Transitions

Here it is, the end of another year--a time of transitions in more ways than one.

My vacation ends Monday night, then it's back to work on Tuesday. That's hard to stomach. I've enjoyed my week off, had fun, and gotten a few big projects done. We even went bowling tonight--something I haven't done in ages. I'd love to have a job where I could have summers off to be with the girls and travel. Someday.

It's a transition time at church, too. My term on the session (leadership body) ends today. It's been three long, tough years. Some of the work has been greatly satisfying, and some has been frustrating and even depressing. But I made it through. Now, I'm looking forward to having some extra time on my hands--not so many meetings!

My sister is having a hard transition this week. Her computer crashed so badly that she now has to replace it. Even her computer-driven, computer-obsessed son couldn't resurrect it. So she's without email, without her blog, and without the vast internet resource until she buys a new one. Her son is trying to get her to buy a Mac instead of a PC. He is a Mac convert, as is her son-in-law. She's the only PC-driven member of the family in the area. I wonder what she will decide to do. It may be better for her to switch. She's not like me--we have too many PC-based applications to change now. We'll have to see. But I don't envy her disconnect from the world in the meantime. I guess I'll have to call her on the phone if I want to talk with her!

Change is a fearsome thing. We get so set in our ways that we're reluctant to rock the boat at all. For instance, I've been in the same job for 11 years now. One thing that's kept me there has been the famliarity of the position and the company. I've looked for another job elsewhere periodically, but I've yet to find that one position that I'd really love to have. And if your choice is between something foreign and bland, you might as well stay with the familiar and bland.

I guess I'm not a risk-taker, except perhaps in my carpentry projects! I wish I could be more like that, though. There's so much I want to see and do in my life, and at the age of 49, I'm becoming more acutely aware of the finite number of years left.

And that, I suppose, is going to be my biggest transition this year. I turn 50 in July. A half century! I remember turning 30, when I was depressed because I had no significant other in my life at that time and no prospects. Then when I turned 40, I was depressed because I felt old and fat. Now comes 50. How will I feel in seven months? I hope I will have taken some new risks, will feel at peace with my body and be in good health, and content in whatever I'm doing.

Contentment--now THAT would be a change for the better!

I'm Good at Something

Finally, I completed something that I didn't screw up! I finished painting Amelia's room today, and it looks good. Of course, it took me all day to do it, considering I had to put on two coats. But I'm pleased with the results. Now, all I have to do in there is touch up the trim and a couple of places on the ceiling, and it's ready for her furniture to be transferred from the other room.

Painting is something I've always disliked while doing but felt a great sense of satisfaction from after the job is completed. I had my first experience painting when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My grandmother, who lived with us, had died, and my sister and I were moving into her old bedroom. A family friend came over to help us paint, and it turned out to be a huge event. Everyone, it seemed, was either painting with a brush or roller. And the bedroom wasn't that big, either!

I guess we didn't make a huge mess that time because years later, both my sister and I were drafted into helping paint other rooms in our house. I remember doing the kitchen, which was a pain since it was so small and crowded with cabinets and appliances. When I was an adult, I painted the living and dining rooms while my mother was out of town as a surprise for her. Looking back on that, I'm amazed I was able to do it, considering the amount of "stuff" she has in her house.

When my husband and I were married, we spent nights after work painting the inside of our first home. It was easier then because we hadn't yet moved in our furniture. Would that all painting experiences were like that!

We've been in our second home for 10 years now, and the only room I've yet to paint is the master bedroom. And it needs it in the worst way! But somehow I've never had the desire to move a king-sized bed, huge armoire, walnut desk, and gentleman's chest. Too bad we couldn't have painted that room before we moved in!

Now that Amelia's new room is done, I need to repaint her old room. It will become the guest room/sewing room/possibly drum room. Whatever it becomes, the hot pink walls and tulip border have to go.

I also need to strip wallpaper and paint the downstairs half bath. And the trim throughout the house needs painting, too.

Hmm. Sounds like I need to train a couple of kids I know on how to use a paint roller!

Second Wind

OK, I've had a couple of days to pout and get rid of my frustration. I feel better now.

I ended up giving Amelia the checkers--without the board--as her "homemade" Christmas present. I promised to make her a board this week. That's something I haven't begun yet, but hopefully by week's end . . .

Today I spent prepping her old room--which she now wants to be her new room--for painting. I don't mind painting that much, but I hate the preparation. I spent all morning getting furniture out (with hubby's help), taking down curtains, filling nail holes, sanding, dusting, vacuuming, wiping, taping, etc. I was exhausted before I ever picked up a paint brush! But by 6 p.m., I had been able to apply one coat of primer to the room. You'd think I could've done more, but when my fingers have to be pried from the roller handle, I know it's time to stop. Besides, I ran out of primer.

The room used to have very dark pink walls, with a handpainted yellow and pink border at the top. It killed me to paint over that border, since I remember every hand and neck cramp I got when I painted it several years ago. I had designed it to match the bedding and was very proud of it. Of course, that was back when the room belonged to my older daughter, at least two room changes ago.

What is it with kids who like to switch rooms all the time? Since my sister and I shared a room as children, we never got to do that. But we did like to move our furniture around a lot. It made us feel like we had a new room.

This is probably a good move for my daughter, though. Her current room has a walk-in closet, which has become a "throw-in trash can" for her. The room I'm painting--which is her old room (confused yet?)--has a double closet that will make it harder for her to trash it. I just wish I didn't have to spent two days of my vacation painting the room to make that possible!

Defeat

OK, I give up. I spent about a month of every spare minute working on this darn checkerboard, and I finally had to toss it. On Christmas Eve. With no time left to make anything else for my daughter.

Oh, I made a strong attempt today to finish everything. I ran to Home Depot this morning to get spray paint for the checkers, but by the time I finished the other errands I had to run, I was rushed. I stopped to sew two pillows for the other daughter and printed a quick photo for my husband's mouse pad present. (I never had time to even buy the wood for his tie rack.) Next, I quickly sanded and began to paint one side of the checkers, in between runs upstairs to help both daughters with their presents for Dad. Then I unclamped the board--it was a disappointment but not a total loss at this point. Despite my utmost care (and about 50 pounds of weight on top to keep it firmly pressed down), there was one row of checks that had raised up a fraction of an inch. Combined with the ragged edges of some pieces (as a result of the mishap with the table saw the other day), it wasn't pretty. But I figured I could touch it up. So I pulled out the miter saw (wrenching my back in the process) and cut the frame. When I realized that two sides of the frame were too SHORT, I was horrified. Apparently, MY checkerboard didn't turn out exactly square like the one in the plan. Mine was about 1/2 inch longer on one side, so the frame pieces didn't fit.

I knew there was no time to go back to Home Depot, get more wood, stain it, and cut it to fit. I had about 1 1/2 hours left before we were supposed to leave for Christmas Eve services at our old church--a 40 minute drive. And I hadn't showered all day. I also had to go to the grocery, because I had yet to get tomorrow's ham or anything else we needed.

So I did some quick measurements and decided I could trim off about 1/4 inch on the two long sides. I marked it carefully, then got out the circular saw. I clamped a straight edge, held my breath, and began to saw. The stupid thing got stuck about 1 inch into the checkerboard. I was so frustrated, that I just threw the whole thing down, cleaned up the garage, and left for the grocery.

There's no way to salvage the board now, even if there was a slight chance before. I finally decided to finish painting the checkers (which I just did, now that we're back from church) so that I could give Amelia something tomorrow. I have a nice, velvet drawstring bag to put them in. And I'll just tell her I'll make her a checkerboard this week. This time, I'm just going to cut a square piece of MDF and STAMP the black and red checks on it.

This has been a frustrating and depressing experience. I really wanted to make something that my daughter could keep forever, kind of a family heirloom. If I can't make something this simple--with straight line cuts and glue--I'm worse off than I thought. All the power tools in the world can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Oink, oink.

Duh!

OK, I did a quick search online and discovered, to my chagrin, that I have never properly used my power miter saw. It seems you're supposed to SLOWLY lower the blade, then STOP the blade before raising it. And for all this time, I've been whacking it up and down as fast as I could. No wonder the ends of my cuts were always rough!

So I went back to the dowels and tried again. I kept the masking tape on, which does help a bit, then SLOWLY lowered the blade and stopped it. When I raised it back up, the checker had a much smoother edge! That was great, and I thought I would whiz through the rest of the dowel. But, alas, there's always something . . . It seems that when I lowered the blade too far, it shattered the checker! (Shades of table saw cutting!) If I didn't lower it far enough, it failed to cut the piece through. (And it's impossible to finish the cut smoothly once started.) So I had to waste about 10 checkers in the process of cutting the 28 I needed. (My stop block did work great, however!)

I ended up cutting about 10 extra checkers, just in case some get lost or broken. Now, I have to buy red spray paint (which I forgot about) to go with the black I already have. Hopefully, this afternoon, Amelia will watch some TV so I can do this without her seeing.

This has certainly delayed my project, but what can you expect--it's like my blog says, I'm learning how to do this one mistake at a time.

Straight Shooting

I have a revelation--there is no such thing as a straight line. At least there's not in MY carpentry.

Here I am, down to the wire in my Christmas gift-making, and I'm having problem after problem with the checker set. I'm off work today, so I planned to glue the final pieces together and cut and paint the checkers. When I started to glue, I discovered that there are tiny gaps where the edges of the strips weren't perfectly straight. Now, either my fence wasn't perfectly straight (which is perfectly possible), or my first edge wasn't perfectly straight (which is also perfectly possible). So now I have all these tiny gaps that I'll have to fill somehow. The glue won't be enough to close the gaps, I fear, and may, in fact, not set well in those places because of the gaps!

Nevertheless, I did my best and clamped the board after applying the glue (being careful not to let glue get underneath and cement it to the board on which it was sitting, like last time). I also weighted the board down on top to be sure it was level.

Then I turned to the checkers. Easy enough, I thought, naively. I pulled out the trusty power miter saw, measured the 3/8-inch width of the checker, clamped a stop block on the fence (I was proud that I remembered to do that!), and cut a sample checker. The entire edge of the disc was splintered! I tried another one--same thing. So I applied masking tape to the whole dowel, which I have read is one way to get a cleaner cut. It didn't make much difference. I still had to sand too much of the wood away to get a smooth edge.

I examined the blade, and it looks like I may need a new one. So off to Home Depot I will trek later today, but I can't leave now because my daughter has an overnight guest.

Unrelenting, I pulled out the table saw. If I can't use the miter saw, let's try that instead, I thought. Of course, there was no way the fence could be secured close enough to the blade to make a 3/8-inch width cut (that's not what the table saw is for). So I marked the line and decided to eyeball it. The first two pieces went okay, but not as clean an edge as I needed. Still, it was better than the miter saw edge. But when I got to the third piece--WHAM! As soon as the piece was cut--and before I could reach down and turn the saw off--the blade hit the checker again and obliterated it. Fortunately, I had been savvy enough to stand to the side when cutting, and the flying shrapnel hit the wall instead of me.

OK, so the table saw is out for this step, at least. I guess I either have to accept the ragged edges of the miter saw or go ahead and get the blade. The problem is . . . I have no clue how to replace the blade on that tool! It's a second hand model, and we don't have the manual. Maybe some kind, unbusy Home Depot worker will know enough to show me on one of their floor models. And maybe I'll be lucky enough that the process is the same on my saw.

Meanwhile, I still have to sew Kate's pillows, shop for Christmas dinner and a few last-minute things, and clean house. I also have to help both girls with their presents for Dad, which they're not finished with yet.

I received a meditation today in the mail about Advent and the importance of giving yourself the gift of time, especially in these last couple of days before Christmas. I don't want to forget that. So maybe I'll live with the ragged checker edges. Maybe I'll sew just one pillow instead of two. And maybe I'll kick back tonight and take a long walk with the dog, looking at the stars and relishing the quiet.

It beats getting hit by a flying checker!

Nothing Ever Goes Smoothly

In life--or in carpentry--nothing goes smoothly, all the time, anyway. After fixing my glue problem on the checkerboard, I was ready to cut the strips the other direction today. It sounded simple--just cut each strip 1.5 inches wide. I checked and double-checked my measurements. I was proud that I even remembered to add in the width of the table saw blade! And I also remembered to put the pieces on the saw with the unpainted side down, so as to ensure a smooth cut on the finished side.

Yet, despite my care, the first strip splintered at the very end of the cut. I thought perhaps I had pushed it too hard. So I was even more careful on the second strip. Second verse, same as the first. I flipped the piece with the finished side down, thinking that perhaps I had mixed up the rule in my head and reversed it. This time, not only did the end splinter but the painted finish chipped in several places. (Obviously, I had the rule right the first time.)

My next thought was to put masking tape on the cut line to minimize the splintering. After all, I read that you're supposed to do that when cutting plywood to ensure a smooth cut. Alas, that didn't help my problem one bit. So I finally accepted the fact that I was going to have to do some fancy sanding and touchup once I finished the board.

My husband suggested later that perhaps my table saw blade was just too coarse for a finer cut. Most of the time, we use it for ripping plywood. This was a nice grade of poplar. It didn't splinter on the miter saw, so maybe he's right. But it didn't do me any good tonight, since I didn't have a spare blade handy.

I was pleased, though, to see how nicely the pieces fit together to form the checkerboard. Just like the instructions said, you flip every other one, and it makes the pattern. Once I do the repairs and make the frame, I think it will look pretty good--at least for this novice.

Only one week 'til Christmas, and I have to finish the board and cut and paint the checkers. The dowels are primed, and the cutting should be easy on the miter saw. (With no splintering!) The painting, though, will take some time. I'll have to spray paint the pieces, and I'm sure it won't be easy to paint the little sides of each disc.

Somewhere during the week, I also have to sew Kate's pillow. And I never have started on my husband's gift. It looks like I may have to re-evaluate my project for him and do a different one. I'm off work this Friday--and he's not--so perhaps I can finish up his gift then. Once I do that, and polyurethane my mother's address plaque, I'll be done. With crafting presents, at least!

Sticky Business

I bought some wood glue the other day to glue the checkerboard pieces together, and I finally had the chance to glue the thing last night. The directions on the bottle said, "spread heavily." It also said to wipe up "any" excess wet glue with a damp cloth.

ANY? Don't they mean A LOT? Once I pushed the pieces together, wet glue went everywhere. I wiped and wiped. Then when I finally thought I had the worst of it wiped up, I clamped the pieces together. And guess what--more glue! I went through nearly a roll of damp paper towels.

With all the glue that came out, I'll be surprised if the pieces stay stuck together. I'll find out tonight, when I plan to lug out the table saw and cut them in the opposite direction to make my pattern. Then . . . I get to glue them back together again!

Sounds like Humpty Dumpty.

Paint Pointers

Why do you end up with more paint on yourself than you do on the brush or your projects? Throughout my nearly 50 years of life, that always seems to be the case. Today was no exception.

My goal was to paint the checkerboard pieces and my mother's address plaque. I achieved that, but it took longer than it should have and was messier than it should have been.

First, the leftover paint I took from my mother's house turned out to be useless. The painter had not secured the lid well (thank goodness it didn't come open in my car trunk!), so there was a lot of dirt and residue floating in there. I was fresh out of paint strainers, so I ended up using some leftover paint we had here. It won't match her siding, but it should look ok.

Then I began painting the checkerboard pieces. I had leftover black paint here to use for half of them, but I had to buy a small can of red from Home Depot. I thought I would roll the paint on both colors for speed and ease, but that didn't work because I only had one roller handle to fit the small covers. And I didn't want to change covers mid-stream because I needed to complete two coats. So I used a small paint brush for the black and the roller for the red.

I almost forgot that I needed to paint the fat dowel, from which the checkers themselves will be sliced. I had originally planned to drill a hole in one end and screw a hook there so I could hang the dowel and paint it completely around in one step. But I realized that I would end up with a hole in two of the checkers, so I dropped that idea.

I had painted one long black stripe on half of the dowel when I realized that this, too, wasn't a good idea. If I painted the whole piece black, how would I be able to mark and see my cutting measurements? So I decided to cut the dowels first, then spray paint the checkers. Now that means I have to buy red spray paint to (hopefully) match the can of red I used for the board.

The pieces are probably dry by now, and I really should go back in the garage to glue them so they can set overnight. I might even be able to put the second coat of black on the routed edge of the address plaque. That is, if I can get up the energy to move. The youth group just left, and I'm rather enjoying the quiet house. A crackling fire is in the fireplace, my husband is grilling salmon, and I hear Barry Manilow singing Christmas tunes on the stereo. It's hard to compete against all that!

Christmas from the Heart

My suggestion that we make at least one Christmas gift for each other this year seems to be bearing fruit, and I'm pleasantly surprised at the creativity my kids have shown.

Already, the youngest has made earrings for her big sister, and she's getting ready to embroider initials on handkerchiefs for her dad. My eldest daughter took a full-length mirror and hot glued a feathery, pink boa around the frame as a present for her sister. She also is recording a cassette tape of her piano music this weekend for Granny. The girls are both so proud of their creations, and I'm proud of them!

At first, they seemed unhappy that I was requiring them to make some of their gifts, but now they see how much fun it can be. And they've actually made an effort to make something that not only displays their talents but appeals to the recipient. For instance, Kate knew that Amelia has been wanting a large mirror for her room. And she knows how much Granny loves to hear her play the piano. Amelia knows how much Kate loves earrings and knows that her father always carries a handkerchief.

Surprisingly, Kate hasn't stopped with the family homemade gifts. She's also made some presents for her friends--an ornament and a magazine picture collage of their favorite hunks. Likewise, Amelia wanted to crochet some belts for her friends. Now if only I could get her to finish what she started! I guess she's like her mother . . .

Which brings to mind--I need to finish my own presents this weekend! I'm ready to put the red and black paint on Amelia's checkerboard strips. Once that's dry, I'll glue and cut the wood to the proper pattern. I picked up the biscuit joiner from my colleague (I learned it's called a joiner, not a cutter!), and I can't wait to try it out on the checkerboard frame.

I also need to paint the top coat on Mother's address plaque. I picked up some leftover paint at her house this week for that purpose. It matches her siding, so I thought it would help the plaque blend better with the house. I'll probably paint the routed edge black to match the numbers.

Lots to do this weekend! On top of hosting the church youth group for a function Saturday night, we have church, soup kitchen, and fellowship dinner on Sunday! To complicate things further, the painters are supposed to start working on the house trim tomorrow. I can't wait til the porch, deck, and yard are back to normal. We haven't even hung a Christmas wreath this year because we can't get in the way of the siding and painting til it's finished.

Our house may not look like Christmas outside, but it surely feels like it inside.

The Saga Continues

We nearly froze to death last night in our house. Upon getting up this morning, we discovered that the furnace wasn't working. What a night to break! It was the coldest temperature so far this year outside.

My husband, bless his heart, went into the attic to investigate the problem as soon as he got up--before he even had his coffee or got dressed. He tried resetting the furnace, but that didn't help. He checked the filter, but that wasn't the problem. A couple of hours later, he called me at work to tell me he had fixed it. It turned out that the furnace hadn't been getting any power. And just what, you ask, was the culprit? Or WHO?????

Yes, it was our friendly siding contractors. Little did they (or we) know that when they reinstalled the motion detector light on the outside of the house, they broke the circuit that also controls the furnace. The heater hadn't been getting power since mid-day yesterday. We just failed to notice it until we froze our toes off in bed.

The siders have now finished putting up the Hardiplank, and today they finally removed their trailer full of debris from our driveway. (Yay! Now I can back out of the garage without having to maneuver around three vehicles!!)

Still to come--another crew, which will caulk and paint the trim.

Also still to come--a new front storm door. It looks like we'll have to replace it. Just like we had to replace the heating element yesterday in the two-year-old dishwasher! It was under warranty, but the warranty covered only the $100 part--not the $126 labor fee.

Doesn't anybody, anywhere care about careful workmanship these days?

Santa's Helper

I feel like an elf, making toys for Santa. This afternoon was spent in the garage workshop, making some progress on my mother's new house address plaque and getting started on my youngest daughter's checkerboard. Everything is ready to prime and paint now, which I hope to do tomorrow.

By the time I had finished working on the projects, I had somehow managed to use nearly every power tool we have. I started out with the jigsaw, cutting the curved top of the address plaque. Either I still don't know how to use the jigsaw correctly, or I'm just bad at it. Regardless, it was not a pretty cut. But I was able to use the power sander to sand the jagged edge down to my nicely curved line. It actually looked pretty good by then!

After that step, I used my router to edge the plaque. It went better than I could've expected. I'd never routed anything other than a straight line before. But this edging went around all four sides of the plaque and around the curved top. Of course, when I stood back to admire it, I realized that the right side of the plaque was about one inch wider than the left side. So I had to trim it down. I pulled out the circular saw and trimmed the edge. (It was too narrow a piece to run on the table saw, and the board was too wide to cut on the miter saw.) Then I had to resand and rerout that side!

OK, so far, I'm up to four tools: jigsaw, sander, router, circular saw. Not to be outdone, I then pulled out the table saw to begin cutting the checkerboard pieces. I was only able to cut one piece there, then had to switch to the miter saw because the table saw fence was too short! By the time I was done, I had used six power tools. The only one I missed was the power drill/screwdriver.

Of course, that meant I had a lot of stuff to clean up and put away. It's a lot easier getting things out than putting them back, but my husband's a stickler for a neat garage. And once it's cleaned up, I like it too. It just takes forever!

If I had an exhaust hose system for my table saw, that would help cut down on sawdust. But I have a dustbag on the miter saw, and it seems to do very little. I still get sawdust everywhere. Same with the sander. (No wonder I need those dust masks!)

When I first suggested the idea that we all make at least one gift for each other this Christmas, I was a little worried that I would end up regretting it because of the time involved. After all, I'm still in progress on the window seat cushion and final hutch. And it's not like I don't have a million other things to do. But today I felt a strange sense of satisfaction as I worked on these gifts. Instead of fighting the store crowds or shopping impersonally online, I was crafting something with my own two hands. And I was thinking about that person while I worked. It was a gift of the heart, which is surely what Christmas is all about.

I can't say we're not buying other gifts this year. We are, both in person and online! But these simple handmade gifts, however few, are helping to focus our hearts and minds on the real meaning of the season-- and on each other. And that's worth doing, I say!