How Sydney Got Her House

There is an old children's books series called The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald in which he recounts the stories of the Fitzgerald brothers, Sven, Tom, and John, the adventures of whom are loosely based on the author's own childhood in Utah around the turn of the century. Most of the stories are about Tom, the middle son, who has "a great brain and a money-loving heart" which cause him to come up with elaborate schemes to swindle his friends and family out of their money. I say all of this lead up to the one point, because I'm not sure how many of you really understand this about me: I don't have a money-loving heart. But I do have a bargain-loving heart. Very few things make me as happy or excited as the prospect of getting something I want for a great price. Case in point:

I had been wanting to get Sydney a house for her backyard. These things retail at $200 and beyond and hold their value better than Hondas. Even used, you can rarely find them for less than $150, and anything approaching an even $100 is considered a deal. I haven't even been able to find a house at all for the price I was willing to pay. Every time I found one priced reasonably on craigslist, by the time I contacted the seller, it was gone.

Knowing now, as you do, about my bargain-loving heart, imagine my excitement when I found one for $75 here in Georgetown. I e-mailed the woman immediately and when I didn't hear back from her until the next day, I was sure she had already sold the house. But no, she had the house and I made an appointment to go and look at it. She repeatedly told me on the phone that the house was dirty and that it had "oak" all over it (I'm still not sure what that means), but that it was available. When I told her I would have to disassemble it, she mentioned that she had a truck and would be willing to deliver (which should have meant that there would be an additional charge for delivery). In the end, though, she was so embarrassed by the sorry state of the house and the "oak" (still haven't found any on the house) that she lowered the price to $50, including delivery. My bargain-loving heart hadn't been this happy since the neighbors behind us announced a backyard clean-up and gave us (for FREE): a little tikes coupe (that's the red car with the yellow top), a slide, and a picnic table.

She even included the phone, which Sydney loves and talks on while walking around the entire house (where in the world would she have learned to pace around a house while on the phone, I wonder).
See what bad shape this house is in? Seriously, what "oak"? And yes, that stove is faded. That stove would have been faded by the time Sydney's sibling is this age even if I had paid full price. Paying full price does not keep stickers from fading in the sun. Paying bargain prices do make you feel better about the fading. It's a fact.

Finally, a view of the backyard from the sandtable (found on-line at walmart.com, marked down 25% since it was last year's model) where you can see: the pinwheel garden (all pinwheels purchased at clearance prices), the slide (FREE), the little tikes climber (found at consignment for $35) and in the very back, the soon-to-be-famous house ($50, including delivery).

UPDATE: Now that I know what "oak" looks like, I can tell you that there is some on the roof... if you look closely.