And Then I Stepped in Gum . . .

Did You Miss Me?

Eight days? It's been eight days since I've blogged?!? Where has the time gone? Oh, yeah. It's gone into a playhouse for my children.

So now I've taken part in a major woodworking project, and let me tell ya, it's not for the faint of heart. You need a stalwart project manager, for one thing -- one who lies awake recalculating measurements at 3 a.m. and then slogs out through the mud and the rain to get the dang thing done. In other words, you need my dad.

I did, however, learn an awful lot of things. I learned how to use a compound miter saw, and I'm darn good at it. I can produce perfectly measured bits of wood (well, except for that one piece on the front of the house, but we filled that gap in with caulk). I learned how to use a jigsaw, and I'm pretty good at that -- only if I use it horizontally, however. I'm less good at jigsawing openings around windows while not following a line and trying not to shave down the 2x4s framing the openings. But still not too bad.

I suck, however, at trying to nail a piece of siding to a stud, even when said stud is sticking out from behind the siding and a normal person would be able to visualize the stupid stud underneath. I mean, SUCK at it. I finally resorted to chalk lines, because I was developing an undesirable pattern -- two nails in, one nail out, two nails in, one nail out.

The end result is beautiful, and possibly worth the muddy feet, ruined shoes, aching muscles, and mosquito bites. Possibly. And I should alter that to "almost-end result." There's still a fair way to go. I have to figure out how to make an octagonal window, for starters. That should be a challenge. I think it involves tangents. And we've got to hang the door, carpet the loft, paint outside and in, and install railing. But oh, what a neat thing -- I hope the kids will love it. And if they don't, I swear I'm moving my office down there -- once we get an air conditioner unit and a really long extension cord!

posted by Jennifer Morgan, at 2:15 PM