Too much to do, too little time

Last week was one of those that no matter how much you accomplish your list never seems to get smaller.

The big item on my list was setting up our account on http://www.custommade.com/. We found this website for craftsman in an industry magazine and was pretty amazed at the amount of hits it gets per month/year. Registering wasn't that big of a deal, pretty easy actually. The problem came when I tried to upload the pictures of our work. For whatever reason, their site just didn't like my pictures.

After spending five hours solid at my computer, I gave up. Well not exactly gave up, I guess. I did get the pictures on the site but some of them I'm still not happy with since instead of the picture taking up the entire space, it takes up about half and the rest is black background. Needless to say, it was rather frustrating, but if it draws more business it will be worth it. Because that's the goal, right, more work.

Other than my fun with custommade.com, I also attended a businesses meeting and seminar for the Interior Design Society. I've been a member of the local chapter here for over a year and although I'm not a designer myself, I have to say I've learned a lot. This month we had our meeting at SGO Designer Glass, http://www.sgodesignerglass.com/. They specilize in stained glass overlay. It gives you the look of stained glass but it's really all one peice.

And last but not least, as promised, the lumber rack I was talking about in the last post. I decided maybe it would be nice to see what the old one looked like too so here it is,

Old

New

Getting to know...Me.

It still boggles my mind that ten years ago, I never would have imagined being a woodworkers wife nor knew all that would entail.

Let's start at the beginning...

I grew up here in Ohio, not very far from where we live now. My husband, Nick, lived in New Jersey up until almost nine years ago. We are very much opposites in many ways but it has really worked to our advantage as we've started our own business. With his passion and talent for woodworking and my love for helping people, we've been able to work together to form a business model that really works for us.

So how did we meet? On-line, of course. And no, not on one of those dating sites. He and I were both huge fans of a television show and frequented the on-line forum. One day we struck up a conversation and as they say, the rest is history. We've been together for almost eleven years and married for six. He is one of the most creative people I've ever met and I honestly have yet to see anything he can't build.

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What has been going on this week?

It was a typical example of the life of a woodworker's wife. If you're married to one, you know what I'm talking about. If not, well I'm sure you can relate.

First, there is always a project. There isn't such a thing as downtime with my woodworker. Even if there isn't a specific job to work on, there are always improvements to be made to or in the shop. This week it was rebuilding his lumber rack. He'd seen one in a magazine he liked better than his current one so after getting some 2X4's at Lowe's, we got started taking all the wood off the old rack and loading it onto carts so he could dismantle and rebuild.

Here I am after helping him to unload the wood off the old rack and onto the carts. Flattering picture isn't' it?

He's still working on the new rack as I write this, but hopefully it will be finished this weekend and I'm make sure to include a picture of it next week.

Living with MacGyver

Have you ever wondered what it would be like living with your own personal MacGyver? Well I don't have to wonder.

About a month ago my husband Nick comes to me and says, "I'm going to build an oscillating edge sander."

Of course, what am I to say to that other than, "Okay."

So that night, he starts his research getting on-line and pulling up diagrams of some of the commercial edge sanders he likes. Personally those diagrams make my head spin just looking at them but he, somehow, is able to make sense of them.

Next comes the trips to the hardware stores. And yes, I do mean to say 'trips' and 'stores'. It would be easy if it was just one big trip to one store, but that would be too easy. Over the course of the last three weeks I would venture to say there have been ten separate trips as he began to build and find more things he needed or the things he had weren't just right so he had to go back and get something else. Have you ever stood in a hardware isle for twenty minutes while your husband looked at bolts? Yep. That's me.

Last night he pulls me into his shop so he can show me his creation. It never ceases to amaze me how talented he is.