$5 Rocking Chair

I have this awful habit of acquiring things. Some people might label me a hoarder, but it's not at all like that... not yet anyway.

I just tend to see things differently than a lot of other people... for example, I look at a banged up dresser on the side of the road waiting for the garbage man to come, and instead of junk, I see my latest street treasure: a white (or maybe teal?) lightly distressed dresser with fancy anthropology knobs and pulls, decorated with a silver tray of pearls and a rustic oval wooden picture frame, complete with a pink floral scarf jumping out of the top drawer situated atop a seagrass rug. Yes, I often see things that aren't there (and I know this makes me a loon).The problem with seeing things as I want them to be, and taking them home as they are - is the whole in-between phase. The work. I'm not super good at actually seeing a project to completion, at least not right away. Its very unusual for me to have less than 5 projects going at once (on top of everyday projects like dinner, laundry, work, exercise).

But in an effort to make Dan happy, I have been trying really hard lately to finish things I've started and turn some of the trash I take home into street treasure.

So then, a story about a place straight out of every at-risk-hoarder's dream: ReCONN. This place is loaded with treasure... it's very hard for me to not go home with a ton of junk every time I go here (which is why I stay away). Fortunately, I no longer own a vehicle that is big enough to carry anything, so that tends to keep me under control. Anyway, I took Dan to ReCONN one day back in January when we were looking for a kitchen sink. We didn't find the sink, but I did find this ratty old rocking chair for $5: STEAL!

But obviously, it needed some love. It just so happened that a few days later I got an e-mail from the Manchester Historical Society (who always offers all kinds of awesome programs) about a chair caning class that would take place on Saturdays during March. So, for $10, I enrolled and for an additional $20, I bought the supplies for fixing my chair. And then poof, in about 4 weeks, I had this awesome new rocking chair for a grand total of $35 - definitely worth it!