Sometimes I just get lucky.  Leeanne wanted some shelving in the upstairs closet that we use for the children's clothing, but I'm too dang cheap to buy modular shelves, and I'm not going to spend any significant amount of money dressing up a house that we're just renting.  Enter the $8 OSB.  That stands for Oriented Strand Board.  Basically, it's like plywood, in that it is made up of multiple pieces of wood glued together, but inferior to plywood in that plywood is actual thin boards composited with the grain running against each other between sheets while OSB is just scraps of wood glued together into sheets, then glued to other sheets.  It's really kinda crappy, and not suitable for much.

That is, of course, unless you have a lot more time on your hands than money.  With some skillful engineering, some careful measuring, the right tools, and a few coats of paint, we have some shelves that look right at home in a rental house.  I'm not claiming that they are as pretty as some glass shelves that I'd like to make, or cherry stained hardwood either.  but they're straight, they're level, and they have a really nice decorative routed edge, lol. 

At any rate, after seeing what I could do with such an abominable piece of wood-wannabe, the woman of the house has decided it would be a great idea to let me build a proper dining room table that would fit all of us.  We'll probably end up covering the top in tile, just because the kids are getting good at destruction, and I think wood will get scratched up.  Besides, it'll be a fun family project, since we have both done tile flooring before. 

I really miss working with my tools.