An amazing gift!

My in-laws, Glen and Dianne, have an amazing gift for turning other people's junk into usable household items. This is something for which we have teased them relentlessly through the years. My father-in-law was forever showing up with things he'd swiped off the street on trash day-chairs, tables, lamps, chairs, sofas, doors, chairs, windows, mowers, chairs, tools...you name it and chairs. They have A LOT of chairs. If you need a seat, I know where you can get one! And, Dianne would get all excited just thinking about the possibilities when she saw him unload the truck. They built an entire Florida room off their house with stuff he brought home...and furnished it! Then they built a patio out of recovered bricks! Yes, they are THAT good! Sometimes I just rolled my eyes though, because I couldn't even see the value in some of it. Railing for example, they don't have stairs! What are they going to do with 20 feet of railing?

Four or Five years ago (has it been so long I can't remember?), we found out that one of our neighbors, catywhompus to us (Paul says that is not a word, but I've been saying it as long as I can remember and I bet every one of you knows what I mean when I say it! -It's the house across and down one from from us), were going to be moving. Of course, my first thought was how perfect it would be for my in-laws to move so close to us......yeah okay, you got me...that was not my first thought! But, the idea did occur to us and the more we thought about it the more the idea grew on us. So, when they asked us if we really wouldn't mind, we gave our blessing and haven't regretted it for one single day! (Yes, they read this blog!) Seriously, we have no regrets! But, because we teased them so much about their dumpster diving excursions, they claimed they didn't want to "embarrass" us in "our" neighborhood. So, when a neighbor threw out what could possibly be the greatest spare television ever, my father-in-law had to have it and went out with the cover of night to pluck that tv set off the road and cart it home! I had to laugh, because I could just see him tippy toeing down the street, looking every which way to be sure he wasn't being spotted and making a dash back to his garage with his prize! LOL! After that, we made sure they understood that we really didn't care, we just had fun pushing their buttons! :) Come on! What kind of daughter-in-law would I be if I didn't give them a hard time about something?

Well, I don't have to tell you that we have been the beneficiary of this knack of theirs more than once and quite a few of their trash-to-treasures have ended up at my house -my husband's workbench, a mower we had for years, the computer chair in the boys room...I even came home one day and insisted that Glen go down the road with his truck to collect a playhouse for his grandbaby before someone else got it! Well, I couldn't be seen dragging it home! And, we have appreciated every one of those gifts. We hardly ever tease them anymore....okay, you got me again! We do, but in the most loving way!

Recently, I heard all kind of noise coming from their garage and I knew they were up to something. Glen does not have a truck any longer, so that has put a damper on their fun for the most part. I couldn't even dream of what those two were crafting over there but I kept my curiosity in check........ because sometimes it's just better if I see the finished product. I knew they couldn't keep it a secret for long, and sure enough, they showed up at my house with their newest brainchild....

Yes, that is exactly what it looks like! My wonderful in-laws made Claire her own set of rehab parallel bars using scrap carpet, scrap metal, a $3 board they got the manager of Lowes to sell them from out of the back room rather than spend $35 for the one on the showroom floor and oh yes, all that railing! What an amazing gift!

Thank you, Meme and Papa!

She might even take up soccer!