It's AdorTable

The Five Carmonas have been slumming it when it comes to our kitchen table. I found it years ago at an antique store, and it had seen better days, or decades. But it was the right price and fit in our tiny house so we did our best to ignore its wonkiness. If the person sitting across from you set his/her elbows on the table, everything from the other side would start sliding down towards the elbow setter. We managed to eat 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, for 4 years around that table, in addition to all our homeschool lessons and projects. We learned to clear the table completely before bringing out the play-doh, because one good press through the fun factory and any water cup on the table would quickly be on the floor.

I oogle over those big long dining room tables that are sturdy and beautiful and beg you to sit and enjoy your meal. The ones that especially tickle my fancy have chairs on one side and a bench on the other. A girl can dream....dream for a table that fits the five of us, and doesn't need to have shims under its wobbley center leg to maintin a somewhat level surface, and wouldn't tip towards or away from me depending on who happens to be placing a slight bit of pressure on it.

Well a few weeks ago we were at the Goodwill and I found what I thought was an inexpensive, yet very sturdy, table. David went down the next day to buy it and welcome it to its new life, and quickly realized it was not actually a table, but a hollow interior door with legs. Unfortunately, the Goodwill has a no refund policy. David later was able to talk to the manager who said that they would give a refund but did not want the table back. Hmmmmm. David called me at work and asked if we would want the table knowing it was free, crappy, but free. So we took it for a spin and we are quite happy. Mind you, it is not a "table, " it is "adortable".

And the joy of having neighbors over for supper and seeing us all fit around one table.....the joy of having 3 kids working on 3 different projects around one table.....it is priceless.

Noah working on math at one end. My coffee cup, the school work boxes, and colored pencils all on one surface. And Nim's calendar pages on the other end. Heaven.