of mind at the time to take pictures of them. Not only would it help with documentation, but it gives me something to look at to remember the special little things they made.

At least 75% of the furniture we had downstairs was ruined from the water. The company that was hired to help clean things out worked for 2 days and then didn't come out again until several days later. By then, several pieces of furniture mildewed all the way through and were ruined. We've been replacing things a little at a time.

We've done most of the rebuilding ourselves, and it's really coming together. We do still have to finish installing some of the crown moulding and the trim around the windows, but we're almost done. It will be SO nice to finally be finished down there! It's been hanging over our heads for months now. We will be basically starting with a clean slate.

The walls have been painted. The carpet installed. The treadmill's been taken downstairs. Other than 2 cupboards I'll be using in my craft area, a cupboard I painted for an entertainment center, and a bookshelf for my hubby's books, it's empty. Well..empty of permanent fixtures. We still have the table saw, the sander, and a couple of projects we're working on to finish the basement up on sawhorses, but it will be empty when we're finished with our projects. The sawhorses, cans of paint, sander, drill and saws won't be kept there indefinitely.

We have a huge pod on our driveway full of the things that were taken out of the basement. I'll be sorting through the stuff a box or two at a time instead of bringing everything in at once. It won't be as overwhelming this way, and we won't have to worry about the progress we've made down there being overshadowed.

Like I said earlier, we've been replacing things a little at a time. We've gotten most of the replacements from Craigslist, because we can't afford to buy new. At one point this summer, after having made Craigslist runs a few weekends in a row, my husband came home tired and a little irritable. He wasn't mad at me in any way, but he was tired of running around. He let me know in his own little way.

Him: Hey! I have a question for you.

Me: What's that?

Him: Is Craigslist closed yet?

We both laughed, but I got the point. We haven't gotten anything from Craigslist for awhile until today. Someone was selling solid oak shelves for $5 each, and since we missed out on them this summer, my husband picked some up today. We need them to make sure he has a place for all his books, and I need some for my craft area. But they're quality and aren't going to warp, and they'll hold up to the heavy use we have planned for them. They were a good investment.

I think we're done for now with Craigslist. I'll still list things for sale. I'll still be hanging onto any bit of money we make on there, but we won't be buying anything anytime soon. I'm even done window shopping for now.

For us, Craigslist is closed!