In the end it was just 2 nights of work. I got everything precut at Home Depot. Cost for all wood, screws, polyurethane and brackets about ~$150.

The important part is to eliminate the wobbliness and the brackets helped that a LOT!

My other table (this one will be Dorothy's) is from amish county's http://www.standupdesks.com/

The inspiration for this was the old Amazon door desk people posted about. Although I didn't use a door for the surface because the door is made out of honeycomb material and hence can't be cut to size.