I (heart) Craigslist

We have bought and sold many things on Craigslist, and gotten some great deals. This week has been really hot and humid here in Elkhart. We do not have central air. We have a small window AC that we've always used in our bedroom, and it works well there. This year I said "we're putting it in the living room." Well, our living room is twice the size of our bedroom, and our little 5,000BTU just wasn't strong enough. Yesterday morning it was 82 degrees in the living room, and I was sweating profusely (not trying to be gross, just trying to create a mental image of how hot it was in the living room with the AC on). I was desperately searching every website I could think of - researching the meaning of BTU (basically, the higher the BTU, the larger of an area it can keep cool - 5,000 BTU works well up to 150 square feet, which is about the size of our bedroom). I figured out what we would need for the living room (10,000), and what we would need for the whole main level (14,000). Brand new AC's starting at 10,000, are a minimum of $250. 12,000 or up were over $300, on up to infinity. I wasn't really having luck finding anything used, so I was ready to run out to Sears and buy a brand new air conditioner. I was desperate. I've been very grouchy with the kids all week, and I don't like myself like that. I prayed, "God, I feel like a spoiled brat. I know lots of people in the world live in much worse conditions than this. AC is really a luxury that most of us Americans take for granted. I don't want to be a spoiled brat, but I'm really miserable, and I'm not a good mom like this."
About 5 minutes later I came across this:
15,000BTU.....$75
from a garage sale ad on Craigslist.
I emailed and asked if I could buy it before the sale.
the sale was only a couple miles from Derrick's work, so I called him and sent him over to pick it up on his way home.
It's a monster. It's huge. He had to build a stand to hold it up on the outside because it hangs so far out the window.
It's not pretty. It looks old. But it keeps the entire main level cool and comfortable.
I have been in a good mood today. And I don't want to leave the house.
It's funny, I used to LOVE summer. That's because when I was a teenager, summer meant CAMP. And on a hot day there were plenty of water games to play. It was all play, play, play.
Now, summer means hot, sweaty, grouchy, kids climbing all over me, total lack of motivation to do anything, and yuck, yuck, yuck.
If we could have Spring, Fall, Spring, Fall, maybe a week of summer and a week of winter in between, that would be perfect.
Anyway, here's a picture of my wonderful beast of an air conditioner.